TGIF - Day 95

I should probably have put the first couple pictures from this Day 95 blog post on the tail end of the previous day's blog, since I actually took them at around 9pm on Thursday, Day 94. 

The pictures essentially show show far they got after I left them alone when I visited with Grace. So instead I'm going to use them to start this post, by showing how it looked this morning and then compare that to the rest of the day.

So there's your comparison photos. When I showed up today after work, the guys had finished nearly all of the drywall and had begun patching up the seams and putting mud on the walls and ceiling. It's like night and day- literally- between the picture above and the one below. Nice, eh?

You can really tell the difference, especially in the kitchen/entertaining area. In the center of the picture below you can see the wall where the built in shelves will go along with a TV on the center of the wall. The three sets of French doors are on the right side of the picture looking out onto the patio and backyard. 

The picture below shows the casual dining area at the far end of the kitchen. Previously, it was at the end of our 'galley style' kitchen and there used to be walls coming out to form a doorway. It could get very cramped, so we got rid of the walls and now it will be nice having it more open.

They also finished up the tray ceiling in the master bedroom. There will be a ceiling fan up there, eventually. As you can tell, there's still some mud and patching to do yet. 

They finished the wall in the hallway that serves as the outside of our walk-in closet as well. The hall linen closet was also completed. It was really amazing to watch how deftly these guys are able to walk around on those stilts and apply and spread the mud on the ceiling, all the while stepping around the debris on the floor without tripping or losing their balance.

I guess they'll continue this process over the weekend or start again on Monday so that they can get to sanding it down. Until then... 

Cheers!

New Look - Day 94

We've had some pretty positive progress at the house on day 94. The drywall guys were back to work on the kitchen/entertaining area.

It was really cool to watch them putting in the ceiling. One guy was using a more traditional scaffolding setup while the other guy was using this awesome pair of stilts. Grace thought that was very cool.

They also updated some of the areas where we made a few last-minute changes.

That includes replacing our front windows with longer windows in order to fill all the way down to their original full length sills. There are two in the dining room and one in Grace's old room. 

Here's a look from the front of the house. It's a subtle difference, but it will help provide a little more light to those front rooms later in the day since the porch will now be providing shade there.

The crew also expanded the closet in Grace's old room. It shares a wall with the hall coat closet that was 'double deep.' So, they moved that wall forward to make it a regular size closet and now Grace's old closet has a lot more storage space and easier to access.

They also finished drywalling Grace's new room so that it goes all the way to the ceiling. They also finished her ceiling so the walls are essentially complete and her room STILL looks huge. I know she looks REALLY tall (she is tall for her age) but I'm actually almost on the floor taking that picture so you can see up into that space in the loft. It's got some really neat angles. There will be a very sturdy railing up there!

I also took a picture of our master bathroom. Below you can see Grace is standing near where the door to the shower will be and you can see the WC (toilet/water closet) in the background.

The crew will start to put all the mud on the walls to hide the seams and even out the edges and corners. After that they'll sand it down and that could take a while.

I'll be sure to take some pictures once that's complete.

Later!

Fly On The Wall - Day 93

Amazing! We've reached Day 93 and the insulation is finished and the inspection checked out and the guys wasted NO time making progress! I dropped by after work on Wednesday (1/28) and saw their van out front and decided to pick up our mail and check out what they were working on.

Boy was I surprised when I heard the whirring of saws and popping of air-powered nail guns. I didn't want to slow them down, so I just peeked inside the front door and they were furious at work putting up drywall in the downstairs area, including in the front room which will eventually be our entry way and formal dining room.

My goodness what a difference it makes to actually see walls appear and even a ceiling give shape to the size and perspective of the rooms. When you see those rooms with only the 2x4 framing, you get a false sense of volume.

I decided to wait until later to come back and take some pictures so they could finish up for the day. When I came back around 8 pm, I was absolutely blown away. I hadn't realized that they started upstairs and had done at least 80% of the second floor.

The upstairs landing and hallway was done and the laundry room completed.

Here's a shot of the upstairs spare bedroom.

Grace's room has a ways to go, mainly because of all that space above the reading loft. That's way up there and is going to require quite a bit of extra drywall.

As you can see, they filled in all of those upper rafters with the blow-in insulation.

Here's a shot of our master bedroom where you can see they filled in the walls up to the tray ceiling.

I took another shot from the corner of the master, looking over at the bathroom.

And this somewhat nondescript photo is our walk-in closet. It will obviously look a lot better once it gets the shelving in.

In this picture I'm standing in our kitchen/living room/entertaining area looking toward the staircase.

Now I'm standing in the roughly the same place but shooting from a different angle so you can see where they had stopped for the day. Safe to say all of that exposed framing will be hidden by the end of Thursday. Same goes with the kitchen.

Here's a shot of the butler pantry/bar area. Pardon the toilet which used to be in the downstairs hall bathroom. That sucker isn't staying, so I think we should probably just toss it in the dumpster unless it's still serving a useful purpose in 'emergencies.' God I hope not. LOL

Here's a shot of Grace's old bedroom which will eventually be our downstairs den or spill-over guest bedroom.

