A Sense Of Humor

It's good to have a sense of humor when doing a major construction job.

I came downstairs one morning to find two big holes in the front of our house where a picture window and the front door used to live.

I mentioned to Steve, "Looks like we're doing the door and window today, right?"

"That's the plan", he replied.  Then he added, "I've only got one tarp and a half sheet of plywood left, so I hope it doesn't rain."

I just left for work hoping the rain holds off.

Me Help

Whenever I come home, Otis likes to pickup something and parade it around the house hoping that I will chase him.  Sometimes he grabs a shoe, a ball, or even a dish towel from the kitchen.

When I came through the front door the other day, Otis looked down where we usually leave our shoes and there was nothing there.  Then he ran towards the kitchen, but it was zipped up from the day's construction.  Otis rushed into the construction zone and picked up the first thing he could get his mouth on; a piece of scrap 2x4!  After he showed it to everybody, chasing ensued...

Goodbye Carpet

The carpet in the family room has been removed.

The hardwoods underneath are in fairly good shape. This floor and the foyer will need to be sanded and stained  to match the existing hardwoods. It has taken 4 years, but we will finally have the entire first floor in hardwood.

The master bedroom is now the only room in the entire house that does not have hardwood flooring. At some point, I hope to change that.

Stressed

We are all feeling the stress of renovating the house.

I stepped out of the shower the other day and nearly squashed Cooper. Poor Coop was squeezed between the tub and bathroom door shaking from the noise of the saws running downstairs.

When I arrive home at night I never know what parts of the house will have power. When we had to disconnect part of the basement lighting, I thought that was no big deal. Next we lost the outside lights. The final straw was coming home to no power in the office when I needed to work. Thankfully we have heavy duty extension cords.

Between the dumpster and the construction crews trucks, getting out of the driveway is no simple task. Even our garage is no longer accessible - it is full of construction supplies.

I miss having a couch to sit on and space to walk in. Dust is everywhere.

With 4 weeks left to go, I am starting to wonder what were we thinking when we began this project.

Box Bay

To add some visual interest to the house, the front windows are being replaced with box bay windows. Unlike a typical bay, these panes are all straight. There are no angled side windows.

June 22

Oti's surgery to remove his cancerous tumor is scheduled for June 22.

Dr Duffy is a great vet. We are hoping that Oti's surgery will be as successful as Cooper's was.

More windows

Both windows on the side of the house have been replaced.

These are the old windows.

These are the new windows.

Closets

The original closet has been removed  to open up space in the foyer.

Two new closets are being added to replace the old one. Increasing storage space was one of our goals.

Old vs New

You can see the difference between the old and new windows.

 The amount of light entering the house will be doubled when the construction completes.

Another First

Earlier this spring, our tree peony finally flowered.We now have another first. Our other peony has also flowered.

We bought a White Flower Farm peony at Stew Leonard's a few years ago. We planted it in a  semi-shady spot and every year it produced leaves but no flowers.

Last fall we moved the peony to a sunny spot and this  spring it has produced several blooms.

Windows Installed

Once the temporary wall was built, the first windows were installed.Originally, there was a sliding glass door in this room.

Now there are 2 windows along the back wall.

Conman

I got home from the grocery store and Coop began to whine to go out. Since it had been a few hours since his morning walk, I quickly put the groceries away and called to Coop and Oti to go for a walk.

Coop quickly did his business, but Oti just walked along, not showing any interest in the trees and bushes. After a while I gave up and headed for home.

When I got to the front door, Jeff was coming out. His comment was, "Did the dogs fool you into walking them again, they just went out before you got home!"

Temporary wall

The sliding glass door in the dining room no longer exists.  When the sheetrock was removed, Steve, the contractor immediately recognized a problem.

When the door was originally installed, it seems that the door was too large for the framing. Rather than reframing, the installer cut thru the structural beam to make it fit. Steve said that there was no safe way to easily  remove the door  without the entire wall collapsing.

A temporary wall was built, so the door could be removed and the windows framed.

I asked if this was a unique situation and Steve said no, too many people think they can do-it-yourself and don't realize that construction needs to be done in the right way.

Foyer

The tile in the foyer has been removed. This makes me extremely happy. The tile had been installed over the hardwood floor and the tile was 2 inches higher than the rest of the flooring. I am always tripping over this.

The original hardwood floor will need some repair, sanding and staining.In spite of that, I still think the floor already looks better than it did.

Insulation

When we renovated the upstairs bath, we found out that there was no insulation in this room. That made me wonder if there might be other rooms that were uninsulated.

When I arrived home on the first day of construction, I was happy to see insulation in the dumpster.

In speaking to the contractor, he said that when the front window casing was removed, they noticed there was no insulation along the edge of the window. I said I wouldn't be surprised if there was no insulation  in the wall.

Out came the hammer and sure enough, there was no insulation. I am dumbfounded. Why insulate 2 exterior walls, but not the third ?

1000

Otis has cancer.

We have had 4 Goldens with 4 different types of cancer. What are the odds of that ? If this were baseball, we would be batting 1000. I am unbelievably tired of hearing that diagnosis.

Oti had his annual vet appointment. This was a simple exam and shots appointment. I asked Dr Duffy to examine a lump on Oti's side. Dr Duffy thought that it was probably a cyst or something benign. However, to be sure, it was aspirated.

Dr Duffy read the slides immediately and came back with the bad news that this is a cancerous tumor. The good news is that it is slow growing and once removed the odds are that Oti will be fine.

I asked Dr Dufffy if we needed surgery immediately or could it wait. My concern is that with the construction going on Oti is completely stressed and hyper-excited. Our vacation is coming up and Oti will be in a kennel (risk of infection). Dr Duffy said that Oti will need to be shaved and have a 3 inch incision on his side. He agreed that it would be ok to wait until we returned from vacation and Oti can recover at home.

In a few weeks, Oti will be having surgery. We are crossing fingers and paws and hoping for the best.

Life in a bubble

We are living in a plastic bubble.

Jeff says  the rooms outside the plastic are like Mars - barren and cold. The kitchen and bedroom would be the space station.

Two people, 2 dogs and 200 sq feet of living space. Will we all survive this 6 week journey into the unknown?

Back to the basement

I am lucky enough to have a job where I sometimes get to work at home.

Unfortunately, during construction, I cannot be at home with all the noise and distractions. While this will be tough on me, it will be harder on Cooper and Otis.

When I am home, the dogs spend the day on the bed. Now, they will be in the basement.

Destruction

Today was the first day of construction. The house is in shambles.

I keep telling myself that the mess  and disruption will be worth it.....

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Here is the St. Anthony's High School Choir performing "Bridge Over Troubled Water".