Last week was full of framing. Framing is great because so much changes visually in a short amount of time, it’s really easy to see the progress. At the start of last week, we only had the verticals beneath the family room set. By the end of the week, the floor of the family room and the deck are down and we even have a few walls! There are a lot of pictures in the photo gallery, but here are a few highlights.

September 13, 2011

Floor!

September 16, 2011

There’s no danger of falling six feet to the ground when we open the kitchen door anymore. Those deck stairs are temporary (they’re the old deck stairs). It allows for much easier access than a ladder. Harley can get into the backyard again, and he’s much happier for it.

Dixieline came by on Thursday to drop the next delivery of wood. When they say “wood drop”, they mean it literally.

If you can’t get the embedded video to play, here’s the YouTube link: Wood Drop.

Also on Thursday, Marty poked his head in to let us know that they’d be removing the sliding glass door from our bedroom and putting in the bedroom door. Meaning that everything along that wall needed to be moved. Since that’s my sewing corner, and I’m in the middle of a few orders and some personal sewing projects, I was a bit frantic. I looked kinda like Harley does here, but thankfully Clarke didn’t take any pictures of me.

Rearranging the bedroom/sewing corner

We shuffled everything away from the wall into the living room, dining room, office and on the bed. When we had started construction, I had gone through and cleaned up and out a bunch of stuff, putting away things that wouldn’t be needed for a few months. However, I’ve been busy sewing quite a bit since then so the piles had reappeared by the time we need to move things.

No more sliding glass door

They had the wall covered and the bedroom door in by the time I got home from work and Clarke moved the critical items back to where they belong. In a few weeks (or less), the bedroom will be completely shuffled when they put in the new window along the big wall. For now though, it’s like a cave in there.

Cave

Home Addition Photo Gallery

After the rain delay on Tuesday last week, we were all anxious to get the framing started. Marty and Scott started in bright and early on Wednesday and got most of the first layer of framing done.

September 7, 2011

Things went smoothly again on Thursday and they managed to finish up for the day about 5 minutes before the huge San Diego Blackout. By the time I got home from work (it took 30 minutes for 2 miles), taking progress pictures was the last thing on my mind.

We hit a snag on Friday. The floor in our kitchen, which will lead to the family room, is higher than the rest of the house. Not surprising since it’s the only room in the house that has updated flooring that sits on top of the original. We knew this but hadn’t realized how much of a problem it would be. To add a bit more complication, the floor from the baby’s room (currently our bedroom) which will lead into the family room also, is lower than expected because our 80+ year old house is sinking on that side. By mid-day on Friday, Marty and Scott had gotten to this point:

September 9, 2011

and had to stop because they determined that to make the best of the uneven floor situation, the verticals of the framing needed to be about two inches shorter. So Marty came over on Saturday, removed the top horizontals, cut down each of the verticals and replaced the horizontals.

September 10, 2011

Scott had dropped off a trailer for the remaining dirt on Thursday so Clarke spent some of each day, Thursday through Sunday, shoveling the dirt into the trailer. Greggy came over Sunday to help finish it off.

Almost gone!

No more dirt!

Home Addition Photo Gallery

The inspector came Tuesday morning last week and gave us the Ok to go ahead with the foundation pour on Wednesday.

August 30, 2011

This is the only photo we have of the concrete pour because immediately after taking this, Clarke got recruited into helping shovel dirt.

August 31, 2011

Two truckloads of concrete later, we had this:

August 31, 2011

After two days to let the concrete set, Marty came back to remove the wood frames and to show me the little surprise he set into the foundation for me.

September 2, 2011

September 2, 2011

Clarke and Marty spent Labor Day morning leveling out the fill dirt to be prepared for framing on Tuesday morning.

September 5, 2011

But unfortunately, we woke up to this today.

September 6, 2011

I love random tropical storms…the look of the clouds, the smell of rain in the air, the sound of rain on my roof. Just not when it delays my construction. It’s supposed to be clear by tonight so hopefully it’s a one-day-only delay.

