Insulation

For a few months now Kory has been researching different types of insulation. We've gone to Home Depot and Lowe's and have priced it all out. He wanted to use the insulation sheets and the pink fuzzy stuff. However Home Depot and stores like it wanted $22+ sheet. That wasn't going to happen!

Several weeks ago Kory had to go to Salt Lake. Before hand he had searched KSL on their classifieds to see if there was anything listed that we could use on the house. To his delight he found an ad for insulation sheets at $7 a piece. There is nothing wrong with them. The reason they are so cheap is that the machine making them did not stamp the info on the sheet so they sold them to a contractor who used what he needed and listed the rest of them..... so Kory bought them! What an awesome deal we got! Kory filled his trailer to the brim. We sure hope we have enough for the house.  

The other night I came home from Mutual and Kory had begun cutting the sheets and installing them.  

Woo Hoo! 

He also had time to frame one of the closets! He wanted to frame a wall but we still have a brick interior wall in the way so another day for that....

So awesome to see it coming along.

For a few weeks now we have not had a front door. It's been fine we've made it work but really has been an inconvenience when it comes to doing laundry. I have to haul those heavy baskets out the back door around to the front of the house, through the front of the garage, into the front of the house to where our washer and dryer is. I've been doing it for a while and have just made it work. Well Kory had to do it once and he was not a fan. So he took down the melamine that he had hung up over the old laundry room doorway. Its been great! However I feel like we are kind of exposed not having a door. 

Standing at that doorway you look out to see the future bedrooms. We have one window installed but not the other because it has the electrical box hanging in it. 

When you step through the doorway to the left is our washer/dryer. You can see the new front door that we don't use yet. Then to the left is where the garage interior door is going to be. The wall is framed just not sheeted. So we can step right into the garage which doesn't have any doors yet either. 

It has really made doing laundry this week a lot easier. However I have dreams the neighborhood skunk that lives across the street is going to wander into our house. Ewwwwww! 

Kory thinks I'm crazy. 

Then yesterday Kory let the chickens out (coop is in the backyard) at lunch and forgot to put them up. I took Kylie to school and came home to find a chicken in my house! I chased it out and then thought to take a picture of her when she was in one of the kids future bedrooms. I eventually got her back to the coop. Kory said we can frame that wall on Saturday so we don't get more chickens or other animals in the house. We'll still have an open window so we may get a bird but I would feel a lot better knowing we won't get a stray dog, cat, chicken or that dang skunk we smell several times through out the week!

Last exterior wall comes down.

Wed, April 7th

Last weekend was General Conference weekend and we didn't do a single thing! It was such a nice break for the WHOLE family! 

On Tuesday night Kory learned that we could get cement again Wed afternoon. We didn't have much of a warning but Kory wanted to try. This is our last exterior wall that needs to come down. This is what it looks like from the outside. The white you see is left over pieces of melamine that Kory screwed to the inside walls to keep the outside elements out of the house. 

This is what it looks like from the inside. After I got the kids to school Kylie and I pushed everything away from the wall so that hopefully nothing would get damaged when the wall comes down. 

 Soon Kory got home and started up the skid steer.

He tied one end of a chain around one of the j-pegs that was sticking out of the top of the wall and the other end around the bucket. 

Then very gently he rolled back and the whole wall came down, which was exactly what we were hoping for!

WooHoo! 

Using the skid steer he was able to pick up/push the rubble into a nice pile in the back yard. 

There were a few pieces we had to pick up by hand.

 Kylie was a big help! 

We finally had it all cleaned up with the top brick (foundation) popped off so the cement will roll into to the bottom making our foundation more strong. 

From the inside. So weird!

We soon got word that the cement wasn't going to be coming until the following day. Oh well.... We had the frame built and ready. Went ahead and hung a few tarps so our family would have some privacy from the neighbors and cars driving up and down our street. Feels like we're camping!

This is what it looks like when we pour the cement in. It fills up the bottom brick and right up to the top of the floor slab. It still a little crazy to me that 2 layers of brick was the foundation of the house. 

Thursday afternoon the cement came and filled up those holes while I was at work. Thursday's are my long day. I work from 9am till closing which can be anywhere from 7-9pm.  So I missed it!

Saturday April 7th

Today we spent the day framing up the wall and sheeting it. 

It always take some time to frame in the windows and doorways.  There are 2 windows in the family room and one in the office. 

We also had to continue the wall that we did 2 weeks ago. We couldn't do it then because of the adjacent brick wall that was still in place.  Notice the dark clouds coming in. Ya, we didn't!

