January 29, 2017

OK...we are on our way again.

I have to admit, I have used my actress voice and passion and the power of persistent phone-calls (clearly a gift endowed to me by my mother) and these past few weeks have given Dad's dream of a new home a real boost at coming true...and sooner, rather than later!

Firstly, at long last..NYSEG arrived to hook up the gas and electric...wonderful news!

That meant heat could go on and that meant,  the remaining work on the interior could be done with continuity...and for Dad, that meant his workshop could be drywalled...here he is with Cory, his contractor, who has done a wonderful job on the walls and the finishing of the floor in the shop.

And here he is in at the foot of the stairs, in the entrance to his furnace/storage room...(the lights weren't wired in yet, so you will have to look to find him in the dark interior...)

The work on the garage continued and the walls were finally built. And...when even though the weather was rotten...the shingling began...

...until they finished...

You can probably see Dad still has a dumpster in his front lawn, and those light colored patches leading to the ladder to the garage roof are pieces of wood. Yep, it was so muddy this January, that the workers constructed a makeshift path to try to avoid the inches of muck (which they kind of tracked into his house on a daily basis, despite their best efforts to avoid doing so). 

But through all the frustrations our new hero from American Homes, Jay, kept everything moving forward on the inside of the space...here he is...

After the shingles, came the beginning of the garage siding...(great shot of the incredible mud tracks...

And, now it the garage siding is nearly done...they will finish tomorrow, 1/30...and they will also be completing the final siding on the house itself, and install the final window upstairs....

Oh, and what is that? Yes, it is the return of the caterpillar...

The driveway cometh!!!

 And here it is, Number 1 Applewood Lane, with its crushed gravel driveway and sidewalk (to the still unbuilt stairs and front porch). 

Things are going wonderfully well. We hope to have the electrical inspection on Monday, and then the firewall in the garage, the final grading of the soil, the build of the stairs and porch, and (as I mentioned above) the remaining siding.

If everyone is able to keep the pace up, and complete their jobs as hoped...Dad will have his certificate of occupancy before the end of the week. Thanks for holding his dream and ours in your hearts and prayers...

January 16th

So, it has been a long time since the last post...sigh.

Work really slowed with Christmas and New Year's, and ice storm, more snow and a few illnesses with contractors, and delays (ad nauseam) by New York State Gas and Electric, for the hook-ups for the utilities, but things are moving once more and we are grateful for all the workmen and women, and especially thankful for the wonderful customer care from NYSEG in Binghamton and Jack and his team at American Homes for keeping the ball rolling...

So, here you see Dad walking towards the beginnings of the framing of the garage...

And, they clearly must be listening when he speaks to them...

And he spurred them on just in time for the next big snow...

As you can see, he still has more soil to be delivered, shingles and siding, as well as front steps and a small front porch to be built...there was also the matter of steps into the house from the garage...and they were begun 10 days ago...

And here they are completed, save the railings and bannister...

The windows are also in the garage and, again...just in time...

This is the result of the ice and wind storm we had the night this work was completed...

This kind of looks like how we all feel at this point in time...a litter rough around the edges, but with the knowledge that every day we are closer than we have ever been...

I will close for now, but, will return tomorrow with more news, LOTS has happened since this stormy moment...

Keep tuned...

Since the post before Thanksgiving, we have had nearly two feet of snow...and, that, as you can imagine slowed things down for Dad. But, once the first 18 inches melted, the workers got going on the siding and things began to take shape quickly. Here they are up on the dormers, and you can see where the storms did some damage to the unfinished sides...but they have completely repaired it...

With the soffits completed on both sides, and the siders out of the way, the work could begin on the garage...more fill and leveling so they can pour the foundations for the garage walls...

The cement trucks return, first for the forms... And, you may notice that windows were installed in the basement as well, getting closer every day now...

More soil arrives to bring the level of the garage floor higher...and then, more concrete for the floor... within 36 hours (due to the use of an amazing accelerant in the concrete) we are able to walk on the garage floor!

The weather turned snowy and stormy...again, so we had to wait for a clear enough day for the guys to work outside safely...but, while they were waiting for that, they were inside, wiring, plumbing, installing copper pipe, etc...They also built Dad's stairs to the basement aka his shop...I will post photos of that next time...

 But, for now, here are photos of the beginning stages of his garage being framed...

 It has been difficult to be patient, and frustrating to be in midst of really tough weather conditions, but, nail by nail and screw by screw...Dad's house on Applewood Lane nears completion...I will try to get some photos of how things look in the sunshine later today...Thank you all for your support and love, keep it coming!

So, the workers began with the grading in earnest this week...the forms for the garage wall were created, cement was poured and the task of bringing the land up to the height of the house began...

With the help off the crew, Daddy and I climbed up a ladder and into the kitchen door (no small feat)...we were delighted with the progress that is being made! Here is Dad's kitchen, he chose a warm stain for his oak cabinets, and you can't see it, but those are brushed stainless steel appliances...very chic! (and that drop down from the kitchen door, oh, about 8 feet...we were eager, you might say...)

