A Roof Over Our Heads!

Grant Douglas Teahen Purdy

Finally! Despite several setbacks, the roof is done! Another month has flown by since my last post, and a lot has been accomplished. Not just the roof, but also exterior insulation, doors, framing inspections, etc etc. Oh, and we had a baby! We welcomed Grant Douglas on November 2.

Grant's first visit to Northport - all bundled up!

The exterior work was completed none too soon, as we've already had over 18" of snow this month. Unfortunately, Ben and his dad did spend many bone & finger chilling days working on the roof and numerous other outdoor tasks.

Metal roof so we don't have to do it again!

Now, we get to move on to the fun (?) stuff - drywall has begun! The ceiling of the apartment is done, as we prepare for Advanced Insulation to come in next week to spray foam and blow in insulation in the whole place...it will be toasty;)

 Believe it or not, I'm actually starting to think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for! xoxo

Ben up on the lift putting the final pieces on.

Drywall is up!

It Can't be Fall Yet!

Several weeks ago, as we drove through town, I was pointing out the very early signs of fall - hints of red on the Maple trees. When I explained to our 4 1/2 year old, Elsie, that meant it was "almost fall," she covered her face and shrieked: "It can't be fall yet! In fall, the baby is coming and the house isn't done!"

Fast forward to today. Of course, she's right. Baby is due today but apparently not in a hurry. The house isn't done, but we do have lots of good progress to report, and are comfy-cozy at my parent's farm for the time being. I tell people we are lucky to have very accommodating landlords;).

The fall, for it's part, has been gorgeous with some of the most spectacular color in recent memory.

View from the lift above the house.

During this time, the Purdy family was also hit with the unexpected and heartbreaking loss of Ben's Aunt Linda. Linda was a passionate follower of our progress on the farm, and I know if she were here, she'd be harassing me about why I haven't updated the blog. So, this one's for you, Linda. 

So, the fall has been beautiful and challenging at the same time. With some gorgeous weather and beautiful color, we have also had a lot of rain, which has slowed some progress on the house. As soon as Ben rented this awesome machine, it rained for a week straight.:( 

We were also frustrated by a mistake in our roofing order. The drip edge was bent to the wrong angle and had to be re-ordered. For those who wouldn't know (like me) that meant they couldn't start on the roofing - the drip edge has to go on first. The replacement was just delivered yesterday, so the roof should be going on soon now - if the weather cooperates.

That said, it's not like there's been nothing to do. Backing up a bit, to try to catch up from the last post, there has actually been a ton of progress. For starters, the connection between the old house and the new addition was completely re-done. The photo below shows the old wall coming down. This part of the wall on the second floor had some significant water damage anyway from where the original "Vulture Shack" as we called it had attached. That "shack" we believe was the original home that Isaac Garthe built on the property before building the big house. We'll basically be doing the same thing in this new piece while we re-build the house.

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Ben's dad has spent a ton of time here (THANK YOU!!) and did an amazing job on the electrical and plumbing. Both have already been inspected and passed with flying colors.

This is just an example of the historical rat nests
of wires in the hold house.

The new wires are quite an upgrade from the one shown here,
nearly chewed through by our friendly mouse/squirrel friends.

Even laypeople like me can appreciate the organization and
precision of the new wiring here!

I'm excited that this means a bathroom coming soon!

All new pipes + insulation connect to a new high-efficiency water tank in the old house.

For those who are interested, we chose the "high efficiency power direct vent 38gal Short 6 year 36,000BTU propane water heater" from Home Depot. We've also installed a "mini-split" heat pump (visible in photo below) for our primary heating source in this new addition. The addition has been designed to be extremely energy efficient - which will be very important over the next several months!

Making use of the lift (without roofing), the guys have finished all the exterior foam - two layers of 2" foam sheets. With that, firring strips are required to attach the siding. So, this has been a laborious process, but one that will pay off!

We also purchased high-efficiency Thermo-tec windows which are the same ones used for all the new Habitat for Humanity houses locally to ensure that utility bills for those homeowners are kept as low as possible - the results have been amazing. Ben also used "Flexwrap" flashing (no seams) which is the red you can see in the photos.

Before the foam was completed, and we had so much  rain, Ben noticed that the wood behind the foam was saturated. Granted, this will likely not be a problem a) once the top row of foam was added, water wouldn't run down the house behind the bottom row and b) once the siding is on it should be protected. However, if we're going to live here forever, we certainly didn't want to risk mold issues or having the entire house start rotting away due to moisture behind the foam. So, he cut away the bottom 12" or so and added this plastic breathable "fabric" and then put the foam back over it. Of course, it added time to the project but we can rest assured this house is supremely well built!

