I figured this page might be updated as time goes on and the room/deck grows, so I divorced it from the blog and made it its own permalink. It's not listed in the site menu, mind you, so you'll have to find it through the blog post(s), or -- for the hyperstalker in you -- save the URL.
Anyway, who says going into debt isn't fun? Here it is, in progress...
The Before Picture It was a happy old house. Didn't trouble anybody much. Protected by some majestic trees. Who would mess with such a thing? Who would disrupt the harmony?
Also note the offending sweet gum tree, in all its pretty glory (on the 3 days of the year when its beauty outweighs its 362 days of pain-in-the-arsedness).
I should really have a better close-up of the house, but this was the only angle -- at the far end of the yard -- that could capture the cursed sweet gum before I (hopefully) have it dismembered and served to a hungry fire.
Days 1-2: Destruction of the Pathetic Porch Being old, hardy construction (oh, I just like saying that), the porch demo took longer than they hoped (you can see the outline of the old stairs on the foundation wall just to the right of the door, under the floor.
But they got the floor frame up in time to have the already-scheduled electrician wire things out.
Remnants of the porch lie in a heap at left.
Day 3: A Deck and Floor Emerge!
Wheeeee! It's beginning to take shape. *hears banker calling*
Note the window/walls have been delivered (leaning against the fence), as "we wait in joyful hope for the" shaping of The Room:
Day 4: Walls and Windows are Up
Day 4 was a beautiful day until the storms came. They managed to get all the walls up (but not the roof) before the skies unleashed vengeance on behalf of the threatened sweet gum (looming in the background).
These photos are from the dry safety inside the house.
Boy, heh heh, that's ... yeah, that's a lot of windows. Back off, f$%ing sweet gum tree.
A view of the entrance from Willa's watchful perch.
This is when it really got exciting. Everything is taking shape, and I could start to see where this is going to open up the whole back part of the house.
The missus and I will be able to maintain separate lives, when necessary. *snorts*
Seriously, oh the storms and snows we will watch! These are the moments when you feel really good about the plunge you just took. Now talk to me when there's a leak/broken window/Wanda escapes into the crawl space.
Update 3/31 Day Six brought full enclosure overhead -- a roof and gutter! -- and some various internal touches.
Being an idiot, I moved our outside air conditioner condenser (they had built above it, but would need it moved before skirting off the open space below the room).
I started off thinking I would just need to pour a new concrete pad for the A/C unit adjacent to its old location. But there was rain in the forecast (so when will the cement cure enough to hold the weight?), and I realized I would have to move the old pad anyway, because it occupied some of the new space. So I levered the unit up on make-shift ramps, lifted the old concrete pad with a crowbar and moved it two feet, then ramped the unit back on to the pad...
...And promptly skipped a party and exhibition hockey game that night, lacking the back and energy to do either.
The latest view from inside the room: Ahhh, this time of year, tourists come from miles around for breathtaking views of ... garages.
More to come when something visible is done...
Comments (4) for "'You're renting, right?'"
This looks fantastic! I think they've accomplished an awful lot in a short time. Of course, all of my home improvement projects have been done by one solo husband in his spare time (sometimes with my hindrance), so they tend to take a bit longer. YEARS longer.
By KayO - 3/29/2008 9:39 AM
more pictures please. i know this a writing site, but these pictures are impressive.
By bh - 3/31/2008 1:39 AM
Thanks! They have moved swiftly. It has made it the decision to splurge for hired help instead of friends and lovers feel worthwhile. There's something to pride of work accomplished, and then there's something to having it done within the calendar year sans disasters of my own making. (Ahem, such as drill bits dropped into Kentucky Lake -- hypothetically speaking.)
This was the route least likely to lose me friends.
By Dominik - 3/31/2008 6:41 PM
I'm not seeing the pictures on this page, but the flickr link you sent me works fine.
What a nice addition! Splendid! You should be proud; and in 8 days - damn!
As you may have noticed, the site has changed. Sampa, the free-site host, did a version 2 of some sort.
Despite an FAQ that made it sound like allowing one's site to go through v.2 surgery would be okay, there were several flexibilities that surprisingly disappeared with the click of a button. (e.g. I cannot believe sidebars like this one are even narrower than before.)
And I'm told -- miraculously! -- that the conversion cannot be undone. Truth be told, I'm actually quite pissed. But free is free. Sampa has otherwise been good to me.
So I need to sort through site "features" to see how I can make do. Except that I don't have the time at the moment, in the middle of graduate classes and Lighthousehockey.com. (btw, I've removed that Lighthouse RSS feed so that you're not clogged with random Islanders hockey gibberish).
But I promise to touch up the accessories when I get a chance, and return to irregularly scheduled blogging.
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It was a happy old house. Didn't trouble anybody much. Protected by some majestic trees. Who would mess with such a thing? Who would disrupt the harmony?
Comments (4) for "'You're renting, right?'"
