Sheathing

The exterior of the house is almost sheathed now. Our contractor is keeping things moving and on schedule, despite just about every surprise upgrade possible (electrical, plumbing, framing, subfloor).

No doubt the most difficult thing to keep on schedule is those flaky homeowners coming up with new ideas and changes at the last minute. Such as: will fiber-cement shingles work for the 2nd story siding?

One bummer is that the new electrical panel will have to go right in this east view (with the new dormer), on the right side of the door opening. Surface-mounted, to boot. Ug-lee!

The east view.


The west view.


Unfortunately, the upstairs windows had to be removed after all, disturbing all the fine and expensive interior finish work around them (stained trim with integrated shutters). The entire upstairs will likely have to be painted too. Many design decisions were made around not disturbing the upstairs, but it was inevitable with all the problems found when the walls came down. Whoever heard of floor joists whose ends are hanging in mid-air, completely unsupported?

The scope of the project is daunting, even without the numerous extra things that have come up, each of which is a project in and of itself. I'm holding my breath.

Framing started

Framing has started! The east-facing dormer is starting to take shape.


Underfloor radiant heat is in. Additions have insulation and subfloor too.

Still have an issue with the south wall along the property line -- does the entire wall, including the existing, have to be fire-rated? No overhangs within 3' of property line though, so the original south-facing overhang was torn down. Bummer.

We do have to order a new kitchen window, as the 45-degree bay we ordered will project within 3' of the property line. Our window guy is looking into a 30-degree bay, or maybe a 15-degree bow.

New problem with entry door. The custom door company's CAD drawing is considerably different than the door we were trying to imitate, an IWP (formerly Jen-Weld) model we hacked up to add glass area.


Re-order, start over. Another 10-12 weeks.

Exterior demolition complete

Just returned from a trip back East, much happened in the meantime. Most original fir flooring had to be removed, and most of the downstairs subfloor will have to be replaced. Footings for new concrete are in place, concrete pour expected next week. Exterior demolition appears complete, there are entire walls missing on the exterior now.


The sort of thing you find in an older house when you tear walls down: almost none of the downstairs windows were framed with headers.


Concrete forms are in!