I think that brings us up to date. Next up: roofing and drywall! Hopefully we'll be able to move our focus indoors before the weather takes a turn for the worse. I see a snowflake in the forecast already, but am keeping my fingers crossed there's still some time to wrap up the outside work!

Another view from the lift showing the roof wrap

Happy Halloween all!

Work, work, work, all day long...

I was excited to see these photos from yesterday showing the progress on the interior of the addition.

Bathroom and kitchen walls

Looking through kitchen to bathroom wall and upper
"loft"/ playroom area.

It's really starting to take shape!

Outside, the guys got all the underlayment on the new roof - so at least from the top, it is water tight! Windows and doors will also help;)

Besides the new walls indoors, Ben's dad also came up to help and has the wiring well under way. Hoping to get plumbing started soon - after that we can move on to insulation and drywall.

For those of you who'd like to get their hands dirty and check out the project up close, we're hosting a camping/working weekend over Labor Day. C'mon up for s'mores, fun, and maybe a little manual labor;)

Taking Shape

It has been about a month and a half since my last post...sorry!
Looking back at the photos and the progress that has been made each week is amazing! On the one hand we are disappointed that our "ideal" timeline isn't realistic, but it is exciting to see the new addition take shape! And,  by "new addition" I mean the construction project - not the baby which is also taking shape;) Keep in mind, our "ideal" timeline is driven in part by the fact that we will have a new addition one way or another in late October! Anyway, I digress...

Check this out:

From this...

To this, in just over a month!

And, all this while addressing a significant challenge with the trusses for the breezeway.

When we originally designed this addition, there would have been a step up from the garage into the house. One of our top priorities is that the main floor be barrier free. So, we made the main floor level, which meant that there'd be a few steps up from the breezeway to the second floor of the garage (into the apartment).

Note that the roof truss cuts off the top of the doorway.

Unfortunately, when we made this change late in the game, the architect didn't re-do the plans which show the addition and the old house together... so when it came time to put the trusses on that match the roof line of the house, they cut off the top of the door into the apartment. Huh - that'd be a head knocker for sure. So, after taking some time to consider the options, Ben ended up ordering new trusses to meet/match the old roof line and allow for the doorway. An unfortunate loss of time and money.

Trusses on the apartment involved some heavy equipment. The guys assembled everything they could on the ground and then had a crane lift them into place. It was a grueling day (from what I've heard) but it was a success! These trusses have an 18" heel so that we can have super insulation in the attic. The apartment is designed to be extremely energy efficient which will be important during the long Northport winters!

 Along the way, there have been a few unique rewards, like a random drop in from this Great Blue Heron...;)

 After all that though, we now have a nearly complete structure. Next up: prep for exterior foam insulation, roofing, windows, and lots more;) Stay tuned.

Going up!

I'm thrilled to report that the walls are going up!

Dan Largent completed the block walls a week or so ago. Popp Excavating came back out to back fill in preparation for pouring the garage slab, established the new driveway grade, and installed our (GIANT) new septic tank & field. We are now well prepared for lots of visitors to come and use the bathroom! Well, except that we don't actually have a working bathroom.... minor detail.;)

Ben and Tom also spent a lot of time re-forming and pouring new walls for the (old) basement access steps to replace the crumbling stone walls that were there. The Concrete Service came out last weekend to pour that part. All told, there is nearly 22,000 pounds of concrete now helping to support the old foundation where it had crumbled.

Ben in the basement checking out the new concrete walls

While the guys worked hard on that, Elsie and I took a bike ride to Barb's Bakery! She did great on the nearly 3 mile round trip!
















This week might have been the most exciting for me... to see the walls go up! The concrete floors have not yet been poured, that will happen this week. But, four walls for the garage are in place! Floor trusses are coming next for the second story.

 I'm not sure, but it seems like we may be tracking close to "on-schedule" for a labor-day move in. That's good news, considering we're expecting a new baby boy at the end of October;)

In a fitting father's day, Ben and his dad spent the entire day today building stairs to the basement in the new bilco access and ran conduit for future use for plumbing and electrical if needed under the garage floor.

We are so fortunate to have such great dads (and our entire family) in our lives!

Elsie and Nana exploring at Peterson Park.

Building a Strong Foundation...

The bar was set pretty high with the existing foundation of the house in darn good shape after 130 years! Ben and his team are doing their best to ensure this one lasts just as well.

Pleasantly surprised by the nice topsoil!

