A New House-Update #2

[Karl Laustrup]

Yesterday [1/10/06], the windows and doors came out and were stored in the big blue container. The pix were taken around noon when they had about half the windows out. I will see how far they got when I return this morning to finish removing the interior doors and upper cabinets for use in the shop.

If the schdule goes as planned, the demo will take place Thursday [1/12/06], with excavating and footings for new section to be done Friday.

It seemed like it took us forever to get to this point and now it's really moving along.

More updates later today or early Thursday morning.

Karl

[Jerry Clark]

Sounds great Karl. Now you will have to buy more furniture to fill the extra space. BTW where is the snow-- I thought it was Winter in Wisconsin.

[Frank Chaffee]

Karl,
Looks like you’re off to a good start. All the planning you’ve done will surely pay off.

I see that you have very good connections to have this spell of unseasonably warm and dry weather too!!! Earlier when you said you were going to start this in January I said “Ouch!”, but this is sweet building weather here now.

Good luck Karl and I’ll be looking forward to updates.

Frank

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Wow Karl, I hope everything continues to move at this pace. Be sure to take lots of pics as you will want to remember the old place

It is neat to have photos of the old place in the new place

[Karl Laustrup]

Just an update to the removal phase.

I arrived this morning [Wednesday] to find the guys had all the doors and windows out yesterday. Two additional guys showed up today and as of 11:00 AM when I had to leave they only had the hot water heater and a couple of things left in the basement to remove.

The guys are really kind of enjoying this, as they usually just build, not tear down.

So it appears that demo can begin tomorrow. I'll be there and get pix. Look for a new thread tomorrow on the demo part.

Karl

[John Miliunas]

Yup, cookin' with gas, now!!! I know you mentioned it's kind of bittersweet to see the place go down but, the new place will actually give you room to breathe!!! Keep those updates coming!!!

[Bill Lewis]

Sounds great Karl. Now you will have to buy more furniture to fill the extra space. BTW where is the snow-- I thought it was Winter in Wisconsin.

Yeah, no kidding, and look at the green grass! It look like it need cutting!

[Bill Lewis]

It is neat to have photos of the old place in the new place

What's even better is establish a point (or several points)to take the photos from so you get the same perspective from the "before" to the "after". Just put a stakes in the ground to mark your photo spots. That way they will still be visible when it snows again.

[John Miliunas]

Yeah, no kidding, and look at the green grass! It look like it need cutting!

LOL! Knowing Karl (and I do know Karl), he was out there with the "Weed 'N Feed" the minute the snow melted!!!

[Karl Laustrup]

LOL! Knowing Karl (and I do know Karl), he was out there with the "Weed 'N Feed" the minute the snow melted!!!

I'm afraid the yard is going to get destroyed over the course of the next few months. Going to have fun putting it back together this summer.

It is nice that we are getting some warmer weather as we approach the concrete phase. I'm having the existing basement wall raised by two blocks. That will be about 17" and should give me a floor to ceiling height in the basement of right at 9'. That will match the floor to ceiling on the main floor. Block guys won't do block unless temp is 32 degrees or above, so I need moderate weather for at least another week.

Ran into a problem today. We were going to use our existing kitchen sink as it's only about 1 year old. However, your's truly really made sure it stayed in place as I siliconed it, as well as used holding clips when I installed it. It cracked as the guys tried to remove it and they finally had to cut it out of the counter so they could salvage the faucet, which will be re-used. Think we'll go with a molded sink as the counter tops will be a Corian type material.

Bill, thanks for the stake tip. I've been trying to take pix from standard spots. I'll put a few stakes in the ground tomorrow while the ground is still unfrozen and then use those same spots. There are a bunch of stakes in the ground already, so all I have to do is pull them up and put them where I need them so I can assure pix from the same spots.

If I have to mow it'll be with the snow blower attachment.

More pix tomorrow [Thursday] as the destruction begins.

Good night John-Boy.

Karl