breezeway and porch beginning to make sense

framing for ceiling coffers has been started also

4th wall up; walls attaching to house going up

So quickly the basic box goes up.

floor going up!

Framing and floors go up fast with the pneumatic nailers in use today. Also, the forms for the concrete piers to support the breezeway and porch are done. They dig a hole, fit in a plastic or biodegradeable paper form, put some chunks of concrete block, fill with about 10 bags of dry concrete mix, add water and done. They do a little bit of stirring but not much. I had seen this done on HGTV for posts for outdoor patios before so wasn't completely surprised.

lumber delivery finally

Now I should be able to see the frame appear and get better picture of what goes where...

rat slab poured

perimeter drain has stones, plastic pipe and landscape fabric. Still need finish coat of parget.

jack and jill has two options

The first option (right photo) is for a marble in a large format tile that has white cameo tint with hints of gold and pink. The second is a glazed porcelain tile (left photo) with some random insets of a platinum art deco medallion. 2nd option is cheaper but might be good to tile most of bathroom so there is little paint, so the cost would be a wash.

kitchen is dramatic ceramic over resin

This gives a resilent yet look of porcelain or slate floor. Will go well with pearly glass backsplash and warm cherry cabinents. Photo doesn't do it justice because of the glare.

Addition flooring is stranded bamboo

The color is called chestnut and will be warm and blend well with other floors that are being refinished.

Picked out flooring and tiles

Here's cork floor and tile for back bathroom. Cork has greys and blues and tile has hint of blue. Will go well with glass photo mural and white fixtures.

marking out for the rat slab

The workmen are creating a chalk line to show the depth for the thin layer of concrete in the crawlspace known as a "rat slab". Should be poured tomorrow after a successful inspection of the foundation.

tying into new septic tank

Crawl space wall is almost complete as you can see in the photos. The long trench will contain the piping connecting the existing house to the new septic tank. It turns out that the inconvenience caused by "abandoning" - crushing - what we thought was a septic tank not in use - moved up some work that had to be done anyway and it is easier to dig the trench now than run it through the finished crawlspace later. It also makes sure we get a larger drop to the tank which lessens problems in that long run.

crawl space wall going up

should be finished tomorrow. In the meantime, we "abandoned" the old septic system too early. The kitchen septic is truly just a kitchen septic. Lucky, my mom lives 1/4 mile away. Existing tub drain and toilet should be tied into new system tomorrow. Wish me luck.

weather here means footings cured enough to dig out

Dry warm weather here made it easy to dig out the dirt from the footings and the piers that will support the roof. Tomorrow should see the block work started.

Big Step -- footings for addition were poured

Here's photos .. Pour could happen because the holes and rebar passed inspection today.

driveway gone; footings in, rebar in

So now the inspector will come and measure the depth for the footings and check there is enough rebar. Once passed, the concrete truck arrives.

some framing and plumbing for the ice house

side yard is now orange gravel

While I was on a road trip, the septic drain field and septic tank were ok'ed by the county inspector and then the gravel was used to cover them. There are still 5 plastic posts visible as these are the tank cleanout and the 4 vents for the septic field.

The contractor framed in the space for the toilet in the ice house and today the electrician is wiring everything.