Lots of Progress

Rich has been off this whole week between Christmas and New Year's, so we have been able to get quite a bit done. There is now no evidence that a "trailer" was ever on the property. Well, really there is, but nothing that would deter us from modifying the loan. That is a big load off everyone's mind. We filled up our 2nd dumpster's worth of debris, and finally the pile of trash is gone. George, Vicki, and I did that yesterday. I have soreness in just about every muscle including my thumbs.


Now begins kind of a fun part. We are ready to put up insulation and siding on the walls where the trailer used to be. The part to remain covered by a roof we have taken to calling the barn. The ground of it is very hard and dry since it is the part that was under the trailer. We plan on using medium to large sized stones spaced apart as ground cover and filling in the gaps with crushed granite. That was our compromise - Rich wanted to concrete the whole thing, but I wanted a little more of a natural look. Some of you may remember the pass through window we had from the trailer "dining area" to the game room. We are going to install 8 foot tall french doors in that space. We originally wanted to put in a clear roll up garage door, but time and money are constraints in that area. I will take pictures of our progress this weekend.


The new house now has light fixtures, electricity, and heat which is good. Yesterday the attic insulation was blown in. I think just after the New Year the countertops and tub surround will be installed. It looks like we may be done in a few weeks. I think what is holding us back the most is the septic system. It turns out, per an engineer that our tank is large enough for the house, but the drainage field doesn't meet code. So, Rich needs to dig two 5 foot deep by two foot wide holes so the engineer can determine if our soil is just unrocky enough to install another drain field. If so, that is the easiest fix (even though we will still need to get a permit from the county - ARRRGGHHH - although it isn't supposed to be as lengthy an experience as a building permit). If not we may have to install an entirely new system. But, we don't think that will be the case.

Here are some pictures from the 23rd of demo. That is me running up the trailer's slippery roof.

Cabinets are in

Our cabinets were installed yesterday. They look nice. No exciting details about them. The people will be out today to measure for the countertops, but they probably won't be in until next week or possibly at the beginning of next year. The sheetrockers were out today to repair JJ's escape hatch. We made sure that all kitties were inside last night and that all the doors to the new house were closed. They had actually already put up the new sheetrock before I left for work this morning. Good job!

The electric company is supposed to be out today or sometime this week to install a new meter. We will have two meters for a time. This was necessary to keep power to the old house while having underground power to the new house. As soon as we have moved to the new house I think we are going to convert the old house power to the new meter. I don't really care about that though.

All of the lights are supposed to be delivered this week since they are going to be installed this weekend. So, by the weekend we should have lights and heat in the new house. There goes my excuse for getting home early - now I will be able to see the progress no matter what time it is.

Oh we (mostly Rich and Bob, but I think that Rich must be feeling Christmasy because I got the final say so, which NEVER happens voluntarily) also came up with a plan for the steps that lead up to the house. I think it's going to be pretty cool, and I may just keep that a secret until the end.

Here are the latest pics, including one of JJ. (I did take him to the vet yesterday and he was perfectly healthy other than being skinny)

Master bathroom (two sinks, two sets of drawers)

Looking at kitchen from breakfast nook

Looking at kitchen towards living room and utility

Looking at kitchen from living room

Demo progress

JJ the wonder cat

Slightly Less Lengthy Post with Pictures

The painters finished up on Friday. The color of the walls is called Summertime while the baseboards and trim around the doors and windows is white. All the interior doors are painted and on site, ready to be installed. We have shelves in the closets and utility room and sills on the windows (YAY!! One thing lacking in the old house).

On Saturday Bob (the builder) was over to help us lay the electrical wire into the conduit and then down into the trench that Rich dug several weeks ago. My part in all if this was to help dig out the soil that had fallen into the trench in the couple of weeks it had been since they were first dug. I tried using several different tools, but honestly the one the worked best and was least back breaking was a small garden shovel. Keep in mind that we had a central Texas monsoon the night before so the ground was muddy and soaked and a cold front was blowing so it was maybe 50 degrees with a 20 mph steady wind. The trench is only about 4 inches wide so my knuckles were scraping roots and hill country rock for 90 feet. But, I do it all for love of my country.

The electric wire (we ordered 92 feet of it) came spooled on a, well, a spool. Bob used to be an electrician before he became a general contractor, so he knew some ways to make the job a little easier than it would have been if it were just Rich and I doing it. We put a metal bar in between the spool and rested that on two ladders.

Rich stood on the ladders to anchor them while Bob dragged the wire from the house to the electric pole 80 or so feet away. Remember this isn't like extension cord wire, this is three thick wires twined together.
Then we would push the wire through one 10' section of grey conduit. One person would hold the end of the wire (think tug of war type stances) while the other person would walk the pipe down to the middle of the trench. Do this about 8 times and then repeat process from other side. Then the pipes are glued together and put at the bottom of the trench. The electric company is coming out tomorrow to install a new meter. After that, voila, we will have underground electric service to the new house. On a sidenote, it is nice to know how to do all this because as soon as we find time we can convert the electricity from the old house from overhead to underground - especially the part that goes DIRECTLY over the pool - that has always concerned me.

