Bathroom tiling continues

The bathroom floor is going in. Remy installs the drain in the shower floor with his young apprentice at his side. The semi-skilled labour provide some assistance by giving the bathroom a 360 degree cleaning.

Shiplap complete

The shiplap exterior siding on the addition is complete. Here is the south view of the house from the back side.



And the north view as you approach the house. The first phase of building is on the right with the cupola, the porch is in the middle, and the addition is the 1-1/2 story structure on the left.

"Papa! Papa!"

Every morning as Granddad arrives, the baby cries out "Papa! Papa!" He immediately runs to get his favorite book, scurries over to the reading chair, and pats furiously until Granddad comes over and reads him a book before any building begins.

Views from the play loft

The play loft created by putting a ceiling over the bedrooms in the "first house" provides residence for the air conditioning system, but there remains ample play space for train tracks and legos. Since it is a terminal destination, with no through traffic, fantastic constructions can remain in place for days. Here is a view of boys down below playing Baseball on Mommy's I-Phone.



Another view from the play loft across the cupola to the east gable end. The AC duct cozies up to the south side of the cupola.

Sound system

We installed a few speakers, the beginnings of a sound system for the house.

Bushwhacking

Four boys headed out early Saturday morning to clear the bush of invasive species, i.e. weeds. Some of our "weeds" are over 10 feet tall.

Clearing out the storage unit

After four years of being tucked away, we have cleared our final remaining possessions out the storage unit, happy to save $180 per month! All the stuff is now on the porch and in the addition.

Connecting into septic

Chuck the plumber was here last weekend connecting the addition to the septic system and tying in the water. As soon as Remy is done tiling, running water and flowing sewage is ready to go.

Bathroom tiling begins

Remy has a dream. He is using chiseled travertine and glass tiles to create something beautiful and unique in the downstairs bathroom of the addition.
















































If you need a tile installer who can play with your children and take breaks to read to them, just let us know. Remy is a keeper.

I-phone break

He loves his i-phone. It never leaves his side.

Plumbing vent pipe through the roof

After our fearless plumber got everything roughed in, it was time to go through the roof. It went remarkably well, now that we've done it before.

Here's Chuck roughing in behind the knee wall in the upstairs bathroom.

















The extension ladder strapped to a scaffold creates a stable access way to the roof. It provides a comfortable working area up there.

Shiplap wood treatment

All wood is sprayed with Timbor borate solution to protect against termites. When it is dry, we paint Chevron Shingle Oil on the smooth side of the shiplap exterior siding, and a 50/50 mixture of shingle oil and solid body stain on the rough side for the finish look.


We're siding the gable end above the roof line of the first phase of building.

Interior wood finish

Andy Knott, friend and painter, came over to help us again. He sprayed the interior wood with a clear oil-based exterior deck sealer. Thank you, Andy.

Addition floor tiling complete

The new living area and bedroom in the addition are all tiled, grouted, and ready for dancing.



Here's the view from the bathroom into the bedroom.
















The living room has four north-facing windows, and at the back of the room are stairs going up into the loft. The loft will have a wood floor, with a bath to be tiled later.

Hammock

The boys make a hammock with a sheet. It's fun to live in a wood house.

Screen door

It's symbolic. We will soon have a mosquito-free zone on the porch.


We think we have a cool granddad.

Living room tiles installed

Completing the living room floor and now for the border.





Remy takes a break to show the boys how to make a Cuban kite.

Remy is here - tiling begins

Our friend, Remy, is with us for the week, tiling the addition. He has some ideas for new designs! In the LR he creates a diagonal brick pattern by cutting the 18x18 tiles in half. Oooh....

Celebration at the beach

Funny, this is exactly what we did last year after roofing, except that was on the Gulf coast, and now we're at the Atlantic. Yeah, we have a tough life in Florida having to choose between two oceans.

Roofing done by noon!

The last panel on the south side was down before noon. Grandma was on hand to help with baby. It takes a family to build a house.

At last, Roofing day

We started on the north side and made good progress with two friends helping. Fortunately the day was cloudy, a big relief over last year which was so brutal in June.



With three people on the roof and two handing up panels and screwing down the final two rows, it went fast!

Electricial wiring

Wiring a First Day is a challenge for electricians. Fortunately we've got great ones who are thorough and meticulous.














Sharing the electricians ice cold drinking water. Do we have water just a few paces away in the house? Yes, but this is much more fun.

Windows

Putting in windows. It's starting to feel closer to being done. But still the goal of getting the roof on lures us to keep working hard.













Interior view through the east-facing windows from the upstairs loft.

Extractor fan for oven hood

Daylight through the roof! Eek! We steel ourselves to cut a hole to externally vent the oven hood. Fortunately, it worked out just fine and now we can get that stove top frying and steaming without choking everyone in the house.

Chuck the Plumber

All our subs have been great.

Chuck the plumber is no exception.






He does excellent work and is willing to describe everything to three small boys! Gotta keep him.

Since we're on a concrete slab, we roughed in all the plumbing we thought we would ever need.

Interior framing

Framing up the interior walls.


Putting tongue and groove on the wall between the bedroom and bathroom. This bathroom will open into the bedroom and onto the porch.


Closing up the wall that separates the bedroom and the living area.

Insulation and Strapping

Insulating a roof is HOT. There is no way to escape that radiant load. But it is reassuring that it will be doing the same job under our roof.


We put 4" (double stacking the 2" boards) under the roof and 2" in the walls.