The Project is Done - Well Mostly

So the contractor finished virtually all that was his responsibility - everything but a final review and maybe a very short punch list.

That meant it was time for us to take over. I am so sick of painting but I think both rooms really came out well. I also had to figure out how to lay the floating cork floor in the basement. That was reasonably easy except for some fitting at the closet door jam and the threshold between the original house and the addition. It all seems to have worked out but I am sure it would have been a snap for a pro.

We also had a struggle with cleaning the film from the grout off of the tile floor in the sunroom. After the fourth cleaning we gave up. Then it was on to sealing the grout (more work with a paintbrush - ugh!).

The next update may be a while in being posted. I would like to get both rooms fully furnished and decorated before we post more photos. Still lots of work yet to do along this line and with the arrival of spring the yard is screaming at us.

And I can't forget to mention the never ending list of "little things" that still need to be done - more painting to cover up the plastering in the living room where the sunroom entrance was created, caulking here, there, and everywhere, changing door knobs, and on and on. Did I mention that the new room downstairs puts the rest of the basement to shame - that means more painting down there.

Oh yeah! Then there is the story of the spare bedroom on the main floor of the house. We'll save that for another day.

Surface Finishes - Inside and Out

What seems to be a never ending process has now begun - painting. Two coats of primer on the drywall and trim and two coats of paint on both. Will it ever end?

The exterior siding has now gone up. This is an interesting product called Dryvit (sp?). You start with a styrofoam base - about 2 inches think. This is covered with a gray stucco and then finished off with colored stucco. Lots of commercial buildings seem to use this now.

All for now but the next installment should have the project very near the end from the contractor's perspective. We will still be painting and I need to install the cork flooring in the basement room.

Testing the New Roof

This posting is a little out of order. This snow storm came through before the work shown in the next posting occurred.

The scenery was just gorgeous for a couple of days.

The first photo is looking out our back window up to the top of the bluff.

Yes, the roof did just fine.

Interior Finishing Touches - Well Almost

This week about 2/3rds of the tile in the sunroom was put down and all of the trim in the room in the basement was completed.

It's looking spiffy!

The door leads to the small closet in the basement where the air handling unit will go for the heating and air conditioning.

Starting to Look Like Real Rooms

Inclement weather early in the week slowed down progress on the outside. Fortunately work could continue inside. The drywall has now been hung and the mudding and taping is well underway. The ceilings of both rooms have been stomped (plaster put on them).

By the end of the week, with improving weather the masons returned and finished the exterior brick.

We are now most definitely in the decision-making phase of the project. Every time we turn around, there is another "thing" that we need to pick out. A little over a week ago, we ordered the tile for the sunroom. It is now under roof but not down. We have also worked on ordering light fixtures and a fan. Those are all here now as well. Next will be the paint colors.

We decided to go up to the battlefield today and walk out to the overlooks. You get great views of our development and our house from there. For those who have not been here, the battlefield is immediately east of our property on the opposite side of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. The overlooks are perched on the top of the bluff that we face out our back door (and sunroom now). Here are a few shots from those overlooks.

So the contractor has estimated a month to six weeks and we will be done. The list of remaining tasks really is getting shorter - exterior siding, final electrical, painting, flooring, and trim work. Oh yeah! Almost forgot, the heating and cooling system - the ducts are all in but the air handling unit and heat pump have not shown up. Stay tuned.

The Inside Scoop

A few shots on the inside. The first two are the basement level. The second shot is the frame for the closet where the air handling unit will go - heating and cooling for both levels of the addition. The other three shots are inside the sunroom.

It has been eye opening to watch the whole process. There has been a constant stream of specialists coming and going - one crew to work on the roof and soffits, one to do the gutters, one to do the masonry, one to do the electrical, one to do the insulation, one to do the HVAC, plus the general contractor to do framing and keep track of everything including the inspections.

Next step should be the exterior siding and the drywall inside. Things are moving quite quickly so more posts will come soon.

The Brick Layers Return

Up, up, up and away. Bricks will cover the outside up to just above the ground level window - right below the deck level. Siding called Dryvit will cover the second story. We have our fingers crossed that the new brick will be a reasonable match with the original.

The Roof is DONE

The roof - the original motivation behind starting this whole project has now been finished. What a difference. We also have new soffits and gutters. Those of you with a keen eye will notice that the old, "needed a paint job", undersized cupola is history - thank goodness.

Breaking Through

So the tricky part begins. Salvaging the picture windows upstairs and down and reusing them in the addition. Fortunately no broken panes.




The next couple of nights were cool in the house as there was no insulation in the addition and the soffits were not finished.







Now it is really looking like something - the soffits are done and the rough electrical is in.

Our Christmas gift to each other.

Starting to look like a sunroom.