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Construction update No. 6: A flurry of activity

September 29, 2010

We’ve moved into a phase of the house renovation project that doesn’t have as many big changes so it feels like things have slowed a little, but in reality I think we’re moving along at a pretty good pace.

Since the last update, they put on the soffits and the shingles started going on Monday morning. The project (not in the original plan) to straighten out the badly sloped roof is going well. After removing the ceiling in the living room, they essentially jacked up the roof and sistered (like my use of construction terms?) 2x8s on the existing 2x6s. It makes a huge difference from the outside and even though this was something we added onto the project at the last minute, I’m very happy we decided to do it.

When I stopped out yesterday morning there was a flurry of activity going on. Masons, roofers and carpenters were all working. I was heartened to see so much happening. It gives me hope that soon this will all be over and we’ll be back in our house where the plumbing works all the time, the furnace is dependable and I will be able to locate more of my wardrobe.

I think some of the guys thought it was pretty funny that I was running around with my tape measure yesterday, but it’s a damn good thing I did. I found that the window in the bathroom had somehow “crept” over, leaving only 19 inches of space for a vanity (standard vanity depth is 21 inches). Because we’re having a vanity built that isn’t a huge deal, but it does become problematic to squeeze in the sink (which I already have) and the faucets and still have an appropriate amount of counter space left in front of and behind the sink. Guess what? This morning the GC told me they are moving the window two inches. So who’s laughing at the girl with the tape measure now?

Onto the pictures!

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Here’s what the front of the house is looking like these days. It was evening but I was finally able to take a picture of the full front of the house without a truck parked in front of it.

We spent a lot of time trying to decide how we should finish the ceiling in the bedrooms. Because the two roof pitches don’t hit the center beam (which is not in the center of the bedrooms) at the same height we could either have a 26-inch wide flat spot on the ceiling (first picture) or build out a faux beam (second photo). After seeing both options we decided to go with the flat spot.

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This next photo might be of the closet in the second bedroom. Or it might be a gratuitous picture of the carpenter. I guess it all depends on your point of view.

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Not the best picture, but the new shingles are a totally inoffensive color, which I’m really happy about. Choosing a shingle color was harder than I expected it to be because it’s very difficult to tell how they will look on different roofs. I would look at three houses with the same color of shingles (that the roof guy sent me to) and they would all look completely different.  You can also see the roof extension underneath the shed dormer now which really helps break up that side of the house.

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The masons were hard at work too. Our chimney is a good example of the importance of getting multiple quotes. Some of the mortar on the top was falling out. I would find big chunks of it in the garden. We called a chimney place that came highly recommended by a friend, and they came out and said that the top of the structure was compromised and top six feet of it needed to be taken apart and completely rebuilt to the tune of $6,000. After I picked my jaw up off the floor I called two other masons, both of whom disagreed and said that the mortar could simply be completely chipped out and new mortar put in (more complicated than just tuckpointing, but less than rebuilding) for a fraction of the cost of the first estimate. Because we identified this problem last fall, we went with the mason who agreed to charge us a little less if we were able to have the work done when he had a hole in his schedule, which was no problem for us. That hole just happened to be yesterday.

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Lots of pretty unexciting things happening for awhile now: rough-ins for electrical and plumbing, HVAC stuff, insulation (although that will be a little exciting because we’re getting spray foam), and a few other things. We need to meet with the cabinet maker soon too to start the design work on the vanity and linen area.

If you’re interested in following the remodeling process so far, check out our past updates:

Construction Update 1
Construction Update 2
Construction Update 3
Construction Update 4
Construction Update 5

house remodel
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
2 Comments

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previous post: Some color in a dusty landscape
next post: You know your house is a mess …

Comments

  1. LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD says: October 1, 2010 at 2:33 am

    Our schedules allowed us to be here for much of the work and you can be sure we were asking questions and checking the work. It's too easy for something to move an inch or two and the homeowner will notice it instantly where the contractor may not until it's too late. Love the window box!

    Reply
  2. faux beams california says: September 18, 2012 at 1:37 am

    Nice job, looks like a lot of work! I like the faux beam too.

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
I fell in love with gardening through container de I fell in love with gardening through container design and it’s probably still my favorite type of gardening. My trip to Philadelphia area gardens was full of so many excellent ideas. For several years I’ve been enamored with clustered pots, but in my opinion they work best when they are able to stand alone in a space. And you probably know me well enough by now to know that as far as I’m concerned, the bigger the pot, the better. Feast your eyes on these beauties and use your zooming fingers to really get into those nooks and crannies. 

