Remodeling Our Hut Part 14: Sweat Equity

      

Over the forty-one years we've been married, for forty of them, we've always loved to watch 'This Old House' on PBS.  It was fascinating to see the planning and work that went into each remodel and the problems they would sometimes encounter. 

In the early days of the show, the homeowners would often be asked if they would be willing to roll up their sleeves and put in some 'sweat equity', doing demolition and any other tasks they may want to tackle to keep the costs down somewhat.  

I don't recall if in the newer seasons they encourage the homeowners to get involved as much as they did in the beginning or not, but the two of us are definitely involved in this remodel.  

Enmeshed may be a better word.

  

Since July 8, we've been working seven days a week on the remodel, long into the night at times, with only one day off this past Saturday when it was raining and too miserable to work.  (Thank you to our dear friends, Sharon and Duke for putting up with our impromptu 'Hey, we're in the neighborhood, would you mind some company on extremely short notice?  That visit was SUCH a treat!  It felt so good to just relax for one night with good friends.)

 But back to this past August:

Saturday, August 3, 2019 found Carl and me working on the front porch.  After we'd removed the old concrete slab, we had to fill in some gaps next to the house wall before the new slab could be poured and before the new bay windows were framed in.

 Carl made up small batches of cement and we were on a roll with the project until we ran out of the mix.

 

 

It was a very hot, humid day, so we decided to take a break and go to the big box store for more cement.  We left the tools out because we were going to finish up when we got back home.

It didn't look like rain when we left, but by the time we were on our way home, there were thunderstorm warnings again.  I took this picture as we were leaving the parking lot.  We really should not have left those tools out. 

When we got back home, we picked up what was necessary and waited out the rest of the storm.  I was sitting in the car looking at some siding samples we'd picked out and getting more and more confused.  

We've seen many new homes on the showcase home tours over the years and the array of colors now available in vinyl siding is amazing and actually kind of mind-boggling.  When we built the hut back in 1978, there were two colors of vinyl available, white or a very light tan.  It was an easy choice for us then, white it was.  

But now our house could be any of three dozen or more colors and it was daunting.  When you've owned a white home for over forty years, it is hard to imagine it any other way.  

However, blue siding did catch my eye, especially the very dark blue on the left.  While waiting for the rain to stop, I kept holding the samples up to the house and squinting to see what would look appealing.

Before I could make up my mind (and believe me, there's more of this drama to come) the sun came out and we were able to finish pouring the short walls on the end of the dining room bay window. 

We had a lot of trouble with the bay windows because the roof was cut off so they could move the dining room wall out four feet and the eave troughs were removed.  Every time it rained, and it literally did pour this year, the water poured on top of the new floor for the dining room bay window.  

Below, on Monday, August 5, we were about to find out just how much trouble was to be had.  We're missing a whole lot of roof here.

 

 

 

 The front part of the house had to be demolished to move the wall the required four feet out, to make it even with the new bay window platform. 

 

    If this had been a normal year, the missing roof sections probably wouldn't have been a big deal, but this year was far from normal.  The rain pictured below was a whopper with four inches in one hour.  We had water running over the new concrete foundation, into the fruit cellar and across the basement floor because the eave troughs were removed.  

Carl was down in the basement trying to shop vac the water up while I was running to grab our rain barrels and put up plywood to try to direct the water away from the house.  

 

Carl down in the fruit cellar vacuuming out water while I was trying to keep the water from running over the wall.

In the picture below, Carl found a small sump pump for me and I was keeping the water from running into the house the best I could.

 And, of course, it kept raining for a half hour until it finally tapered off to a drizzle. 

Just when we thought we may have the situation under control, a second wave hit.  The second part of the storm was much nastier than the first, and water was coming down in sheets.  Just then, Joel stopped on his way home from work to help me with the plywood and barrels while Carl was battling basement rivers.
 

 Eventually, the storm passed and we were left with the cleanup.   

  At least we were treated to a beautiful rainbow afterward.

Tuesday, August 6, and the bay windows were being framed.  The roof was cut back even further this time, which made us nervous.  But, hey, maybe it won't rain much before the roof is on.  (Famous last words.)

The mudroom had some of the sheeting applied by the end of the day.

 The mudroom addition is 14' x 28' which will be a huge change for us.

Tuesday, August 8, after working all day, Carl came home and was told that the new breakfast nook bay window on the back of the house needed to have a basement window removed and new cement poured for a foundation.  

Once again, Carl built some forms and we poured new concrete to block the old basement window after the builders had left for the day. 

Before they left, they put up a tarp on the front of the dining room bay and the missing roof section.  Unfortunately, they had also cut through the roof to the left of the tarp in preparation for the living room bay window additions, and look what is on the horizon once again?  

Another thunderstorm.  

We can't win.  We raced around to pick up the tools and gave up   as the lightning was a little too close for comfort.

Carl headed to the basement and I took over watching the new dining room addition and manning the sump pump again.  We didn't want a repeat of the night before.

 

The black wall to the left will eventually be demolished onto what was once the old front porch. 

I sat on the front porch, nervously eyeing the drips coming through the tarp and the holes in the living room ceiling.

 There I sit in what is to be our dining room someday, waiting to plug in the sump pump again. Ironically, this is the spot on the old front porch where I always sat when it rained.  (Back when I enjoyed watching it rain.)

I kept a close eye on the living room situation, too.  Ann had helped me replace the cardboard and the protective coating on the hardwood but we had run out of cardboard (and time) and our plan was to finish the next day.  

 Living room

Luckily, the living room didn't have too many problems, just a few drops here and there that I managed to catch in pails.

From the upstairs window, I could see how wet the mudroom was getting, though. without a roof, there wasn't much that can be done.

We spent the rest of the night sopping up again until dark. 

We hoped tomorrow would be a better day.  

Carl's mantra through all of the messes we have had is, "It will be fine." He's still saying that, but not as often as he did before.  

Maybe that's why 'This Old House' doesn't ask the homeowners to get as involved as they used to.   Probably a few of them ran for the hills when the going got tough.

Remodeling ain't for sissies, that's for sure.

And the tough parts are yet to come.