The trash dumpster was delivered last week. After trying to move soggy debris from demo pile to dumpster by hand, Rich/me and George/Vicki chipped in for a front end loader for the tractor. That will make transfer much less back breaking once it is installed.

Yesterday the masons came and built the fireplaces. They are the most impressive thing that has been done at the house in a long time. They really make a world of difference. And we have quite a bit of stone left over that will be really good for landscaping purposes.




Here are some shots of the outside fireplace




That's all for now. Tomorrow you will get an update on the demo and hopefully pictures of the new cabinets.

Edgar Allen Poe Meets Happily Ever After (or The Tail of JJ, the Cat of Seven Dogs Ranch)

Some of you may know that one of our cats, JJ, has been missing for three weeks. While the tribute to him I am about to relate may seem macabre, or at least morbid, let me end the anticipation in advance and let you know that the outcome is joyous.

This cat of ours is living proof that some cats have nine lives, or at least five. JJ came to us already on his second. A co-worker of mine found him in a ditch in rural Hutto when he was probably about 6 weeks old. It was mid-summer during an extended Texas drought. There was no way to tell if he was abandoned or stray but he was covered with fleas and scars from old flea and ant bites. He was so tiny he fit in the palm of your hand. We gave him a good home and he learned to put up with all the big dogs.

Like all of our cats, JJ was an indoor/outdoor cat who came and went pretty much as he pleased. When JJ was about two he disappeared during the late winter/early spring. We looked high and low, called his name, left food outside, but could not find him. I assumed his fate was that of country cats - he either wandered off and found someplace better or something worse had happened. Two weeks after JJ went missing we got a call from our friend Jack. He said he found our cat. Turns out JJ had been living in Jacks' van (full of construction tools and whatnot) the whole time. Apparently when Jack was visiting one day he left his van open for a time. Curious JJ must have climbed in and then hid. Anyway, Jack immediately drove out to the house and delivered a much skinnier JJ. Other than needing some food and water he appeared no worse, albeit he was much more skittish. Now, keep in mind that after this incident, JJ avoids strangers like the plague and usually ventures no further than 10 feet from our garage door.

About six months to a year later, I was doing some laundry in the garage during a particularly rowdy hill country thunderstorm. The power went out and I went around the house turning appliances off so as to prevent a power surge when the electricity came back on. I opened the lid to the washing machine and the door to the dryer. When the power came back on I closed and shut the lids and started the washer and dryer. When I turned the dryer on I heard a sound, th-thump, th- thump. I thought to myself, "Hmmm, that sounds like a pair of tennis shoes........... Wait a minute, I didn't put any shoes in the dryer". It took me two th-thumps to work through that in my head. When I opened the dryer, I reached in and felt around for the shoes or frying pan that someone must have put there while I was otherwise occupied. Instead of something leathery or hard, I felt a something furry. You guessed it, JJ, now ready to begin his fourth life. Other than being moderately shaken up, again, no worse for the wear. But still, afraid of strangers, prone to staying indoors more often than not, and now will not go in the garage when he hears the dryer.

Fast forward to a month or so ago. JJ, who likes his peace and quiet, is now escaping to the outdoors more often since we are doing a lot of noisy demo on the place and since he has to share his space with the dogs. Three weeks ago (to the day) was the last time I saw JJ. I became worried given his nature. I went and looked all over the 4.83 acres for him, calling his name. This wouldn't necessarily be easy even with most normal cats, but it was especially difficult with JJ because he didn't meow, ever. Sometime he would squeak ever so quietly, but no meowing for him. He knows how to conserve his energy. Finally, again, I had to reach the conclusion that he was gone. He found a quieter place to live or had not survived an encounter with the neighbors' dogs who may have ventured too far onto our property when the gate was left open.

Yesterday I was helping Rich put down the pipe for the cable line to the new house. I was standing quietly, holding a yellow string by the air conditioner of the house, when I heard several faint meows. I thought one of our other cats must have gone into the new house before the masons got there and was now too scared to leave. I looked in our bathroom window, but saw nothing. Then I heard the meows again. I immediately thought of JJ, that maybe he was stuck in the air conditioner or some debris that was in the bathtub. I yelled for Rich "There's a cat in the house!!" When he looked at me oddly, I clarified, "There's a cat in the house!!!!" Rich came running, from 90 feet away, dodging fences and two foot deep ditches, grabbing a hammer or crowbar along the way. He ran into the bathroom flinging construction debris from the bathtub not caring the reason the water in there was yellow...no cat. Then again, meows. I think we looked at each other thinking, in a split second, how long our house had been sheetrocked and how long JJ had been missing. Rich went to work with the hammer while I ran next door to get a flash light.