After Popp Excavating completed the earthwork in just one day, we thought it would be smooth sailing ahead... and then it rained. And rained. And rained.

Turns out changing a tractor tire isn't easy.

It seemed that Monday - Friday were torrential downpours, but we did get a few nice days in between.

Elsie is learning to be a great mechanic & farm hand!

We took those sunny day opportunities to get back up to Northport to replace the tire on Ben's tractor and begin the much needed process of pulling out all the Autumn Olive on the property! We've made quite a dent, but still much, much more to be done!

Operation invasive species removal underway!

Another pleasant surprise: It turns out we have a sliver of a bay view
from the top of the hill behind the house!

 So, it was just last week that the guys were able to hand dig the footings for the new construction.  It was surprisingly hard digging for this area.  Instead of the "sugar sand" we expected, it was mostly clay, gravel, and heavy loam.  While not the easiest material to work with, we can sleep easy knowing that footings won't be moving any.  The building inspector was happy with the work and gave us approval to pour concrete. Dan Largent, our mason , and his crew quickly installed the re-bar and leveled the wet concrete.

We lucked out with more great weather today (yay!) and the team got to work on the block walls for the crawl space and garage. It's amazing to see the progress!

Hopefully, it really will be smoother sailing from here on out... the weather forecast looks good, for now!

Ground Breaking!

Hooray! We broke ground last week for the new breezeway + garage addition. Thanks to the great work of Popp Excavating, the site work is already done!

Next up: concrete. As has been the case for months now, the weather is not cooperating. Our mason is likely a bit behind schedule finishing up another job since it has basically been pouring rain all week. Hopefully we'll be able to get started on the masonry this week.

The photo below, left, shows the old cistern which captured rain water. This was actually one of the things we thought was the coolest about the house when we bought it, so it was a little sad to see it go. The crew also uncovered the septic tank - behind the house! That was a bit of a surprise, but digging into a 130 year old house, nothing should really surprise us!

The photo on the right doesn't show the tank, but that is where it was. It was at the bottom of a hill, under the roof runoff, and right up tight to the house. We cleared a bunch of brush from behind the house to make room for a future patio and to improve drainage away from the house. Clearly, that tank wasn't serviceable, so the crew smashed it and filled it with sand. Day one and Ben already had to go back to the county office to apply for another permit!

The big machines did a great job and it was exciting to see what quick work they made of it! However, with the old stone foundation of the house, they didn't want to risk damaging it. So, Ben and Tom spent the whole day Friday hand digging and moving several thousand pounds of rocks out of the way to make room for new footings.


While they were up there working, a visitor named Allan stopped by. If we're remembering correctly, he's a nephew of Ralph Snyder, the former owner. Allan had lots of great stories to share and told Ben his memories of how the house used to be arranged. Apparently, one of the Garthes (Paul) - a relative of the previous owners- worked at GM/Frigidaire which may be the reason we ended up with the cool old Frigidaire in the "vulture shack." Eventually, it will be moving back in to roughly the same place it came from as a pantry!

That's all for now, but we're excited to be moving ahead quickly now on the new addition. Progress on the original house will likely be slow to non-existent until this piece is done. Stay tuned!

Aaaaand....We're Back!

The incessant frigid temps and ever-growing snow drifts finally won. We had filled our dumpster trailer and couldn't get it out of the snow...so we quit. We took the month of March off from even attempting to make any progress on the house.

Elsie got new breeches and boots for her 4th Bday!

Finally, the snow is almost completely gone and we've had some really nice days to get back in the saddle, so to speak!

Instead of getting right back into the mess of plaster indoors, we enjoyed some time working outdoors. Since nothing is growing yet, it was a great time to see the lay of the land...which included a fair amount of old fencing, plastic sheeting, and more strewn throughout the fields. We picked that up, cut down some over-grown shrubs in front of the house, and completely stuffed that dumpster which can now finally be taken away!

The outdoor work involved a bit of a mud bath!

May be a bit over the max. suggested weight!

This week broght some big news! Our building permits for the new addition are ready to go! The excavators are just waiting for frost laws to be lifted and we'll be on our way! Ben and Tom will be ordering lumber on Monday and we may be able to break ground as early as Tuesday! WooHoo!!

We made some more progress indoors again this weekend. Still plugging away -just starting, actually:(- on plaster on the 2nd floor and Ben's taking down the third and final chimney. The bricks on this one are in good shape, so we're saving them until we come up with a creative way to use them...any ideas?

Stay tuned for updates on the new construction! Happy Spring, and Happy Easter from Addi;)