Don’t forget to save your favorites because you know you’re going to be looking for them come next spring. 😀

Photos 1 & 2: Amazing container cluster at @longwoodgardens  that works particularly well because of the restraint used in the design. Also how many different ways is the universe going to tell me I need to grow agave before I actually listen?

Photo 3: This was probably favorite display I saw the whole time and of course it’s from the masters at @chanticleergarden This is a master class in texture. It’s also probably not attainable for the average home gardener because it relies heavily on tropicals that need proper overwintering in order to reach a good size. But there’s no reason why I (or you) couldn’t use this as inspiration to create a similar feel with other plants. 

Photo 4: Strappy foliage, bright orange and colorful pots create such a good doorway collection at @chanticleergarden 

Photo 5, 6 & 7: Similar colors were used at a patio doorway at Steve and Ann Hutton’s Owl Creek Farm home garden. A pot is perfectly framed by an arbor off a side patio. The front entrance has a pink theme (and an amazing feature pot that I couldn’t show here because all my shots are vertical). 

Photo 8: Back to @chanticleergarden where I could have studied this container planting for an hour just to soak up all the detail. 

Photo 9: And while I love a pot with a lot going on, never underestimate the power of a simply planted, gorgeous pot, like this one at @abunting64 garden Belvidere. 

#gbfling2023
I think every garden probably needs a little bit o I think every garden probably needs a little bit of water, even if it’s just a bird bath. All of the fabulous gardens I saw recently in the Philadelphia area incorporated water into them. Here are just a few examples of how lovely these water features were. 

@paxsonhillfarm @northviewgarden @brandywinecottage @longwoodgardens #gbfling2023
Gardens must have places to relax and enjoy the vi Gardens must have places to relax and enjoy the view even though we all know that most of us rarely take the opportunity to use them. The seating I saw in gardens in the Philadelphia area reflected their gardens and all were special. 

Make sure to share your favorite!

Photo 1:  I adored these perfectly lichen-covered chairs at @brandywinecottage

Photo 2: Great lichen game on this bench at Wayne Guymon’s mind-blowing garden WynEden. 

Photo 3: Perhaps my favorite seating moment of the whole trip was this chair in @jennyrosecarey @northviewgarden . Not only was it perfectly lichen covered (are you sensing a theme here?) but a volunteer cleome was growing right up through the middle of it. Unfortunately this photo of it isn’t grata because by this point in the trip my phone (I didn’t want to use my DSLR in the middle of the tropical storm so I switched to my phone) was getting very grumpy about the rain. 

Photo 4: I’d be happy to hang out on these chairs in @abunting64 ‘s gorgeous garden Belvidere. I loved this space. 

Photo 5: Color was the name of the game on this patio at Steve and Ann Hutton’s Owl Creek Farm. 

Photo 6: The most original table and benches I saw were at @abunting64 garden. This was a portion of the garden that was actually on the neighbors’ property adjacent to Andrew’s. It had been a vegetable garden but is getting a bit too shady so it will soon have a new life. 

Photo 7: We visited Barbara Tiffany’s Mill Fleurs in a deluge, which is a shame, and dotted throughout the property are examples of her husband Tiff’s amazing furniture. This was, called the Centipede was upholstered and quite different from the others. All were amazing works of art. 

Photos 8 and 9: The @scott_arboretum at @swarthmorecollege had some excellent seating, from brand new @deebenarc chairs to more lichen-covered charmers.

#gbfling2023
*** I can already see that some people do not unde *** I can already see that some people do not understand humor so let me just say this: 1. I was fully aware of the escaped convict situation (I’m an avid follower of the news, which is common for us journalists). 2. It’s ok to laugh about the fact that I’ve missed the Longwood meadow twice through weird circumstances while being a rational adult and realizing that I’m not making light of the situation that led to the meadow being mown. ***

I missed seeing @longwoodgardens beautiful meadow the first time I visited so I was excited to see it the second time. Not so fast! Turns out it had to be mown down during the search for an escaped convict who was hiding out there (at least that’s what I was told was the reason for the mowing). He’ll never see goldenrod the same way again! 😀

That whole situation was really unfortunate for @longwoodgardens (not to mention everyone who lives in the area), which had to be closed for about a week while the hunt was on!
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