Remodel, day 17
Sep. 13th, 2007 08:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynToday there was actual CONstruction, as opposed to only DEstruction. It was terribly exciting. Yesterday they poured the concrete footings for the support structure; they aren't doing a full dig for a wall foundation since that would be prohitiviely expensive and this is something they can do because of the small size of the addition. And today they put down the beams and floor joists as well as the bottom floor layer. Tomorrow the asbestos abatement guys come to take the flooring away, and then the project can kick into gear. We've had to hold on for a lot of things till that floor comes out.
We're having weekly meetings, too, and it really feels like things are happening. I simply could not envision what things would look like, the scale of the thing, until now, and it's freaking gigantic. To most people living in a larger house, it probably seems piddly, but they haven't even put the little landing porch on, and it seems like it's almost all the way out to the garage.
This is where the chimney used to be for whatever it was they used for heating -- oil furnace probably or something like that. Getting rid of the chimney makes me so unbelievably happy. Beyond words, I tell you. I have hated that thing most of all in the house since I moved in here. And I was deeply amused to see the giant blob on the other side of the wall. It has long driven me nuts that on the opposite side of that blob, there is this huge, poorly done warped chunk of putty that was never sanded flat. Painting it has always been a bitch, because they didn't sand or prime it initially, and paint cracks off in chips all the time. I could never figure out why they didn't put in a wall patch if they were closing up that hole, and I felt vindicated when I saw this giant pile upon pile of spackle, basically just shoved in there willy nilly. I've been griping about it for years, and now I can say, see, I told you they did a crap job.
This is Brent and Sonny putting in the concrete for the footings. It was interesting watching them -- they built these sort of sculptural pieces of rebar that they'd stick in there and then pile stuff up around it.
After they finished, he came back in to jackhammer away the footing of the chimney. My whole desk was vibrating. It was very entertaining. And noisy as hell. But you can see straight down into the horrid crawlspace. Shudder.
With all the water and stuff sprayed around during the cement run, the backyard became a mud pit, so Brent put these boards down, and it reminded me of all the westerns with the lumber that the ladies walked on. Olive, being a lady, of course used the walkway the gentleman had set down for her.
This is the addition without the floor structure. When they got the beams up, I was just astounded. I could finally see what I'd been talking about all these months.
After they finished putting down the base. This is taken from the south corner, up against the wall. It's hard to really give an idea of the size of it in a picture. But that's a whole lotta room for a dining table. The wall that is currently the exterior will be where the new counter bar runs. I used to have my whole kitchen and laundry and everything else in the space that will now be just the working triangle. My mind boggles.
Brent says I'm going to need roller skates just to get a drink of water. It really does seem that huge to me, and I figure if, with all he's seen, he thinks it's big, then it must be big. We were talking about how much it's going to transform the house, the ease of getting to the garage (no more long hikes in the rain, now I can dash quickly to the door in about 20 feet that used to be about 70, between the changes with the new garage and the addition).
Just for perspective, this is Olive at the wall, and I am at the edge of the base. I am really starting to get psyched about it.
We're having weekly meetings, too, and it really feels like things are happening. I simply could not envision what things would look like, the scale of the thing, until now, and it's freaking gigantic. To most people living in a larger house, it probably seems piddly, but they haven't even put the little landing porch on, and it seems like it's almost all the way out to the garage.
This is where the chimney used to be for whatever it was they used for heating -- oil furnace probably or something like that. Getting rid of the chimney makes me so unbelievably happy. Beyond words, I tell you. I have hated that thing most of all in the house since I moved in here. And I was deeply amused to see the giant blob on the other side of the wall. It has long driven me nuts that on the opposite side of that blob, there is this huge, poorly done warped chunk of putty that was never sanded flat. Painting it has always been a bitch, because they didn't sand or prime it initially, and paint cracks off in chips all the time. I could never figure out why they didn't put in a wall patch if they were closing up that hole, and I felt vindicated when I saw this giant pile upon pile of spackle, basically just shoved in there willy nilly. I've been griping about it for years, and now I can say, see, I told you they did a crap job.
This is Brent and Sonny putting in the concrete for the footings. It was interesting watching them -- they built these sort of sculptural pieces of rebar that they'd stick in there and then pile stuff up around it.
After they finished, he came back in to jackhammer away the footing of the chimney. My whole desk was vibrating. It was very entertaining. And noisy as hell. But you can see straight down into the horrid crawlspace. Shudder.
With all the water and stuff sprayed around during the cement run, the backyard became a mud pit, so Brent put these boards down, and it reminded me of all the westerns with the lumber that the ladies walked on. Olive, being a lady, of course used the walkway the gentleman had set down for her.
This is the addition without the floor structure. When they got the beams up, I was just astounded. I could finally see what I'd been talking about all these months.
After they finished putting down the base. This is taken from the south corner, up against the wall. It's hard to really give an idea of the size of it in a picture. But that's a whole lotta room for a dining table. The wall that is currently the exterior will be where the new counter bar runs. I used to have my whole kitchen and laundry and everything else in the space that will now be just the working triangle. My mind boggles.
Brent says I'm going to need roller skates just to get a drink of water. It really does seem that huge to me, and I figure if, with all he's seen, he thinks it's big, then it must be big. We were talking about how much it's going to transform the house, the ease of getting to the garage (no more long hikes in the rain, now I can dash quickly to the door in about 20 feet that used to be about 70, between the changes with the new garage and the addition).
Just for perspective, this is Olive at the wall, and I am at the edge of the base. I am really starting to get psyched about it.
