Like a Turtle

We're finally making some progress...or maybe I should say my hubby is. He started this project about a year and a half ago. Maybe some of you remember the beginning.

We had a room upstairs that was all odd angles and corners. And the ceiling was sort of low. Now, my son is 6'5" so it isn't as bad as this looks but it still was only a 7 foot ceiling. So one day my husband started looking around.

And he thought, there's a lot of room up there. So, he tore it out and then he moved on to the walls.

And this was in November. Here in Portland, Oregon, it's cold and WET in November. So, I wasn't so upset until he tore off the roof. Yep, you heard me right, the roof. I came home from work and found the walls gone and even the roof.

Luckily, this happened to be a sunny day - rare in Portland. But I knew the rains were coming. So I insisted that they hurry and get the walls and roof back on...call me demanding.

So my hubby stayed working on it until well after dark.

He didn't take long to get the walls back up and the roof back on, with help from Luke, Bo and Per and Jacob and . . . yep, even me.

But then progress slowed to about the pace of a turtle, thanks in part to Minecraft, which is the adult cyber-version of Legos.  My husband was hooked. He spent more than a few hours mining for gold, rubies and best of all Diamonds.

In between bouts with his pick, he got the French Doors in.

And some new windows installed.

But he got a little sidetracked. First building benches to wrap around the back deck. First he had to design them and then frame them.

Then he had to build them.

And when that was done

He wanted to replace a couple of boards of flooring. But this house is 123 years old. So he had to make his own tongue and groove flooring out of old boards he'd pulled out of the walls.

Finally, with some help from Bo, Per, Jake and Luke, Lars got the insulation in.

Then all the walls got put back together.

Now he's "mudding" and "taping" the room and then...

Hopefully we'll get to paint the walls.

Then there's the balcony to build, the floor to refinish, the trim to put on...it's a neverending story

Walls and Roof - YIPEE

It's been a Looooooooooooooong week without windows, walls or a roof but thanks to Luke and Lars, we have them all back in place. There's still a lot of work to do. We want to replace these old windows with new ones - but that's going to have to wait a couple of weeks. We need a weekend to get that project done.

Plus, we're a little pooped from coming home from work to work on the house. Luckily, we've got the walls, windows and roof all back in place (before the real rains hit).

And, believe me, it's very stressful seeing my boys outside hanging over the house on a scaffold that weebbled and wobbled but it didn't fall down, whenever they stepped out on it.

Thank goodness that's over for now. And the house should feel a little warmer. . . until the next stage of this remodeling project.

Progress on the remodeling Project

This is turning out to be a bigger project than I'd planned on. Heck, I never planned any of it...really. And notice the section of the roof that's missing.

Oh well, we're lucky, my husband's brother came over to help out.
Here are a few photos of the progress they've been making this weekend.And, it doesn't hurt that he's a contractor with 30 years experience. With his help, the roof is back on over the room.


There's still a lot to do, including putting the walls back on and, since it's November, I hope it happens quickly. And, with my hubby working late into the night, I can't complain...too much. And, notice...he has a harness on - just in case.