I know, I know. It’s been awhile. A whole month! In my mind, when I list out the things that have happened lately, well, it doesn’t seem like a very long list. But it isn’t the number of things that matters, it’s that they were big jobs that were some of the most important. To begin where we last left off….
We decided to replace the siding with cement fiber board and in the process of removing the old siding, we found a lot of damage. To the contractor’s credit, they repaired the rot and damage quickly and at a decent cost, leaving us with huge peace-of-mind. If you don’t remember what the damage looked like, the pictures are on the Worst News First post.
The work on electrical was temporarily diverted to replacing the OSB and support beams where necessary and it was completed in half the time!
Electrical work resumed but was put on hold again because the windows were due to arrive. So, the remaining siding was removed and then the windows and house wrap were put into place.
Electrical resumed, again, and continued while – wait for it – the foundation company got busy! This was an interesting process to watch. First, they got the miniature style backhoe tearing out the vegetation that I couldn’t bring myself to remove. I know it needed to go, but it’s really hard for me to tear out beautifully, well-established flower beds, even when necessary. The backhoe did most of the digging, but one corner was dug mostly by hand since we had electrical wire running underground in the area.
Next, they placed several augers and steel pipes in place to begin the underpinning process.
Once those were ready, the backhoe had a PTO attachment to start turning them into the earth. Once they were as deep as they could go, another steel pipe was added to the top and they continued to auger them down until they hit bedrock. Here’s a picture, but for a quick video, click here!
When those were finished, brackets were installed to attach to the existing foundation.
Hydraulic lines were attached to all the brackets and then the foundation was lifted and shifted until it was level and secure. We, of course, went out to closely monitor this process because it just seemed insane! At the end, one last lift and when it was all over, we visibly watched a corner of the house move. A lot. It was a bit frightening. After this there was some mixing of concrete and patching of cracks, and then the ditch on the side of the house was refilled after inspection.
That was just one day of work. Day two, or rather, day one and a half, Terra Firma replaced (or added, I’m actually not sure which) some support beams. Where there were once floor dips and soft spots we now have solid, even floors. It’s like a freaking miracle. This MAJOR job that we waited for so long was over in the blink of an eye.
It took a little longer than we, at least Pat and I, anticipated, but the electrical was finished and passed inspections – yay! That meant the insulation could begin. We also had a building inspection that looked at the new chimney. The old one was removed and the new one has been placed a few feet from the original so it will no longer intrude through the kitchen ceiling. This required a patch on the metal roof, but it will eventually be painted. The new chimney looks magnificent and Pat can already visualize a steady stream of wood smoke piping into the atmosphere.
And now here we are, to the end of this post. The insulation for the plumbing in the crawl space, the crawl space itself, and the exterior walls is in and the energy inspection complete. Today, we had drywall and joint compound delivered!
Pat and I have been up to the normal stuff. Pat made door hinges and handles for a friend’s workshop and then began prototyping a spinning wheel; I’ve been spinning and learning a bit more about photography. It’s still very amateur, but it keeps me busy and makes me want to get out more and see this beautiful place we live. Yesterday, we hiked the Silver Falls Trail near the Sunrise entrance to Mt. Rainier NP and enjoyed a leisurely hike in the sun. This is certainly “the life”!
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