Home Addition Update

February 13th. Our home remodeling project was started the day after the Thanksgiving holiday and we were told it would take approximately 11 weeks. By my calculation we're now in our 12th week, and although I believe Jason is mostly finished inside there is still work to do outside. On the inside we still need to have the bedroom carpet installed; it's been orderd but we're still waiting. Other than that, most of the carpentry, electrical and plumbing on the inside is finished; Jane and I still need to work on Jane's walk-in closet but that won't take long once we get started. I think they still have a week outside to finish the porch. Maybe it'll all come together really fast but our past experience is that the final little bit of work takes a long time to complete. Anyway, it's nearly done

February 15th. I talked with Jason this morning and he seems to think they'll be done by the middle of next week. That would be great. Today, he planned to grade the back yard to ensure rain water flows from the house to the storm drain. Supposedly, one of those small CAT earth movers was going to be delivered and it sounded like he was going to do an extensive amount of grading in the back and side yards. This is something that probably would have to be done at some point. Because our yard is at the bottom of the street (and a creek used to run through the side yard) I'm sure this area flooded regularly so we need to pay close attention to water runoff issues.

February 19th. Well, Jason was unable to grade last week....the ground was too wet on top and frozen underneath; the tracks on the CAT earth mover just spun in the muck. So, they'll have to revisit the grading once the weather clears up long enough for the backyard to dry out. Every since the project began, it has rained nearly every week and right now the back yard is only suitable for pig wallowing or mud wrestling......or pig wrestling. Anyway, they do plan on being 99% finished by the end of the week. The cedar shakes are going up on the inside wall of the porch and the screen doors and sceen and lattice panels are being installed over the next couple of days. On the inside, I've started installing shelves and clothes rods in Jane's closet and that should go pretty fast; the only hard part is determining how to best utilize the space. It's a work in progress.

February 20th. I'm hoping by the time I get home tonight the porch will be substantially done. It didn't appear that there was much progress yesterday, but maybe I just anxious for them to be done. After the porch is completed, Jason still has a number of little odds and ends to take care of. I still think that they'll be here some next week.....but I hope I'm wrong.

February 21: The cedar shakes are up and they look great. The lattice panels are nearly complete and probably will be done by later today. The screen doors are up and all that's left are the screen panels around the porch. By tomorrow they'll surely be finished, except for the fact that a weather front is supposed to be coming through later tonight and tommorrow. Snow followed by sleet, freezing rain, and rain, but I'm not sure what the exact order is. This will likely cancel school tomorrow and make work conditions untenable. Maybe they'll push to get the screen panels done today, but there are still some details that will need to be completed next week.

February22: Early this morning snow, sleet and now rain is falling. Schools are canceled and Judy and Elroy are home. The porch is still unfinished and will need at least one concerted day of work to be completed. So like I said, Jason will be here next week. The grading will be put off until some future date when the backyard is dry enough for scaping.