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The upside of being on the roof was that it was fairly warm up in the sun. It also was a nice view of the crew working on the neighborhood non-profit houses up the street.
2 years ago
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Saturday Work
When Matt told me that he wanted my help putting shingles on the roof on Saturday, I definitely thought he was crazy. First of all, it took months for him to let me use any tools, and second, I am probably the most clumsy person there is. Not to mention my fear of heights. So, trying to be brave and helpful, I came up on the roof with Matt to put on shingles on Saturday. It was terrifying. I got to the top of the ladder, not even on the roof yet, and was scared. I kept thinking that I was going to fall off any second. But I survived! And even better, I actually helped. We put shingles on the rest of the south side of the roof, including putting on the vents and shingling around them and the plumbing pipes. Matt had to go down into the house a couple times for materials and tools and I told him that if I had to go down the ladder that I wasn't coming back up, so he was up and down a few times. Including when we were done and wanted to take a picture. My camera was in the car and I didn't want to go down there and get it, so we used Matt's phone to get proof that I actually was on the roof.
The upside of being on the roof was that it was fairly warm up in the sun. It also was a nice view of the crew working on the neighborhood non-profit houses up the street.
The upside of being on the roof was that it was fairly warm up in the sun. It also was a nice view of the crew working on the neighborhood non-profit houses up the street.
Weeknight Work
We are getting to the point where there is a lot of little things that we need to do in the house, and now that it has walls and a roof, we are actually able to come over after work and do those projects. It has been really hard because there are a lot of things going on during the week that we miss out on, like Matt hasn't really been able to help with Brad's basketball team. But we are very lucky to be able to build a house and know that when it is finished we will have time to do those things again.
This week, Matt needed my help putting in windows. We had to wait until we had some kind of porch so that we could reach the front window, so as soon as the metal was down, we were able to put them in. The windows on the front of the house have the spacers in them, as well as the front door. This is the most up-to-date picture of the front of the house.
The black stuff around the front window on the porch is an ice/water shield to keep the windows from letting water in. When I took these pictures we had only done this window and the window in the garage, but now all the windows are done.
The porch was poured on Friday. The tiny corner you can see in this picture is all I have seen besides pictures on Matt's phone. The blankets on it are helping the concrete to cure and there is a propane heater underneath that is also helping.
Matt took these pictures with his phone on the day the porch was poured. I guess the design in the concrete is a pretty big deal. I think it looks good in the pictures, but I guess in person it is awesome. I can't wait for the blankets to come off so I can see it for myself.
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We put in the front door on Thursday night, and had to wrap the bottom half so the concrete wouldn't get on it when they poured the porch. Matt also finished sheeting the garage and porch walls so now we are ready for a sheeting inspection.
All the windows and doors! Matt and Todd worked on putting shingles on the roof on Friday while I was at work and they almost finished the back of the house.
West bedroom from the inside
East bedroom from the inside
Front door from the inside
Living room windows from the inside. Matt had a hard time putting these windows in because they are so big. They are 5' by 5' windows and weigh a ton. There was pretty much nothing I could do to help until he had already put it in place, then I would hold it and make sure it didn't fall out. It didn't help that one of these windows is right over the window well for the basement window and Matt had to position his ladder very carefully when we placed that one.
Master bedroom windows from the inside. We will probably put our bed below the picture window (the long, skinny one).
This week, Matt needed my help putting in windows. We had to wait until we had some kind of porch so that we could reach the front window, so as soon as the metal was down, we were able to put them in. The windows on the front of the house have the spacers in them, as well as the front door. This is the most up-to-date picture of the front of the house.
The black stuff around the front window on the porch is an ice/water shield to keep the windows from letting water in. When I took these pictures we had only done this window and the window in the garage, but now all the windows are done.
The porch was poured on Friday. The tiny corner you can see in this picture is all I have seen besides pictures on Matt's phone. The blankets on it are helping the concrete to cure and there is a propane heater underneath that is also helping.
Matt took these pictures with his phone on the day the porch was poured. I guess the design in the concrete is a pretty big deal. I think it looks good in the pictures, but I guess in person it is awesome. I can't wait for the blankets to come off so I can see it for myself.
We put in the front door on Thursday night, and had to wrap the bottom half so the concrete wouldn't get on it when they poured the porch. Matt also finished sheeting the garage and porch walls so now we are ready for a sheeting inspection.
All the windows and doors! Matt and Todd worked on putting shingles on the roof on Friday while I was at work and they almost finished the back of the house.
