Day 90: Dec. 26, 2009

Okay, so yeah, it's been a while since this was updated. Most of what has been going on lately has been pretty small stuff -- and I've been kinda busy. The addition is complete with exception to some trim work and carpeting/tile. The ceiling fan in this picture doesn't work yet. I don't think he's hooked it up (for some reason).

Rhett and my father helped me install the water garden and place the edge stones around the top. We plan on installing the patio in January.

The fence has been installed. There's a bronze aluminum fence around the side yard and a white vinyl privacy fence around the courtyard/patio/backyard area. The vinyl gates are not installed yet as they are heavy and the installers wanted to give the concrete some time to setup before they hung them.

A railing next to the steps leading to the basement has also been installed (for safety). It matches the fence around the side yard.

The garage is finished now. The electrical work is complete, overhead doors are installed, and the siding is complete to the ground (they had stopped 3' from the ground previously). It looks awesome!

Day 53: Nov. 19, 2009

So I left this morning and there was no garage. I came home and poof, there it was! There's siding, roof, windows -- everything but the garage doors. Too bad I wasn't home today to watch...stupid job.

The inside of the room is coming along. Over the past week, with all the rain and such, the insulation has been installed, drywall hung and taped, and the first coat of drywall mud has been applied. We're hoping it dries enough for the second coat tomorrow and the final sanding so we can hopefully paint this weekend. We'll see how tomorrow progresses.

The siding, facia and soffits have been installed on the sunroom and the garage. However, for some reason they did not install siding all the way to the ground on the front of the garage or along the alley -- I thought they were. I've asked Tim to take a look at it tomorrow and then have it installed so that it looks "right." Other than that, I'm very happy!

Day 46: Nov. 12, 2009

Okay, so it has almost been an entire week since the last update but it's mostly been work on the insulation under the addition, electrical, and work on the deck and stairs.

Day 40: Nov. 6, 2009

The rest of the concrete was poured today -- the sidewalk along Tamm, Arsenal, the driveway apron, and the final two piers for the stairs coming from the sunroom. In total, there was about 46 yards of concrete poured for the entire project over the past few weeks. It was rather cool to watch and I learned a lot. Tim Kopp (Kopp Concrete) are some really cool people.

The water garden was also dug out today. The hole is 10' wide by ~16' long and 3' deep. This will allow for a water garden that is 6' wide by ~12' long and 3' deep. We're hoping that tomorrow morning I don't wake to find a car parked in the hole. Heh.

The carpenters got the stairs installed as well as the french door. Although I had to show them how to install a deadbolt with a keypad -- technology!

Day 39: Nov. 5, 2009

The concrete truck arrived today and pretty much took up the entire space where the patio is eventually going.





They got the forms setup last night for the basement stairs, the patio to the east of the sunroom. They were able to poor everything including the driveway (all 4' of it -- hehe). The sidewalk and driveway apron will be pored tomorrow as they had to wait for the inspector to drive by. Yes, I said drive by. The guy didn't even get out of his car. My tax dollars at work!

They also removed several feet of curb. Here in St. Louis, the curbs are made out of huge slabs of granite. Unfortunately the city wants them back after they have been removed.

The stairs for the deck were also started today and should be completed either tomorrow or perhaps next week. The new french door also came in today but it won't be delivered/installed until tomorrow. There was just too much going on today for that to happen.

I will post today's "final photo" after I take it. Ran out of light today -- stupid daylight savings time ending!

Day 38: Nov. 4, 2009

Today the old driveway and sidewalk were removed along with a portion of the west-side retaining wall to make way for some stone steps coming down from the yard. Work also began on the deck coming out from the sunroom and final preparations were made for more concrete to be poured.

Day 36: Nov. 2, 2009

The electrician returned today and finished wiring everything for the sun room (I think). I didn't make it home before everyone left for the day.

It also appears that the crawl space has been enclosed and the radiant barrier installed. From what Tim said, the siding might be going up this week. He's still hoping the new french door will arrive on Wed or Thu. They also began work on the landing outside the doors.

Day 33: Oct. 30, 2009

After a several day rain hiatus, the blog is back. Construction has continued these past seven days. During the one day of sunshine (Wednesday) the roof shingles were installed. Then it started raining again.

