[Spirit Deer]

Our guys worked like crazy today and got the big double window header in the LR. One of the LR windows is in. The other one has to wait until we demo the porch, but with the header in, it won't take much time to put in the second window later. It will go just to the right of the window on the right in this pic. On the left, J3 is busy working on the frame for the little bathroom window. Finally, the ugly cold-leaking door is gone!

Bathroom window going in. It's perfect for its space.

They also removed an old window between the 2 new ones, and filled in the opening that left.

Then they put in the north window in the sewing room. What a difference! I'm happy it didn't work out to put them both on the east wall. Much nicer this way.

Tomorrow they hope to finish up all the installation. They have 3 left. Two need headers including the greenhouse window over the kitchen sink and Husby's second office window. The pantry window doesn't need a header so should go fast. Then we can get the inspector in and then, maybe next week, Sheetrock!

I think we forgot to turn the furnace back on. Ope! 🤣🤣🤣

 

[Spirit Deer]

A&K (electrical company owners) dropped by to pick up their ginormous check. They said R and J2 would probably be coming at the end of next week to finish the rough wiring on the main floor and then do the basement rough-in. Then they will go away again till drywall is in, mudded, and taped, which will be a while since we don't have anyone yet for mudding.

We're not at the finish yet, but we're starting to be able to see it from here.

Since Thursday or Friday may be free this week, we're hoping to do a quick trip to Grand Rapids for secondhand shopping only, in hopes of finding some used kitchen cabinets to repurpose in the laundry, bathroom, and pantry. We also want to get a couple upper cabinets and a stove hood, so maybe the electricians can get that installed for us. I have a hard time doing overhead work now because of my arms.

Time to review and fine tune my secondhand shopping list and get that ready, just in case.

Our building permit expires in August, so we need to spend up to its limit between now and then. That means trying to get the big ticket stuff done ASAP. Otherwise we will end up paying for another permit or at least an extension. Don't wanna do either.

 

[MaggieTru]

i was out of town fir a few days and you made so much progress!! wow

 

[Spirit Deer]

It's unbelievable how fast those 2 guys work. And they're hilarious! And they sing! So it's carpentry with a floor show at no extra charge. 🤣🤣🤣

All the windows are in except the last LR window, but that's framed and ready as soon as we demo the front porch, which still has a couple feet of snow on it. Still can't believe it. It looks like a real house now! And in a couple weeks, we'll be able to open all those windows and get fresh air in there.

I love the light in my sewing room. I think I just lost a couple feet of wall space in there though because the new egress window is the perfect height for doggies to look out, and it's the only window on the north side. That's it there on the left. Hard to get a good pic of both windows.

Husby's second office window was installed, too. He loves it. I'm glad he decided to go ahead with it. That made use of one of the two spare windows, so we only have one to return. Menards is waiving the restocking fee because it was their error.

The pantry window finally arrived. I love that one, too.

I found a bunch of insulated drapes I forgot I had and they covered 5 of the big windows. That helped a lot. I put up a blind over one of the office windows today, so can stop using one of the dog pads to block that. The half bath window, the laundry, and the kitchen greenhouse window all have lumber paper for now, but the laundry has a blind to install there. I have tension rods for the other 2, and a set of heavy dishtowels that just need casings to become kitchen curtains. The bathroom is only 24x24, so it doesn't let in a lot of light. I'll probably just leave the lumber paper in that. Once the concrete steps are removed from underneath it, nobody can see in without a ladder anyway.

We've dcided against trying to rhab and reuse the crappy windows we just removed. They were always crappy, and would be crappy in any new building. We trashed the frames and will be keeping th he glass for now in case we can make them work in a greenhouse someday.

Not sure what's going on with the GR trip. We decided to just go as far as Hibbing, but now we have saw drama going on and Husby has his eye on a Riobi at Home Depot there. I want the Master Force from Menards or the DeWalt from Lowe's. I suspect we won't know where we're going tomorrow till we get there. The 3 towns are all on the route to GR.

