Hello, Sunshine!

Remember when I asked you, dear reader, to wish, hope, cross your fingers, and/or pray for good weather for the next few weeks?  Well you must be doing something right, because thanks to some sunny weather for the past several work days, the construction on the south addition has been progressing nicely.  Keep up the good work, as isolated thunderstorms are predicted for the rest of the week.  Eek! 

In the last two days, the steel on which the addition will be framed has been raised.  Sorry that the pictures are a little out of order.  The first two are from today and show the large hole in the existing house that will lead into the addition.  The last three are from yesterday, just taken from different angles to give you a better sense of how the structure is coming together. 

The Age-Old Symbol of Hope

If you've been reading this blog and looking through the pictures, I would bet that at some point you've wondered "Is this project ever going to be done?"

The answer is an enthusiastic "Yes!" But showing is so much better than telling, and thus it's time to post some pictures that show how far along the project has come. For those of you that needed a sign of hope, let these pictures serve as your anchor. :)

(P.S. I saw this anchor in Seattle and just HAD to snap a picture!)

I hope you enjoy these photos that make the house look less like a construction zone and more like... well... a house.

New roof!

New student room paint!

New paint & sub-flooring in the cold dorm!

New showers in the new basement bathrooms!

New paint & lighting in the new laundry room!

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

I'm happy to report that construction is really moving along on the south addition!  Actually, construction has been moving along ever since the sewer line was replaced, but lately it's been a little more visible.  Last week (sorry I haven't posted in awhile!), the concrete slab (basement floor) was poured and the block walls were built.  The next step will be to raise the steel support beams and then frame up the walls & floors in wood.  Also last week, temporary scaffolding was put up next to the existing south walls.  The scaffolding will help support the existing house when they break through the walls into the new addition.  Here are some pictures:  

Block walls of the south addition.

The block walls outline the perimeter of the new addition. 

The addition looks huge from this angle!  (The guy down there is the owner of the company that has done all of the foundation work on both additions.)

Support scaffolding in the first floor back stairwell.

View from the basement hallway through the scaffolding into the new addition!

Cause I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane

I'm headed to Seattle for a few days, but thought that before I left, I'd better clean out my camera and post whatever pictures I had of this week's work so far.

It has already been a busy week!  The pics below show the beginning of the roof replacement (right now they're just tearing off the old shingles & gutters), addition of new drywall (the kitchenette is pictured here), and installation of the concrete footers on the new south addition (thank goodness for the sunny weather, which is allowing them to get this done right away!).

More pictures when I return!

The old roof is gone!

A small portion of the old roof was left on (on the right) and will be replaced when they extend the roof onto the new addition.

Piles of discarded shingles.  Two small dumpsters were also filled!

Drywall is complete in the kitchenette.

The concrete footers are complete. 

Another view of the footers.

Scroll to Watch a Dining Room Be Built

No captions necessary.

That Pesky Sewer Line

Good, nay GREAT, news! Remember that surprise sewer line found running a few feet below what will be the foundation of the south addition? The one that didn't show on any surveys, doesn't belong to the city, and no one can find a record of, despite the fact that it services multiple greek houses? Well, we finally received permission from the city to replace the portion of the line running under the addition and build over top of it! This situation created a massive delay in the construction schedule (for the south addition, at least), but this news means that construction can finally commence on the south addition. Hooray!

On Monday & Tuesday, the line was replaced and the hole filled in. An inspector from the city was on site to make sure the work was done to their specifications, hopefully preventing other delays. Now that the line has been replaced, foundation work can begin for the south addition. It will take several days to build the foundation, then the addition will be framed up in about seven days. Pray, wish, cross your fingers, hold your breath (or whatever else gets you through the day) that we have good weather for the next 2 1/2 weeks so that the south addition work begins and continues without further delay.

The new sewer line runs under the gravel (grey area).  You can see where the plumbing from the house hooks into the new pipes (green). 

DG really is a giant construction zone these days.  Dump trucks, excavators, bull dozers, and  concrete mixers are regularly on-site, sometimes parked there for days while in use.  Here I've managed to get three in the same picture.

The green pipes mark the two ends of the newly replaced sewer line.  This will never in our lifetime need to be replaced again.  Good thing, since a house is about to be built over it.

How Many Pounds of Steel Does It Take...

You might be wondering (but probably not), "Rose, how many pounds of steel beams and counterweights does it take to support the DG house while a load-bearing wall is removed?"  Funny you should ask!  In fact, it takes 11,000 pounds of steel and 9,000 pounds of counterweights to properly support then very carefully and ever so slightly lift up the house to install a new support beam.  

On Wednesday, the exterior wall in the dining room that abuts the dining room expansion was removed.  In place of that load-bearing wall, a new support beam was added to hold up the house.  In the time between when the wall was removed and the beam was installed, the house was held up by scaffolding and very slightly lifted using a series of counterweights.  Basically, there was a whole lot of physics being applied in the house on Wednesday.  I've taken some pictures of the process to give you a sense of what it takes to support then raise the house a few millimeters while a wall is being removed. 

What's missing in this picture?

Support scaffolding in the dining room.

Scaffolding and counterweights (bottom of picture) in a second floor student room.

Some of the steel beams and weights before being installed.  If you're curious, it took 16 guys to carry the 20,000 pounds of materials into the house.