Staining

We started putting stain in our front deck. We will continue putting on stain whenever the weather is nice enough.

New Clock

We created a new clock using the knobs from the knob and tube wiring we use to have in the house.

Comparison

Now that the project is finished, we can compare the architect's drawings to the actual.

Final Inspection

We passed the final inspection and now we are working on finishing things and getting back to normal. We started staining the new front porch. We want the new porches to look like they belong to the house. We will stain the porches when it is not raining. This time of year there are not many days without rain. We are staining the railing to match the belly band on the house. We will stain the deck and risers to match the lower part of the house. The stair treads and other pressure treated wood will be left alone.

New door

They installed a door between the garage and the rest of the "walk space" on Monday. We are waiting for the final building inspection.
We have a new elevation certificate. The floor is now at 426.4 feet. The floor used to be at 418.05 feet. So we went up 8.35 feet.

Door Knobs

They added the door knobs to the doors to our walk space. These doors are keyed the same as the house doors.

Painted doors

They painted the doors and some other things that were added since the last time it was painted. They also removed our port-a-potty.
This is the door under the back porch.

Garage doors

They installed the garage doors today. Now we have to decide which garage to use for each car.

Bracing

They finished the cover for the back porch. They added bracing for the roof.
The top of the garage door opening for the small garage needed to be lower so the garage door will be below the beams in the garage when it is raised. They lowered the top today.
I am told we will lose our third bathroom -- the Spiffy Biffy -- soon.

Porch cover

They put on the porch cover today. The cover has a slight tint to block out the UV light, but you can still see the trees through it.
This a view of the cover from the ground.

Porch cover frame

They built the frame to hold the cover today.
This is what the frame looks like from the back porch.
If I were to put in a zip line from the back porch to the garden, this would be a good place. You would need to hold up your feet to clear the landing railing.
They cleaned up the yard and re-graded the yard where it needed it. They moved our third bathroom (the Spiffy Biffy).

Start of back porch cover

They worked on the frames for the back porch cover today. They blocked our back door and back stairs while they are working. You can see the cover will be over the steps too. This will allow us to get to the garage without going out in the rain.

Hand Rails

They put up hand rail rails on one side of all our stairs.
This shows the profile of the hand rails. There is a spacer to get the hand rail away from the side. The top of the hand rail is rounded so it can be gripped.
They also finished the downspouts today. It is a long way from the roof to the ground.
Today they delivered the covering for the back porch. The covering will block UV light, but will still be translucent.

Downspouts and trim

Today they worked on a lot of things. You need to look closely to see the changes. They started to put in the downspouts. The black tubing is gone from this picture. They added a cedar trim to the outside of the porches and landings. They also put up the vertical stripping on the wall under the front porch.
They also added cedar trim to the back porch and landing. You can see they haven't put in all the downspouts because we still have a black pipe in this picture. You can see the posts that will hold up the cover for the back porch. You can see that they have graded the back yard. We still haven't put in a lawn.
They also put in siding on the wall above the front porch. The old siding may have been removed when they lifted the house.

Painting

Today they painted the area of the wall that didn't get painted before because it was covered by the old cover over our back porch. They are going to start to install the new cover. This cover should let us get to the garage without going out in the rain.
It is hard to see, but they installed flashing between the walls and the back porch.
They also put varnish on some boards they are going to use to trim the back porch. I didn't include any pictures.

We have a front porch

They finished our front porch today. I guess we can no longer confuse visitors.
This is a view of the south lower stairs. We have nice sturdy stairs and handrails.
Before the house was raised, we accessed the circuit breaker box from the ground which was three steps lower than the old porch. Now that it is accessed from the porch, everything is lower than usual. This end of the porch was extended to give the required clearance in front of the circuit breaker box.

Sixteen steps

They finished putting in the stair tread and risers. They also added the railing.
They also started to put up some of the balusters.
This is a view looking out of our front door. When they removed the temporary stairs they made it so our screen door wouldn't open. This picture is taken through the screen door.
There are sixteen steps to get to the front porch. Ten to get from the foundation to the landing and six to get from the landing to the porch. The back porch also has sixteen steps -- eight to get from the sidewalk to the landing and eight to get from the landing to the porch. We had seventeen steps when we were on the Jenga blocks.

More stairs

The front porch is looking more like the architect's drawings. Today they added the decking to the landing and most of the treads and risers to the north stairs (the one to the left). They also put in the framing for the south stairs.
Because the stairs aren't finished, they blocked off the north stairs. While I was taking pictures, our cat ignored the barrier and went clear up to the front porch.
This is the decking on the landing.

Front porch steps

They finished putting the decking on the porch. They put the tread and the risers on the stairs from the porch to the landing.
They also put up the framing for the stairs to the left (as you look at the front of the house) and they put up the columns at the bottom of the stairs to the right. The columns at the bottom of the stairs to the left are behind the port-a-potty. The port-a-potty is now labeled a "Spiffy Biffy."

Front porch decking

They put most of the decking on the front porch. There is a little more that needs to be added near the fuse box. They also need to trim the ends
They also put the stair supports from the front porch to the landing.

Posts

Today they installed posts to hold up the roof over the porch.
We had someone come by today who hasn't been to our house since they tore out the front steps. She couldn't figure out how to get in until the workers told her about our new back porch.

Porch and Septics

They continued to work on the front porch today. They worked on the landing and removed the wall next to the front door. Removing the wall lets us get to the circuit breaker box. If you look closely you can see the electric meter. The circuit breaker box is next to the meter.
This is a different view of the landing that they were working on today. If you look at the main part of the porch you can see where they removed the wall.
They also covered up our the last parts of our septic system today.

More front porch and drywall

They continued building the front porch. They are also starting to remove the wall next to the front door. That is so we can get to the circuit breaker box without a latter. The circuit breaker box is on the other side of that wall.
They also finished taping the drywall.
We also have some earthmoving equipment in our back yard. They may be going to finish the septic system.

Front Porch and drywall

They continued building the front porch today.
Yesterday there were only the four posts. Today the started putting up the support for the porch.
They also put up the rest of the drywall in the garages and the area between the garages. They also started taping the drywall. You will notice that the drywall for the walls is a different color than the drywall for the ceiling.