Week One

So much is getting done this week!  Tuesday morning, August 9th, I went by the house on my way to work at 7:15.  I was so excited to see the framing people there!  They were getting started on removing the rotten soffits so that they could be replaced and/or repaired where necessary.  We also have a dumpster!  Never thought I'd be so glad to get one of those in my driveway.

I took some teacher friends over during our lunch break and gave them the tour.  I think the framers, Simon, and Tyler were a little surprised.  But, everyone from work was glad to see the house!  Simon told me that the new wood flooring was being ordered on Wednesday.  Woohoo!  Seeing some actual flooring is going to be exciting!

Graham went by after work to finish knocking down the brick wall.  The majority of it is done and cleaned up.  Getting the root out is going to be interesting...

On Wednesday, Mom and Russell came over to see the progress.  Graham was steady busy knocking out the gosh-awful tile counter tops in the kitchen and the roofers were steady working on the outside.  Russell even helped out on that part a little while they were over. 

The top layer of tile (this awful orange, dirty stuff) came up fairly easily.  However, it was sealed on with concrete and the bottom layer is much more difficult to remove.

We also decided that we are going to put up a wall in the basement to make a shop area for Graham and his tools.  We originally planned to put it in front of the windows, but the Broomes suggested putting it on the other end.  I think we will go with that.  It also looks like the basement will be getting finished sooner than later.  We are still waiting on the gutters to be able to be put on (which is still a ways away), but the contractor is going to get walls put up in the bathroom and the plumbing ready for Graham and Russell to add the fixtures.  As soon as we get the gutters up, hopefully next week some time, we will be able to move along with finishing the floor in the basement, etc.

On Wednesday we found out that the wood on the roof under the shingles was more rotten and soft than we thought and that all of it would have to be replaced.  That threw a slight wrench in the plan and budget, but has to be done.  I guess that's our first surprise.  Probably the first of many.

New roof is coming right along! That yellow front door...ugh. It still has to go!

I had "Meet and Greet the Teacher" day at work on Thursday.  It lasted close to 12 hours, so I didn't do much at the house.  Graham finished off the counter tops and the roofers got even closer to finishing the new roof!  I managed to go by with a pizza and to take a few pictures of the progress.

 Luckily Graham was able to remove the top layer of plywood instead of having to bust up all that concrete!

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It's hard to tell in this picture, but there was a huge antenna (I called it a lightening rod) attached to the chimney. So glad that the roofers took it down! And, so happy to see the new roof and no more rotten stuff!