Marching Onward

It's felt like slow-going this month, probably because so much of what's been done isn't really visible. We've had a few days of warm weather though, and it's been wonderful to just open up the doors and windows and to do some work in the yard.
       A few weeks ago we finished the drainage work around the front part of the house. Dug the ditches, lined them with plastic, then put in drainage pipe wrapped in weed cloth, filled it with gravel, and then topped it off with sand. Easy, right?

Tom's been hard at work fixing the floor joists in the future kitchen, utility room, and bathroom. There was a bunch of rot and termite damage to contend with. The joists are sistered up with new 2x8's and now it's one SOLID floor!

For a few reasons, we're also jacking up all of the walls. The main reason is to slide some thin PVC between the concrete foundation (the blocks are open, not capped) and the sill plate as a termite prevention measure. The sound of the house creaking and groaning is...interesting.

PVC termite shield, with metal at seams

Today we started taking off the vinyl siding in preparation for installing some of the big windows across the back of the house.

We had to wonder, who was Joe?

We got a bonfire going to burn up an ever-growing brush pile and roasted some hot dogs.

And we enjoyed the view of the creek and a red-tailed hawk circling overhead.

Drainage

We got some of the drainage pipes in the ground today.

My boots got a little muddy.

All Decked Out

Today we removed the wood deck between the garage and the house. It was over a concrete pad that doesn't properly drain water away from the house's foundation.

All done! (I know it looks like Tom was doing all the work, but I was busy carrying the wood around back of the house and stacking it up.) We're saving the treated lumber for future projects. Maybe a chicken coop?

Below are before and after photos of the walk between the house and the garage. Look at all the ice on the deck! Lots of progress has also been made in digging out around the foundation so that drain can be laid down with some gravel.

It was 19 degrees when we finished working today, but prying up and hauling wood keeps you pretty warm!

Next up: removing the concrete patio and sidewalk!

Down in the Dirt

For more than a week now we've been addressing moisture issues in the house: preparing the crawl space for a vapor barrier (smoothing out the piles of dirt, removing old pipes and rubble) and digging around the foundation to improve the drainage around the house. Neither of these are much fun -- Tom had a few choice words for whoever invented the crawl space. When I imagined a doing a remodel, I never figured there'd be so much digging!

(We dug out the awful cotoneasters at the front corners of the house!)

Week Ten: Pulling Nails

We're trying to reuse as much lumber as we can, so we've been cleaning up every board, stick, and 2x4. That means pulling nails. Lots and lots of long, rusty nails. Hundreds of them. Some day soon we will be hammering nails instead of pulling them!

Week Nine: Tore Up from the Floor Up

Before:

After:

His and her respirators!

Cleaning out the Crawl Space

One of us ventured into the crawl space today to clean out some of the accumulated debris and junk in there. The only treasures unearthed were three old tablecloths, which might be nice if the musty crawl space smell comes out in the laundry.

Someone else smashed up the old bathtub.

And someone else helped fill up the dumpster.

Happy New Year!