Hello my name is Genny

New generator! Since Dominion Power completely sucks we got ourselves into the power business. If you're in the neighborhood and in need of electricity we might have some to sell you.

Not much going on the last 2 days

Not much going on the last couple of days. They finished the demo of the back stairs and the supplies came in for the new foundation. We had a bit of a storm yesterday. Our power was out almost 24 hours. It just came back but we already bought a new generator for the next power outage. We've lost power 4 times since we moved in back in June. Dominion Power pretty much sucks! Next time we won't miss a beat and maybe charge the neighbors for ice and TV.

Rear wall demolished

The rear wall was partially taken out in preparation of a new load bearing beam so we can open up the space for the new kitchen and dining room. Also demolished was the back walkout steps and wall. They need to be moved 2 feet and the retaining walls need to be rebuilt to support the roof load of the new addition.

Kitchen demo

We moved half of the kitchen to the basement so the exterior wall can be demo'd this week. Kristin learned how to solder a pipe. The dishwasher will hopefully find a new home via craigslist so we don't have to move it. Later on the whole old kitchen will also hopefully find a new home as all the cabinets are still in great shape and I don't think they're more than a couple years old.

We will now be using paper plates and cups for a few months until we build the new kitchen. On the bright side I never really liked cleaning dishes or loading the dishwasher.

Busy day today....

Lots of progress today. Excavation for the new addition started. We also got our first bit of bad news... The basement walkout needs to be replaced. So there's a big hit to the budget we weren't expecting. Hopefully that's the only surprise for the shell construction.

We wanted to get the driveway ripped up in preparation for the power company to bury our lines underground. Eventually in the Spring we'll finish the driveway in pavers. It ended up being a lot more work than we thought with the asphalt being 2-3 layers thick in some spots. But Kristin learned how to swing the sledge hammer and we finished it all.

We also plumbed in a new utility sink in the basement since we're about to lose our kitchen for a few months. The old 1950's concrete sink was gross so we busted it up and hauled it out. The new plastic sink is all shiny and new so we (Kristin) won't mind cleaning our dishes in it.

We also had our first injury today... Kristin broke a nail. I had a hangnail, but I took care of it while Kristin was digging out the driveway.

In the background  you can see our new half bath... I know, pretty awesome. If you're in the neighborhood and need to go feel free to stop on by!

More pics from today...

Our new asphalt pile in the backyard... ready to use as the base layer under our new patio... eventually. And closeups of the new foundation and our new sink. The unpainted area was the gigantic concrete sink that must have weighed 150lbs. The 8lb sledge made quick work of it, though!

Doing some digging

Starting the foundation for the back addition.

Upstairs demo started

They started taking some of the upstairs apart today. The roof should be coming off next week. There's not much insulation in the walls or roof. I'm guessing this was done maybe 20-25 years ago so I bet the rest of the house insulation is nonexistent on the first floor!

New doors!

The two french doors for the new kitchen were delivered, but we don't have anywhere to put them so they're currently in our tiny dining room. The roof should be coming off next week or the week after so we should start getting the shell framed up soon!

More demo today

Concrete patio is gone.

Construction begins!

The porch is no longer...

What takes 7 weeks and about 60 hours of our time?

We finally have our building permits! It took quite a bit longer than expected and way more money than we had budgeted, but it's done and we're ready to build. Construction is hopefully going to start in a few weeks!