Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Getting things done

On Monday, November 21, Charlie and Tom convinced our contractor to pour the floor in the basement. It was a totally crappy day, misty and miserable. Adam was reluctant, but Tom ran off to Lowe's and bought a gigantic tarp to cover over the top of the foundation to make the interior dry(er). Success! The floor turned out beautifully, and the boys were able to install the sill plates on top of the foundation walls the next day.

They had horrible weather again on Tuesday, even worse, really. Raining sideways, and the ground was a big mud hole. But they persevered and got the plate on top of the walls finished. Good thing they had their new matching rain suits on to keep them dry and warm!

Thanksgiving weekend ended up being perfect weather, so Tom and Charlie got all the floor joists in place on Friday. 




















Inside the basement. The ceiling is high, more than 8 feet.


















They were able to fix that gap.
It was a hard day's work, but they got all the joists done on Friday so we could start laying the subfloor on Saturday. The guys were really happy. So was I.
With the help of friends and family, we got the first floor built on the house on  Saturday. We had a crew of about 8 of us to lay the subfloor. What an operation! It was really a lot of fun, even though we worked really hard.
Chuck securing the stairway landing . . . with Brian's valuable help!
This gigantic 30x50 foot tarp covers the entire floor. The angle of this photo makes the house look crooked, but it's not. You can see the pond down beyond the right corner.

Since we won't be doing any more building until spring, we have to keep that floor dry. That's Tom, Charlie, Rocky, Nadine, and Brian sitting on the edge.


Tom and Charlie conferring after the last subfloor board is nailed down.
Then on Sunday, the three of us went back up to the property and got this kind of waterproof membrane laid over the decking and put the tarp back down. The guys tacked 1x2 strips along the rim joists to hold the tarp in place. It's a huge thing, 30x50'. We weighed it down around the perimeter too with rocks and block and heavy stuff to, I hope, keep it from blowing and lifting. We bought the patio door and windows for the basement today, it's Wednesday now, so Tom and I will be installing those possibly over this weekend.

It looks so much bigger inside the basement now that the long, load-bearing wall is up, and of course, with the ceiling in place, it really looks like rooms. There is a living room, a bedroom, and the new laundry bar and overflow room on the other side of the steps. Once the windows and door are put in, it will be official shelter from the weather. Hooray!





Tom at his worker dude finest.
Charlie flew back to Denver today, which is not hooray :(  He doesn't plan to be back here until probably April. We've all got to be patient now for the winter. He'll be taking off for Phoenix in a week or so, I guess. We'll be here doing some things to our Morgantown house, getting it prepared to sell. I'm really looking forward to that!

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