ahhh, the little things...

the door to the master deck...so cool...it has mini-blinds built inbetween the glass.

city girl, country boy

I told Bob we were putting Acacia hardwood flooring into the house. The top one is how it is spelled; the bottom one is how Bob spells it.

Taking shape!

We got a soffet!

so ready for this crap to move from the side of our house...W.T. sorry neighbors...

All sealed up.

Foam insulation is awesome. It's taken some time to blow in (just over a week, and we were expecting a few days). Our sub, Mike, is the nicest guy in the world - his wife, too - and we couldn't be happier to have good, honest people on our project. However, for some reason or another, it's taken awhile. The end result is a rock-solid job on insulation. The inside of our house will be uneffected by cold, rain and snow and we couldn't be happier....mostly because the old house is so subject to icy windows! Quite the difference...

Next project: drywall, texture and paint.

Hard...

...wood flooring options are diverse and making a decision on this hard! We originally wanted to try to match the 100 year old historic floors, but come on, who are we kidding? We planned to stick with #2 red oak, but I've been hearing that oak is out... So, then we looked at maple and hickory. These 2 woods are light in color, showcase some variation, and would somewhat stick to the light colored wood we have in the original house. BUT THEN...we spoke with floor experts and they recommend going completely different from the original floor and making a statement that this house is "old" and that house is "new". That said, I think we're leaning towards Acacia wood. My heart stopped when I saw it. I am in love. And, as a seasoned sales person (wink, wink) I negotiated the price (after a half a dozen visits and sweet talking) from $9 sq feet to $6.45 sq ft. WOW, even more appealing.

Touch Bob, Band-Aids and Jumping

One of Sydney's favorite games is "touch Bob"...while he's talking to Glenn she'll run up to him and touch him, then hurridly run back to me. Sometimes he catches her, sometimes not. She loves Bob.

And, during the early stages of framing Syd's obsession with Band-Aids grew and grew. Bob's generosity with giving her bandages each day (brightly colored ones, as well as a Hello Kitty box) didn't help us break that obsession... Funny enough, she got over it.



Another favorite activity of Syd's was jumping from the entry way step to the main level. I got some good shots of her jumping all around. I wonder if she'll remember all of this...

Voila! a House!

The day finally came when it all took shape.

View, ahhh

...from our western master bedroom windows... just imagine the view when the snow rolls in!

Roses

Amidst the scrap lumber, the roses bloomed. It was a pretty site, and even more satisfying knowing we won't be needing landscaping right there!

Progress!

Wow, we've been MIA...we've totally been busy! Well, yeah, we're building a house, working and raising a 2 year old...Where does the time go! TONS of stuff has happened: framing, windows, roof, plumbing, electrical... to be honest, the boring stuff. Here' some pics. The house is looking AWESOME and we are more and more eager to move in each day!

Glenn had a "trial and error" week of seeing what worked to take off the age-old paint that was on the brick...this wall we'll be leaving exposed between the new addition and the kitchen...we don't want paint, just brick. but, it's been a b*tch trying to take off.

Early June frame job.

It rained, and rained, and RAINED in early June...Glenn was outside several times a day sweeping the water puddles off the newly laid flooring.

Our home, Fall 2010.

I can't believe I haven't posted a rendering yet...here it is! The existing brick house is 850 square feet and we're adding about 1700 to end at a total sq footage of 2500+. Whew! I mean, I love close quarters, but it's getting a little tight in the meantime!

Floor Joists

man, can it get any more exciting than this???
YES. bring on the framing..the electricity...drywall......the tiling! But, order of operations is importance I guess when building a house.

Gotta make sure there's some cold brewskies on the job site during slow processes.

A series of events to end the month of May...

perimeter drain being laid out

nice form, joel. glenn, get to work.

Bob, pumped to be building ICF foundation

Well, a series of events has occured since the last post: perimeter drain installed, ICF (insulated concrete forms) were installed as the foundation walls, and then the walls were filled with concrete. The biggest deal was the concrete loaded into the ICFs...Joel was so nervous that the forms might bust - a very possible happening - but it was a success! Then, once that was done, Bob the Builder laid down the floor joists in. And, voila - looks like a basement!

Back fill was done Thursday, June 3 and now we can walk around the back yard without fear of falling into a big hole.

Still, I'd like to see more progress... I want it to start looking pretty ;)