Windows, Smelts, Tarps and a Router

Currently, there is a tub upstairs. It used to be downstairs. Unfortunately, I missed the impressive maneuvers which got it up there. But it strikes me as somewhat amusing and out of place, so, there you have it.


The other day, Sam and I installed a couple of the awning windows in the 1/2 cupola...


Sam cut out the hole...



We tested the fit...


... applied caulk...


and nailed it in!


The handles work and everything! And the view is magnificent.


Seriously, we are very happy with our windows. They're german designed and engineered, but manufactured in China. So the quality is superb, but the price isn't too insane.

Thanks to Sarah and Ryan, who donated a sheet to our cause, we have a modicum of privacy in the bedroom these days. That sheet even does a decent job of cutting down on the eraly morning sun!


It's a lot better than this!


On Christmas eve, Sam bucked tradition and served the smelts HOT! They are delicious: like little fishy french-fries. We had a very nice time with Sam's family in Escondido. Santa was good to us both this year!


A couple days after Christmas, we got hit with some heavy rain, and then some crazy high winds (up to 30 mph!) that tore off our protective plastic sheeting. So Sam and I went off to buy some tarps, and spent the last hours of daylight on the roof, trying not to get blown off as we nailed them down!





We did a great job, and everything stayed attached, and dry.

Yesterday, Sam was thrilled to (finally!) be able to play with work with his new router. He is cutting out circles to use as a punch-out in the concrete countertop he is going to make for the garage bathroom. Thank you, Dan! It works like a charm!



Today, Sam is sheathing the rest of the garage, and I'm not sure what else. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, I realized that I haven't posted very many "big picture" pictures recently. Here is what the house looks like these days...

as you round the corner you see this. It does look pretty big!


Standing right in front of the house you have to go all the way back on Michelle's driveway to see the cupola at all: from the street at this angle it's invisible.



pretty cool, huh?

Letting in some light!

Well, it's a good thing we prepared for rain, since we got quite a bit of it. In the early morning we crept out to see how our roof drains were working...


I think Sam found it pretty gratifying to see the water gushing out exactly where it should! (In addition, the area underneath the house remained completely dry- probably for the first time since the house was built. All that trenching and pipe-laying has paid off!)

That night, we had King Crab legs for dinner, because they were on sale at Albertson's.



Our windows arrived!


So, Sam and Dale started tearing into the house some more. This was the first step in installing the huge 9' patio door.


They removed everything down to the studs...


And then had to drill holes so that epoxy could be placed to hold huge bolts in place.




The next morning, Sam tested how hard it would be to remove our plywood 'window'.


Not very!

I piled as much as I could on top of our bed and put a huge sheet over it, hoping to protect it somewhat from the onslaught of dust and debris that was sure to come!

With the plywood out of the way, there was a bit more stucco that needed to be removed...


... and some insulation that needed to be cleaned up....


Then we made the hole bigger...


and bigger...


... removed some electrical...

... and made the hole bigger still! Hello bed!


Hello dust and debris on bed!


Sam and Dale lifted the new header into place.


Next, the three of us had to somehow get the door that had taken four grown men to move from here to there.


There wasn't a lot of time for picture taking, but here you can get the idea. We did it the Egyptian way. Sam and Dale rolled the door on segments of PVC pipe, and I ran the pieces of pipe from the 'back' to the 'front'.


And then, after a lot of heavy lifting, the door was in! We love it. It lets in lots of light.



Next, Sam had to climb around in the attic, dealing with moving the electrical around. He didn't like doing that very much. It was yucky and dusty and full of insulation up there.


But once that was done, he could fill the uncovered wall with insulation,


and cover it up with plywood! Another job done! (In this picture you can also just barely see where the outdoor lights will be: those blue circles on either side of the patio door.)


(Oh, and for those of you wondering: we had to knock the stucco off the wall to the right of the patio door because the structural engineer called for 6' of shear wall between the patio door and the window of the office, so that is where it needed to go.)

More walls get torn down and stay down, while a garage door goes up. And down. And up again. With just the click of a remote!

Today is the 19th. Well, it's only been two weeks since I last posted, rather than a month, so I feel right on schedule! But, my goodness, a lot happens in two weeks. Here's where things are now:

The doorway to the master bedroom/to-be family room got knocked out. Here's a view into the bedroom from the living room...


... and into the living room from the bedroom. It opens things up considerably! (on the left, there, you can see 'into' the cabinets in the hall. I removed things from the cabinets soon after!)


We dismantled my desk and piled a a bunch of office stuff up in the middle of the office floor to clear the bit of office wall in the corner...




... so that Sam could clear all the drywall, and make a hole for the new office door.



Here you have to peer through the snow (actually dust!) to see the new hole he's cutting out...



Ta da!


Next, he put studs in the old office door. Eventually, that'll be covered up with drywall.




Then he started tackling the cabinets in what had been the 'hallway'. Good thing I'd emptied them! He removed the cabinets above, and then the granite countertop...


... and pretty soon that doorway to the bedroom was even more open!


Cool!


When my friend Julie came over, she had to help Sam remove a bit of drywall!


Meanwhile (as they say), in another part of the house, Sam had been working on cutting out vents for the heating.


And again, we had to prepare for rain. Sam follows the forecast closely, and gets everything covered up if it looks like rain. So...


... up the ladder he went, dragging some heavy-duty plastic sheeting behind him.


Everything stayed dry!

Another evening, when I came home from school, I saw Sioux and Sam on the roof- so I went up to join them...



Sioux appreciates a good sunset. Enough, even, to climb ladders to see it! (Yes, really, she climbs ladders. I'll have to get a video.)



The next day, Sam's trailer arrived! It is exactly what he wanted, and most importantly, it fits perfectly on the lift!




Sam's pretty pleased with it!

Next, the garage door was scheduled to arrive. Sam and Dale did the last minute adjustments that were necessary for the garage door installation- two studs to fit in snugly against the steel moment beam, and a header.




The next day, our garage door arrived!



There were two guys working on installing that...


... while Dale removed the corian, the drywall, the sink, the tub, from the guest bathroom!






Sam and I both love how the garage door looks. And it is by far the quietest garage door I have ever heard! And since the garage door got installed, we got to have the construction fence removed, which is really nice.


The cats still come for their food twice a day. And hide in the 'rubble'.



Since I started writing this, our windows have been delivered! So stay tuned... soon, more holes in the wall! And windows will get put in them! :)