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!!!!

Today was another busy and exciting day. Rob and Tristan tore the roof off of the eating area and reframed the one that the door will be in. Now the house is completely open to the elements. The only thing that keeps the kitchen as an indoor one vs. an outdoor one is a thin sheet of plastic. It is very exciting though because we can see what the other side of the house is going to loom like today. I am constantly startled by how tall the whole structure is.

Darryl and another guy, who came up from Calgary, came to mull together and install the four pack of windows for our bedroom. The windows look spectacular and it is so nice to have another step towards sealing up the house complete, now for the other hundred ones. One nice surprise is that we noticed that the screen on the operable window in that four pack is wood! Not white aluminum. One less screen we have to fight for from Marvin Windows!

Mike and his helper (Steve, the one that doesn’t even make eye contact) came and got the primary power up and running. I know they looked into the mouse pit but don’t know if they actually had to go in. For obvious reasons, I stayed clear.

My dad came by to get the hot water tank hook up started. I even helped…dad said that I was a natural (pushing on a pipe and giving it a tiny twist). I know, you’re impressed. 😉

Tile Town called to let us know that the pale gray tile that we wanted to order for the shower is back ordered for two months! Great! Now I have to go and choose something else. On a good note, the rest of the tile is in, so I will go and choose a new tile and pick up with others, hopefully tomorrow.

R came home and added concrete to the pile that Rob will need to use tomorrow and we boarded up the house and off we went with our tons and tons of free time to the Cirque de Soleil show, Alegria. It was amazing, although we may have enjoyed it a bit more if we had been slightly less tired.

Finally, the Hughes came home today and K and E came by while we were out to help clean up a bit and steal wood scraps and other goodies. So nice to have them home!

We lost nearly two framing days to rain at the end of last week but bright and early Saturday morning Rob came back to continue to try to sort out the issues with the roof line over the closet extension. Sonny came by on Thursday morning and sent us a concept solution but it was a “concept” and not quite possible in “reality.” Rob had a look at the drawing and quickly determined that it would not work and thus spent a good amount of time on Saturday, staring at the roof and trusses, trying to find the right solution. He is amazing and I know that he will come up with a suitable one. I, I have to admit, don’t really care what it looks like as long and we meet code and don’t get any water in the house. I trust that Rob will save the day.

We finally, finally decided on our tile for the bathroom yesterday. We not only high fived our choice, he ordered it and got a pretty decent deal. Despite that, we are stilling spending about $1500 on tile. The tile decision was a difficult one. I would bring home samples and we would debate it’s beauty, price, colour, texture, price, colour… Finally, we went together. We found things we liked, negotiated a price we could live with and then took the samples home to see in the proper light. Success! Ordered!

Today we cleaned up the yard and purchased the vanity and cabinet for the bathroom. Now we just need to order the sink and faucet, find a stone remnant and find a decent price on tempered glass. Wow, until I listed all that, I was feeling pretty good about the progress we had made on the bathroom. Shit, still so much to do and SO much to spend.

Tomorrow, Rob will be back and if the weather holds up this week, he will finish the framing! Then roofing, electrical, plumbing, insulation, vapor barrier…..ahh, never mind there are months to go and no end in sight.

I am almost starting to look forward to going back to work. Did I actually say that?

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…

Rob the framer and his crew arrived this morning at 7:30 not 7:31 not 7:29, 7:30. I am so happy to have him here and the early wake up (on a holiday Monday no less) has been forgiven because….We have floor joists and a FLOOR! I was so please that I took a few beautiful moments to just lie down on the floor in the sun and contemplate installing a few skylights. That’s right, made of money we are. Then I got up into reality and went to make dinner.
BTW, we are officially speaking in units, not dollars anymore. Holy shit.