Exciting Siding: The Tale of a Veteran Leader & His Colorful Command Center

We're nearly done putting vinyl siding on the second story bathroom addition. It's a relatively easy process, despite the fact that one must traverse several levels of elevation to complete it. Once you measure, cut, and nail your corner trim & J-channels into place, it's simply a matter of sliding the pieces of siding into the J-channels and then loosely nailing them to the wall. The hardest part for us was remembering to grab the measuring tape before heading up the ladder to join the clouds.

As this was a very important task, our seasoned veteran project leader was there to oversee the work and give advice from his dignified command center whenever necessary.

Our fearless leader decided to trust his Dad's skills and let him measure and cut the siding without direct supervision. Captain Joseph believes that a good leader must trust his underlings with a certain amount of responsibility. How else are his project workers to learn?

Before allowing his Dad to begin work, Captain Joseph was careful to inspect the tools and siding which were to be used on this project. Only the best quality items would suffice. He made his Dad discard several hammers before finally approving this one. See how he examines it with reverence?

(In truth, Stephen may have been pretending to tap siding into Captain Joseph's head when this particular picture was taken...)

Under Captain Joseph's careful instructions, the addition siding should be done in no time. Even if he has to issue reprimands and climb those ladders to take care of it himself. He's quite a slave driver.

Fear not, Captain Joseph will have this joint looking pretty spectacular in no time. He was just informing me of his Christmas decorating plans and it should be pretty fantastic! Just you wait.

P.S. Captain Joseph would like to thank his Pappy and Aunt Freesa for their assistance in this matter. He is especially grateful for the use of his Pappy's ladders. He deigned to send you both his special nod of approval. A great honor indeed.

It's official! The addition probably won't collapse onto our neighbors!!

Do you remember the addition?? No? That's ok, because I haven't posted about it in quite some time. If you want to catch up, you can read all about it HERE.

The addition lies through this sketchtastic doorway in the nursery. Yes. I know. The doorway is in desperate need of some moulding! It's on our list.

With the help of our FANTASTIC relatives, we started building the addition about three and a half months ago, and, guess what?

That little yellow slip on the window? It says:

WE PASSED OUR FIRST INSPECTION TODAY!!!

The framing is all done!! FINALLY!!!

Since we have no real building credentials, we were kind of holding our breath. But we passed! Thanks to all of the wonderful family members who knew what they were doing!! We couldn't have done it without your trouble shooting skills and manly hammer wielding abilities. (And, yes, we are aware that it is very sad that we are just now getting around to our first building inspection.)

 Things move a little slowly around here what with the baby and EIGHT MILLION OTHER OPEN PROJECTS. We have severe project ADD, but I have banned the opening of any new projects until ALL of our current projects are completed.

The framing for the entry stairs and shower plumbing/closet was recently completed:

And we really have to thank Stephen's Dad and his sister Theresa. Your help is incredibly valued and appreciated! You guys ROCK!

So maybe in another three and half months, I'll report back with another update? We have to put in the plumbing and the electrical wiring before our next inspection. Should be fun!

See how enthusiastic I am?

Addition Progress - From Balcony to Room

As much as we've enjoyed having a balcony, it was time to say our farewells and move on to more safely enclosed spaces. Sniffles were had by one and all.

Last Sunday, Stephen and his friend Jake spent the day enclosing the last wall of the addition. It was a very sober affair. Star Wars was never quoted. Not once. There was never a Captain Kirk/Piccard debate. Scout's honor!

First, they framed in the area for the window.

They were thinking of aiming for a more stylized window - the type modeled after the doorways in submarines...

But then, how would they have reenacted this scene from a Muppet Christmas Carol?

"You there! Young man!"

"Me, sir?"

"What day is today?"

"Why, it's Christmas day!"

"I haven't missed it!! The prize turkey in the shop window. Has it been sold?'"

"The one as big as me? No, sir!"

"I want you to go and buy it for me!"

...I'm not making this up.

   

Once the window opening was cut, they finished enclosing the space.

We only have a few more steps (outersheeting/flashing) before the first inspector can come and let us know if the whole structure is bound to fall over or not.

And they did all of this, despite how very, very hot it was outside.

Thanks for all of the hard work, guys! It's looking more and more like a room.

Special Thanks To The Addition Crew

We would like to thank all of the wonderful family members who helped us begin construction on our addition.We really appreciated everyone's willingness to traveling long distances and give up one of their weekends. We couldn't have accomplished so much without the expert feedback/troubleshooting and extra hands.

Rob - Thank you for ripping up the roof on the first level and for persevering despite severe allergies and the lack of Benadryl. We will frame & immortalize the piece of ceiling that you put your foot through.

