zoom in

Today is Friday the 13th of December and, I'm happy to report, a good day to end a productive week on the project that seemed destined to be remembered as the unlucky endeavor.  Seems that moniker can be dropped. Overhang was installed and painted and the corner column was wrapped.   No trim on the column but it's ready and should go up next week. Dan worked on closing the gap between the first and second levels. See how tight that gap is now.  Thanks to some real decent weather for December, Dan got most of the structure painted. He also got all the wiring for the lighting and the AC and heating unit completed. Holiday activities took over and I let the blog post take a backseat.  It's now Dec. 31st and I'm determined to close out the year with this post.  Here is what has been accomplished from where I left off. Insulation and drywall after the electrical inspection. Dan had a little help with the ceiling but managed the wa

I'm running out of titles for the roller-coaster ride of the renovation project that started in July. But, Nov. 20th marks the forward motion once again. This is about where we left off. Then came frigid temperatures and an early snow. When balmy temperatures returned, I took the opportunity to try out my paint colors. The steps make it hard to use a ladder to paint any higher.  It might have to look like this until spring unless we have a mild winter. Then, some good news.  A sunny day in the low sixties and my nephew, Ross, and his helper, John, were available to work on closing in the second story.  But, even better, my brother Dan spend the entire day on the job doing what he could, even though it has been only 14 days since he broke two ribs in a fall. Dan had painted some of the siding before hand so we are seeing the painted side on the left. Two sides covered.  One to go. They also picked up the doors that were on hold at Home Depot. Her

This is where we left off on in last post.  A couple days went by and...  then the restart button did what a restart button does, and we were off to a fresh start.  With three guys on the job, the project was in third gear. The decking boards came off and insulation and plywood went down in it's place. Scaffolding was set for the next phase. Framing of the south wall was secured in place and the window openings approved. That was a Friday, so here we are waiting in place for Monday to arrive. Monday turned into a half day because of rain overnight. The roof got some extra support. All those cross pieces on the pergola... ended up on the ground. The roof was ready for plywood. As you can see here, the roof is now covered and the east wall has been framed.  Going into a six day wait for available crew to proceed. Dan moved forward on his own as the six day wait for a crew turned into a 14 day wait. He framed the opening and inst

It's a new beginning on an old (seems long ago) project that could not proceed without the proper permits.  So one architect and five trips to city hall by my contractor, Dan, gave us the green light. It took a lot of effort on Dan's part to get this far.  He is responsible for most of the drawings which will help to give you an idea of where we are going with this project. This is the current view from of the east side facing Spring Ave. This is Dan's drawing of how the second story will look.  Although it is not obvious here, the enclosed second story will start about 5 feet back from the east edge of the lower level.  This will provide a balcony area overlooking the lower deck. Current view of the south side. The drawing shows how far back the balcony (railing) will go and what the rest of the south elevation will look like. The west side will not have any windows and is not visible from the street. My minor contribution to all this ho