 

[Contrary Housewife]

Big changes. Looks good.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Only went as far as Hibbing, luckily. We got the Masterforce chop saw at Menards along with a Worx 5" circular saw. It was an exhausting 11 hr shoppng and driving day. Going to GR would have added at least 4 hrs. As it was, we got home at twilight so at least we weren't driving in the dark. The deer have been very active lately.

We got the 5 cabinets for the kitchen island along with the plywood to build the countertop, painting supplies, still more 2x4s, 10 more porcelain light fixtures, and other supplies, so we're ready to start the next phase.

 

[Spirit Deer]

I got a shot of my new greenhouse window in the kitchen. I think the sill ended up being about 9"wide, plenty of room for some plants. I have a grow light on a stand that may or may not fit there, too. It will be close. I got 3 pairs of the curtains at a sale this AM for .50/pr.

 

[Spirit Deer]

The ½ wall is almost done! I had to quit because I was getting tired and things started going wrong. I've learned to pay attention to that and stop working when it happens.

We have 3-4 studs left to put in the 5' L section, and then adding the second top plate spacers in about 3 places after attaching the 5' L to the 14' section. It shouldn't take more than an hour, if that. The studs are cut and ready. The top plate spacers will just be scraps pieced in and will go quick. I got the first top plate, sill plate, and end studs assembled for the 5' section into a rectangle after I took the pic with the 2x4 laying on the floor, so it's a little further along now. The ½ wall will provide a place for the living room wiring to be. And even though it's being built by amateurs, it will not fall down in a stiff breeze. 😂😂😂 The carpenters will attach it to the floor next time they are there, and then it can be wired and Sheetrocked. I'm happy we will have a little time to 'live with' the wall to make sure it's where we want it.

I love the new chop saw! It's quiet, and easy to use. The new saw stand works very well with it, too. I was less than excited about buying the stand, but Husby insisted, and said we needed the bigger model, too. He was right on both counts. It's much better to be able to support 8' boards on the larger stand. I can already see many, many uses for that entire setup.

Husby has been researching our old Craftsman chop saw and thinks we should try to fix it. We've had it for yrs but it quit working correctly shortly after we started using it. We bought the new one because it can do a lot more than the old one and we needed it right now. But if we could fix the old one, we could sell it or use it as a more portable option for some projects.

It was another good day working on the house, topped off by a message from electricians saying they're going to be back Thursday. I hope they can get all the rough wiring done soon.

 

[marthamfi]

awesome! is the half wall for a counter or island or just to separate the kitchen from the living room space?

 

[Spirit Deer]

The wall defines the living room space. The island will be 4' away from it. The walkway between the kitchen and LR will be where the little red stool is sitting in the top pic, with the island about where the white plastic lid is laying on the floor in the lower left corner.

 

[Spirit Deer]

I got the dog door framed today which didn't take much. Now the electricians won't put any wiring in it.

The door into the small room where our water heater lives is only about 5' high. I finally got fed up with that headbanger today and ripped out the wall above the door and the single 2x4 framing across the opening. I cut the wall lumber down to the correct height and will try piecing it on to the top of the door. We didn't have the right screws in town to finish it today, but just removing the lumber above the door has already improved that doorway 1000%. I'm sure J2, who is quite tall, will appreciate the extra headroom, as does Husby. I'm just sorry I didn't think of doing it sooner.

We cleaned up sawdust, moved excess lumber to the basement, made space for the electricians, and are pretty much ready for them, I hope. The carpenters will not be coming this week, but that's probably for the best. Having one crew there is chaotic enough. Electricians don't work Fridays, so that will give us a chance to rest up from an 11 hr day tomorrow, and we can stay home Friday when the weather is supposed to be the worst.