Finally, we see.........JJ. He had been sheetrocked in the house. This is where he lived for the past 20 days. He is skinnnnnnnnyyyy but appears to be OK. I lured him out with my voice and a can of cat food slowly inching him into the cat carrier. We carried him into his familiar old house where he ate and drank little bits at a time. He is awfully skinny, but appears to have survived this latest ordeal. He slept beside me all night and I kept him safe from curious doggies and warm from the sub freezing chill outside. We can only hope JJ decides not to test the nine lives theory and is satisfied with this fifth one.

More Demo

This weekend Steve and Willie came over and helped with the demolition. We are now down to having to tear down our bedroom, bathroom, and about 1/8 of the kitchen. I think we should be done with it this weekend - that is if we have three people working on it. We did decide to not bother with trying to tear down around our bathroom, so now instead of having a quasi outhouse, we have nothing. Nothing but trees or a porta potty. Luckily though, my in-laws live next door so we can go over to their house and use the facilities. I figure the more I rough it, the more I will appreciate it when the new house is done. And I only have about a month to go.

As far as progress on the house that is being built, it is coming along. Last week the trim went up (baseboards, door and window trim, window sills, closet shelves and rods, etc. The painters were there this morning, so I want to get home before dark to see what it looks like. I will definitely post pictures of that tomorrow. The mason is supposed to come Saturday to put the stone up on the fireplaces.



Our old bedroom closets
Our old bedroom
More old bedroom
Steve and Rich taking a break on Sunday. In the background is the extent of the tear down.
I keep expecting to find something interesting under the trailer, but so far this is about it (unless you count socks and jeans being used as draft blockers in vents)
Well this is kind of interesting. All the white things are dirt dobber nests that were behind the panelling in the old kitchen.

No more hallway One more shot of the old bedroom. Like the aluminum foil on the window?

Updates

I feel as though I have been neglectful of this blog. But, the people who read it the most recently visited and got to see the stage it was in. Well, since I last wrote, a lot has happened. So here is an update for the other 3 people that read this. Sheetrock was put up at the end of last week. On Sunday the workers came out and taped, floated, and mudded it. Its kind of neat, they walk around on these big stilt looking things. If they had left them there overnight, I so would have put them on and went for a stroll. Sunday was also the day that my mom and Jim came out to see the house along with my Aunt Joey and Grandmother. All, except Aunt Joey, came prepared to work (jeans, tennis shoes, and gloves) because I told them Rich said if they were coming out on a Sunday, they had better be ready to work. He of course was kidding, but they weren't. My grandmother sat on our porch and sketched the view of our front gate. Mom and Aunt Joey helped peel vinyl tile off the plywood kitchen floor and tote insulation to the trash pile. Jim helped Rich pry the subflooring off the chassis. See photos for hilarity.

Yesterday the workers were out bright and early to texture the walls. It was a goopy slippery mess on the floor yesterday evening, but it had dried by this morning. The masoner came out last night to measure the fireplaces for stone. Today the cleaning lady is coming out to vacuum all the dusty dried sheetrock so that the painters have a dust free environment to cover our walls with summertime paint. The interior doors and trim are being delivered today and installed some time this week. They'll be installed and caulked before the painters come back next week. I think the masoner will come back on the weekend to begin the fireplaces. The cabinets have already been built and will be installed sometime after the house is painted. Maybe next week, but possibly the week after. Once the cabinets are in, the countertops people come measure for the granite countertops. Then we have to wait at least 10 days for the countertops to be made.

Demolition is ever continuing. I feel as though it may be a terminal process. Of the trailer I would say that 2/3 of the roof is gone, 1/2 of the walls are gone, 2/5 of the sub floor is gone, and 1/3 of the chassis is gone. By this weekend I anticipate that most will be gone except for our bathroom which leaves at the last possible moment.

Filling up the wheelbarrow

A victorious yawp
Rich and Jim removing subflooring. The frame you see behind them is the outside of our living room and game room (aka bedroom).

Wheeling debris to the debris site. so heavy, Mom needs a little help from Joey

We have been getting some great sunset colors lately

Hall bathroom Kitchen
Living Room and door to utility room
Master bedroom

Media Room

WE HAVE A PERMIT

That's all I wanted to say. Well, that and apparently you have to be really demanding to get anything done for you when you need the government to do anything.

2nd post in 2 days!

I love coming home to surprises. Last night when I got home there were stacks of sheetrock in the media room, living room, and master bedroom. Also the insulation had been installed. We have insulation all around the walls that share with the outside as well as noise insulation in both bathrooms and our bedrooms. That means that the media room is also partially insulated too. The sheetrockers were going to come out today to begin putting the sheetrock up but I think we are delaying them one day because Rich needs to finish hanging the speaker wire for our surround sound.

The concrete people covered the floor with thermo shield and plastic. Bob, our builder said that was the best way he has seen yet to protect the flooring from the rest of the work that is to be done.

We are now officially kitchening in the garage. The stove and refrigerator have been moved and the water to the kitchen sink has been shut off. Most of the cabinets have been torn down. All that's left is our bathroom and bedroom (which I still need to pack up).

Demo

Entry
Hallway from back door to entry
Kitchen
Sheetrock in media room