Tag Archives: remodeling

50+ Degrees

The three days following Thanksgiving were unbelievably warm. Temperatures in the mid-50s and low 60s. The days dawned sunny and clear. On Sunday morning two deer grazed below the pond as the sun came up.

Saturday we had a cookout and saw an ermine that was living in our wood pile.

Saturday I picked up our lawn mower and managed to mulch leaves and mow the lawn.

I got multiple coats of waterproofing on the pine stair in the garage leading to the camping room.

I managed to open up the deck on the south side of the house for the dog to use in bad weather. We had to close off some potential escape avenues.

Last week my tractor blew hydraulic fluid all over. It took 3+ gallons to get a minimum reading, but at least my power steering is back. I put the double link chains on – always a heavy chore.

New Imagery

I did a search today and found that updated imagery had been loaded into Google. It was taken between July 20 and August 2. I had a lot of fun looking at the details of the image to help determine the exact date. Based on the tree shadows I believe the picture was taken late morning.

The New Back Deck

Nearly finished the new back deck bridges the gap between the ipe decking tiles on the south side of the house and the garage/mud room.

It provides a very sheltered area from the wind and we moved the table and chairs to this area.

Inside work continues on the attachment. The knotty pine is being modified to 1/2 height with a chair rail. A frosted glass pocket door is being installed in place of the curtain. Hopefully, the frosted glass will provide light, but some privacy from viewing all the way down the hall. Linoleum is being installed within the attachment. The bathroom is on the immediate left with the laundry next on the left across from the large closet.

Labor Day Weekend

Thursday night all the AYSO soccer coaches met at the HP Library for discussion and to pick our teams.  I am an assistant coach working with Doug Wynne this year.  Our U10 boys team has 13 kids.  This year they play 7 v 7 with a goalie.

Friday I worked.  We got the lawn mowed and I worked in the garden.  I cleared out the pole beans and picked tomatoes.  The tomatoes have continued to produce and we are getting overwhelmed with cherry tomatoes.  We have 4-5 decent sized pumpkins, a dozen or more acorn squash.

Saturday was hot and humid.  I moved dirt fill from the pasture to the north side of the new attachment as settling had occurred.  We ran to the HP Farmer’s Market and bought corn, eggs, plums and raspberries.  We made a connection with Jennifer Romer to acquire meat chickens for our freezer.  At Turner Lumber we bought lattice for under our back deck and materials for the 12’ x 12’ tent platform to be built at Cookout Corner: 8” concrete blocks, deck hangers and nails.

Kathryn picked elderberries and made several jars of elderberry tonic: elderberry juice, honey and brandy.

In the afternoon I pulled nails from the rest of the 12’ 2”x8” which will form the joists for the tent platform.  Kathryn worked on cleaning out the attic and organizing the upstairs family room.

Saturday night Kathryn, Eric and I went to Pizza Hut in North Utica.  It was a night of violent thunderstorms to the south of Utica including a tornado which crossed over the NYS Thruway. Service was slow and we played pitch while we waited for our chicken wings and pepperoni pizza.

Sunday was hot and humid.  I awoke early again and watched TV.  As Eric and Kathryn awoke we watched the Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole and ate leftover pizza for breakfast.  Eric and I installed our old wooden steps pond side.  Eric helped install the left over decking slabs under the dog fence to keep the pipes from rusting.  In the afternoon Kathryn was trimming our bushes on the west side of the house and was stung by several ground bees.  She shed her shoes and shorts and came running in the house to shower and apply vinegar.  Simultaneously our neighbor Gary drove in to discuss running drainage tile into our pasture and digging a small ‘duck pond’ in the SE corner of the pasture.

Monday it rained all day and Eric had his buddy Jack over to play.  They have used the pool, despite the cooling temperatures. When we set it up in July we were concerned it collapsing due to the bulging, but it has worked out well.

I read Game of Thrones; the first in the series of Fire and Ice by George RR Martin.

Garage Trusses

On Tuesday the crane arrived and lifted the trusses into place over the garage. The end truss and wall for the south were the first to go up.

 

Eric and Trevor watch as the last truss (and northern wall) go up to be nailed into place.

 

Garage and Siding

We returned from our weekend camping trips to find the concrete block walls in place and the back filling of dirt around the walls.

Next the floor for the garage was poured, the walls framed for the garage and attachment and wrapped with Tyvek.

The laundry room and bathroom will be located on the right and a closet located on the left side.

A double door will lead to a small deck and the rest of the decking.

Footings were poured for the porch and steps leading to the front door.

Vinyl siding was installed on the west side of the house. The color is a greenish grey called Sage Brook. You can see in the brighter light (top right) it looks grayer and in the shade (left side) it looks greener.

Foundation is Backfilled

When I came home Wednesday afternoon Troy Cole and company were just finishing up back-filling around the foundation walls. This is the view from our kitchen door. In the future this will exit into the mud room attached to the garage. We’re planning a kitchen remodeling after this project is done, so that things are arranged in a way that the door makes a bit more sense and links well to the addition.

This is looking west towards the two car garage. Concrete is to be poured for the floor next week.