Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

A lot has happened at the house in the last week. It went from looking like a mess of sticks back to somewhat resembling a house again. Check these out:

Here's the view from the back yard last week....

... and here it is yesterday. All of the openings are framed and the OSB sheathing has been installed.

This is the front door and stoop last week. Note the ugly little awning and barely framed window opening.

Here it was on Saturday. The awning was removed, the door and window framed and the OSB partially installed.

This was the view from the street on Saturday.

Saturday was also the day we received some bad news. The north wall (the one with the chimney above) had a pretty damaged foundation. Several cracks were visible and, as you will see below, it was leaning out of plane too.

This is a level we are trying to hold up against the edge of the wall. It was not possible because of how far the foundation was skewed.

2 1/2"!!!

Here is one of the cracks in the foundation.

Was the Bird of Paradise to blame? We're not sure....

It was pretty obvious that we needed a new foundation on the north wall. So, we got the permits to fix it, and Dan, our contractor, dug out the old one. In the photo above, the house has been temporarily supported from underneath, and the sill plate, rim joist, old concrete and plantings have all been removed and a new trench dug out. New rebar and formwork is in place just waiting for the concrete.

Getting to happier news, I know the above photo is a little confusing, but this is the new header between the living room and the kitchen being installed. There are temporary braces on either side of it to support the ceiling while the beam was put into place. The contractor is putting it so that the bottom of the beam is at the ceiling level. This will allow us to have a nice, open floor plan with no exposed beam after the wall is removed.

Here is a better shot of the new beam.

And here is the best news of all - Windows!! As of yesterday, two of the new windows had been installed!

Here's a shot from the inside of the living room...

...and another one from the front yard.

Here is the house's current occupant - look closely for the eyes!

Finally, amidst all of this chaos, Jason's little garden continues to grow. Check out this great tomato!!