Finishing up the Framing and New Roof

April 2018 - After finishing up the framing, Nathan installed the new sliding glass door, the windows and the panel boards and tape that seal up the exterior walls from wind and air penetration. While Nathan was working on all that the roofing side of TriStar came and removed the old roof and installed our new roofing on both the new addition and the old house. 

The Utility Room Gets a Facelift

Zita decided that we needed to go ahead and get a washer and dryer at the Denton house. At first, we thought it might be alright to just put them in the utility room for now until we did the remodel work on the existing house.

On closer inspection, I decided I really needed to go ahead and remodel the utility room before we put anything in it. I could tell that the walls had gotten wet at some point and there had just been cheap paneling nailed over the old sheet rock.

So, I set to work.

Below are pictures of the process, from tearing out the old sheet rock and insulation to re-insulating, installing the green board sheet rock (designed for damp areas like bathrooms and utility rooms), tape and plastering the new sheet rock seems, sanding the seems, and then painting it all, and a picture of the completed utility room.

Framing Up the New Addition

With the lumber schlepped around to the back yard, the framing began. There were several challenges with framing up the new structure and joining it cleanly to the existing house while making it all look like the new addition was built at the same time as the original house.

Our carpenter (Nathan) did a great job of pulling it all together. He is an interesting guy with a rather rough and colorful history (and loves colorful language), but he has great carpentry skills. He had a rough time keeping helpers. He fired two different helpers during the course of our construction and ended up doing a lot of the final work alone or with a couple helpers that TriStar (our general contractor) provided.

Below are a few pictures of the framing as it progressed.

The Lumber Arrives

Lumber being dropped off in the front yard.

Once the concrete had been poured and cured for a couple days, we were ready to start framing up the structure.

Bright and early one morning, a semi pulled up in front of the house and dropped off a little load of lumber. The carpenter (Nathan) and his helper arrived shortly after and they began carrying the lumber into the back yard.

Part of the lumber that has been carried to the back yard.

The Foundation

"Beams" Through the Fill Dirt

Once the rain finally stopped and the ground dried up a bit, the Martinez Brothers were finally able to get back to work on building the foundation for the new addition.

Plumbing Rough In

The plumber had to do his "rough in" work as well. He installed the sewer lines from the sinks, the shower and the toilet and tied them into the main line. Once the rough in is complete, the City has to inspect and approve the rough in before the work can continue.

The concrete company installs the steel rebar throughout the slab area and in the beams (the deep trenches where the concrete will be poured). Once again, when everything is ready for concrete, the City has to inspect the foundation and the rebar and sign off before the concrete can be ordered.

The black plastic keeps the ground from pulling water out of the wet concrete too fast while it is curing. It also prevents water from seeping up through the cured concrete from the ground in the future.

The entire slab, beams, stem wall and porch are poured at once in what is called a "monolithic pour". This provides added strength to the foundation.

Concrete Truck and Concrete Pump

Since you can't drive a concrete truck into the back yard, you have to use a "concrete pump". The pump has a hopper into which the wet concrete can be poured and a long pipe through which the concrete is pumped to where you need it.

Concrete Being Pumped to the Foundation

After all the concrete is pumped into the forms and worked down into all the beams, the finishing work begins.

Smoothing Everything Out

They make several passes over the concrete ensuring everything is smooth and level.

Finishing Touches

After a long day, they pop off all the rest of the forms and finish it up. In a couple of days the concrete will be cured enough for the carpenters to start their framing work.

Foundation is Done

Onward and upward.

Making Hay While the Sun Isn't Shining

The "Old" Shed (Before Repainting)

During the few days of sunshine in between the on again and off again rain, I began working on painting the shed.

Working on the Shed

My helper (Nutmeg) took frequent breaks, as you see in the picture above. We are painting the shed the same grey color as the house.

Painting the Shed Roof

...and the roof the same black color as the house trim.

 One of the other things the shed needed was the door to be rebuilt. It was falling apart. Luckily I could remove the door and do a lot of that work under the car port and inside the house while it was raining.

Re-skinning and Painting the Shed Door

I painted the shed door the blue color that Zita picked for the exterior doors to the main house.

The Repainted and Refurbished Shed

I installed a deadbolt lock and new handles on the door. Then I rehung the refurbished door on the shed. Now, I can actually move a lot of my tools and materials into the shed, since I can lock it.

It came out looking pretty good.

Ready, Set, Go! ...then Stop.

The Martinez Brothers Leveling the Site

We finally got our building permit approved by the City of Denton on February 5th. Yay!

The Martinez Brothers (concrete contractor that is building the foundation) got started leveling the site and bringing in fill dirt on Monday, February 12th.

Fill Dirt

 Of course, as luck would have it, not long after the Martinez Brothers brought in the fill dirt, it started to rain. In fact, we had A LOT of rain. It rained for about 10 days on and off and we got something like 12 inches of rain.

Turns out that getting rain right at this point of time in the construction is a mixed blessing. Although it brought everything to a halt until the rain stopped, all that rain helped to compact the fill dirt, which is good for ensuring that you don't have problems with your foundation later on.

So, although it was frustrating to have to go into wait mode again, right after we finally got started, I guess we'll try to look on the bright side.