Certificate of Completion

The city of Boise has issued us a Certificate of Completion on our addition. That means we're done, right? Nope. But we're close. Really close.

And can I tell you how beautiful the view is from that front bedroom right now with the pear and plum trees in full bloom! Stunning.

Because one major construction project just isn't enough...

During a snow/rain storm in January, a leak in our roof made itself manifest. A small, steady stream of water started running down the inside of our door. The walls got wet, the ceiling got wet, the floors got wet. Our homeowners insurance covers the damage to the inside of our house. Not to the outside because there was no visible damage to any shingles. The leak was not caused by our addition.

The contractor who is doing our upstairs is doing the repair work for us. The kitchen table is in the front room, on top of some vinyl tablecloths. Some hardwood needs replacing and then the entire floor will be sanded and refinished. Some sub-floor needs replacing. The insulation was replaced. A microbial solution was sprayed on the interior of the wall cavities. (It was really stinky!) The sliding door will be changed to an atrium door (the insurance isn't covering this, I'm paying for it). Since we've recently gained a lot of experience in painting, we'll be painting these walls and ceiling, too.

Both the upstairs and downstairs should be completed at the same time. Perhaps before my birthday!

They're caving in on us!

OK, so the walls aren't falling down, they are being put up. After months of being able to stand at the top of the stairs and see everywhere in our addition, it is different to go up and have the view blocked by some pesky walls. We have a plastic wall at our front door, where the stairwell connects with the house - to keep the dust out during this phase of the job. So now when we want to go upstairs, we go out through the garage and then in the front door of our house, instead of going into the garage and up the stairs.

The new entry to the upstairs.

Leo next to the former entry in the garage.

The sheet rockers came today and hung the drywall on the ceilings and walls for the addition. They worked hard and fast - they are almost done with the upstairs, just 3 small sections remain and then the stairs and garage (then the mud and tape the whole thing). Then we put on a sealer coat and they put on the texture, and then we prime and paint!

Stairway.

Family Room

Shower

Sewing Room

Bedroom 2 (Bedroom 1 looks almost the exact same as bedroom 2, so it doesn't get its own picture, yet.)

Ryan's sister, Heather, has helped us a lot with choosing paint colors to put up there. Here are the colors we're going with:


We'll be renting a paint sprayer to get the job done nicer (and faster).

Demolition

I forgot to mention that I got to wield the Sawzall to demolish the wall in our house leading to the stairs. Sabrina even captured it on video for me. Unfortunately, I just did one cut because it was time for me to take the kids to violin lessons. Our builder got to do the rest.

Construction Update

At the beginning of October, my parents sent me this sign:


Apparently, my dad found it (and purchased it) while browsing in a knick-knack store, waiting for his laundry to be done at the laundromat. Retirement has changed all sorts of things about my dad! (I added the blue painters tape to cover the n't on isn't and added a +.)


The exterior of the house is complete. The interior framing is complete. The rough electrical is complete. The rough plumbing is being worked on this week. After that is the HVAC. Then the drywall, electrical, plumbing, painting, flooring.

Before the electrical wires were strung, Ryan took the boys upstairs for a nerf gun war. They reported a lot of fun. No pictures were taken. Ryan and I are installing an intercom system in our house and so we're drilling, wiring, cutting.
We've run into a couple of problems putting in the intercom. We cut a hole for the master unit on a wall to find a couple of extra 2x4s that cannot be removed. We cut another hole for the master unit on a different wall and then, while drilling holes to feed the wires down, we found a horizontal 2x4 about 27 inches from the ceiling and 15 inches from the hole downstairs. Ryan had to put his arm and drill in the hole and drill from the bottom. So the several-hour project for us to do together, turned into a multi-night affair. The whole-house intercom with mp3 playing capabilities should be well worth it.

A Crane in our Front Yard

It is not every day that you wake up because your mom tells you there is a crane in your front yard. Roderic and Hyrum woke up and got out of bed quickly in order to see it work. The lumber yard brought out the shingles for our roof and we watched them use the crane to get them up 30 feet to our roof.

It was a little chilly outside, so they didn't stay out long - just long enough for a picture.


These guys were tight-rope walkers. The crane got up as high as the roof line, then they would bend over pick up a package of shingles from the swaying crane, turn and walk along the peak of the roof and set it down. That is not the job for me and my fear of heights! But it was really cool to watch.

Last Day of Summer and First Day of School

On Tuesday, we celebrated "Building Day." Together, we (Roderic, Hyrum and I) worked on separating the Lego sets and then building them. (Sabrina was at her final exam for Pre-algebra at the start, and didn't participate when she returned.)

Roderic's patience ran out quicker than mine, so he went to play with the sets, break them a part and rebuild. Roderic really likes Legos. He currently says he wants to work for Lego when he grows up so he can continue to play with them.

Can you believe our builder is so cheap that he expects me to help? Well, he isn't. I just thought it would be a fun diversion from Lego building. And it was. Sabrina took the photo, trying to have John out of the shot to make it look like I was doing all the work. There were 2 other guys lifting it at the same time. I felt like I was a part of the barn raising scene in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" but without the fighting, or the singing.

We have some exterior walls! The plan is to get this section covered with a roof before tearing of the rest of the existing roof for our addition.
John took this shot and emailed it to Ryan with the caption: Malauna demonstrating proper nailing technique on the addition

Those nail guns have quite a powerful kickback. I put in 2 nails.

School started on Wednesday this year. With Sabrina going to Junior High this year, we're going to have to change our routine for morning family prayers. ie. We'll have one family prayer at 6:15am with Sabrina and parents and have another one at 8:15am with the boys and parents.

Sabrina only had to go to Les Bois on the first day of school, since it was early release. Treasure Valley Math and Science Center (TVMSC) does not operate on days when the junior high school has early release. Since she had no class at Les Bois until 4th period, she got to sit in her "homeroom" class for the first 3 periods of the day, listening to the teacher give her "Welcome to my class rules and routines" lecture. Then she got to listen to that same teacher in 5th and 6th periods when she actually had her. She said it was quite boring. In the future, when she doesn't have TVMSC, she's going to stay home until 4th period starts.

Both Roderic and Sabrina woke up happy and excited for the first day of school. I got to ride bikes with both of them. I was the only parent out on a bike with Sabrina, but there were a lot with Roderic. I hope the bike-riding weather keeps up through the end of October!