Don't think that it hasn't occurred to me that while many in New Orleans had their homes torn apart involuntarily, I am paying people to make my life miserable. "Misery" might be a little strong. I am still excited about the project but I just wish that my kitchen ceiling would stop coming down in chunks. First it was one misplaced foot, then another. Over the weekend a tarp blew loose and water came through the ceiling effectively destroying the remaining plaster. Now if you walk into my kitchen there is more rafter visible than drywall and the dirt! Oy. I don't even know where to begin. Every time The Baby walks into the kitchen she says, "uh oh, flashlight," which is a misunderstanding because I specifically taught her to say "skylight" but what can you do?There is an upside to having the entire kitchen ceiling come down and that is that the previous owner did a shoddy tape job that desperately cried for repair. Now the cracks and poor craftsmanship are non-existent and we get a new ceiling for free!
The other good news is that the second story is starting to take shape! I love framing. It's the best thing ever and so much better than demolition. I've noticed a couple deviations from the original plans -- the balcony hangs off the back of the house rather than over the first floor and therefor the entire addition is pushed back about four feet more than I had anticipated. This is fine with me and once I got my hands on the plans I saw that the carpenter was on the right track, it was the architect who made the changes. In looking at the plans I also noticed a strange alteration to one of the bedroom closets which I need to address before the doors get framed in. Thankfully the contractor remains responsive and continues to answer my calls. The carpenter and his crew have been working long hours and will hopefully have the roof framed in within the next couple of days so that the shingles and siding can go on in order to prevent further kitchen mishaps.
I've included before and after shots to the right. Much of the back of the house is obscured by the Big Green Monster a.k.a. the shed. I've been meaning to tear it down since we moved in and have been taking baby steps towards that goal over the past five years; removing washer and dryer units, hot water heaters and capping the lines. We'll finally be ready to knock it down once construction is finished. Right now it is serving as furniture and toy storage.The worst part of construction so far isn't the noise or even the mess. It's that I can't find anything. I had to rearrange and pack up a bunch of stuff in order to make room for a staircase and I'm stumped as to where I've moved several key items to.
Well, it's time to stop procrastinating and start cleaning up the kitchen ... inch by filthy inch.
