Well, yeah, kinda....

We've been in the new addition for two weeks now. With the iMac G5 out on the desk area in the rec room, it's a lot less convenient posting to a blog - the kids are always playing Harry Potter, or Dora the Explorer, or now, Rune Scape (no they're not old enough for that last one, but it does look like fun).

Here's a before and after shot from the back yard:

     

And here's a before and after shot of the living room:

     

Yes, that second shot is from just last night - we're putting things back in the house. And, as it was at the start, the living room is the staging area. Other than the piano, we're not sure what will remain in the room when we're truly done. Much of the furniture has moved to the family room or the new rec room, so there's not much to fill in (what will soon be) an empty space.

Well, it was pretty nice for a few days (60-70's), so they got the deck framed in and put down forms for some concrete paths. Then it snowed. So who knows when the concrete truck will come. The inside is all textured and primed, and the ceilings have been painted. The "back entry" from the garage and laundry room are all tiled and grouted. And they've even started on trim. I'm going to be in Cupertino next week for work. I imagine things will look very different when I get back.

The drywall is up. And as I type this they're getting ready to put the texture on the walls. Painting happens on Monday. I did a walkthrough, taking some pictures, and turned it into a little quicktime movie. It takes you from the kitchen into the new family room, the laundry room, the rec room, and finally my new office. Enjoy.

The remodel continues to move forward. The addition has insulation, wiring, and siding. And all the gutters on the house have been replaced. (This is especially good since the ice rink that had replaced our front walk was a little dangerous.)

     

It makes the whole project look real.

Tim grabbed me to come look at the clouds. Very cool. I didn't quite catch the sunset at its peak, but here at least is a shot of the remodel from the "north forty".

What a difference a few shingles make. The roofers made so much noise I had to run away to the library to work. But it really looks nice. And no, the chimney isn't plumb.

Well, the roof is going on the addition, and the old part of the house. No pictures as Teresa is away with the camera this week at her great uncle's funeral in Utah. (She's going to take pictures of gravestones in Richfield. That's something those genealogist types like to do.) I didn't tell her that they were doing the roof, so she's in for a big surprise when she comes home tomorrow. They've also done the plumbing rough-in for the new laundry room.

The one problem here is what to do with the satellite dish. They took it off yesterday (it had been temporarily screwed directly into the roof since the chimney got removed months ago), and last night I screwed it down to the front walkway. I actually got it pointed at the satellite on the first try. Zero adjustment. It took us more than four hours to get it pointed right when we took it off the chimney!

So, where should we put it once the roof is done? We're planning to upgrade to DishHD (and put in a big TV in the rec room) soon, so it doesn't make sense to install the old dish permanently. I suppose I could upgrade the satellite plan sooner, and make them install the new dish. But I still don't know where to put it. I kinda wish we still had a chimney....

Snow!

A couple of days of delay, but not really that bad. The roof moving along too.

Things are really starting to take shape.

A little OSB and things start to look a lot more real (and a bit smaller). Can you see Tim in there? He's in the corner of my new office. I'll have a really nice view of Longs Peak out the window.

Friday, the walls went up. Nine feet is tall. It's all looking big. After all, we're going from ~2400 sg. ft. to ~3500. Now I need to find a TV that's big enough for the rec room ( :-b to Teresa!). Lots of pictures (sans comments) on the Expansion page.