And siding too? It's like Christmas!

The siding arrived today. It will be installed next week. And they took a piece out of the box to make sure it matches the existing siding... it's perfect.

more windows....

All the windows are in now. How cool is this?

Week 7 - grilles

Louie and Mark are making fast work of those windows. Only, we do have a problem. The grille pattern on the new windows doesn't match the old. Louie made a bunch of calls and we're considering a few different work-arounds at this point. One possibility is having custom windows made with the 6-over-6 pattern instead of 8-over-8, , then swapping them out when they come in.

Meanwhile I hear Scott is on vacation this week. See Scott, this never would have happened if you were here! (ok, maybe it would have... :)

Week 7 - Thursday morning... Windows from Wisconsin!

For those of you who thought our windows would never find their way to NJ, here's proof that they have. Louie sat in his truck this morning, waiting for our windows, and found out the driver had gone to his home address instead. But eventually they arrived here, and now Louie and Mark are installing windows as we type!

Week 7 - inspections

We had our fire, plumbing and electrical inspections yesterday and passed them all. Woo hoo!

Now if we could just get some windows..... *sigh*

Week 6 - no windows this week

The long-awaited windows were supposed to be delivered today, but they've been postponed by a week. Apparently the manufacturer in Wisconsin didn't have enough windows to deliver to NJ to make a full load, so they postponed delivery. Louie's problem is that the mechanincal inspections can't be done till the windows and siding are on. So even though the mechanicals are almost finished, the inspections will be delayed, unless he can talk the township into being flexible.

It's a bit of a monkey wrench for all. In the long run it won't set us back much, if at all. But I'm sure the men would really appreciate some windows up there.

Week 5 - metalic space creature invades attic

I was admiring the addition yesterday when I happened to look up and spot this metalic alien slithering along the ceiling joists. He had been lurking there, silent and motionless... I snapped this picture and started to run for my life, until I noticed that his giant metalic tentacles extend throughout the addition and even down into the ceiling of the original house.

But he seems to be friendly enough and I think we can co-exist once he's safely behind sheetrock. I'd even say, he's "cool"...

Week 5 - Wednesday

It's a party over here. The electricians, carpenters, plumbers and HVAC guy are all here. It's amazing to see all the mechanicals going in. There are 8 guys up there, walking around each other, stepping over each other's power cords - the efficiency with which this project has been handled so far is impressive.

Today we talked about where to put light fixtures, outlets, switches, and radiators. Now I can actually imagine living in the new space.

Week 5 - Monday

The HVAC guy spent the day here, installing the ducts for the new AC. He's done with the first floor and just has put in the second floor registers and hang the air handler. He did accidentally cut through an electrical line but he spliced it back together.

Tomorrow the plumber comes, and the electrician gets started later in the week.

I wonder when we should start to shop for light fixtures...

Week 4 - Wednesday... dumpster mayhem

To share with Erica the joy of having a dumpster, I thougth I'd take some pictures as the dumpster company took away our dumpster this afternoon. Good thing I was out there, too - because I was able to alert the driver that he was backing the dumpster up into the column that holds up the garage overhang, and was about to knock it off its footing completely. As it was, he only dislodged it a few inches, and Mark was on the scene immediately to bang it back into place.

It looks like the only harm done is the dented-up aluminum on the column, which they will replace.

Erica, see what you're missing?

Week 4 - Tuesday

Most of the framing is done. Here's the view of the stairwell, with the wall framed. On the other side of that wall will be the laundry room. To the left of the window is a small closet, which will house the litterbox. No more litter box in the bathroom!

All the windows are now framed, but 3 of them are not cut out yet. There is probably no reason to cut them out, since the windows can't go in for 2 more weeks.

Erica and Rob - the race is on to see who can get their windows in first!

Week 4 - Monday morning

The plan for this week, says Scott, is "lots of framing". The windows won't be available for 2 more weeks, and the siding goes on after that. But the crew is still accomplishing a lot. They plan to have all the faming done by Wednesday.

Here's Mark standing in what will soon be a hallway. And here's a view of the unframed stairwell.

We also decided to carve out a small linen closet (about 2.5 feet wide) out of one of the bedroom closets. It was a huge closet, about 7' long by 2.5' deep. And considering that will be Ethan's bedroom, and he owns exactly one shirt that needs to be hung up, his closet was likely to become my overflow storage space for clothes that no longer fit but *will fit again one day*.. in other words, he doesnt (or rather, I don't) need such big closet.

Week 3 - Friday

The crew is working (loudly!) but it's not glamorous work at this point - firestops, strongbacks, and ceiling joists. They did pass the floor inspection but can't put the floor down until the HVAC guy installs the AC ducts that will drop down to the first floor. Supposedly that work is scheduled for next week. So nothing too exciting will happen between now and then.

oh, and in case you are wondering what a strongback is, I looked it up: "A nominal two inch thick framing member attached in the perpendicular to floor or roof trusses, placed vertically against the truss web. " There ya go :)

Week 3 - Tuesday

It was 100 degrees outside today, but it was a good 120 degrees in the addition. How anyone can work for 8 hours in that space is beyond me.

Louie, Scott and Mark - you guys are awesome. I so owe you guys a case of beer for this... :)