As you can see, the windows have been installed. They have almost completed the lower "apron" of the addition -- enclosing the crawlspace. The french door should arrive on Wednesday or Thursday. The window/door supplier brought the wrong door.

The electrician and the alarm company were both here today. Everything is progressing smoothly.

Day 26: Oct. 23, 2009

The rain shut things down for a day but this morning I woke up to the bricklayer cutting out the old mortar to retuckpoint parts of the brick and fill in the upstairs window.

The carpenters installed some of the vapor/radiant barrier before all the rain began yesterday to help keep the room dry during the deluge.

Day 24: Oct. 21, 2009

Most of today consisted of some minor things like putting the decking on the roof and getting the felt installed. Lots of rain called for tomorrow so they want to try and keep the room as dry as possible.

Day 23: Oct. 20, 2009

Today the forms for the garage foundation were removed, rock was spread and the floor was poured. It was interesting to watch this process and how they go about smoothing everything out using several different tools, and some what they refer to as "skis" to actually walk out on the freshly poured cement.

The carpenters got the main I-beam installed and began work on the trusses for the roof. They are hoping to get the decking and felt on the roof before the 1-2" of rain we're supposed to recieve on Thursday.

I've only posted a few pictures on this blog, but there's a ton more on the Picasa site.

Day 22: Oct. 19, 2009

Today the foundation forms were inspected by the city and all was well. Around 12:30, the concrete arrived to poor the forms. I'm amazed at how quick these guys are. The concrete will set overnight and because of the weather, they can remove the forms tomorrow. They anticipate pouring the garage floor tomorrow. Hope I can sneak home before class tomorrow to write my initials in the floor. Heh heh.

The carpenters got the piece of steel shaped like an "L" mounted under the joists on the sunroom and attached to the house. It looked rather heavy but lighter than the I-beam they are installing tomorrow on the middle piers. The trusses also arrived today, but they didn't install them because they don't want to add any more weight to the structure before the I-beam is in place.

Day 20: Oct. 17, 2009

Yes, they worked on a Saturday. Kopp Concrete was here today to setup their forms for the garage foundation. The elected to do it today so they could be sure to pour on Monday around noon. I figured they would be here for a couple hours, but it ended up being a whole day's work. I had no idea it took that long.

Day 19: Oct. 16, 2009

Today was the first day for new concrete. It was interesting to watch Tim (in the red) use hand signals to the truck driver exactly what he wanted him to do. It was like a baseball coach sending commands to players on the field. It was quite funny. Anyway, they got all the garage footings poured.


Additionally, they also poured all the piers under the sun room. They poured the piers in the middle short so they can attach a permanent jack and steel i-beam to support the floor.

The third wall of the sun room was also raised. Unfortunately the trusses didn't arrive today, but they will be here first thing on Monday.

Day 18: Oct. 15, 2009

Today the got the east and west walls up. They are planning on getting the north wall and the roof trusses up tomorrow. Hopefully the decking as well incase it rains this weekend. The piers will also be poured tomorrow.

I hadn't realized until today just how big the windows I'm putting in are going to be. It's gonna look pretty sweet. The garage is also going to be rather large -- which is awesome.

The area for the garage is dug out for the footings which will be poured tomorrow afternoon. Wish I could be here to watch, but that whole work thing gets in the way. Heh.

Day 17: Oct. 14, 2009

They continued to remove the concrete around the back yard. As you can see, it's mostly gone now. They also hauled off several truck loads of dirt to some church nearby that was looking for some clean fill. Just doin' my part, I guess.

While removing the sidewalk next to the vegetable garden, they noticed that underneath the concrete, there was, wait for it...wait for it... another sidewalk. [rolling eyes].

They also removed the upstairs window in preparation for it to be bricked in as the new roof line will cover a majority of it. The brick layer has said he found some matching bricks at a used brickyard here in town. He'll also be able to match the mortar.

Work on the floor continued to day as well. One pier has been removed and the other (on the left side of the photo, is still in the ground (they cut the top off). They will attempt to extract it from the mud tomorrow.

The goal for tomorrow is to start building the walls on the addition.