While you were sleeping

I know, logically, that we are going to be paying dolla dolla bills to the bank over the next 30 years or so for this amazing project. But sometimes - like right now for example, when I've just gotten back from 10 days hanging out on the east coast - the progress seems like complete magic. Wizards and genies and fairy dust, seriously. Somebody pinch me, this thing is starting to look like a house!!

I reported already (thanks to the photo update from Steven) that the crew had started on the siding while we were gone. There's also been a lot of progress on the "house guts" - plumbing, electrical and HVAC. We had another meeting this morning with Steven and the head electrician, mainly focused on figuring out our AV needs. We don't have a TV, so actually all of our TV-like entertainment (Netflix, MLB.tv) is streamed through a computer to a projector. This has presented some complications in figuring out the wiring, where speakers should go, and such. However, it seems like we came up with some good solutions today. One of the most exciting things about this house is how intentional everything is. Our current and previous places have always had miscellaneous inconveniences - useless spaces, lack of storage, outlets hidden behind furniture (or no outlets a'tall). None of these things are a huge deal, and you learn to live with them. What's so amazing about this project (especially to a Type-A freak like yours truly) is that everything we own is going to have a place, and the way we live has directed every decision along the way. I seriously feel like the most fortunate human in the world to have this opportunity.

But enough of the rambling - here are some pictures! This is the current state of the exterior:

 

Don't worry, the battens will eventually be painted red as well. Faux zebra stripes is not a look we're going for.

There were some major changes in the basement, where as I'm sure you recall, the spiral staircase of doom used to spring from the fiery bowels of the earth. It is now an ancient (but fear-inspiring) memory, and instead we have some framing for the new mechanical room (where the HVAC, hot water heater, etc. will reside).

Also of note in the basement, they busted a door through the concrete block wall to join the basement with the new entryway (in this sentence I imagine "they" to be a crew including Superman, Captain America, and Hulk Hogan). You're welcome for the additional perk of Brandon's sexy laygs in this photo.

The new entryway (and the lack of the giant hole in the middle of the floor) really makes the first floor seem huge and spacious.

Here are a couple more shots of the house guts...

Pipes and ducts and wires, oh my!

Elmo approves.

The electrical work is all supposed to be done in the next few days, because insulation is happening at the end of this week, and drywall next week! I believe the drywall is actually slated to start on Tuesday, which is our third wedding anniversary. According to Wikipedia (reliable source of all important information), the traditional gift for the third anniversary is leather. I'm disappointed, I was really hoping it would be gypsum plaster.

To end on a note of "things that never would have occurred to me as river-based recreation," Steven came over yesterday with a remote-controlled model sailboat that he built. The wind was a little shifty (can we blame Irene out here in Michigan?), but the boys still had a good time launching and sailing the little boat.

Unfortunately there was a small malfunction - either the batteries weren't quite charged, or the boat hit the Bermuda Triangle of the Huron River, you decide - and a rescue boat had to be launched.

(No ships were lost at sea in the making of this post.)

Oh. Em. Garage.

We have one! With a roof and everything!!! And I can't believe how completely different the house looks...

All of a sudden it's like driving up to a HOUSE, rather than a towering three-story facade of everything ugly from the 70's. Let's take a little stroll down memory lane, shall we? Here is the house a mere month ago...

And another angle from today:

Here is the house from the river side - see that new garage roof on the right? That perfect, south-facing expanse with nothing at all shading it? Yup, that's where the solar panels will go - just as soon as we can afford it.

We went over a bit early today, because Brandon was going for a run so I joined him on my bike (don't laugh - it had been so long since I biked that it was just about the right pace...). The workers were still there and we didn't want to get in the way, hence the lack of close-up and interior shots. More tomorrow, at which point the roof will have shingles!

Plumb the depths

People really take running water for granted - at least I know I have. Turn on the faucet, and there it is! Flush the toilet, and there it goes! Amazing and magical. Today we got the first glimpse at how all that magic will happen at Turtle House. The first sign that something bathroom-related was going on was this sight:

We are assuming that isn't the final placement of the bathtub - I am pretty sure it wasn't like that in the plans.

Once inside, we spotted some new pipes on both floors. On the main floor, there was some copper pipe in the vicinity of the new bathroom, along with what I assume is a future drain (partially blocked by a 2x4 in this pic):

Upstairs there is a bunch of new PVC in between the future laundry nook and bathroom, along with some other drains you can see in the background of this picture. The one on the left is where the shower will be, and the one on the right will be for the toilet.

There is also another hole in the roof - as if we didn't already have enough of those! - probably for venting the dryer?

(Aside: I don't know if I've properly described how thrilled I am to have the laundry machines upstairs, vs. scary dungeon-basement. Yeah!!)

There was also some progress outside the house. The crew started work on the new faux roofline that will eventually make the house look symmetrical from the east side. It still looks asymmetrical to me, but I think that's because it is missing a piece of trim (so it's not the same width as the south fascia), and you can still see the outline of those darn crazy asymmetrical windows. I will be happy to say goodbye to those!

There is also one of the big garage roof trusses now propped up on top of the garage, so I am hoping those will go up tomorrow (it looks a little precarious at the moment!).

Last we heard, tomorrow was supposed to be Roof Insulation Day, followed by Roof Shingle Day on Wednesday - so I should have some good progress to report this week!

Not dysfunctional

This post title makes me laugh and laugh. Why? We were at the house today admiring the amazing progress, and just being blown away at how much the shape of the house has changed. It has gone from being... let's be honest... a bit homely, to being a structure that looks cohesive and intentional rather than slapped together. I was ooh-ing and aah-ing and giving the house my usual pep-talk: "You look amazing, house! You are going to be the loveliest house in all the land. Don't worry, house, your awkward ugly-duckling days are over and you will soon be a beeyoooootiful swan!"

