This Girl’s House

Billy hanging the last shingle up on the top of the garage.  He took a deep breath and climbed the top of the scaffolding and finished the part the part that was just out of reach.

Here’s a sample of the tile job in the greatroom. Great job Mattie.

We finally decided on a behr selections of brown. Simple Silhouette for the wall behind the television, and the wall opposite the television. Puddle for the large wall that starts at the entranceway doorway and extends around the greatroom and down the hall to the master bedroom. It was a safe selection and the colorway sheet also included Bitter Chocolate, the same color that we used to paint the kitchen cabinets.

We have a few more details to complete before we can say that we have finally finished the new garage. The most challenging will be putting up the shingles on the front gable. I made the mistake of believing that it is cheaper to get bundles of shingles and stain them myself than it was to put up pre-stained shingles. I’ve since learned my lesson, although it’s too late. For a really good seal, you need to do a triple deal of stain on each shingle. We’ve spent $70 on 2 1 gallon cans of stain, and we’ve only applied one coat to 3 of 7 bundles of shingles Stevie says that the first coat will soak up the most. Then we need to climb up on the scaffolding and staple the shingles onto the gable. I’ll take pictures.

This week, we’re going to get started on the siding.  One board at a time.  We figure we will do a few boards a night until we’re finished.  I wonder how long that job will take.  We have 2 boardmates now though, so the job should go must faster.

Well,  apparently we were hooked up yesterday and didn’t know it because we were looking for an electric meter.  And guess what?  They don’t use electric meters anymore.  They use gps tags monitors that look just like just a lid.  We also had to switch on the breaker and since it’s a garage, we had to switch on the gfi switches.  We turned on the light …….

We passed the electrical inspection last Thursday and today, the electric company connected us to the transformer.  We still don’t have power to the garage yet because I think they haven’t connected the meter box.  Hopefully, they’ll come back tomorrow and finish that job, but Stevie is this close to putting up his shop lights.  How he plans to get them up there to the ceiling joists 14 feet above his head I have no idea.  He says he bought himself a hoist.

We did a lot of work on the deck this weekend.  I finally broke down and purchase the decking materials.  It was twice as much as I expected because prices had gone up and we needed more than I figured on.  Did I say I was going to be broke, broke, broke?   However, I’m beginning to believe that I will be sitting in my hot tub, on the deck, this weekend.

Of course, we’re just laying out the strips and figuring out the spacing right now.  We had 180 joist hangers to nail up and that’s the time consuming part.  Here’s a picture of one.

Each one takes 10 nails.  Steve can do one about every 5 minutes.  It takes me about 8 minutes and you have to pound away in awkward positions.  Man, my back and legs were hurting yesterday. 

It’s well into fall, and the way it’s been raining lately, it feels real close to winter.  We’re doing the concrete floor pour this weekend, and it’s been a muddy mess.  Steve skimmed off a top layer of gravel and dirt in the garage, to get it ready for the pour.  It took a day and a half.  We are doing a 6 inch floor.  With the kind of vehicle traffic that Stevie likes to work on, I want a solid garage floor.  We’re planning on pouring 22 yards of concrete plus a cleanup.  For those who are unfamiliar with that term (like me), it means that concrete firm will have ready another load of concrete ready for you, regardless of how much or how little you need, and won’t charge you more than the $35 delivery fee.  Which is great, because we’re also planning on pouring the concrete forms for the deck.  Believe it or not, that project is still on schedule.  The concrete forms are all built, and Steve plans to dig the holes for those forms tonight.  I can’t believe we’re doing everything we’re doing.  I’m going to be broke, broke, broke.  Plus, I need to send an e-mail to my home insurance rep today.  I want to make sure that the garage is covered, after all we’ve been through.

The shingles went up this weekend. Steve devised this ingenious device to raise the 70 pound shingle packages to the roof.

To cover the roof, we had purchased around 80 of them.

It took about half hour to get them all up there and saved a load on every one’s back.

More pictures of the garage which has been fully enclosed except for the windows and garage doors.

I scaled the heights today.  Steve need help securing the facia board to the roof, and there was literally no one who dropped by and was willing to climb a ladder.  So it was up to me.

I climbed the ladder up to the peak of the roof and froze 8 feet from my destination.  I could not do it.  I just couldn’t.

So Stevie told me to try the scaffolding.  I climbed 15 feet of scaffolding, like a monkey really, and then stepped onto the roof.  Of course, I navigated the roof on my butt most of the time, and when it came time to lean over and hold the fascia, I closed my eyes, but I did it.

There’s no doubt that it takes a certain someone to work heights.  And I’ve always had to pinch myself when I cross the Narrows bridge.  But there was a time when I worked the roofs of my home.  Of course, I was naive.  I tied myself off and then climbed the ladder not realizing that if I ever fell off the roof, I would end up with a broken back.  But having that rope as a mental “safety line”, gave me confidence.  This time, on a much taller roofline, and with 5 more years under my belt, I’m a lot more hesitant.  Still, we got the job done.

I’m at the point where I’m ready to purchase a dishwasher and stove.  Stainless steel, but I’m not looking for the same brand as our refrigerator.  GE Profiles are nice, but spendy.  And anyway, I have some specific features that I’m looking for. 

 Like quiet in a dishwasher.  Some say they have a quiet package, but don’t post the decibel level.  Our current dishwasher, a find for $50 when I was broke after building my house.  But when you turn it on, it sounds like you’re sitting in a plane on the runway, ready to take off.  Not really noticeable if you leave the kitchen immediately and have no plans to use the greatroom.  However since Stevie moved in, we prefer some quiet after dinner conversation or enjoy watching the news.  I usally end up not using the dishwasher.  I plan to look at the Amana ADB1500AWS which is running for about $450 for the stainless steel package.

We purchased the Amana dishwasher and the Kenmore elite range with 12/9/6″ radiant element, warming element and warming drawer.  It has also has the largest oven in it’s line.  They should be delivered next Sunday.  The only issue now outstanding is the range hood/microwave.

Well, partially.  But the things we have to fix are so minute, basically adding some more nails, that we can keep going and add the siding, the shingles, the gutters, and the windows and call back only when we’re ready for the final.