North Glenora Reno

There has been a threat of rain all week and luckily there was mostly just some spitting yesterday so we didn’t see any more delays.

Rob and Tristan and their new super worker Colin worked really hard to get the roof all ready for the roofers (who start this morning). We are again amazed to see a flat 2D drawing come to life. The ceiling heights in the bedroom/bathroom and in the eating area are amazing. The best part to emerge in the last day or so though is the covered areas by the back door! One of my biggest pet peeves about the way the house was before was that if it was raining or snowing, it sucked to have that falling on you and all of the stuff, I alway seem to have, while you are trying to open the door. Now we have a covered area so you can actually set things down and they won’t get wet. This area will also be really nice for barbecuing in inclement weather as well. We are going to be covering the ceiling there with cedar and some really neat mid-century pendant light and it should be really beautiful.

This week, we finally have all of the power lines under ground and the trench nearly all covered as well! It is so nice to have a little bit less mess and disaster.

The garbage pile has become insanely large. I have decided to rename it an art installation as it’s size seems well beyond what you could reasonably dispose of. For my final week before I have to go to work, I will be filling several? dumpsters and watching with glee as it all goes away. I have told Rob and Tristan that they need to stop making such a mess and adding to the junk pile and I think that that will help tremendously! 😉

Today should see the beginning of the re-shingling of the roof…assuming they show up before too long. I must be getting too used to Rob’s 7:30 arrivals, as at nearly 10 am I am getting antsy that the roofers still haven’t arrived. I have talked to Debbie this morning and I know that they are coming but at this rate they won’t be getting burgers for lunch as they won’t have time to stop.

Wait….he just pulled up!!!!

Okay, I know. It has been days and days since I have written but who can find the time what with all the errands and framing and digging and cleaning and people and….did I mention the framing!!!! And the digging 🙁

So, the week started off well. R took the day off to sort out some details. It was great to have him with me for the start of such an important week. The framers, Rob and Tristan, showed at their exact start time of 7:30 a.m. We sorted out a few initial details and off they went! It was mostly a measuring and thinking day for them. The electrician let us know that the 24 inch trench we spent 6 hours on this weekend was not good enough to pass inspection and that we still had another 12 inches to go. Yeah! Amazing K & K came by to help. The crazy storm coming in halted the progress after a few short hours.

We spent two units on a lift of 50 sheets of smooth, slate gray, hardie panel! The exterior of the house is going to be amazing! Researched reveal materials for it and picked up 1250 pounds of glulam beams for the ceiling. M came with his trailer and endless willingness to help and knowledge to pick them up. I would be lying if I said that the trip home with them was less than scary but we made it and even got some help unloading them.

On Tuesday, Rob and Tristan really went to town. By the end of the day, they had built all of the new exterior wall and had framed for the crazy, giant windows! It was so amazing to actually see the walls. I had been waiting for this day for months…the pictures in my head finally became reality and somehow, this reno was worth all of the work so far.

The electrician also came to start work on the service relocation. We are moving the overhead power lines from the house (and by default, across the yard) to the garage and then trenching in the lines underground. Since we were still not quite deep enough, I spent the afternoon in the hot sun digging some more. Mike, our electrician lent me his shovel and things moved along much, much faster. R and K finished the job before dinner.

Today was a much quieter day for me. Thank goodness. Don’t get me wrong, I had my share of crap going on but it wasn’t go go go like it has been for the last week and a half. M and I went off to get more lumber this morning. A gong show, of course.

Then, the hot water tank was delivered and I convinced the guy to take it all the way to the basement. It cost me $20, more than worth it. I spent a bunch of time today removing nails and screws from all over the place and my dad and I carried the hot water tank to it’s new home. That’s right I carried a hot water tank, I am a super hero! We got a free upgrade to a better tank and it felt just a bit like Christmas.

Rob and Tristan put up three of the glulam beams. They are each 250lbs and they seem to lift them up there like they are only…well…100lbs. None the less, they are amazing. they finished the day with the roof starting to come together. I love this!!!!

R and I began removing the clay and concrete debris from the basement but were saved about half-way through by R’s parents delivering dinner for the second night in a row. Wow, we are so lucky!

Now I am tired, tired, tired…I think that Rob and Tristan might be as well…

The last three days and really six if I’m counting have the the hardest ones I have had in as long as I can remember. I actually had a mental break down today. But more about that later…

On Friday, the basement floor was poured, along with the sewer trench in the basement and the seven piles for the deck and roof support. Although it started a bit late, it went fairly well. I ran my ass off. The My Rona delivery guy came around 9:45 right after I pulled the tarp off of the floor with 50 bags of insulation and some more construction materials. Peter is one of the nicest guys I have ever met and has also made it to the top of my best friends list. Rarely do you come across someone who is so willing to help out and be friendly. Together we rolled bales of insulation into the garage chatting all the while. He even gave me a Rona pencil before he left. While we loaded up the garage, Jason arrived with the concrete pump truck, the concrete truck arrived and we all waited for the finishers to come. Finally, about 30 minutes late everyone got to work and away they poured. Unbeknownst to me, I ended up being responsible for getting the rebar to put in the piles once they were poured. Luckily, Jason, who lives 2 blocks away had some so R’s dad and I went off for that. It was a crazy and busy morning…I don’t even remember the afternoon. I’m pretty sure my grand parents came for a tour, I know that because I have garden veggies in my fridge!

After Friday’s excitement during the day, we ended up not getting the trench started and just took a bit of a break in preparation for the weekend ahead. On Saturday morning, we began digging the 40 foot trench for the power line. The electrician wanted the trench to be 3 feet deep, we dug it to 24 or so inches through super hard packed clay (have I mentioned how much I love clay?). It was some of the hardest physical work that I have done in memory. Two of our amazing friends came to help out and it still took 6 hours, four pizzas and a case of beer. K & M worked so hard and we were so thankful for their help. There is no way that we could have done all of that with out them.

Today we finished the demolition. It was awful, messy and exhausting work. My parents came to help along with K and later in the day my brother came, left and came back again! My dad took care of the crazy security blind on the arched window and all of the rest of the siding…did I mention that it was super hot out again today as it has been all week? And then he tore down the ceiling in the eating area. Mom and I took care of the drywall in the eating area and demoed our closets. R & K took on the nasty and awful spare room. The eating area was built about 15 years ago and had regular drywall, fiberglass insulation and vapor barrier…the spare room had 60 year old plaster and drywall walls, paper barriers and wood chip insulation. It was the most horrible job imaginable. It was only slightly worse than the clean up of that shit. After everyone else had gone home and it was just R and I shoveling out that room, I started to hit the wall. It felt insurmountable. We went outside to move the garbage out to the junk area around the garage and I finally lost it. After a few minutes I was back to work and then proceeded to step on a nail. We took a short break, needless to say perhaps.

K made us an amazing dinner before we met M back at home to finish the clean up. I am exhausted as I know that everyone else that helped us out today must be too. I cannot even begin to explain how thankful we are to have such amazing friends and family. I guarantee that I would have lost it WAY before today if not had not been for all of the help and support of all of these people.

Mom said that today would be the worst day and that it would get better from here. She is right, tomorrow the building begins and I couldn’t be happier. I have lived the last 7 weeks (more really) for the week that is to come. This week, my vision grows walls!!!

R spent most of the afternoon attached to a jackhammer. He is probably still vibrating, poor guy. We needed to create a trench for a new drain line and allow room to move the sewer stack from the middle of the hall in the basement to a wall, you know so we cam actually walk by. The jackhammering, although very hard, made pretty quick work of the concrete and now we just have to dig down to create room for the pipe. Easy as pie…