DW2DT Day 24: Coming Into Focus

Things have been moving along on the exterior of the house over the past few days.  We're nearing completion on the siding, with at least 75% of each side complete.  We're waiting on the new sliders on one side, the power company on another, and the front was waiting on the farmers porch, which has started to take shape.  The new front door should be in next week and the façade can be completed.  It feels good to have the outside coming close to being wrapped up - water tight and secure, and I'm getting anxious to start seeing the inside come together.

 

DW2DT: Sneak Peak First Floor Layout

My mom and dad sent me an email today, apparently they were wanting to lay out the furniture in their room/the office, and they weren't quite sure about the dimensions.  Well, maybe the real story is that we hadn't shared the final floor plans with them and they wanted to put the pictures into context, I'm really not sure which.  Anyway, here you have it, the first floor layout.  The outside corners pretty much stay the same, but that's it!

DW2DT Day 20 - What Color, You Ask?

Yesterday morning (yes, Saturday) we were just beginning to stir, when I heard someone fiddling around with the construction trailers in the yard.  I peeked out the window to see "the guys".  I was surprised, but happy to see them, since we lost a couple of partial days due to some rainy weather.   They finished putting the windows in on Friday along with a few other things.  On Saturday, they started on the siding.   So, if you were wondering what color exterior we chose, here you go!  A little bland, by some measures, but hopefully it will stand the test of time..

 

 

Foto Finish Friday: 2013 Week 29

 

DW2DT: Camper Life

You may be wondering how we're doing with living in a camper, now that we're two and a half weeks in.  The short answer is just fine.  I get a lot of funny comments at work, things like "Wow you look pretty well put together for living in a tin can" was the latest winner.  Anyway, it's all in fun.

We have our moments, like this idyllic scene observed here earlier this evening:



Camper Story Time

On a more serious note, I think we're getting into a groove.  I buffer a lot of things in my van, like backpacks for swimming lessons (repack and toss in the van same day), birthday presents (Amazon.com box goes directly from the back step to the back of the van) and shoes (Roddie and I both hate getting our feet wet in the morning, so we swap in the van).

Laundry has taken on a new challenge with the need to hang things on the line.  Being home with Rod during the day and a heatwave last week gave me ample opportunity to get caught up (and a load of towels at Marsha's didn't hut either) but I took a bit of a risk putting a load out the other evening, just before dark.  I woke up to POURING rain (in fact, the guys did not come to work on the house that day).  Alas, what could I do?  I just left if there and got it today - only one T-shirt had bird turd on it.  The second floor laundry will be a DREAM after this!

So far, I've continued to cook in the house.  We have a gas stove and the fridge still has power, so why do it in the small space if I don't have to?  In a way, we have more fridge space than we did before (how's that for glass half full??)

The lack of privacy is sometimes challenging, the "master" bedroom has only room for the bed, so we get dressed in the main room.  There is no door to the kids room (only a curtain type thing) so we need to keep quiet until the kids pass out (thus, all the extra blogging time, it's a quiet activity) and I long for a long, hot shower (work trip anyone???  pick me!!!)  I've actually been working with the facilities guy at work to get the showers there up to an acceptable standard, so maybe I won't need to skip town afterall.

But all in all, it's pretty manageable.  I am always on the look out for opportunities for other things to do, though haven't had need to really use them yet - I am sure the fact that it's summer is a factor there.  I think Matt and I are both really glad we decided to stay on site and not somewhere else.  in addition to the added security of being present here (caught one guy casing the joint already) being able to see the progress daily is really exciting!

DW2DT: Day 17 - Starting to Look Like a Home (Again)

17 days in, we're still at the point where it's exiting to go home every day and see what they did!  Usually, Matt gets home before I do, and sometimes even gives me a report before I arrive.  But today,  I arrived first to find that our shell of a house was starting to look like a place to live again...roof on, windows in - at least on the front of the house!

 

I actually didn't notice that they windows in the living room were out already until I went inside to cook dinner - whoa!  Where's the window?  We're actually reconfiguring this set of windows into a pair of the same windows that are in the upstairs rooms...

So it, will look pretty much like this - the windows in the master bedroom, which sits directly above the living room.  The windows should be lined up between the floors - thus, this is what it should look like.  And oh year, the master bedroom is awesome!

This is kind of a funny one, it's in the foyer, over a 2 story space - pretty certain it will never get opened since I am not sure how we'd ever reach it.  We need to pick some kind of interesting light fixture to go in this space but I am excited about how the space looks.

Roddie Report: Cartographer?

Roddie is really cracking me up lately, I guess he's really starting to think about the future.  Like the other day, when he said he wanted a helicopter for Christmas.  Or the other time, when he said he wanted to have a pickup truck when he grows up.  Or today, he told Matt he was going to play a guitar in a band when he was bigger.

