visible change today!

I started today by spending 3 hours sorting and organizing the Ikea cabinets. I was very pleased that I not only had everything I thought I should have, but I had nothing extra. The place has begun to have visible change. The walls are getting patched and closed. Much of the work so far has had no satisfying, visual changes. But this week things are starting to look different.

People can be so disrespectful. I've had to have a porta-potty on site because we have no bathroom. At first I had it behind the house so only people who belong there can use it. That proved to be a problem because due to the narrowness of the driveway the service truck cannot make it in and they couldn't clean it. We had to move it first to the driveway and then to the front lawn in plain sight of anyone passing by. It seems that last night while nobody was around, someone did something really gross in there. Fortunately, the contractor's crew warned me and I didn't see it. Today is the regular service day, so it shouldn't have been that big of a problem except that we didn't get our service! It's the first time in three months we've really needed it and the first time it got missed! So my first task tomorrow as site manger is to track down the servicing. Today I have to get a padlock!

One of the plumber's guys dropped off the calculations on the gas line size, so I'll take that to the permit office in the morning so I can get them signed off. The contractor started putting in the new windows today, which is a huge milestone. Everyone in the neighborhood can't wait to see them, including us!

Here is a progress shot of the slab. This is the footer under the slab. 3 hours of jackhammering yeilded this 3" crevice and nothing more. It will have to be removed with a bobcat. It should be easier this time around because the yard has firmed up and dried out quite a bit.



I took this shot to show what the blown insulation looks like in the walls. It is something you usually wouldn't get a chance to see because it is inside the walls.

Here are just some of the piles and stacks of stuff from Ikea.


The start of the new window installation includes removing the old windows and leaving an open space.

The walls are getting closed up and patched.

This is the piece of recylced marble I scored from the salvage yard for one small area of the kitchen. I love the idea of reusing this, especially since it is from the earth. It was only a little more than a formica counter would have been.


Here are more paint samples. You can see I'm having trouble in this room (Master Bedroom).