I can't wait to see how it looks when I drop by on Thursday night to see the ground floor finished.
I'll see you then!
Cheers,
Flip

Oooooh, we're half-way there... Day 90

Sorry, I had to quote a little Bon Jovi there for the title. We have reached the 90th day of our project and are "officially" half way to the finish line.

Progress remains a little slow, but we've made progress nonetheless. The guys have been busy doing some nice work on the front porch.

They've been putting the decorative column boxes and trim that surround the supports for the porch.

I was able to get some shots in the morning to see them getting started and then got a few good ones after they'd finished them all and it turned out really nice.

We're going to be spending a lot of time on this porch, with neighbors dropping by for a "mild libation" as my Nanna and Papa used to say, so it's got to be just right.

Some new insulation was put in as well. We were supposed to be getting the spray foam for the attic and roof area and the more common fiberglass insulation for the vertical walls on the first and second floor.

The picture above is the roofline at the front of the house with the spray foam. The picture below is the part of the roof and attic area above Grace's reading loft where the foam was sprayed in.

There are still a couple areas that have to be filled in this week. After that, we'll get the inspection- and then it's on to the drywall.

Day 85

I'm finally back, after a long weekend for the MLK holiday and a relaxing trip to a friend's lake house up on the GA/NC line. Lake Chatuge is part of the Hiawassee River and a wonderful lake in the northeast corner of Georgia as well as the extreme western part of North Carolina. The headwaters of the Hiawassee River is actually somewhere up in Tennessee.

Lake Chatuge is a TVA waterway, so its flow is regulated to produce power. It was allowed to be lowered much more than usual this winter so that a new bridge could be built over one of the tributaries. A neighbor's dock is at the bottom of the picture, and barely touching the water! It's one heck of a view from my buddy's porch, looking out at the Blue Ridge Mountains at sunset.

The picture above is of Grace during one of our walks when we ventured out close to the shoreline. During the summer, her head would be completely submerged. But I digress...

Back to the house! We finally passed our framing inspection, so the insulation process has begun. 

Actually it started while we were out of town, or possibly our first day back at work. You can see all of the space between the 2x4's filled with the fiberglass. You can also see what's coming next! 

The load of drywall was delivered so the dozens of sheets are spread throughout the house, just waiting for the word on the insulation inspection. That's when the crew can start sealing everything in.

The load of drywall in the picture above is in the hallway of the second floor landing. Each blue, white and gray wrapper essentially is binding two full sheets of the material. That's a lot of space to cover!

Just look at all of the insulation in the ceiling in Grace's room. That's showing the side wall and the area above her reading loft. That insulation will help with heating/cooling as well as sound.

The picture above shows the insulation that is in the layers of our tray ceiling. That will help with temperature as well as sound dampening since the HVAC is right up there above it. We're hoping to get our approval to begin dry-walling by the end of this week. Cross your fingers!

Day 80

We're at Day 80 and things went a little slow the past few days because of all of the rain. The crew was finally able to finish up the highest point in the eaves on the eastern, high side of the house.

So, aside from the one section of the sunroom on the other side, all of the siding is done. It will look great once it all gets painted. Thanks to all of the planning we've been doing related to our cabinetry, tile and counter-tops, I'd like to assume that things will really start picking up in a few weeks.

I don't want to get the cart before the house, though. We still have to get our insulation put in and then of course, the drywall goes up. That's when things will really start to look like a real house on the INSIDE of the structure.

So, with these latest pictures out of the way, I'll post the final three videos of this installment. At least until we get some major stuff cooking inside the house, like the floors or the drywall. The first video below begins in the second floor landing and takes you into the master suite - the bedroom, walk-in closet and bathroom.

The next video travels down the hallway into Grace's bedroom to show her mini walk-in closet, bathroom and her two-story high reading loft. It's very cool.

The final video for now shows the linen closet in the hallway/landing and then walks into the second floor guest room which has a window overlooking the front porch and features a "Harry Potter" closet.

I'll have more pictures and videos probably starting next week, since we're waiting for the framing re-inspection and then the insulation. Cheers!

Day 79

On to Day 79. where we had some internet connection issues that took a couple days to resolve, so I apologize for the delay. I have some new pictures as well as a few new videos.

The pictures basically show the guys racing the rainfall to try to finish up the siding on the final, eastern side of the house.

It's very high, so between the scaffolding and the weather, it's been a tough row to hoe.

The videos below finish looking at the first floor and begin making my way upstairs. The first one below shows the downstairs bathroom and Grace's old room, which will be a downstairs guest room and likely a study.

The second video below starts in the center of the kitchen/entertaining area and then walks up the stairway to the landing on the second floor.

The third and final video starts in the laundry room off the second floor landing on the backside of the house and then shows the railing and area where the built-in bookshelves will eventually be.

I'll post a few more pictures and the final three videos tomorrow.
Later!