WE GOT A CLOSET.

Normally I don’t get excited about getting into closets but today i stopped by the house and we have a closet in each of the upstairs bedrooms and the downstairs hallway.  It’s only 2X4 framing at this point but it’s starting to take shape and it’s cool to see the architect’s drawings come to life. 

THE BACK OF OUR HOUSE FELL OFF.

Today we noticed that the bay windows are gone (sweet victory), the kitchen doors are gone and some lovely plywood is holding the space where 20 feet of glass doors will go.  We also got some new floor joists, some new structural beams and a couple concrete footings.  Stuff feels like it’s actually making progress.

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WHAT A KNOB.

Our interior door handles came in this week.  We don’t need them for several more months but we got them cheaper due to a March Madness Super Blowout Deal Buster thing with the manufacturer.  Who knew door handles had super sales?

OIL TANKS ARE THE PITS.

The saga of the oil tank decommission is nearly done.  After yanking the 500 gallon monster from the front yard, the state finally approved the abatement and it was removed.  Then 16 tons of soil was dug out leaving a massive pit in the front yard.  The state needed more soil tests so the pit has been sitting open for a about a week.  It just so happens that that is the same week we’ve had monsoon-like rains and we’ve had water seeping into the basement crawl space.  The builder has fashioned a lovely plastic lean-to on the front of the house to help stop the water leaking from the open pit into the basement.  Hopefully Monday brings better weather and the man with all the soil to fill in the hole.  

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DID SOMEONE SAY ‘RAT SLAB’?

Today we learned that a solid block of concrete underneath the soil of a basement crawl space is called a ‘rat slab’.  We also learned that having a rat slab requires the concrete man to have to saw into it to secure new structural footings which raises the price of your concrete man’s bill.