8/1: Mud, Glorious Mud!

It's so appropriate that they "mud" the house the day after we had rain and a plumbing leak. The first coat is on. I'm not sure how many coats will be needed but our guess is at least 3. As you can see, our garage door has also been installed. It's coming together!

7/26: The Man Cave

Isn't "Man Cave" just a great name for this project? One of Susan's friends came up with it and we have claimed it as our own! A lot has been happening with this project and the kitchen in the last two weeks, but most of it has been behind the scenes. The plumbing has been redone and we now have water and gas feeding into the garage. They had to tear up part of the kitchen, hallway, and the hall closet to achieve that so the inside of the house is a bit of a disaster. More on that later.
Electrical stuff has also been happening and they finished up the back wall. Two doors have been hung and the garage door should be going up soon. When I left for work this morning there were roofers on top of the garage. As you can see by the picture on the right, we are now papered and chicken-wired so the stucco can't be far behind.
As soon as we can secure the contents of the garage, we will move our kitchen stuff out there and begin the remodel on that. Yippee!!

7/12: We've Been Framed - Chapter Three

Yes! They called in a crane to place the header beam up where it belonged. It's a bit smaller than the one by work, but it was still exciting to watch. The crane operator told me the beam weighed 800 lbs. He's been doing this a long time and managed to land it right where it belonged at the back and only inches from the cut on the front. Just a little bit to the left and fell into place just like it was supposed to!
The guys worked really hard today and got so much accomplished. We now have cross bars for the roof and windows on the yard side of the garage.
They expect to wrap this up tomorrow. I'll have more pictures to share and an entire album of framing shots for those of you who want more detail.

7/11: We've Been Framed - Chapter Two

Today began with the sound of pneumatic nailers at 7 am. Unfortunatley, it was completely silent by 8 am. The guys with the lumber for the headers were late, so the crew was sent to another site.
Wouldn't you just know that the lumber arrived within 15 minutes of the crew leaving! It was fun watching the two guys unload the lumber. That big piece is 30x18x6 ... and mighty heavy!
The supervisor says the crew will be back in the morning and there should be lots more progress made on the framing.
The good news is that I work from home tomorrow and get some good pictures. I really want to see how they get that long header up where it needs to go. If they need a crane to get the giant piece of timber up where it goes, I know where they can get a great crane!

7/10: We've Been Framed - Chapter One

By 8 this morning the lumber truck was emptied in our front yard and the framers were ready to rumble. I really didn't want to leave and miss all the fun, but there are days when I actually have to go in to work and this was one of those days. It was a little overcast this morning and the guys were hoping for a cool day.
Lucky for me, I work close to home, so I was able to swing by at noon and get a few more pictures. I was really surprised at how much had been accomplished in just 4 hours! By the way, it was HOT at lunchtime. All the guys were sitting under the tree eating their lunches when I drove up. Smart!
I arrived home at 5 to find even more work done. I'm so glad I was able to get some noon. Otherwise, the shock might have been too much. These guys are fast! They expect to finish framing on Wednesday.

7/6: Concrete Evidence

Work began at 8 am just as promised. I love these guys! They've become accustomed to my camera now and just keep on working. It was really interesting to watch them pour and work the concrete. They have quite a system and work as a team. I had no idea how physical it was. I would call this backbreaking work!
By 9 am the concrete was poured and they were ready to do all the other secret stuff that masons do (a little nod to my dad here.)
I had to do a some research to understand the difference between concrete and cement. I know my dad and Tim have explained this to me more than once but it didn't really set. Cement is one of the elements in concrete and is what holds it all together. If you are bored enough to watch concrete dry*, click here for even more info: What is concrete anyway? If you are really, really bored you can see more of the concrete process in the photo album on the left.
*If you read carefully, you will discover that concrete doesn't dry, it hydrates!

