Slab Demolition

The weekend before last we rented a jackhammer and demolished the slab from the old shed. I was struggling a bit, and Amy's father Dan came out to help. He worked in construction his whole life and knows his way around a jackhammer. My favorite quote of the afternoon came from Dan after I thanked him for the help:  "Well, it helps when you outweigh the jackhammer!" Eventually I got the hang of it and we finished up quickly. We were able to give away about half of the broken up slab to a couple of people, but it looks like we'll end up recycling the remainder at Dirt Exchange.

Not at all sure about this

OK...here we go...

Getting some help from Dan

We did it!

The demolished slab pieces

Exterior Paint

The exterior was painted last week, and it looks pretty good! The painters still have a bit of touch-up and cutting-in left to do, but the weather has not been super cooperative. They'll be starting on the interior later this week.

Cabinets & Window Trim

All of the cabinets are in, and three of the windows have trim! Next step is to install the countertops and appliances, which should happen later this week.

Looking at the kitchen from the peninsula

Where the fridge will go

Sink and Peninsula

Kitchen window with trim

Dining window with trim

Bathroom Tile

The tile sub-contractor Joe hired did a great (and quick!) job tiling the bathroom. We were able to use tile leftover from the last bathroom remodel we did in the big house. These shots are pre-grout, I will update the post later this week with the finished tile.

Siding, Part 2

The siding is completely up! This phase took a bit longer than Joe anticipated, but the results look really great.

View from the northwest

View from the west

View from the southwest

Siding, Part 1

Joe and his various helpers have been making great progress on the siding. The first part of the process was to install the furring strips on top of the exterior insulation, followed by the individual pieces of siding. The corners are mitered and covered with individual metal corners, which is a fairly labor intensive process, but I think the end result is going to look really, really good.

View of the furring strips (taken from upper deck of 'big' house)

North wall

West wall

View of entrance and south wall

Siding is about halfway done!

View of east and south walls

Ground level view of siding. You can see the belly band in place at the level of the door.

Drywall, Taped and Primed

The drywall hangers worked very quickly and applied three coats of mud over the course of five days. We used a heater, a dehumidifier, and two oscillating fans to dry out the mud over night between coats. The primed walls look fantastic, and once the siding is up, Joe will move inside and start on the interior trim.

Looking west from the loft.

Closet corner

Office nook.

Primed interior, looking east from just inside the front door.

Looking west from the loft.

Closet

Looking SW from the loft.

West from the loft.

West from the kitchen.