Sarah - Thank you for bringing Rob Benadryl. ;)
Uncle Bob - You are awesome. We probably never would have even started this project without your help. You worked so hard and we really, really appreciate it! Uncle Rich - We never would have gotten the permits without your knowledge of architecture and advice. Without your help, we'd still be working around the whole "missing fourth wall" problem...

Uncle Charlie - Thank you for helping with the cutting and measuring. I look forward to talking about wall tiling with you in the future!

Jamie and Suzanne - We loved having you and your munchkins! You are welcome anytime. Apple picking? Anyone?

Munchkins - We know you could have put the whole addition up yourselves, but we were happy to let you play with the gumball machine instead...
Grandmom - You make an excellent foreman. You can bring your jackhammer and boss the guys around anytime! (Plus - we have a Sharp Shopper!)Dad & Theresa - Without you, the addition wouldn't have a roof or any walls. Thank you for coming back the following weekend to help!!Mom - Thanks for going bargain shopping with me while the guys sawed a holes into my house. I'll let you hold Joseph anytime. You might have to fight with Sarah and Paula at the beach though...

We love you all and are very grateful to have such a wonderfully close and supportive family. THANK YOU!!

The Addition

For those of you who were unaware (assuming anyone still reads this blog outside of my family), we started work on the addition for a second upstairs bathroom with the help of my husband's terrific relatives.

However, before we ever lifted a hammer, the Professor put a lot of time into planning the addition and applying for permits.

I'm glad he has the skills to use programs like Sketchup. If the plans had been left to me, they would have looked like this:
What? I do all of my best work with crayons and napkins. Bunch of plan snobs.

Ok, ok! The permit office never would have taken us seriously and the addition probably would have fallen over. Not to mention the fact that the house would have been eaten by an oversized kindergartener's flower...

Thankfully, the plans produced by the Professor looked a little more professional than my plans. His plans had actual measurements and lacked the color magenta (mores the pity).

His plans were approved by the permit office. We are officially building on top of the existing downstairs bathroom addition.

The future layout for the bathroom started out looking like this:Ooo! A toilet and a door! How exciting!

Then the layout progressed to this:Not bad, but the stairs are floating in the middle of the room and the shower's plumbing would be difficult to access.

With some expert feedback from my husband's uncles, we changed the bathroom layout to look like this:

Thank you, expert uncles! We appreciate all of your time and expertise! You saved us from the giant monstrous flower. I shudder to think what would have happened without you...

It's going to be a while before the addition becomes an actual bathroom with a toilet, sink, and shower. For now, the existing platform/roof make for a great balcony!

Proposed Addition in Pictures

Our two existing bathrooms are noted below. The downstairs bathroom is in the addition and the upstairs bathroom is a room over from the downstairs addition on the second floor.
Our proposed addition would go here...The Professor is consulting the experts (wonderful family members willing to give feedback) on the best way to proceed and the various ins and outs of building codes. The plans are coming together nicely. I had nothing to do with their creation, but I do get to share. :)

Updating the Plumbing

As part of the bathroom addition project, the Professor plans to update all of the plumbing in the house. Currently, there is a maze of piping running throughout the cellar. It's old, it makes no sense, the pressure is terrible, and it takes forever for the hot water to make it through the pipes to the kitchen.

Our solution comes in the form of Pex tubing - flexible, resistant to freezing, and color coded for hot and cold water. We're going to run it to bypass all of the pipes in the house.And with this nifty little device, the hot and cold water pressure never falls simply because two people are using water in different areas of the house.
Total estimate cost - about $500. We'll start on it once the weather is a little warmer.

Bathroom Addition Plans

At some point, the previous owners of our house put a bathroom addition on the first floor. Judging by the decor of the bathroom (scary pepto bismal pink tub, sink, & toilet with black & grey plastic tiling), I would guess that the addition was put on in the 50s or 60s. The bathroom will eventually be ripped apart and redone, but that's a project for another day.

However, some time this summer, we plan to add on to the add on. We're going to put a second floor ontop of the downstairs addition. This way, we'll have two bathrooms upstairs. One for our kids and one for us. The Professor is in the preliminary planning stages - drawing up plans and figuring out material costs. This is what we've got so far. Here's the side of our house with the lower add on & the plans for the upper add on.

Here's a top down view of what we plan to do:And here are the estimated costs so far. These include the wood & roof. We already have subflooring. We still have to calculate the outer siding, insulation, & drywall.The Professor went to the county office and got all of the information on building permits and inspections. That should run about $100.

Oh. And there's the small matter of the actual bathroom part of this whole plan. One thing at a time.

So. Who wants to come help build stuff? Pop? Uncle Steve? Uncle Charlie? Uncle Bob? I cook big manly meals for volunteer construction workers!