The little short wall we finished has the exterior garage door leading outside. 

Once we got the exterior door framed we were able to begin sheeting the 50 foot wall we had just framed.

All of a sudden a dark cloud rolled over us, we saw lightening and heard thunder. The heaven's opened and the rain came down! 

We continued to work for a few minutes. We were getting pretty wet but thought we could handle it. Then after a loud clap of thunder it started to pour down! We quickly brought the tools in and took cover! We ate some dinner while we were waiting for the rain to let up. 

After about an hour the rain let up enough that we could finish. We only had about 5 sheets left and we really wanted to get it done before dark which thankfully doesn't happen until about 9 pm right now. 

We got her done! It was about 8pm but we did it! 

For the lower picture I am standing at our back door. What you see is going to be the exterior wall of my future office. 

From the outside this is our 50 foot wall. When we get our windows (hopefully this week) we can hang them and then it won't look like this long weird wall. 

What an awesome feeling! All the exterior brick walls are gone and have been replaced (for the front part of the house. When the front is 100% done Kory and I will move to the front room and then we will start on the back portion of the house but for now we're good.) We need to build our master closet wall and then we can lower the roof. Then we've got a few interior brick walls we need to remove so we can frame up the kids bedrooms but it is coming, slowly but surely! It's going to be great to start building our house back instead of always tearing down and making huge messes. 

Longest day ever!!!

Saturday March 24th. 

We got 2 more exterior walls that need to come down. Kory picked the smallest of the two. The wall where our front door is. 

I am so ready to be done with the brick and the mess it makes! 

We did have smiles for most of the day! 

Everyone got a turn with the mini sledge knocking out bricks.  

Emily wanted to be our sweeper! 

The brick walls are filled with this tiny little black lava rock. They get all over the place! I swear I'm going to be sweeping it up for forever! 

Once the wall was down Hunter needed to remove a portion of the wood floor.  

We hung a tarp to keep the inside as clean and dust free as possible for the next part. Kory started to smooth the cement so that we could build the wall. Everything was going great until this point. For no apparent reason the saw quit working. Kory took it apart to try to see what the problem was. He couldn't figure it out. He made a few phone calls to see if any of our friends had a grinder that would work. No one had one. So 3 stores later he came home with a new grinder. Unfortunately it set us back about 3 hours. While he was gone we were sweeping and cleaning up the mess. Then at 7pm we had  to stop and attend an outdoor wedding reception of one of Kory's employees and a neighbor. When we left for the reception we were ready to build the wall. 

When we got back from the reception about 7:30 we took down the tarps, framed the wall and then sheeted it. This is the room that the kids are sleeping in. It's still getting down to the 40's at night and they needed some protection from the outside elements.  

It was about 9:30 when we were done for the night! We started about 9 am it still amazes me how long some of these things take us. Funny part is that we no longer have a front door. We will have to use the back door to get in and out of the house for a little while. 

The roof

 Saturday, March 17th.

Kory is really wanting to set the roof down but before we can do that we needed to set the last garage truss. Which means shingles needed to be removed and the current roof cut a little bit for that truss. It was NOT a very warm day.

We quickly discovered that sometime ago someone re-shingled the roof on top of the then existing shingles. Oh my goodness what a workout we got!

Removing shingles is NOT easy! 

And the mess it made. Oh my!

We only had to removed 1/2 of the roof. We weren't ready to take it all off! When it was done my Dad came up and helped Kory tie in the garage roof to the existing roof. That was the quite the project but they eventually got it done.  

Once they got the "tie in" framed they sheeted it and then we rolled the plastic out. 

It's so crazy to NOT be able to see out of the top of the garage. We've had it opened since almost Thanksgiving. 

It took a little bit but eventually the plastic was laid and we were done for the day. 

Once we lower the roof Kory we will get our roofing guy over and he will put on our new roof!

An exterior wall

Saturday, March 10th Kory decided he wants to get the house ready to set the roof back down. It's at 9ft plus a few inches at the moment. Once we get the new walls built we can lower the roof to the 9ft which is were in needs to be. The problem is we still have 3 brick exterior walls that need to come down. Ugh.....  So Kory picked this wall. This is the wall that will have the entrance into my future office. In just a short time the wall came down!

We picked up all the old brick, swept up all the lava rock. Then Kory decided it would be better to go all the way to the corner so we took out the last few feet. 

