Raise Da Roof! (after you tear it off first)

 Well here it is, the last photo of our house looking structurally the way that it was built. I have to admit that I've been a little nervous about the construction but I've been preoccupied with other things so that's helped. Our construction crew showed up yesterday morning and got to work. I was sort of surprised at the number of work vans and people who filled my driveway, yard and street. The more the merrier I always say. I guess it takes a big crew to raise da roof!!

 Well, I mean first they had to tear it off but anyway. These guys were fast, and within two hours they had the roof off. They took a little lunch break to defrost and regroup from demolition mode to construction mode. We went out to have a look at things so that we didn't seem like we were micro managing things. It really is hard to just sit inside and try to work on what you need to be doing while they rip part of your house apart. Henry said that it was like when you're at the dentist and all numbed up and they are pulling your tooth. You can hear the commotion, but you can't see it or feel it (though it did get a little chilly in here with no roof on there). We both find construction fascinating and honestly I think that we could have just sat out there and watched them all day. We'd have seemed like creepers if we had so I was glad that it was too cold to do that and we both had work to do. Here are the old roof trusses next to the new ones. This struck me as interesting on a deep level. It's like seeing death and birth at the same time. Or maybe like a retiring worker standing next to his younger and newer replacement so that the job can go on. Either way, I got a picture.

Now the fun began. They came back from lunch and slammed through putting the floor trusses on. Those are the part that look like a pallet under the walls. They were pre-built to speed things along as well as because that's how the rest of the house is framed. All of the operating guts of the house like plumbing, electrical, and HVAC live there between the floors. It keeps things tidy but it does mean that if you ever have to work on those systems you have to either remove part of the ceiling or part of the floor to access them. Not my problem, I'll pay someone else to do that. So anyway, I had no idea that they were this far when I hustled out to put a package in the mail so man was I surprised when I turned around to come back and there were walls! By the end of the day, they had all of the walls up and the end roof truss! It makes me laugh to see the house look like shipping containers stacked together with this weird extra piece filling in the gap. It's almost like when people have a trailer and they build on a room. I suppose I think that because the rest of the house is finished and this part isn't I dunno, but it still makes me laugh. Here's another thing that I found amusing while we're on the subject of me being easily entertained. Here are some pics of what the inside of that room looks like.  I didn't realize that they had all of this bracing in there to help support the existing walls and keep them square while they did all of the other work until later after they had all gone. I kept wondering why there were guys down in that room working since they were only supposed to be framing the outside that day. Remember what I said about not wanting to be nosy though, so I just sat at my little desk and ran my little machine and tried to stay out of it. Today they will get the rest of the roof trusses up, get the interior walls up for the

closet and Henry's office, get everything covered in sheathing and maybe even get the shingles on. They have to tear off part of the existing roof in order to tie it all together so that there aren't any big bumps in it that would point out where the new roof started. Meanwhile, we have Thanksgiving meals to eat with the boys at school and another fireplace guy is coming to talk to us about replacing this beast. I'm afraid to see what that's going to cost as it's not in the amount with the contractor but more of an item that we are taking the opportunity to address since everything is torn apart anyway.
So there you have it, that's where we are as of nearly 7 a.m. on day two. We are just waiting on the crews to roll in and get started for the day. Stay tuned tomorrow for another exciting run down of construction at our house. :-p ~Kellie~