I looked at Brandon expectantly, so he'd add some words of encouragement for the house.

"Good job, house. You're not dysfunctional anymore." And I'm giggling again, typing this... not sure why that hit my funny bone so hard. Poor house.

But on to the progress! The big news today (that got the house out of the realm of dysfunctionality) was the addition of the trusses for the north roof. Recall that the north and west sides had a bizarro flat-roofed addition that was not only aesthetically disastrous, it was also incredibly water-damaged and, well, grody. Here's a photo to jog your memory.

And here we are today, from the same angle:

It is totally amazing what a difference that second floor addition and the sloped roof makes already! Here is another angle:

The opening that is partially covered by the small tree above is going to be a doorway, leading from the main floor kitchen area to the back yard where the garden will be.

The new roofline changes the way the house looks from the east as well:

We checked it out from the inside as well, but it was difficult to get a good photo...

...but from upstairs, I could lean out the soon-to-be master bedroom window and get a shot of the new roof trusses (along with Brandon, leaning out the soon-to-be backup guest room window).

Speaking of the soon-to-be backup guest room, the roof in there (as well as over the stairwell) also got finished today, so it's a bit less "open to the elements" than it has been.

Not sure if the "elements" are forecasted to make an appearance this evening, but the south side of the house was looking quite tarpalicious! We're ready for anything here at Turtle House. Bring it, Mama Nature.

Summer thunderstorms

Call me crazy, but I absolutely love a good summer thunderstorm. So that's what I began daydreaming about immediately upon arriving at the house and seeing this:

It's our covered porch - complete with some trim in the color we chose last week! I absolutely cannot wait to sit out there and watch lightning flashing over the river - although I'm sure that the porch will be a favorite hang-out spot in a wide variety of weather conditions!

You may also have noticed above that the overall shape of the house has undergone a major shift. For comparison, here is a photo from last week...

...and here it is now from the same angle:

The second floor bedroom addition that I caught in progress a couple days ago has been mostly completed! There is the small detail of the roof to finish, but here is the view from the north...

...and from the west.

(This made for such a dramatic change in the slide show sequence at the top of the page - check it out! I am so geeked about that slideshow; I can't stop watching it...)

Of course we went inside to explore, and I was pretty excited to think that the days of climbing a ladder to the loft may now be over. Here is Brandon peeking down from the second floor where we now have a fully functional staircase - yeah!!

And here are a couple shots of the second floor addition. There will be one big window looking north, which will overlook the woods out back and the meadow where our garden will be.

There are two windows looking west into another forested area - one of these will be in the new room, while the other will be at the top of the stairwell.

We are thinking of this new room as storage/overflow guest space, so not to worry - you can all visit at once!

To the window... to the wall

Super quick post because we are running out the door - and I'm not going to be able to stalk my house for TWO WHOLE DAYS!!! *sob*  Buuuut, I think my Wednesday update will be super exciting, because this was the scene just now:

Second floor bedroom addition!! YEAH!!

Dormertastic

Remember that giant hole in the roof on Tuesday? Well yesterday when we made it back over to the house, we saw this peeking over the south roofline...

The dormer! I may have produced a sound something like "EEEEEEE!!" Seriously, it is so exciting to see the very shape of the house changing every day. We have been forewarned that this is how it is with rough framing, and that we're going to be a lot less EEEEEE!!-full once this stage is over and we move on to plumbing, electrical, etc. So I am mentally prepared for that, but still totally enjoying how amazing this all seems - it is like my birthday every day!

(You may notice Steven in that last pic, doing a little painting... more on that in a sec!)

The inside of the house is filled with scaffolding right now for the work on the dormer - I know these guys are professionals, but it still makes me nervous to think of standing on all this!

We climbed up a regular ol' ladder to get to our future bedroom and check out the dormer from there. Here's Brandon soaking up the view:

That's the interior opening I have mentioned, which lines up with the windows in the dormer. Eventually we'll be able to sit up in bed and see this:

Well, minus the piles of lumber in the yard, plus a roof and actual window... details, details.

In other news, the trusses arrived for the garage roof! I told Steven to stand by them and look excited about trusses. I think he was just laughing at me, but it's about the same effect.

Speaking of Steven, and what he was painting several photos above... we picked out the exterior colors! We've thought for a long time that since the house kind of has a barn-vibe, we should run with that and use a barn-appropriate color scheme (Steven likes to class it up by calling it a "farmhouse cottage" instead). The siding is going to be mostly board-and-batten, and it is going to be dark red. The mission yesterday and this morning was to pick a trim color for the edges of the rooflines (fascia and soffits, I think, if you want to get technical - this is like learning a new language!).

Here is the siding color (middle) along with two trim options. The paint was still very wet in this photo, and all monitors are different, but hopefully you get the idea... We were trying to decide between a darker chocolate brown and a lighter, taupe-y color.

This morning we went back to the house to stick these to the wall and look at them dry(ish) and in place.

Up there, we all immediately liked the darker color better. It reads as really dark in this photo, but it was a very overcast day, and we still didn't think it was TOO dark. It'll be a really nice complement to the very dark brown window casings, and the warm golden color that we are planning for the doors.

Not sure if there will be much progress today - the crew was putting a tarp up over the dormer and doing some clean-up while we were looking at paint, because of last night's completely unpredicted FOUR INCHES of rain (not a typo). The house is a little, shall we say, swampy at the moment. And we all know I love swamps, but not in my future living room.