I admit I'm quite proud of my shiny new ½ wall. I forgot to take a pic, but as expected, not being tired went a long way toward making finishing that project easy. It turned out very well. Every inch is straight, square, level, and/or plumb. It's not completely perfect, I'm sure, but unless the carpenters see something very wrong, it should be very acceptble. We measured the placement to the nth degree, and since our carpenters won't be back till sometime next week, we tagged it with deck screws just so it doesn't get moved out of place. I expect they will add lag screws or maybe bolts when they come, but it's solid enough with just the deck screws for the wiring to be done now.

It doesn't sound like a lot, but adding the wall is a big change. I think we'll like it.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Here's the new ½ wall, all framed and ready for wiring. Now it's also all wired and ready to 'rock, not shown.

I can't believe how fast these wafer lights got installed. All they needed was a 6" hole in the ceiling, no can or anything needed. I love them!

I was afraid they wouldn't give off much light, but they're quite bright, much more than the pic shows. We're very happy with them.

R also put a temporary light in the LR ceiling, since B and J3 ripped out the strip lights to put in the header for the 2 LR windows.

R said the track lights have to be hard wired, so can't be rewired to be movable. So I thought I could use one in my sewing room closet, but he shot that idea down, too. I'm putting one over the new monster saw in the basement. The other will probably be in the shop somewhere, too.

I got the door makeover done, mostly.

We went over the entire basement and marked where we want all the lights and electrical things.

The guys had to go install a hand dryer at Dairy Queen, so were gone for 3 hrs, but they still got a lot done. I think next time they come they will be focused on the basement.

I decided it's probably not good for me or my new saw stand to be dragging it around when it has to be moved, so I put it on furniture dollies. It works like a charm. I don't think I can cut with it on the dollies, but when it's not in use, they're a godsend. We also put the carpenters' big DeWalt on its heavy steel stand on another dolly. Work smarter, not harder.

 

[marthamfi]

Very smart Spirit! The wall looks good..though I see in the future doggies propped up by their paws on the wall lol if you get another cat nice walkway for them.

 

[Spirit Deer]

The wall has already been handy. The guys came in and dropped their usual truckload of stuff on the floor. I got out a scrap of plywood siding and screwed it to the L to make them a temporary table, because I'm thoughtful that way. 🙂 Everybody needs a convenient table. They made good use of it.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Busy day. Our carpenter B called early this morning to see if they could come and start 'rocking. Yes, please! Fortunately we were able to get out of the yard.

We had 4 guys there. I can almost smell the smoke from the money we've burned through today, but it's all good. No surprises. Remodeling is never cheap. The entire north end of the house is done now, big progress, and the east wall of the kitchen, too. Now's when our rooms start to feel so much smaller!

It seems like we're finally getting through the phase of trashing the place, and getting to the rebuilding phase. Fun times now.

It's always moving day when they show up, but they are more orderly than the electricians.

I did a bunch of DIY insulation installation today, so hope I saved us a little bit. The electricians ripped out a bunch more yesterday. Between that and constant cleanup, it was a full day.

 

[Spirit Deer]

I'm feeling very enthused this morning. Trying to figure out the deck rails has been frustrating because we wanted fast, simple, and relatively cheap. I've finally accepted it won't be cheap, because we have unique needs due to needing the east side portion to be 5' high, and needing 4 gates of different sizes. It might be relatively fast thanks to the new chop saw and how easy it is to set up a jig to make fast uniform cuts. I plan to use 2x2s for a lot of it and could cut those 3 or 4 at a time. And, even though it sounds complicated, it would be quite easy. Now to get it all done, if spring ever arrives.

I also think I have the dog doors and their interior and exterior cabinets figured out. Getting the door framing in helped with that because now I have a good visual. Watching J frame our new closets was a good education in framing closets. That will be very helpful as I add 16' of closet space to the mudroom. I just have to decide what items need to be stored where so I can figure out how each closet needs to be tailored to work with particular items.

Getting the Sheetrock started has given us new energy, I think. That's such a quick, dramatic change.