The big pine tree had to go.
Lumber Ray!
This is what's left of the tree
Ray rented a jackhammer and got rid of the stairs....then he forgot they were gone and came out the door. He was a little embarrassed when he tumbled to the ground.
We have a backhoe in the backyard.
That's a lot of dirt!
....A LOT OF DIRT!!
...A WHOLE LOT OF DIRT!! Anyone need any dirt?:)
Now I locked the screen door, locked, dead-bolted and chained the wood door shut so Ray and the girls don't take a tumble onto the ground. It's a lot farther down now than it used to be.
We've got our best gals on it!!
A family digging party!
Footings for the new basement
Foundation for the new basement
It snowed the morning that they were to pour the foundation so they had to bring in the cement pump
This is the big door they cut in the old foundation so we'd have access to the new addition.
Our new doorway.
Getting ready for the new floor.
This is Ray's little contraption so I can have a laundry room in the basement. That's some pretty good thinking!
This is the family surveying their new kingdom.
Finally!! A floor!
It is starting to look like a real room.
Sometimes you have to make a mess to save a little money. Ray decided to tar the foundation and footings himself. It wouldn't have been so bad if the dirt hadn't kept falling back in the hole as he was trying to shovel it off the footings.
At least he keeps a smile on his face. You know how the saying goes...Fake it til you make it:)
The girls just love their 'new house'. Wouldn't it be nice if it would always be this easy to make them happy!
He actually smiles while he works:)
Ray sure has been spending a lot of time outside lately. I wonder if it's the new toy he borrowed from a neighbor.
Now this is what I call 'Livin on the edge'
Backfilling is almost complete....and we still have all this dirt!
This wall in the basement separates the new laundry room from the new bedroom.
These are the I-Joists for the upstairs floor.
Ray is working hard to get the floor on. It started out a little rough, but his dad and friend helped.
The floor is finally on, but with all of the rain we've had, we have to keep the tarps on so we don't flood our new basement.
Helping Daddy with the wall.
The girls are adding personal art to the wall.
Yeah! A wall!
Randy Peterson helping get ready to install trusses.
Such a big helper!
Installing the first truss.
Randy Goodrich helping.
Jason Bunting came and brought a friend, Josh.
Jared Steenblik, a carpenter and friend, came to help and stayed until all the trusses were up.
They're all up!
An hour later the downpour started and the water was coming in through the kitchen ceiling.
12:30am Ray was up on the roof checking out the flooding situation.
There was a lake in the tarp that Ray had put up before going in for the night. He had to throw out the water before it came gushing into the house. Our friend, Randy Goodrich, came back at 12:30am when the downpour started to help Ray with the water situation.
The calm AFTER the storm!
Yeah! Rafters!
Now the sheathing goes up.
A member of the "Crew"
So Helpful!
Grandpa G. helping with the framing
Now for the roof...
This is the over-build. Ray worked very hard to cut all of the angles. He only wasted a "few" boards making practice cuts!
Aaggghhhh!
A few more boards and we'll be ready to shingle. Yeah!
Hiding out in the attic:) Actually, nailing in boards to support the hip up on the roof.
Working on the hip
Cutting out holes for the turtle vents
Nailing in the vents
Grandpa G helping finish up the hip so we can shingle.
They are delivering the shingles. We finally found a company that sells the exact shingles we bought 8 years ago.
The tar paper is going down.
G'pa Garland helping out.
Getting started on the shingles.
Yeah! A roof!
Surviving a long day up on the roof.
The roof is finally done!
This is me being excited the roof is finally done!
Adding the weather barrier
Door and windows are in
Fiber cement siding going up
The siding is all done! Yeah!
Working on the soffit and fascia
Adding a drain
Ray is back to digging trenches. I guess you stick to what you know!
Getting started on the electrical
There's always plenty of help around...whether you need it or not!
Getting started on the backyard.
More help!!
Yeah!! I can see my yard again!
...and the back wall!
Sod going in...
...Sod finished.
Taming the beast...
There's still a lot of beast to tame
It's gettin'there.
We did things a little out of order...now for the sprinklers!
Of course, there is a lot of help as usual!
Water...at last!
Time to get started on the deck.
Seamless rain gutters and new downspouts! Who knew aluminum could be so exciting! We had a huge rainstorm a few days after these were installed...and the flooding in the basement wasn't nearly as bad this time!
So much help...
2 of the 3 were excited about this photo op!
It's time for cement.
We had some help from a neighbor kid...finishing up a little community service!
There is never a shortage of willing helpers.
Finally finished!!!
