Snug-As-Bugs with Room to Spare

With storms predicted to rumble over noTTafarm Friday evening, and with the concrete cured sufficiently, Scott agreed that we could park our cars in the garage for the first time. It was quite exciting to pull the Mini, the Escape, and Scott's prized Audi into their respective spots.

Pretty Cool!

Stay Tuned for More Progress!

Talkin' 'bout Walls

The progress this week at noTTafarm was highlighted by the completion of interior insulation and the beginning of drywall installation. Sound-absorbing insulation was added between interior walls above ceilings which should cut down on the clomping factor (a tell-tale sign that a member of the Ward side of the family (including me) is in the house.) The rooms definitely felt more cozy and quiet with the insulation complete!

By Friday (October 12) morning, the insulation was covered with its vapor barrier and ready for drywall.

A view of the insulated casual dining area ceiling.

 The drywall was delivered at about 7:30 Friday morning. 

After some discussion with Scott, it was decided that the first batch should be delivered to the second story through the deck door in the master bedroom. They used their big boom truck to lift the stack of sheets up and over the deck.

Each piece was moved by hand into the house. I left for work shortly after this photo was taken but Scott tells me that the first floor drywall was delivered through the south patio doors. They used the boom to lift it over our new patio.

The drywall crew made great progress on Friday. 

By the time we got home from work, most of the great room and other first floor spaces were nearly complete.

The master bedroom really feels cozy now that the walls are in place.

The drywall work continues today (Saturday the 13th) as the crew arrived at about 8:15 for a full day of work. They should be able to begin taping and mudding on Monday.

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!

Bathroom Tile Progress Moves to the Floor

Scott made great progress in the 1920 bathroom this weekend! The majority of the floor tile is now in place, and it looks great. 

Check it out!

He started on Saturday by placing the tile inside the shower stall. He had to make sure the little mosaics would fit nicely around the drain. Once that difficult spot was done, he moved on to the field tile.

Each 1 ft. x 1 ft. mesh-backed piece is comprised of 144 individual hexagon tiles. It's a good thing someone figured out how to do that whole mesh-back thing! I can't imagine trying to precisely place each tile. I teased Scott about how long he took to place each piece but he just wants it to be correct! (So I can't fault him for that, now can I?)

Due to the nature of the hexagon shape, the perimeter of the floor will need to be completed with half-pieces of tile. Luckily, Scott got to buy a new tool - a pair of tile nippers - to help with the task. He will tackle this process during the week.

The field tile is all in place! Now all we need is a piece of granite or marble to serve as a shower threshold, and the aforementioned half-pieces. Scott hopes to have everything in place and ready to grout next weekend.

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!

2 Days + 3 Truckloads = 1 Big Driveway

The T. Hurt crew set up shop here at noTTafarm on Friday to pour, color, and stamp the new southside patio. Thursday afternoon, they finished laying out a grid of reinforcing rebar and the wood forms.

Friday morning, the forms were set and the patio was ready for concrete.

By the time I arrived home from work Friday afternoon, we had one beautiful patio! Of course, Bibbers was the first to enjoy it. (Luckily, the concrete was too far along to have permanent Bibbers prints embedded.)

We chose to have the patio stamped in a random pattern, and colored a darker, slate gray. Pretty spiffy!

 Also on Friday, a step off of the northwest stoop was framed and readied for concrete.

A lot of thought went into the layout of the driveway before the grading began. The crew worked most of Friday to get it ready for concrete.

Bright & shiny (7:45) Saturday morning, the crew arrived. 

Three truckloads of concrete were used throughout the day.

Getting started

Temps were chilly this weekend! The high on Saturday was about 53 but the sunshine kept the mood upbeat.

Wonder where I could get a pair of those yellow boots...pretty cute!

Jarek (orange shirt) worked on-site until well after dark, leaving at around 9PM Saturday. After the concrete was poured, he worked a lot at grading the entire job site with the Bobcat. The surplus dirt that was piled on the east side of the barn when the basement was dug has been reduced by about two-thirds, and our backyard now looks more like an actual yard and not a waste site for lumber odds-and-ends.

Thank you, Jarek!

By 10 o'clock, the third load of concrete had arrived and the work continued down the slope. The existing concrete was sliced to create a nice, clean edge for the new concrete to abut.