Home Addition Photo Gallery

Not too much to report after the third week. The framing and rebar for the foundation has been laid. The screw up by the engineer is on its way to being fixed and we’re able to move ahead with plans. Hopefully the inspection will happen on Tuesday this week and the concrete will begin pouring on Wednesday. We were able to get rid of about half our dirt, but still have plenty if you need it!

August 26, 2011

Friends from Kanaka Outrigger Canoe Club come to take away some dirt

Home Addition Photo Gallery

Over the previous weekend, we were able to get rid of all the old deck wood thanks to Craigslist. We had intended to reuse it for the new deck, but it turns out the deck was put together poorly before (and we’re pretty sure it was unpermitted) so the majority of the wood was unusable.

No more old wood

Marty and Scott came in Monday morning and chalked out the lines for digging the foundation.

August 15, 2011

Over the next couple of days, they dug out the areas to pour to concrete for the foundation using The Excavator and shovels.

August 18, 2011

Now, we’ve hit our first delay. Turns out the engineer who helped draw the plans missed some critical information for the foundation so we’re waiting on him to fix it and then the revised plans have to go back to the city. Sims Constructions should be able to continue working on other parts for the next few days while we wait for the engineer and the city. In the meantime, I’m getting more pregnant every day.

26 weeks pregnant, 2 weeks into construction

Home Addition Photo Gallery

Most of Wednesday was spent breaking up the stucco and removing it from the chicken wire frames. This has to be done in order for it to be recycled.

August 10, 2011

On Thursday, they brought in a Bobcat to remove the concrete stairs because it would have taken several days to remove them by hand. Clarke said the house was shaking so much, he’s surprised it didn’t fall down.

August 11, 2011

By the end of the day on Friday, all the concrete was removed from the yard and the dirt leveled out.

August 12, 2011

They found several treasures in the process including a bank deposit book from 1945.

August 12, 2011

Home Addition Photo Gallery

Marty & Scott have been busy! This was the state of the house as of Friday afternoon after Clarke had done a bunch of work:

August 4, 2011

After one day of Sims Construction doing their thing. No more deck railing or back wall stucco.

August 8, 2011

I came home for lunch yesterday (day two) to find the deck completely gone. Clarke finished removing all the bricks.

August 9, 2011

By the time I got home from work the major concrete areas had been removed. This is the view from the kitchen door.

August 9, 2011

Poor Harley has been without a backyard for a few days now, but he’s holding up well and isn’t barking (as much) at the guys in the backyard.

Where's my yard?

There are plenty more pictures in my Photo Gallery. Newest pictures at the top.

About a year and one month ago (right after our housewarming party) we had a contractor give us an estimate for putting an addition on our house. We want another bedroom and bathroom, preferably on top of our house to take advantage of the ocean view. But the estimate came back WAY too much for what we could afford, and would require us to move out during construction. So we tried another option, this time for adding a single room (with bathroom) on top of our garage as an office for Clarke. When the estimate came back (much more affordable) it also required that the garage be entirely rebuilt. We figured that if they can build a two-story structure for that price, then why not build it on the back of our house (not on top). So in January we began again with the draftsman and contractor to create an addition that would satisfy both our designs and our budget. Five months later, the draftsman finally had the plans done. Then we waited for the city to approve everything, which took about two months. We have the plans, we have the permits, we have a baby coming in three months. Our contractor (and friend) Marty Sims of Sims Construction, doesn’t think the timeline will be a problem, although he admits that it will be a close call. Hopefully (?) Baby Girl doesn’t come early.

The official “before” picture (although all deck furniture and BBQ have been removed already and the outdoor shower is currently residing in the back half of the yard).

July 26, 2011

Clarke (and various friends) have helped to trim back the hedge on the right, find a good home for our large tropical plant, and remove the deck roof and some bricks.

August 4, 2011

Currently, we’re waiting to hear from Dixieline if our lumber and hardware are ready to go.

More home addition pictures

To be continued…