When we poured the slab for the future office, we knocked holes in the lower brick (of the wall) to allow cement to run into the brick foundation underneath to make it stronger. We couldn't smooth it at that time because of all the brick on top. So when the wall came down Kory had to smooth the rough edges. Lots and lots of dust!  

Then came the fun part! We got to build the new wall. 

For now we just have it framed and sheeted on the outside.  Eventually we will be able to hang my barn door and have an entrance into my office. I can hardly wait!

So happy we only have 2 more exterior walls to go......

Another trench

It's official. I have a love/hate relationship with Saturdays. I love Saturdays knowing we are working on our house and that it's putting us one step closer to the final project. However, I hate the mess it makes! I seriously think I clean my house more than anyone in the world right now! And I am grateful that I have a house to clean so much. Saturday morning Kory wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to do so I had the kids jump in and help me. We cleaned the bathrooms, dusted (I don't know why I waste my time) and swept the house. It didn't us too long all working together. When we were done Kory had learned we can get cement on Tuesday. * A guy in our ward has his own cement company. When he's done with a job he fills an old tub in the back of his truck with the left over cement that would normally be washed out into a field. He brings it to us and Kory literally fills our holes with it. Awesome guy!* And so knowing we had access to cement Kory decided that we needed to saw cut again knowing we could get cement again. I think this is the worse thing ever! I get water all over and then mud! I seriously do not like the mess this makes!!!! 

And so where that wall was that we took down last Saturday I now have a trench. This is where a wall at some point will be placed. It will separate the master bedroom from the master bath. But more importantly this spot will need to support the exterior wall of the future upstairs. Knowing there will be a lot of weight on this spot Kory wanted to make sure the foundation will hold it. Knowing the current foundation is 2 cement blocks on top of each other surrounded by dirt we needed to fix it!

While Kory was cutting Brayden was shoveling the dirt pile I have had in my room since October away from the trench. I sure love this little man!

Kylie was excited she had her own job. She took the vacuum and sucked up the water that the saw was spitting out.  

When the trench was cut Hunter took the sledge hammer to the cement. Its always amazing how quickly the cement breaks away.  After Hunter broke the cement these 3, Emily, Brayden and Kylie picked up the broken cement and rocks. 

I'm glad they can smile while we work together.  

What a dirty, muddy job. 

It didn't take too long before all the water, loose dirt and rocks were sucked up. This process really isn't hard its just messy! It only took us about 4 hours to do this 16 ft long trench. 

I learned last time it's much easier to do the final clean up when the water/mud has dried. It sweeps so much easier.  

We removed the first layer of brick and left the bottom. On Tuesday that cement will fill the brick and the holes around it making us a nice stem wall/foundation for our upstairs. 

So while waiting for it to dry Kory decided we might as well continue that wall support on the other side of the house. It is only about 7 ft long so half of what we had already done.  He figured since we had the saw out and the mess in the bathroom we might as well finish. However this wall was in the way! So before we could saw cut we had to knock down another wall. 

Good bye! 

The brick walls are full of little black lava rock. They go everywhere!! 

Once again we opened a window and had the kids throw the brick out into the wheel barrel. When it was full we'd call for Hunter who would go and dump it for us.  

When the brick was gone and the black rocks swept up we removed the sheet rock that had been glued to the brick. Kory and I were able to take the 2 sheets down all at once. Super easy! 

The cement saw came out and Kory cut our trench. Hunter and Kory took turns with the sledge hammer and eventually we got it all out. This side was much more difficult to get the cement to break. We have no idea why but it took longer on this 7 foot trench then it did on the 16 foot earlier that day. But we go it. We vacuumed and swept again and got it all cleaned up. Pushed the dressers and clothes back in place and then quickly got ready to attend our adult stake conference. It was a long day! 

Everything back in it's place. 

The wall is just no longer there separating the rooms from each other. 

I'm so tired of tearing things down and making messes. I can hardly wait until we can start building and putting our house back together. One of the many lessons I am learning through this process is patience. I have always taken pride of having a clean and clutter free home. For several months now I can still say my home is clean but clutter free is not even possible. And I'm sure when people come over they wonder about the cleanliness just due to the way everything looks. My kids are living on top of each other. We have regular house hold items in uncoventional places. We have Madelyn's dresser sitting next to my refrigerater in my kitchen.  The younger girls dresser by my dishwasher again in my kitchen and clothes hanging above my island. 

Every Saturday I tell myself and remind a child here and there that we can do hard things! I remind myself and my family that we are one day closer to finishing this major project we took on!