This may seem like a large area of concrete but think of the rollerskating I could do! Scott even suggested getting a basketball hoop.

By 12:45 Saturday, the concrete was all in place, including along the courtyard wall. Later in the afternoon, Jarek scored the driveway to create expansion joints. Now we just have to wait the prescribed seven days before we can drive on the new concrete and park in the garage!

 Saturday afternoon, the step off the northwest stoop was created. 

Also on Saturday, expansion joints were cut into the patio. They also rinsed the patio to reveal more of the depth of desired color before covering the whole thing with a tarp for curing.

All in All, A Pretty Great Effort by the Concrete Guys!

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!

Drywall on Wednesday (?!)

Insulation Information*

The insulation contractor completed the bulk of their work on Thursday and Friday. It's amazing how quiet it is in the addition now that the walls and ceilings are coated with layers of spray foam insulation. We are also happy to have the extra barrier from the cold; temperatures have dipped to the 30s overnight this week, and we are still furnace-less.

I took this photo Friday morning before leaving for work. The garage was mostly done, and scraped-off scraps nearly covered the floor. By Friday night, all was snug-as-a-bug and cleaned-up. The scraps were carted off by the contractor for recycling.

Friday, they added open cell spray foam to the upper walls in the great room. 

I am trying to understand why some parts of the house are sprayed with "closed cell" while others are sprayed with "open cell". I may have to get my engineering degree in order to properly explain it to you.

The ceiling in the casual dining area.

There are a few spots throughout the addition that will have to be touched up before the drywall can commence. 

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!

*This may be lame but clever headlines are difficult to write.

Insulation Inside . . . Concrete Outside

More progress made at the job site today as the installation of the insulation began. It appears that the process is about 75% done; only the high parts of the great room have yet to be reached.

At lunchtime, the insulation truck was parked in the back yard, and the crew was tacking up protective plastic.

We are using foam insulation throughout the new addition. The goo is sprayed between the studs, fluffs up, and then the excess is sliced off in big chunks. (Note the wrapped up chunks, presumably ready for recycling at left in the photo above.)

Here's a view of the northwest corner of the master bedroom.

Sadly, this is not leftover seven-minute frosting . . . it's just insulation, ready for clean-up.

While we toured the interior checking out the insulation progress, Bibbers and Leo had a meeting in the kitchen. Bibbers is a perplexed as I am about why this bathtub continues to sit in the wrong room.

Meanwhile . . . outside . . . 

A crew from T.Hurt arrived to begin the process of paving the driveway and the new south patio. They began by placing stakes and spray painting a white outline for the future driveway. Scott consulted with them about the extent of the grading, slope, etc.

The patio off the great room was graded, too, and the concrete forms are mostly in place.

The stoop stretches the full width of the patio doors and will have an additional step down to the patio. I like the subtle curve added to the front of the stoop, don't you?

One last hurrah for the locust tree.

The crew marked the stump for removal by an outside contractor with cheerful pink spray paint. He'll arrive Thursday morning to grind this stump out of the way of the west edge of the patio.

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!

Sunday Supper

Scott and I were happy to have company for Sunday dinner! After the Huskers beat the Badgers Saturday in Lincoln, Ray & Jolene and Chris & Chelsie traveled to Omaha to spend the night so they could visit noTTafarm. My mom is recovering from knee replacement surgery so it was a real treat to have her able to visit. Adding to the fun, Tim & Teresa and Clark & Karli came for lunch, too! This was our first big gathering of Ward Family members at noTTafarm since Lumberjack Days, and the first time most of them have seen the construction.

The "old" kitchen was called into action for another big meal. We had pot roast and cornbread, and some delicious fruit salad that Tim made. Yum!

We put the new great room to the test, setting up a 12-ft. long table created by placing a pallet discarded by the siding contractor atop a pair of saw horses. We had comfortable seating for 10 with room to spare. Special appreciation to all of our family (Camps and Wards) for putting up with make-shift construction-zone eating areas for the past two years!

Chris and Chelsie have caught the remodeling bug! They have been saving money in a piggy bank to use toward an updated bathroom, and were able to make a dent in their shopping list at Home Depot. Good luck, kids!

Meanwhile:  coming up this week at noTTafarm . . . the insulation begins, the concrete continues, and we should have more progress made on HVAC.

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!