7/3: A Firm Foundation

Every time I look at this, I think we should be playing a giant game of checkers! They finished the rebar for the foundation this morning. It was pretty cool to watch them cut it, bend it, and put it all together. The inspector was scheduled for Wednesday, but he was in the neighborhood and dropped by this afternoon. It was encouraging to hear him say that K-Co does such good work that he knew it would be a slam-dunk. We were scheduled for the concrete to be poured on Thursday. I have a call in to the supervisor to see if that moves up to Wednesday now that we've passed inspection. I sure don't want to miss that photo op! For those of you who have been wondering about the new drainage pipe, here's a shot of it with a bit of the old pipe thrown in for comparison. There seems to be a leak under the house, too, so we will be taking a look at that soon.
And for those of you who are so tired of looking at dirt, dirt, dirt, I took this picture of the front of the house this morning. As you can see, a few things are blooming and living through all the commotion going on around them. We are using that garden as our path to the front door, so it's getting a lot of wear and tear!

6/27: Rain and Drain ....

What are the chances of rain in June in San Diego? Pretty slim, but we had quite a thunder and lightning storm pass over our house this morning. It was quick and noisy and left the site quite muddy for awhile.
I came home tonight to find the plumbers making great strides laying new drain pipe from the house to the sewer. Apparently our ground was much harder than they expected so it took longer than they anticipated. They finished the job and turned the water back on right at 8 pm. They had a long, hot, dirty day! Another inspection tomorrow and then we move on!

6/23: Policies and Procedures

The other day I came home early and was resting on my bed with the window open. I could hear the guys working out front and was struck by how professional everyone was. Nobody was swearing, nobody was smoking, and nobody was talking "smack" about anyone. It was hard to believe I had a half dozen guys in my front yard working in the heat of the day. I was quite impressed, knowing that the same thing might not be true if someone was listening to my work group under some circumstances! I thought I'd share that bit and also this sign that is posted on the worksite. Perhaps many of us could use this in our daily lives!
You all know you can click on a picture to enlarge it, right?

6/23: Caption This!

Rob (the real supervisor) and Maddie (who thinks she's in charge) squared off this morning. This photo needs a caption, don't you think? Please join in the fun and help us decipher the body language!

• "I say it's up to code and I'll take no barking from you!"
• "It's going cost how much?"
• "I'm not the one who left the tools out!"
• "You want it finished when?"
  

6/21: Trenches and Water ...

This morning I was able to watch the guys finish digging the trenches and then dump the dirt on to garage floor. They used the bobcat to scoop up the dirt and dump it on the pad. I was wishing Karen was home to see it, remembering her affection for dump trucks. By the time I got home everything was smoothed out, tamped down, and covered with plastic. I believe an inspector is due tomorrow and foundation begins on Friday!
Old pipe + standing water = potential problems
We will have someone out to out to check for leaks. I wonder if he will have a divining rod with him? Keep a good thought for us!

6/20: Footings and Inspections

Oh yeah, look what we came home to today! It's getting more real as each day passes. The plumber and the superintendent were here when I got home and we discussed getting hot water to the garage for the washing machine. I'm still not sure how that will be accomplished but the current plan is to go through the roof from the water heater in the backyard. Stay tuned for more developments!
After the guys left, Maddie did some serious inspection of her own. No bones or tennis balls were in the trenches so she soon lost interest.

6/19: Goodbye Driveway!

7:30 ~The cement guys look over the plans and decide where to begin. It's way too early to make a lot of noise! It was hard for me to leave for work and miss all the fun. I want to drive the bobcat!
12:00 ~ Lunch time and I'm home checking up on the morning's progress. As you can see, a whole lot of digging and drilling has been going on!

The old shed that we inherited from Tim's dad in the late 70's didn't make the cut. It was given a manly farewell, and then it left on the back of the truck to be taken to the final resting place.
4:00 ~ Finished for the day and look how much has been accomplished! The stucco on the house wall is gone, the driveway and the garage pad are gone. For more pictures of today's adventure click here: Goodbye Driveway.

