702 McKinley - A Remodeling Journey

Porch Update

Just wanted to provide a few photos of the porch since it was completely taken down yesterday. The house looks a little bare! Helping us the last two days was our neighbor Earl. He's nice! Apparently he and Sean have some work experience in common–from what I gather, Earl worked with dozers, back-hos, etc. when he was young. He's probably in his 60's now. Earl was a saint to have worked on Monday in the freezing drizzle! And really, we probably couldn't have done the work without him. To show our appreciation, we let him take all the scrap metal we had sitting around, as well as a ton of scrap plywood sheets! How kind of us, eh? Actually, with all the copper & lead pipes we had laying around, he probably made out!

 

 
 

My Aunt Deb said something to me via Facebook yesterday after seeing the last post–"Tiff, I'm glad he's yours and not mine, I'd have split by now :). JK, love him to pieces and really respect the "getting it done right" attitude you guys have!" To all who are wondering...my patience is greatly improving every day! 

A story to prove it–yesterday after taking down the porch, I began to clean up the yard and sidewalks. As I was doing that, Sean was explaining to Earl his plans to put on a wrap-around porch, going from the old side porch around to the front door. Mind you, I'm aware of these plans and expect them all to go down in the Spring. Inside first, outside later. I'm sweeping away and Sean yells over to me, "What would you say if I said I wanted to do the porch now? Pour it and everything?" I was a little caught off guard, but the new go-with-the-flow Tiffany could only say, "Seriously? Really? Seriously?" No outrage, cuss words, dirty looks, etc. None of that, but instead a slight smile and a "Really?" Yep, I'd say my patience is greatly improving! I did tell Earl about our original plans for the house–inside, move, then outside. Earl smiled and chuckled. Here in the next few weeks we may be pouring concrete for the wrap-around porch. *sigh*

Down With it All!

Last night after work I got a call from Mr. Sean. "I'm tearing down the side porch. I could really use your help...now!" Of course, I got a little riled up. We weren't supposed to tear off the side porch until late Spring. My mind was spinning with questions, the two most important being "Why now? What happened to late Spring" and "Seriously? On this cold, wet day? REALLY?"  Okay, there were a few more than two questions there, but who's counting? At any rate, this is the state of the house right now (outside only): No siding, Dupont weatherization wrap, a huge mess from where the dumpster was (we had a total of 6 dumpsters...I think we're done with them now!), trash & scraps scattered about the yard, and a side porch that's being torn off! Really, we should have just bulldozed the whole thing from the very get go, because we're pretty much starting new!

But really...it's not that bad. I had some photos of our process printed out yesterday. After we finished working on the porch last night, Sean & I sat in the kitchen in front of the "fire" (super-powered kerosene heater) and sifted through the photos to get them in order. Wow we've come a long way! It was so much fun to look at our journey up to this point! I can't wait to sift through more photos when we're completely finished! I may complain about the length of this process or standing in the freezing cold, misty, snowy weather as we tear down the porch, or even yell at Sean for barking orders at me or telling me I don't know how to do something, but in the end, I know it's all going to be worth it. And what doesn't kill us sure does make us stronger! To see where we've come from and know where were going only makes me (us) more anxious to get it done!

If you drive by the house in the next couple of days, don't feel sorry for it, or for us...as bad as it looks, it's getting better!

 

 

PS. I got to work this morning and was asked by our board treasurer (who lives nearby) if a tornado came through last night that he didn't know about because it seems our house was destroyed. Haha, Jerry! Very funny!

I CAN DO IT!

Obviously, things have slowed down on the house. For a couple of weeks, Sean & I have been busy doing other things...like having lives! Sunday was our first day up their in awhile. You may remember, Sean & Chad removed the chimney all the way down to the first floor. Apparently the floor near former fireplace was crazy uneven, so Sean tore it out, put new floor joists and sub floor in its place.

This whole floor business happened Sunday. By the time I got to the house, Sean had the floor boards in this area cut out. You could see the old gigantic furnace in the basement below. He was attaching the new floor joists. My job at that point was to clean up the mess he and Chad continue to make. Of course, I couldn't mix my mess with the roofer's mess. And the trailer's door was closed and couldn't be opened anymore. To say the least, I couldn't get my shovels full of plaster and slats over the 7' sides of the trailer! Yes, I'm weak! In my defense my right shoulder is defective, AND I'm right-handed! Pretty much right off the bat, I had nothing to do! So I did what I do best...I chatted Sean's ear off while looking at a CB2 catalog! (I was picking out furniture & lights!)

Eventually Sean needed more supplies, so we went to Lowe's. When we returned, he measured the hole in the floor and cut the sub-floor to fit. I asked if I could use the circular saw and cut a side or two...
"Are you kidding me? Tiff, you can't do that! You don't know what you're doing."
I, of course, replied, "I won't ever learn if you aren't willing to teach me! How hard can it be, you match the guide up to your line and push the button, right?"
"I'll let you mess around on a piece of scrap, but I'm not going to let you touch the good piece."
Naturally, I was frustrated. Don't tell a feminist woman she can't do something! I am, after all, my mother's daughter...

Once the piece was cut out, it was to be screwed down to the floor joists. I know how to use a drill and was ready to screw away! Again, Sean was not having it. But seeing that he wanted to get this small task done that day and none of his friends were coming over, I was his only choice. As he said, "I only have two hands." If it were as simple as just screwing a board down, he could have done it himself, but with uneven floors and such, some shims were needed! 

Sean would go into the basement and shim. When things were level in an area, I would run the screw in! That was how it was supposed to work. On the outside I acted as if this were just another task, but on the inside I was jumping up and down, screaming with excitement! FINALLY! I'm needed for a real legit job!

Of course, we did this one time before I got yelled at for doing it wrong. We tried a number of other times and pretty much every time I did something wrong. I would get the screw all the way in, but I didn't let off the trigger (I never had great hand-eye coordination!), so it would seem I was stripping the screws. It wasn't as bad as he made it out to be. Another time my screw needed to go in at more of an angle because it wasn't hitting the joist. Again, it wasn't as bad as he made it out to be.

Eventually, I left out of frustration! Why bother helping if I'm just going to get yelled at, right?

Later in the day, on our way to a birthday party, I pointed out the fact that I don't do this stuff everyday like he does, nor have I been doing this sort of thing all my life. There's a learning curve. And instead of yelling at me and telling me I'm not doing it right, show or explain to me the right way to do stuff!

We'll be up at the house again tonight...we'll see how it goes!

I suppose that age-old adage, 'What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger,' is true for this relationship! Hats off to Uncle Dave & Aunt Sally for making it through two house renovations!