Okay, so it was actually quite beautiful this weekend and not freezing at all. The weather was warm and mostly sunny. Almost like spring, in fact!
So, we decided it was finally warm enough for us to not freeze to death if we attempted to work on the house, and work we did.
Saturday we finished demolishing the south wall. It went fairly smoothly, and we discovered that there was 3/4 inch partcle board on top of a quarter inch of plywood above the subfloor. We took up some of that flooring, too, so it'll be easier to rip it all up once we're ready for that. Then we reframed the wall, mostly, including where the window's going to be. It actually looks like a wall! And I'm so excited to see where the window will be. Now the ceiling's level, too, and it makes a huge difference in the way it feels. We were also relieved to find out that our temporary supports did indeed support the roof, since that's all that's holding or roof up right now.
We also met our new neighbor. Turns out the monstrosity on the front lot actually sold. It's a guy who has a wife and a 10-year-old son, and I had actually seen them looking at the house quite some time ago. I was sitting in my bathrobe in the nook, and everytime they glanced at me I'd stare back. Hmmm. Anyway, the guy's lived in the neighborhood for a long time, and he seemed really nice. They'll probably be quiet neighbors, at the very least. So we'll see how that works out. I hope to high heavens that they didn't pay full price for the monstrosity. They haven't sold their current house yet, but when they do they'll move in to the new place.
Because we did so well on Saturday, we decided to rip out the east wall on Sunday. It went pretty smoothly as well, except that we broke the remaining window and it took forever to get the damn door out. That thing is HEAVY!!! It's under our carport right now, awaiting possible transport to the ReStore, where they take old house parts, sometimes do some restoration, sometimes not, and resell them by way of recycling them. It's a pretty cool place. But I digress. We didn't get as far on the framing of the eastern wall as we did on the southern, but the eastern wall is also twice as long.
We feel pretty happy about our success this weekend. It's actually starting to take shape, and I am beginning to be able to visualize what it will be like when it's built. It's very exciting, and it's so nice to make progress! We're going to try to do a little framing this week, although that will be challenging with our tight schedules, and hopefully next week we can finish up the framing and put up some sheathing, which would be wonderful. Next weekend is also the Seattle Home Show. We're going to go and check out solatubes and fireplaces, which should be a good time.
Once we finish the exterior walls, we are going to move the doorway to the kitchen and do the other beam between the dining room and what's eventually going to be the den (right now it's my spouse's workspace). Then we can do our framing inspection, put in our windows, do wiring and insulation, install a fireplace and solatubes, and finally, finally put the drywall in and have actual rooms. I can't wait. It's going to feel very, very good. And then it will be time to conquer the kitchen. Countertops at the correct height and dishwasher installed, here we come!
YEAH!
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