Addition update - week 1

In order not to bore regular readers with constant addition updates all week long, I've decided to save them and post them once a week on Saturdays. As a reminder, the addition will be a 16' x 23' garage on the 1st level, and an expansion of our master bathroom and a new walk-in closet/dressing room on the 2nd level. So here we go!

In preparation for the addition project, the builder asked us to remove all of the landscaping from the affected area. Fortunately our yard guy Ray was able to do this for us, for a very reasonable price. No blisters on these hands! (Click to enlarge photos.)

From the side:
Front and side:

Front:

Work was scheduled to begin on June 8, but the builder was not able to get the permits. Several days later we learned that the regular permit guy was on vacation and that the fill-in permit guy was out sick with pneumonia! But on Fri, June 12 the permits were obtained and work was rescheduled to begin on Mon, June 15.

Day 1: On Mon, June 15 the builder Mike and two guys named Jay and Junior started the careful deconstruction of the porch. I use the term 'careful deconstruction' instead of 'demolition' because Mike had agreed to my request that we re-use as much of the existing materials as possible, and donate the materials we can't re-use.

From the side:

Front and side:

Re-using and recycling materials serves several purposes: its better for the environment not to fill up the landfill with building materials that still have some 'life' left in them, it reduces costs by re-using materials instead of buying all new materials, and the donated materials will 'live on' in someone else's building project. I really believe in this concept and Mike the builder agreed to it.

Day 2: Tues, June 16 the dumpster arrived.

Getting the dumpster into our driveway was a real trick! As I've mentioned before, we live on a narrow, one-way street with no sidewalk or curbs. The truck delivering the dumpster could barely get down the street, but then he had to back the dumpster into the driveway without hitting the neighbor's tree or fence. It took several attempts, but the driver finally succeeded.

Also on Tues the surveyors marked for the footings so we were sure to stay within our allowable building area, and the deconstruction of the porch continued with the removal of the HardiPlank siding on the 1st level.

From the side:

Front and side:

Day 3: Wed, June 17 the concrete slab/floor of the porch was jack-hammered and broken up. It was a very noisy process, but fortunately took less than 4 hours. The chunks were removed with a front-end loader and placed into the dumpster. The porch deconstruction is complete!

From the side:

Front and side:

Day 4: Thurs, June 18 it rained, sometimes hard, for most of the day. However, Mike and the guys had loaded up Mike's pick-up truck with the pieces of the porch roof that contained the decorative rafter tails.

According to Mike these decorative rafter tails are expensive to buy and time-consuming to cut/sand. In keeping with my desire for a 'green', cost-effective project, they removed the decorative rafter tails from the left-over pieces of porch roof inside Mike's garage while it rained. Later they deposited the waste material in the dumpster.

Day 4: Fri, June 19 the outline of the addition was spray-painted on the ground, indicating where excavation will be needed in order to set the cinder block footers.

Crush du Jour: Leo Giamani