After 25 hours... my classroom is ready to go!

 Wow - after 25 hours of working - Mom and I got my classroom together for students.  It is not perfect, and I still need to tweak it - but I think it looks pretty good! (Thank you Derek, Pam, Cooper, Allie, and Devin for helping me move!) The glassware cabinet - mom and I washed every single beaker and flask in it!  Whew - that's how dirty it was... but now it is all organized and ready for student use!
After day #1 - I like the classroom, but there are a few things I need to figure out and get used to - like my voice echoing when I am up at my smart board, how to hand out and collect papers, if I should space out the desks more, etc.  It will get figured out in time.  Do you notice the new teacher in town?  She's pretty cute - isn't she?!?

Paint Paint and more Paint

 Happy Friday!  Mom and I painted the cement part of the house... and you can see how much better it looks!  A million times better!  We are thinking about giving it a second coat on Sunday because it has been so long since it has been done.  The paint was mixed to exactly match the siding, which is really awesome - so if I see a flaw in the siding, I can use the paint brush to cover it.  Loren and his crew only were here for 1/2 day, so they did not make much progress.  They built the porch soffit and secured the railings.  Tony and Steve from River Creek came to lift out the concrete by the shed - what a huge hole!  But their little skid loader just lifted it right out!  It was amazing to watch.   Those guys are amazing - Mom and I really enjoy seeing them.   But, two casualties, the bush by the shed door went with the slab of concrete, and look at our lawn!  Oh my... but I talked to Tony about building a ramp up to the shed door, like the side of the house by our obnoxious neighbor.  He said he would help fix the grass then, whenever that will be.  I will need to brainstorm a temporary ramp to get the lawnmower out of the shed... our grass in places does need cutting this weekend.  So, now it is a waiting game until next week.  I am thinking by the end of next week it will be pretty much done.  Oh - and by the way, the garage is still standing - but just to be sure, my car is on the street for at least one more night.  Have a great labor day weekend!

Siding is on! Garage is off!

 Well, the house siding is basically done.  They cased the doors so they will never have to be painted again.  Soffits are being put in tomorrow.  My goal is to get the basement painted this weekend - as you can see, the colors do not match.  I hope we have great weather.  The garage, well, that is another story.  Loren, our contractor, noticed how bowed the garage wall is, you know the one that caved in way back when.  So, his idea is to brace the wall inside the garage by running 2 x 4's diagonally from the sides to hold it up.  Also, the cement slab in front of the shed door, Loren and his worker Cody tried to sledge hammer it out, but it must be about 8 inches deep.  It was so hot today that I told them to stop ( I was scared they were going to hurt themselves)  - so I called our landscaper Tony to bring the skid loader by tomorrow to try to lift it out.  But, I am really nervous that they will push too hard to get it out and oops - there goes the wall.  Needless to say, my car is safer on the street tonight, tomorrow, and for the near future until I know the garage is safe.  But, if it does cave in, it better do it good so insurance will build us a new one.... Boy, that would be a dream... I would make it 2 1/2 stalls, peak ceiling, a really nice storage area in the shed, inside steps, boy, would that be nice!  But, back to my story about the shed wall, they want to put a board behind the slab to even it out with the siding.  On the alley side of the garage - look at the boards dad used... they look familiar - were there some leftover boards in the shed at one time? - and did they say "Clark?"  I wonder if they will need to be replaced?  Also, the window is being removed... Loren said it is shot, and it will take about two weeks to get another one.  I told them to skip the window to keep the project moving along.  Mom and I are SOOOOOO ready to have this over with... nothing will ever be the same.  Bushes smashed... plastic and siding pieces in the grass, garbage everywhere, scratches on the pavers....  And when or if you come to visit - make sure you wear shoes - there are soooo many nails laying around.

Making progress, Day #4

 What a job - mom and I have been working on staining the new wooden front doors - it took us 4 1/2 hours on Sunday just to stain, and then I gave them two coats of polyurethane today, probably a total of about 3 hours worth.  Can you tell which pieces go with each door?  Can you tell which will be the front door vs. the side door?  Looking at the pictures of them... they look kind of antique.  We hope we like them on the house....  They are kind of retro - like the cross buck doors that we used to have... only updated for the new century.
As you can see by the pictures... they got the remaining side of the house prepped for siding, and if you look close at the other pictures, you can see the corner boards by the living room window and my bedroom window that I painted last week.  I was talking to Ken, our neighbor,  Saturday night, and he commented on how solid the house was built - he noticed the rafters every 16 inches, which is a lot I guess.  That was good to hear...  He also said he really liked the new window instead of the patio doors.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear that...  It continues to be a huge mess... and I really hope with all of the nails around that mom's car or my car does not find one of them with our tires.... 

