New Paint

Over the weekend, we completed a long-awaited project - we painted the back of the house, where the addition's new stucco didn't dry to match the rest of the house.

Over a few midweek evenings, Stace filled cracks in the stucco (not a problem in the new stucco, but there were some in the older sections). He then used a borrowed pressure washer to clean the surfaces. Nick and I moved everything away from the house in Friday

And on Saturday morning, Stace masked off the windows, doors and lights, and began cutting in the primer.

Melanie and Nick came over to help, as a thank you to Stace for all of his help installing shelves and curtain rods. On Saturday, we got the two sides primed. It wasn't a fun job, in the heat, trying to get the paint into the thick texture and crevices. And it took five gallons! I had to run to the paint store to buy more, midway through.

 Thankfully, it was much cooler on Sunday morning, even misty, and the color coat went on so much easier than the primer had. 

Our happy crew, nearly done!

Much better!

Meanwhile, Ellie colored, watched television, and the girls took her to the park on Sunday. Then Cora thought of introducing her to Castle Crashers on the PS4, and they had a great time playing together.

While moving things around near the house, in the mulch, we found this green lynx spider - beautiful! Never seen one of these before.

And we also found this woodlouse spider, which eats woodlice, or rolly-polly bugs! Interesting! 

So glad to have this job out of the way... so we can move onto my goal of constructing a catio outside against the dining room wall!

New Year's Surprise and Scenery

The face you make when you find water streaming into your new room after popping a bubble of paint...

We had Eloise over New Year's Eve, during a rainstorm, and had pulled down the Murphy bed for her to possibly sleep in. Cora and Violet called us in to check out a weird horizontal line where the drywall tape connecting the panels was clearly visible. Then, we looked up, and saw the bubbling.  

We cleaned up the water, and went directly to the other side in Violet's room, and saw dark discoloration in her ceiling. 

Listening closely, we heard dripping overhead in the corner near her closet.

It was after 11 p.m. and raining, but Stace went up on the roof and found the problem, and thankfully had a workable solution. He sealed up the vent pipe, and the dripping sound ceased.

In the morning, we spoke to our contractor, who told us to drill holes into the ceiling and wall to allow air in, to dry the insides. He said that because it's new drywall, and we have vents in the roof, it'll dry fine.

He'll be by in the next week or so to do the repairs. 

So, it was a very unusual New Year's Eve!

It was fun to have Ellie with us overnight, though. 

Later on New Year's Day, after Melanie and Nick picked up Ellie, we went on a nature walk through an open space past the Placerita Waterfall Trail, across from Golden Valley Ranch. 

More beauty, right here in our valley!

I lightened this one up a ton so you can spot Violet, wearing a black top, inside the blackened trunk of a tree clearly harmed by a past wildfire.

This is the creek we usually can cross at the start of the Waterfall Trail. We weren't wearing wellies so we didn't attempt it.

Addition: Completed!

We present to you, the finished room!

Huzzah!

Two months of actual construction, and what felt like two more months of getting the finishing touches in place inside. (But really, more like a month or 5 weeks.)

It was fun finding the photos and trinkets to place on the shelves, from all over the house. We also found a nice place to display the 1840s set of English encyclopedias he brought over, that his Pop had purchased.

Ready for guests!

Thankfully, Stace's parents have tested the bed and found it comfortable. 

With the bifold doors and a curtain in the kitchen window, the room can be closed off for a little privacy. Guests can store things in the lower cupboard on the left side.
 

The "girls'" side of the room... We finally got the blinds installed, with the green thermal curtains for truly hot days, and generally for color.

Usually, the girls are perched either side of the table, with their computers, playing games and watching shows.

Addition: Drywall, Windows, Stucco and Floors

 

Over the last few weeks, so much progress has been made on the house! Stace put in this new drywall to replace that which had gotten wet. Luis handled the mudding since he was doing the drywall where the old windows were.

Windows and doors in! We were briefly having an issue with the size of the windows on the right side. The architect drew them and they aren't an off-the-shelf size. Special orders take weeks. 

But Joe, our contractor, decided to become a window distributor for a brand he'd had good experiences with in past years, and they were able to get them made in about a week. We love them!

Drywall in!

Outside ready for first coat of stucco.

Second coat on.

Primer going in - at night! With lights on in the room!

And the final coat on.

Joe created windowsills to match what's in the rest of the house.

Big day - removing the plywood barriers between the room and the house!

And in come the floors, on the day we made our final payment and the day after the inspector signed everything off.

The construction part of the project was complete in eight weeks, WITH adding on a new roof and a week or so of rain delays. We're very pleased with how everything went!

Room Addition: Insulation, Plywood, New Roof

A last look at Violet's room, with original windows...

The insulation is in, and the ceiling supports.

But the windows are coming out!

A new window hole, and drywall in where windows used to be.

Meanwhile, Stace figured out where to put in the solar tubes he'll install in the bathrooms and kitchen.

The men removed the rest of the metal roof...

...to uncover the original wood shake shingle roof underneath! It looks quaint, like a fairy tale cottage, after all these years. 

This never should have happened, and though we didn't go into this project wanting a new roof, it's a good thing we found out and are able to afford the extra work.

Down to plywood, ready for the new roof shingles.

New roof going up - it's loud, but they do work fast.

Plywood up, covering the insulation!

Insulation up in the ceiling as well.

Room Addition: Framing, Plywood

 After allowing the foundation to settle for a week, the men were back with the wood for framing. 

It was fun watching the first steps of the room taking shape - window openings, sliding door opening, the general size.

We got more rain - the danger of doing a project in winter - and more water intrusion. It was easier to deal with after we decided we weren't trying to keep the carpeting.

The next step involved taking off the roof where the new roof would be tying in to the house's roof. 

Unfortunately, we learned we'll need to replace our whole roof. The original wood shake shingles are still there, under the metal tiles that were supposed to last many decades. But, nothing is supposed to be put on top of wood shingles; they should have been removed prior to the installation of the metal tiles. 

Piles of metal shingles and other roofing material.

Here come the roof rafters!

At this point, we were expecting more rain, with a lot of wind, so Joe the contractor ensured we had heavy-duty plastic tarping over the whole of this side of the house.

Thankfully, this worked! The noise from the plastic sheeting flying around was insane though; I was sure it was going to fly off.