West bedroom from the inside
East bedroom from the inside
Front door from the inside
Living room windows from the inside. Matt had a hard time putting these windows in because they are so big. They are 5' by 5' windows and weigh a ton. There was pretty much nothing I could do to help until he had already put it in place, then I would hold it and make sure it didn't fall out. It didn't help that one of these windows is right over the window well for the basement window and Matt had to position his ladder very carefully when we placed that one.
Master bedroom windows from the inside. We will probably put our bed below the picture window (the long, skinny one).
Blakelee Mae Fischer
I feel like all I have been posting about lately is progress on the house. I told Matt that people must think we don't ever do anything else, to which he said, "That's right. The only stuff we do now is work on the house." So here is my proof that we have ventured out of our house in the last week:
On Friday, January 24, at 8:20 AM (give or take a few minutes) our new niece, Blakelee Mae Fischer, was born to Tim and Kamie and big sister, Reagan. She came in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 19 inches long. Blakelee's name is a special one. Named with her daddy's middle name, Blake, and her Grandpa Hodges' middle name, Lee, and Grandma Fischer's middle name, Mae; all combined into a darling little girl's name. Compared to Reagan's birth, Kamie said this one went way smoother. That night, we took Tim and Kam some dinner and got a chance to see the baby. She is so cute! I think these two make some pretty cute girls.
I like to get the new babies all undone so I can see their cute legs and feet and hands. The upside of unwrapping Blakelee was that she actually woke up for a minute while I was bugging her!
This picture is evidence that Matt came to the hospital to see the baby and family. He hates hospitals. He would so much rather wait a few days and see the baby when they went home, than go see the baby in the hospital. I love to visit the new family in the hospital when I can. I have seen all the Fischer grandchildren on the day they were born, excluding Bradley.
(I think Matt is always a little disappointed when the new babies are too little for him to give any treats to. He says he doesn't need to hold the baby for too long because "they don't really do anything". HAHA!)
From Cassie- To Matt
Cassie sends this picture to me and says, "Matt should do this." How did my sister start finding crazy person things for Matt to do! I am in BIG trouble!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
I go to work, Matt works on the house
So today, while I head off to work for a normal day, Matt gets to go work on the house. Some days I wonder if this would be better than doing my regular job. It is nice not to have to be in control and make all the decisions, and nice to just follow directions. It is REALLY nice to see all the work come together into something that is actually for me. My job does not directly benefit me, mostly the benefits are for my students, as they should be, so it is fun to do something that is just for me and Matt.
While Matt was working today, the concrete guys came over and got the porch ready for concrete... (hopefully tomorrow!)
Matt set most of the exterior doors. Here is the door from the garage to the outside. The style of this door matches the style of the front door. Both are visible from the street so they match each other, but are different from the interior doors and back door.
The door from the garage into the mudroom (all the interior doors will look like this):
Back door. We wanted to have a door that would provide light and sight from the backyard, but didn't want a sliding glass door, and couldn't afford (or find space for) French doors. Maybe in the next house. I am very happy with the style.
Baby steps... baby steps...
While Matt was working today, the concrete guys came over and got the porch ready for concrete... (hopefully tomorrow!)
Matt set most of the exterior doors. Here is the door from the garage to the outside. The style of this door matches the style of the front door. Both are visible from the street so they match each other, but are different from the interior doors and back door.
The door from the garage into the mudroom (all the interior doors will look like this):
Back door. We wanted to have a door that would provide light and sight from the backyard, but didn't want a sliding glass door, and couldn't afford (or find space for) French doors. Maybe in the next house. I am very happy with the style.
Baby steps... baby steps...
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Thanks to a holiday, Matt and I had an extra day to get caught up on house stuff that we would have done had we not spent the afternoon at Instacare on Saturday. After a whole day of work, these are the things we got finished:
1. This was technically done a couple weeks ago, but I hadn't taken any pictures. Matt put the ice/water shield and tar paper on the roof. After his scary moment of almost falling off the roof and dying, Matt was not able to finish getting the roof ready for shingles. Hopefully this weekend we will have some nice weather and Matt can finish the roof.
2. Materials for the porch were delivered. We need the concrete to be poured on the porch so we can finish sheeting the garage wall and then get a sheeting inspection.
3. Exterior doors were delivered! We ran out of time to set the doors, but that will get done this week.
4. I made Matt build me a step to get into the house. It is not permanent, but now I can actually get into the house without ripping my jeans.
