Renovations Before Christmas

Larry left to come to RI on Friday, but before he left more improvements were completed.

Roof rafters had to be replaced. The roofers installed 2x6's instead of 2x10's. Really? Anyway, the team of four guys replaced them quickly, and soon sheathing covered the rafters on both the main house and the back bedrooms. At least when it rains now, the interior will remain mostly dry.

New sunroom.

New sunroom water barrier.

The inspector approved all forms for two new concrete pads that will be floors for our laundry room and sunroom. The forms had to have fill and sand shovelled in to level them as a more drainable base for the hard, clay soil full of rocks that is the land that surrounds our house. Larry also built a form to extend our broken boat ramp that he cleaned up to prepare for the new concrete pad.

New boat ramp.

New laundry room and entry.

One of two huge concrete trucks arrived on Wednesday, and those southern "boys" had fun directing the pours, levelling the material and finishing it all off with broom sweeps for traction. Accelerator was added to the concrete to speed drying and curing time. A vapor barrier was installed under the sunroom pad with a footing of sorts on the entry side.

Only the entry pad took longer to cure than the rest. No accelerator was added to it. Larry shared a beer and a tequila shot with the last guy on site before he left for the Christmas break. This guy was waiting to broom finish the pads, and Larry had to get back to his brother's house to pack for his plane ride the next morning.

But, before leaving, Larry caught one our favorite visitors on the lake looking for food.

Work continues while we're away. I look forward to seeing all the changes in person when we return Sunday night after Christmas. On pre-New-Year's-Eve, we'll take a ride over, and I can meet the workers and inspect progress myself. The project remains very exciting.

Merry Christmas, everyone, and Happy 2014!