6/14: Goodbye Garage!

Joel got going on the garage wall first thing Wednesday morning. By the time I got dressed and could take a picture, the wall was gone!
About a half hour later, the front of the garage was on its way down. This process didn't take long. I told Joel I was documenting the project for my family and he joked that he hoped I wasn't documenting his last moments for his family! I think he only had to pull on the upright about 3 times before it fell.
It was quick work to finish everything after that. The garage was history by early afternoon. Maddie seems to be a bit confused about all this!
Here's a link to a full set of pictures since the beginning of the garage project. The demolition of the driveway and garage pad is scheduled to begin on Monday. Stay tuned!

6/13: Day one progress...

Here's how things looked at noon today. Daylight was peeking in and Joel was off to the dump with a lot of stuff.

By 2:30, the garage looked like the picture on the right. Even more daylight pouring through, and the garage door hardware almost removed. I am pleased to say that all the mess was all cleaned up before they left . Walls should come down tomorrow!

Nothing says construction ...

Like a Port-a-Potty in your front yard!
Let the construction begin. Today begins the demolition phase and it's already been exciting. Joel came by about 8:30 this morning and talked to me a bit about what he would be doing. He looked at the garage door and said he might just ram into it with his truck. I thought he was kidding ... silly me.
After clearing out all the shelving and the stuff we left for trash, he closed the garage door, got into the truck and backed right into the door! Cr-ash!!
I was only sorry I didn't have the camera in hand when it happened. Here's a shot of the garage without the doors and the shelves. Joel is now taking off the roof. Walls will be coming down this afternoon!

The Garage: 6/11/06 ...

After many hours of work, the garage is cleaned out and ready for destruction. The only things left in there are things to go into the construction trash bin, saving us a trip to the dump! It looks very empty, doesn't it?

We moved the table saw, drill press, and dryer on Sunday. They now have temporary homes on the patio all wrapped up in blue plastic. Tim (ever the space manager) left us enough room to still sit outside under the umbrella and barbeque during the time the new garage is being built.

The project supervisor met with us this afternoon to go over the plans and take a look at the site with us. If all goes well, and it should, a crew will be here tomorrow (Tuesday) by noon to begin the destruction phase. I've arranged to work at home so I'll be able to take pictures. And just in case the word wasn't passed down, Tim tagged the family growth chart!

New Email Feature!

Due to popular demand, I've added new functionality to this blog. You can now sign up to be emailed when the blog has been updated. I'm using a service called FeedBlitz and they promise no spam or other types of annoying email.

If you are interested in trying out the new feature, please sign up using the link on the left side of this page. Just add your email and then follow some simple instructions. That's it! The next time content is updated, you will be notified that evening by email . How cool is that?

Oh, by the way, I will be updating the blog on Wednesday and you won't want to miss that!

Permit In Hand

Yep, that's what Joe called to tell us today. He has the garage permit in hand! Yee-haw! We meet with Joe and his superintendent tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. We'll get a schedule at that point and know when destruction/construction will begin. I think we will see things start up next week!

Yard Sale: Our junk is someone's treasure!

Tim's yard sale was a resounding success! Who knew people would buy a box of screws or a chemistry set from the '60s? And it doesn't matter if electronics work or not ... they sell!

When we opened our door to set up at 6:30 this morning we already had people waiting. Guess they thought there were early-bird specials. We managed to set up around the eager buyers and make deals with my mostly forgotten Spanish. By 8 this morning we had $100 and the crowd was gone. As you can see by the picture, Tim and Rockie made the most of the rest of the day. Due to Tim's "just get rid of it" attitude, we closed up shop with about $150 in our pockets and the leftovers went straight to a local charity.

We will have another yard sale when the remodel is finished. Who knows what we will have to sell by then? I can make you a really good deal on a Beany Baby!