06 January 2008

3 Month Recap....

Happy New Year Everyone!

I have to admit that I heard a lot of "What's going on with the house. Why haven't you updated your blog?" over the holiday season....well, it hasn't been because we haven't been doing any work. We've actually gotten a lot done, not least of which because we were able to call our electrician and plumber back to the house to finish their rough work. And as of this weekend, we are elated to say that the stars aligned, and we now have laundry in the house!!! I think the last time that I didn't have to haul laundry bags downstairs or feed coins into a machine was when I lived with my parents, so this is truly a happy day.

Here's what we've been up to for the last few months:



First, it was time to build more walls.


Here's the opening between our bedroom and the laundry room.



We built the walls on the ground and then tilted them into place....



...like this.



Here's Jason using the nail gun.



The walls in place. I'm standing in what will be the laundry room, and Jason is in the hall. The bedroom is on the other side of the new walls.



Next, we installed the bedroom door. This is it from the inside...



...and here it is from the outside of the room.



Jason and Leif patching the ceiling...I'm a little short for that kind of work.



Uh-oh!! That face is never a good sign!



After we installed the laundry room door header, I'm putting in the framing for the dropped ceiling.



With the walls built, it was time to call Mark the Electrician and Saul the Plumber! At this point, our 'critical path' for construction is to get the laundry room working.



Here's the kitchen wall that will someday have the fridge, oven and microwave.



One of the things we needed done by the plumber was a new clean-out for the septic line. In doing that, Saul discovered that the cast iron sewer pipe was toast. In his words, 'you cannot tell where the dirt starts and the rust stops....and the whole pipe is rust'. So, the whole thing had to be replaced under the house. Ah, the joys of home ownership!



In the midst of all this, we can't neglect the yard.


Is Jason sweeping the grass?



Here's the laundry room all piped and wired and inspected and ready to be closed up



It is located between the two bedrooms, so we're putting sound insulation around everything.



Ta-Da!



We finished the wall, and called Saul and Mark back to finish their part.



Here they are, in all their glory! The washer and dryer are plugged-in, connected and fully functional. Many thanks to Oda for her donation of the machines to our cause. :)



This is our new tankless water heater



And everybody is happy!