Reno updates

When last we left, the kitchen had just been demolished, and my power had just been cut. We returned to find the framing had started. Walls were removed, and new walls had been built, but not erected.

Aug 22. 3 walls laying down

The framers had no end of fun trying to make their square addition attach to the out of square and not level existing portion of the house. The plans from the joist manufacturers called for a beam across the middle of the kitchen, but we didn't want that, so the framers found a creative way to hide the beam into the rafters.

Once the walls went up, the roof trusses were installed.

Aug 23

The trusses are pretty basic, so it took another day to cut all the specially shaped ties to hold them together...

Aug 25. Tarped for rain. Partially.

...at which point construction started on the new roofline between the kitchen and the house.

New outsider header being installed 

New roof connection 

The big picture

That new roof connection is one of those solutions to a "little problem trying to get out" (Hoare's Law of Large Problems). The house historically had water leakage at the header above the window visible in the middle of the picture. There are several likely causes, but a main one was there was a gap in the roof sheeting at that point.

Wide gap visible running back above the joist

So, by putting a new roof over this, we solve the problem, and we also get a chance to put in some more insulation. For we found (Hoare's Law) 1" styrofoam insulation in that space, likely another contributing factor to the water leakage.

Roof sheeting came next.

Sheeting, Aug 30 

The new roof line

The next bit of framing was to install the new windows and door, meaning one last bit of demolition to make a window frame space.

2 window holes before 

Both gone

New window framed in their place

The entry closet and new closet for the washer and dryer were built.

Washer/dryer. Note doorway is now blocked. 

Wow! We have our first closet next to an entry door!

When they went to build the two closets, they discovered the ceiling has no vapour barrier, so holes were cut in the ceiling drywall so that we can get that done. But thank goodness the kitchen's attic was vented.

The only problem is that the vent is only partially in the attic. A third of it of it is behind a header joist. And a third is in the wall.

The vent in the wall

The entry moves a bit, so this wall...

Huh?

...had to have a new door put in it. This is the old exterior wall of the original cabin. When the previous owner built the original kitchen extension, he just tacked it on to the cabin. So that former exterior wall had to be demolished. The worker dude pried off the plywood, and found...

the mice's bathroom.

Tons of mouse poop poured onto the floor. There was mouse poop embedded in the fiberglas insulation. The mice had chewed the insulation off some of the electrical wires. Yeuch.

The dudes basically finished that main construction phase on Friday. This Tuesday starts the electrical, heating and plumbing rough-ins, so we taped the outline of the cabinetry onto the floor to guide them.

Looking at the peninsula 

Stove, fridge, cabinets 

Peninsula and sink. Former mouse toilet.

And our other job this long weekend has been to paint the siding, for it starts going up next week. About 120 boards, both sides, 2 coats on one side, and one on the other. We have the space to paint ~50 boards at a time.

One side, two edges, one half the boards, with one coat.

So all is going pretty well. Except...

Stay tuned.