5. The plumber finished all the rough plumbing! Here is the connection for the washing machine in the mudroom:
Here is the connection for the refrigerator (bottom left) and kitchen sink (under the window).
6. Matt and I finished all the vault framing. This was more time intensive than I expected. Matt spent most of the day up in the trusses measuring while I used the saw to cut boards. The vault framing is where the sheet rock will get put for the vaulted ceiling and walls. This was another one of those things I did not understand until I saw it happen. Here is the vault framing over the kitchen:
Vault framing in the entry:
Vault framing in the family room:
7. My tubs were delivered and installed! Yay! Here is the plumbing in the guest/kids bathroom. Matt will tile the shower, so there is just a standard tub.
Master bathroom... toilet will be on the far left, corner vanity with two sinks where the hoses are coming out of the floor:
Master bathroom... Extra deep/wide soaker tub and separate shower.
Basement plumbing: This is where the water heater will be:
The white pipe is the connection to the water outside and the hoses are run from the water heater to the rest of the house:
Finally, you can see the plumber's pipes coming through the roof and also where the wind blew the ice/water shield and tar paper off the roof.
Monday was a crazy busy day, but we got a lot done and it was great to see things start coming together! Next up (in any order): Porch cap gets poured, start running electrical, set doors, finish sheeting and get inspection, HVAC get set up...
A Little Trip to Instacare
Matt. He is special. He spent all week telling me not to shoot myself with the nail gun, and then on Saturday, we get halfway through our work and I turn around and he is holding a handful of blood after SHOOTING HIMSELF WITH THE NAIL GUN. I'm not even kidding. He has never done this before, and then it happens after he spent a week telling me not to do the same thing.
He was nailing together the shower wall and the nail hit a knot in the wood and shot out the side, going straight into his hand. The nail went into his hand at an angle, over an inch deep. I wanted to take a picture of him holding the blood in his hand while we drove home to get him cleaned up, but didn't want to make him mad. Later he told me that he wished I would have taken the picture. So we got home, got him all cleaned up, and call the nurses in the family to find out what to do. We decided that he needed to get a tetanus shot and see about stitches. As we are on our way out the door, Matt says, "We have to go back to the house and finish building that wall. I'm not leaving the house until that wall is done." So that's what we did! Like I said, Matt is one crazy man.
After the wall was built, we went to Instacare in Hyde Park and waited FOREVER to get his hand looked at. The nurse who checked him in said she was sad that he had taken the nail out. Maybe not the smartest thing for a nurse to say to someone who is in pain. Anyway, another nurse came in and gave Matt his shot, which he would not let me take a picture of because he is afraid of needles. Seriously. The man whose wife gives herself five shots a month is afraid of needles. Anyway, he did let me take a picture of his very manly Tazmanian Devil bandaid. Does he look tough, or like he is grimacing in pain?
After it was all washed up, the doctor decided against stitches, but did take some xrays to make sure nothing got inside the hole. Everything looked pretty good though.
I am so glad that this was not worse, as it easily could have been. We are very lucky. And here we are, three days later, and Matt is complaining more about pain from his shot than from the nail in his hand. Typical.
He was nailing together the shower wall and the nail hit a knot in the wood and shot out the side, going straight into his hand. The nail went into his hand at an angle, over an inch deep. I wanted to take a picture of him holding the blood in his hand while we drove home to get him cleaned up, but didn't want to make him mad. Later he told me that he wished I would have taken the picture. So we got home, got him all cleaned up, and call the nurses in the family to find out what to do. We decided that he needed to get a tetanus shot and see about stitches. As we are on our way out the door, Matt says, "We have to go back to the house and finish building that wall. I'm not leaving the house until that wall is done." So that's what we did! Like I said, Matt is one crazy man.
After the wall was built, we went to Instacare in Hyde Park and waited FOREVER to get his hand looked at. The nurse who checked him in said she was sad that he had taken the nail out. Maybe not the smartest thing for a nurse to say to someone who is in pain. Anyway, another nurse came in and gave Matt his shot, which he would not let me take a picture of because he is afraid of needles. Seriously. The man whose wife gives herself five shots a month is afraid of needles. Anyway, he did let me take a picture of his very manly Tazmanian Devil bandaid. Does he look tough, or like he is grimacing in pain?
After it was all washed up, the doctor decided against stitches, but did take some xrays to make sure nothing got inside the hole. Everything looked pretty good though.
I am so glad that this was not worse, as it easily could have been. We are very lucky. And here we are, three days later, and Matt is complaining more about pain from his shot than from the nail in his hand. Typical.
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