The beam in your I

This beam is going to hold up the house, so I guess it's good that it looks strong and sturdy. Work has continued on removing part of the wall, and when they take it down the rest of the way, the beam will be put in place.

They have also now finished the shingling on the roof and have added more support beams for the porch. Still no steps though, so I am practicing my pole-vaulting skills for getting back up to the deck when I need to visit the shed.

Insulation???

So this is what what insulating our house . . it looks like gray sawdust or chopped up newspaper. No wonder the place is drafty. New walls will be up to modern standards, so that is nice.

They have started taking apart the outer wall, which is why the insulation is visible. Actual breakthrough will happen later in the week. Actually they already broke through in one spot, although accidentally. Not a big deal since the entire wall will soon be gone. But I include here another picture to show the hole.

Where are the steps?

Today when I got home I scrambled down into the yard to get a picture of the deck and other elements visible from the "gardenside" elevation. Up until today there has been a ladder leaning against the deck, which was useful for getting back up. Leaping down was not a problem, but I righted the ladder in order to return. Holes for anchoring the steps are in place, but no other work has started on them.

They did start work on the shingling today, after finishing the roof of the porch.

Porch marches along

The surface of the deck is now completed (as of 9/18), and the porch is taking shape nicely. It will be a nice space for enjoying the outdoors. We are almost at the point where the roof can be shingled as well - I expect that will happen this week.

Skylights!

Approval of our addition plan was held up, in part, by the fact that we had to get special dispensation to install skylights in the roof of the new space. We received our approval some time ago, and as of yesterday (9/17) the skylights were installed in the roof. Work also proceeded on the deck, and the beginnings of the screened porch are taking shape.

All hands on deck

We passed inspection for the deck footings around mid-week, and the beginnings of the deck/porch area are beginning to shape up. There will be a significant elevation difference between the end of the deck and the rest of the yard - I think we might need oxygen masks or a rest stop halfway up the steps :-)

Our contractor said we would be looking upon our neighbors yards from on high!

Those are not animal traps

The back yard is now marked by an assortment of holes that appear at first glance to be scattered about in random fashion. Upon closer inspection one realizes they are actually the footings for the deck/porch. The holes were dug on Tuesday, and some concrete was pored on Wednesday.

The holes remind me of boards that we would place near a pond in order to assess salamander populations when I was working at the Calvin College Ecosystem Preserve . . . the idea being that salamanders are drawn to cool, damp places and we could locate them by periodically checking the boards.

It's a wrap

Never thought I would have a DuPont product encircling the back of my house. But this is what things looked like before they started digging the footings for the porch.

Roof over our head

Today they finished the walls and put on the roof! Progress is very encouraging at this point. The roof is currently covered in tarpaper, with shingles to come later, and the outer walls need siding -- but they need to build the porch first. Things are zipping along! There are spaces marked off where the skylights will be installed as well, although they don't show up on the picture.

Walls and doors

As of Thursday 9/6, we had 3 walls (well, 4 including the old outside wall, which is still intact) up! There are spaces where the door to the porch and the window looking over the deck will be. Notice the siding has also been removed, and there are piles of wood and demolition trash scattered about . . . but we can begin to envision the finished product more readily!

Framing starts up

There was lots of obvious progress toward the later part of the week. On Tuesday we came home to find a wooden floor over the top of the foundation, and workers had started framing up the walls. It was wierd to stand on the wooden floor and survey the yard.