2007 Adding Molly's Office and Our 2nd Floor Parlor
Page 1 of 2: Framing and Exterior Work (July 24-Sept 12)
Last Updated 1/20/2008
2007 Adding Molly's Office/2nd Story Parlor Part 2
Note: If you have a slower internet connection and some of the photos at the end of the page do not display, press F5 or click the refresh button.
We began on July 24th by tearing down the unheated porch. By the way the date format on these photos is European format Day/Month/Year.
Then we removed the stucco and exposed the framing in Noah's wall.
Finally we removed the roof of Noah's room and began to build! Hurray!
We doubled up the roof rafters, added more insulation, put on the sheathing, tar paper, and shingles. We quoted "Operation Dumbo Drop" as we stood on our roof "... so that when you're standing on a roof with your brother-in-law in Fort Lauderdale and think back on your time in Vietnam . . " You know the rest.
We had contests to see who could put the most shingles on and who could nail a 16 penny nail in with the fewest hits.
When the shingling was finished we started on the framing. About half of the boards had to be custom cut so this went a little more slowly than it should have. You can see the pile of lumber covered by a blue tarp in the right of the photo below. We had to do more demolition as we framed too. We removed all of the rusted metal sheets, took out a layer of unneeded boards to gain 4 more inches of space on our second floor and reattached the metal sheets. Lucy had left by this time but Amanda and Noah were still on summer break and they were able to help full time until we shingled the roof on the new addition. (If you have a slower internet connection and do not see some of these photos click on the refresh button or press F5.)
An OSHA inspector would have a heart attack if they saw our worksite! Amanda and I had fun climbing around on the 2nd floor and this gave Molly heart palpitations. We had a few close calls but God kept us from any serious injury. We discovered that Noah share's his Mother's fear of heights. He took great care climbing and moving when we did the 2nd floor and the roof.
We used 2x6's in the outside walls and insulated and foamed like crazy. It really paid off because the walls are really warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
On Aug 23 we finished the roof and on the 24-28 our Pastor, Dr. Howard Dial and his wife Beth, came to visit. You can see a photo report of their time with us at the following link: 2007 Our Pastor Dial's Visit. After our guests returned to the USA Amanda and Noah could only help after school every day. The windows and doors arrived the day after the Dial's left and we spent the next week finishing the framing and installing them. Then we added the outside sheathing.
It took 3 days to trim out the windows (much more work than I thought it would be.) Then we put on the wood siding. It looked so good that we were tempted to leave it a natural wood color but decided to go with our original plan and paint it.
The outside was completely finished except for the gutters on Sept 12. Then we stated on the interior. You can see the photo report on that work at: 2007 Adding Molly's Office/2nd Story Parlor Part 2
We didn't get the gutters on until Nov 28th (See photo above. The date format on these photos is European format Day/Month/Year)