3 out of 4 ain't bad

 Out of the soffit must have dropped this blast from the past...  Anyone remember this little treasure?  I vaguely remember it...

Well, they have 3 out of  4 sides of the house done...  but can't move fast enough for me.  They are here pounding at 7 am until 5 pm and hanging around outside our windows... but overall they are doing a good job.  It is great to see the soffits open - they were tightly closed, trapping heat in the summer and creating ice dams in the winter.

They also pumped up the outside corner of the front porch - not sure if you can tell how the top of the railing is not hitting the rafter anymore... it has settled pretty bad... it was a really creepy sound when they pumped it up - a cracking sound that I thought the inside ceiling would crack.  Looking at the picture of the house from the front, the top of the house does look really straight now.

I am not sure why they have completely left the power side... maybe waiting for the city?
Maybe keeping the worst part for last?

I also do not know if they will be working tomorrow... the guys put in 10 hour days with very few breaks.

Well, I will keep you posted... there is a wagon of siding in the back yard.  

Day #2 - Looks like a different house from the back!

Here is the progress for day #2 - and what a mess!
Nails, screws, debris all over the place!
The only side that has not been started is the side by the steps because of the power lines and cables.
The wooden strips on top of the house wrap are there to build out the siding to make it even with the windows.  The windows before had frames around them - but this siding will go directly to the window, no frames this time.  This was decided because  #1 - I would have had to paint all of the boards, and I felt I did not have time with school starting again in a few day or #2 - if the frames were placed on the windows without being painted, I could not reach them to paint them. In addition, the boards creates a space allowing the house to breathe, and prevent water from being trapped between the siding and house wrap.  The contractor, Loren, said this is a new trend in siding - and especially with our cement board.  A wire mesh will be at the bottom edge to prevent bugs from going into the siding.

Here is  another before picture of the back with the deck before.  We got rid of the conduit light on top of the deck, and the outlet on the deck is gone.  We will only have one light by the back door when it is all done.  The dish network dish will also be taken down by the workers - sealed with leftover shingles in the garage.

Off with old, in with the new

 Let the madness begin...
 Yesterday they started our project by tearing out the patio doors and putting in the window.

Today they tore down the deck... They really had to work hard at it, and it took them a lot longer than I thought it would.  Amazing how in 1989 the deck just fell apart, but this one took a lot of sweat and muscle to tear it down.

As you can see, the patio doors are gone, and we have a new window in its place.  Mom and I love it!  You can look out the window and see my fire pit - We are really going to like it a lot.
Taking care of a deck is a lot of work, not to mention it is 10 feet off the ground.  I am glad it is gone.  4 workers are here working on it, and as of right now they are tearing off all of the old siding.
I will post more pictures later.

The End of an Era

Today was an end to an era... both big trees in the front yard were cut down.  As you can see, it looks a lot different...  I have to admit I had a few tears in my eyes as Dad's ash tree came down.  I shed not one tear about that maple though - it was ready to start causing some major havoc to the lawn.  The after picture looks like a picture that someone must have, of Derek on his bike in front of the house right after the tree was planted... ( Derek - do you have that picture?)  Or does anyone else have a picture of the early house? Please share if you do...  So, time for moving on...  too many roots from both trees were pushing up into the grass and moving concrete.  Now when we do the main sidewalk with pavers this summer, they will stay in place.  Plus, every storm that came through, we were paranoid the tree would end up on the house.  It came down a lot faster and easier than I thought it would... I came home from school to see the action and take a few pictures.  They also ground up the stumps - it looks like a crater hit our lawn... and he will come back in a couple of weeks to fill them with black soil - then we will plant grass for now.  They did save a couple of "cookies" from the stem of Dad's tree - and we have a branch.  They also cut down a small plum tree in the back, the one that you could see from mom's bedroom window.