I think his future may lay in cartography...you know... map making.  He produced this map a week or two ago, showing how to get from our house to Sandy Beach, the neighborhood swimming spot.

I really think he has a future here, you know if the guitar-playing pickup truck driving heartthrob thing doesn't pan out...

 

DW2DT: Day 14, Finishes, Finishes, Finishes

No work on the house was done today (correction, Matt did strip the last of the siding, uncovering even more ant riddled rotten wood near the chimney) but much progress was made.  We were able to agree on not only a front door, but a back door too.  We also chose tiles for the foyer downstairs, both bathrooms upstairs AND the vanity for the kids bathroom (although, we almost like what we chose for them better than what we got ourselves, so maybe we'll swap!)   It was a long day at the 'Po and Lowe's with a lot of online follow up, but I think we're set!  Next up is bath fixtures and lighting... I think we'll get rid of the kids for a few hours to look after that as we really pushed our luck today.  On the up side, they both fell asleep in the car on the way home and had  hour naps!  Trailer life is catching up with them!

On Friday the guys got the roof built, up to the sheathing - man, the house looks TALL!  Could be the giant green tarp that's covering it at the moment - we were expecting a bit thunderstorm yesterday that never arrived, so Tim and Russ, the framer, were here on Saturday morning making sure the place was buttoned up tight.  I assume they will all be a lot happier this week now that the humidity and heat has broken a bit.

The kids and I took advantage of a neighbor's hospitality (I should say one of many neighbors - so many have offered us various types of assistance!)  M's husband is traveling and she's on her own with the two kids, so it was mutually beneficial for us all - the kids played, she made us yummy pancakes and I did a load of towels - the rest of the laundry has been line-dried, which honestly has been fine so far.  The only problem is that it was so hot this past week that everything was baked dry, so it was stiff and a bit wrinkly!
This week, we expect to see the roof on, windows going in, and possibly moves on the porch/deck and interior framing...exciting times!
2 weeks down, 14 to go

DW2DT: Things I Won't Miss

3. Mossy Yellow Siding

DW2DT: Things I Won't Miss

2. Franken-Pergola

Foto Finish Friday: 2013 Week 28

I have to break tradition and comment...looks like a real campsite, doesn't it?

Norah News: This Girl Can READ!



Norah has been flirting with reading for about 6 months now.  It's been a little hard for me to let her come around at her own pace - she's been able to sound out words for ages, but just didn't seem interested in sitting and working at it for any amount of time.  So, I'd ask if she wanted to read, and if she said "no", I'd let it go.  I suspect she's been "practicing" on her own, because she regularly corrects me if I read a sign or a label wrong. 

This Girl Can Read!

Anyway, this evening Roddie chose "Hop on Pop" for his bedtime choice, and Norah decided that she'd read it - and so she did!  It's a beginning reading book, with a lot of rhyming on each page, but she picked it up and read the first dozen pages or so like it was nothing!  It's hard to know who was more thrilled, me, Norah or Roddie!

DW2DT: Day 11 - First View of Second Floor

Things are moving along back at the house - I actually went to work today, although Matt was home with Roddie.  I imagine it felt a little funky for Matt to be here while guys were working on our house.  We're on Day 5 of the heat wave, and it's starting to slow things down.  I suppose it's preferable to rain slowing things down, and I imagine the guys must be hurting. 

In any case, the front walls went up today, and we're on track to at least get the roof sheeting on before the rains come in on Saturday afternoon that will break the heat.  We finally got to actually walk up the stairs and check out the view from up high (AWESOME!)  Much like the first floor, the second floor seems small to me when it's totally open.. thankfully the first floor felt better when the walls went back in and I assume the second floor will as well.  When the whole space is open, it's really hard to imagine the 4 of us were living in it!

 

Officer Roddie in his CozyCoupe, checking out the scene

Ta-da!  Second Floor!

Hard to imagine all this is going to fit in there!

View from the kids bathroom

This last picture Matt actually took a couple of days ago.  It shows the new stairs!  For those of you who've had to listen to us figure this out for the past 5 years, you know that we had a really hard time figuring out where the stairs would go... so far, I'm thrilled!  It will be open to the second floor just as it is here.  For reference, the original door was about where the landing is, and the new door, to the right is just about where the toilet was.

The stairs, enough said!

Roddie Report: Home Alone

I’ve been home with Roddie most of the past two days – he has a little GI issue and can’t go to school (or to the beach, sigh…)  but other than that he felt fine – no temp, not cranky.  Complicating matters was the fact that, in addition to the DW2DT project going on all around us, we’re in the middle of a heat wave here, and temps easily hit 100 deg F!