The kitchen door opens directly to the garage, which will have windows and a second door to the backyard. The big pile in the middle is the rest of his siding, just waiting for the garage to be completed before it is installed...

And here is Dad by his front windows...what a view he has. You can see the little entry way, which opens directly into the living room. There is a second single window to the left of this image. We are so excited about the view he will have. The windows face in a southerly direction, so he will have wonderful light!

It was hard to get a photograph a good photograph of the Master Bedroom, but, here you can see that the carpeting is being installed and he has a lovely view to the back of his house as well...

The front of the house has two sets of beautiful windows, with that southern aspect...the second is in Dad's office/library...and here is a view from them, looking to the north...(nice to know he will not have heavy machinery there for the duration of his time on Applewood Lane)...

And this is the view from the position, we think, his recliner and stereo will face...he can listen to Mozart, read history or Bonhoeffer, and gaze at the distant hills beyond...

The stairs to his basement are not yet installed, but we were delighted to be able to walk up to the top floor...there is 650 sq ft of undeveloped potential up here, all rough plumbed and wired, and ready to be developed...

Yep...it's all happening on Applewood Lane...stay tuned!

Things are continuing to draw near completion on Applewood Lane. As the grade has been so low, we have not been able to get a look inside yet...but, it seems that is all changing now...Dad consults with his neighbor, Tony, as the workmen fill the perimeter with washed gravel...

The view of the back of the house as the gravel is poured...

Earth is shifted to fill in where his garage will be. The door to the rear of the house will be the entrance from his garage into his kitchen...

With the grading, we were able to take a peek inside the basement windows in the front...have a look at the workshop-to-be...

In response to all the new developments on the build, Dad shares his delight with Misty...

Here is a view before the footers are poured for the garage. We love that the house is framed by beautiful maple trees...

So, shortly after the house was craned onto the foundations, the weather turned bad...really bad, we have had sleet, ice and snow...along with high winds...there was no way the guys could get up on the roof and get the shingling done...they protected it with this amazing ice and snow wrap until it was safer for them...

With winds gusting to 40 miles per hour, it felt a little like Dad might have been building a spinnaker! But, as you can see here, the front door is open, so work continued inside his home, every day, despite the bleak conditions...and, Dad (and our Golden Retriever, Misty) found other ways to pass their time...she adores him...

Finally, just yesterday, the weather forecast shifted and there was a break in what had been over a week of dark cloud and heavy precipitation...I took Misty out at 6:45 and there was a truck in front of Dad's house. As soon as there was enough daylight, the roofers got to work...and they did not stop until dusk...

Dad is looking happy as we inspect the work they have done on the back of the house...

And, here is another view of his house, looking down Applewood Lane from our driveway...

As the sun began to set, they were putting the finishing touches on the second dormer's shingles...you can see there are a few places without shingles (they didn't order enough...sigh...) but, he will need them for his garage as well, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem...just a little bit frustrating...

This morning the sun was shining brightly and his house looked that much closer to being finished...so exciting! We hope this week the foundation team will be back with much soil and fill, allowing work on the garage to begin...the garage will be stick-built, on-site, as will his front porch...stay tuned...

So, a lot has been happening on Applewood Lane this week...

Here are photographs, and a few films, to help you see the wonderful unfolding of it all, and hopefully share in our excitement...

The foundation guys, with Tim as their foreman, worked until 9:00 to get Dad's basement floor poured before the house arrived...This is Tim, walking the perimeter of what will be Dad's workshop...

A huge crane arrived before hand, here, the crew from American Homes worked to get the side stabilizers positioned for a safe "craning on" of his house, as they call it. 

We had a lot of rain overnight on Tuesday, so it made conditions a little frenzied to begin with...the large 18 wheeler that brought Dad's house from the factory in Pennsylvania actually got stuck at the American Homes location down the road from us...but, they hauled it out in about an hour...and, in it came...

You can see it comes all wrapped to protect the windows and the siding during transport...

At first it looked like Dad had a 60' house, but in order to cut down on the transportation costs, the house is actually transported as one long unit, and cut in half on-site! You can see that, without the paper, Dad has chosen a sage green siding, the shutters are actually a lovely brown color...it looks fabulous with his maple trees...

Dad had a fabulous day watching it all unfold. He is sitting on his soon-to-be next door neighbor's sidewalk, on a chair they provided for his added comfort, it was a little cool, but the clouds gave way to a gorgeous autumn day...

It is all blue sky and puffy clouds as the front of the house is craned into place...

Once in position, the crew unhook the cables from the home...

It looks like a flat box, but the magic continued...the roof is actually pre-constructed and lifted, and the crew does on-site carpentry on the floor of his second floor to stabilize the roof joists...

 Here was the view down Applewood Lane when everyone took a break for lunch...

And here is what the roof looked like at 3:30 in the afternoon, you can see that the back of the roof is secured and the front is being prepared. There is a curve in this portion of the front of the roof to allow rainwater to be routed around his dormer windows...

 And here comes dormer number one...as a cloud returned with shade..

But the sun came out for dormer one to find it's position...hurray!

The second dormer was lowered on at dusk...

More images and news to come, but...for now...all is well on Applewood Lane...