In any case, Roddie was perfectly pleasant to have around.  I taught him how to make ramps for his cars with books and other toys, and he was in heaven!  He played at this task for a good 30 minutes or so.  I was struck, as I frequently am, about how different boys and girls play, or at least my boy and my girl.  While he was doing this, I was working on my laptop at the table.  At one point he looked up and me and said “Mom, for the next Christmas, I want a helicopter” (of course it was really cute as he can’t quite say Christmas or helicopter)  I said “OK buddy, we’ll see what we can do”  then he looked at me thru those adorable eyelashes and said “A Big one, (pointing up) so we can fly, up in the sky”  Oh. Boy.

A little later, I had to call into a meeting at the office.  Since our house phone still resides, well, in the house, I took it on my iphone, using the headphones to drown out the TV and AC noise (it’s a hoot, living in a trailer!)   He was snuggle dup for a little “quiet” time with the TV.  Mid way thru, while I was speaking he comes over, touches my arm and says “Mommy, I Yuv (love) you”  and gave me that melt-your-heart smile!  He was pretty good after that, until about 10 minutes before the hour long meeting was about to wrap up.  So… after I changed him (phone in pocket, headphones on” I snuggled with him on the sofa, still listening in to the call.  He noticed the white wires and asked what they were.  So… I put one up to his ear – just about blew his mind!  “There is a boy in there”, “There is a girl in there”, switching back and forth between ears etc.  Good times, and it bought me the extra few minutes until the call was over.  Whew! 

 

Checking out my Staff Meeting

Look Mom, Me Do Like Nanny Does!

Playing with Cars

Quiet Reading Time

It occurs to me that these pictures make it look like Rod and I were on vacation the past few days, which I guess he kinda was, but it was anything but for me!

DW2DT Day 10: Build it Up Again!

I almost hated to leave this morning, as knew the second floor was going to start coming together today!  I left around 7:30 and by about 9:45 Matt sent me the following photo from Tim:

The walls...

Shortly thereafter, as luck (?) would have it, Roddie got sent home from school again, so I had to go and pick him up.  Here's what I found when I got home:

The View from Laura's, where we parked

Whoo hoo, the house is getting bigger by the minute... well, I guess it won't get any bigger than this, but you know what I mean.  Tim and the guys were eating burgers and dogs when Rod and I arrived, so I had one with them and chatted a bit.  It's hot weather for this kind of work, and they were dragging after the 3rd day in a row of a heatwave and a couple more to go before the thunderstorms (!!) roll in over the weekend and break the heat!

Here's the view from our driveway, you can see the relocated front door.

The view from backyard... see those two windows near the middle - BOTH are bathrooms!

DW2DT: Day 8 Decapitation

It's always interesting to see what I come home to these days... today was a disappointment at first, but that's mainly because my expectations weren't realistic!  When I saw the guys working like crazy this morning I was sure the house would be starting to take on it's final DT (Double Tall) configuration.  Alas, here's what I came home to:

Matt's on 2nd, 2md FLOOR that is...

Although, as you can see, there really isn't a "floor" to speak of... yet



Yeah, that's right, it's gonna be a starry sky in the foyer tonight!

This is what happens to the beams in the picture from last week...

So, while I was initially a little disappointed, when I really thought about what needed to be done today, I realized that it would have been pretty amazing to have the decking done, never mind the framing and all the rest, and that doesn't even consider the fact that it was over 90 degrees out and very very humid.  Also, the balance of the framing wood wasn't delivered until today.  Check it out, all of this wood is going into our house (and a lot more actually... there are two bundles of plywood and zip board not shown and at least another load or two to come.) 

Wood, wood, as far as the eye can see...

You'll also note that the dumpster is full again - between what Matt did over the weekend and the roof, it's time to reload again.  There are 6 planned for the whole job, and it's hard to imagine what else there is to take away, but I imagine we'll see that as it comes. 

It's a little disconcerting having the roof of the house wide open, but thankfully the weather looks good.  I'm more concerned about critters, since my kitchen, while still under a plaster ceiling, is adjacent to the open space... halloo raccoons!  Hopefully they will not figure out how to scale and walls and get in and we'll get buttoned up tomorrow.  I wish there was a tarp over it, but I guess when it comes right down to it, that really wouldn't keep anything beyond a slight mist out anyway, so we'll roll the dice and see what tomorrow brings.

Speaking of tomorrow, it ought to be interesting.  The heat wave continues, and Roddie and I will be home tomorrow as he's got a little belly bug and can't go to school.  Should be an interesting day.  Maybe we'll just sit in the AC and watch the house go up!

DW2DT: It's a great day to RAISE THE ROOF!

The forecast calls for a lot of heat and humidity this week, a great time to head to the beach, or, say, tear the roof off your house! Turns out today is the day to get the roof off, and Tim and the team didn't waste a minute, getting right at it first thing this morning. The picture below was taken as the kids and I were leaving for the day - you can see about a third of the roof sheathing is already gone.

Sometimes in the mornings, if we're ready early the gets get to watch a little TV - but today Curious George had nothing on "Five Guys on Your Roof"! They were glued to the camper windows as the guys started appearing on the roof... they were wondering how they got up there, and it nearly blew their little minds when they started actually ripping the roof off. Norah said she was a little sad, which I think it ok, especially since she was easily placated by thoughts of not having to share a bathroom sink with her brother any more! (note, the bedroom didn't ease her unrest, just the sink - you can imagine what mornings are like around here)

I expect when I get home today, the engineered beams shown in the photo below will be in place where the roof once was... exciting times!

 

DW2DT: Things I won't miss

1. Eagles

DW2DT: Day 5 - Stairs!

Seeing the stairs in the space really gives a sense of how the new layout is going to flow. It makes it feel less overwhelming than yesterday!

Looking forward to next week's progress - plan is to get the roof raised! Fingers crossed for good weather!Progress continued today with the framing of some of the new walls - coat closet, office wall and door and the biggest news - the beginnings of the stairs to the second floor!

Friday Night Fun!

Foto Finish Friday: 2013 Week 27

DW2DT: Day 4 - Big Moves

Things are a movin' and a shakin' here at the Double Wide to Double Tall project!  Day 1 started out alright, day 2 and 3 things continued - a dumpster arrived, a porta potty arrived, we chose a siding color, the wood from the soon to be foyer was "harvested" to repair some areas where walls would be removed... progress, to be sure, but NOTHING compared to Day 4, today.

I knew it had been a big day when Matt called to tell me that Tim, our builder, was ready to swap dumpster #1 (of 6) for #2.  I had a good feeling that morning, since when I left there were a half dozen burly guys already at the house, tearing up some shrubbery from the front.  That said, what I found when I got home beyond what I had expected for the day.  Not only were the shingles gone (thus the green tarp) but also all of the interior walls that are to be removed.  The front door is also MIA, as planned.

The scene

From "Family Fun Room" (formerly our bedroom) looking into the dining room into the kitchen beyond.  Looking through where our closet once was...

Another view of same, you can see the corner where our door and the linen closet was

The entire front half of the house, from the living room facing into what was the kids room, Matt and the kids are standing in what was the bathroom, next to the new front door

It's pretty overwhelming and there is absolutely no question that we have definitely hit the point of no return this time!  I am amazed at how big the space doesn't look - especially given that we've been living here for over 7 years! 

Trailer life is going alright, as Matt has written the kids are adjusting, but we're still getting there.  I feel like the morning routine is getting to where we need to be, but the evenings are still a mess!  We're still eating last week's leftovers and the issues with the trailer electric are annoying, although manageable,  Certainly seeing big progress on the house makes it all seem better!

Overall, I must admit the whole thing seems a bit surreal, in a way.  We've thought about this project and planned and re planned it for so long, it doesn't seem possible that it's really happening - but apparently, it is!



DW2DT: Day 1 Report

Well things really did get started yesterday, it wasn’t a dream!  When I got home last night there was a temporary power pole set up in the front yard, and a large portion of the plumbing that used to reside in the basement was alongside the house.  The existing bathroom is also on it's way to disassembly.  In other news, we now have AC in the trailer, so life there has improved as well.  We’re still working out some tweaks in our daily routine, but even that is going alright.  I think we may have finally hit the point of no return!

 

1 day down, 112 or so more to go. 

Temp source of juice for all things powered

 

Pipes formerly located in the basement!

DW2DT: Day 1

It’s hard to believe it’s really happening, but it is! 

Construction Permit in the window!

We woke up in the trailer for our first ‘real’ day – the house is all but off limits and we have to make due from now until Thanksgiving or so in the trailer.  The reality has set in, and we were all a little off this morning –cranky kids, Matt and I somewhat subdued as we fully accepted what we’ve signed up for.  The kids were ready early and we honestly didn’t really know what to do with ourselves… playing outside seemed obvious and counterintuitive at the same time as its usually not a morning option…

Our Summer Home 2013

I think we all perked up when Tim, our builder arrived as promised at 7:00 am and started walking thru his plans for the next few days with Matt as the kids and I set off for Norah’s dentist appointment.  There was no ceremonial smashing of a wall with a sledgehammer like on HGTV, but just as surely, things are underway!  I can’t wait to see what’s changed when we get home tonight, but am trying to hold my expectations in check as demo doesn’t begin in earnest until mid-week.