Murphy Room Get Subfloor

Last night, Lynn and Brent began working on the "Murphy" room insulation and subflooring. On Wednesday night, Brent had installed all the chicken wire, and Thursday, Lynn installed all the insulation.

The Murphy room is the bedroom/office on the first floor. We have dubbed it the "Murphy Room" because our idea is to put a murphy bed in the room. It will have a duel purpose as a guest bedroom and to be used as an office.

Lynn took over the "screwing" details that had previously belonged to Pa Pa Neal. We were able to install four (4) sheets of the 3/4" subflooring last night. This is not a big room but there were a few cuts required. Believe it or not, the walls are not square which requires time to cut fit and then sometimes recut. Then there is the liquid nails and all that screwing.

Please inform us if you see our HVAC contractor. We are a little worried as he was taking a trip to the Bermuda Triangle.

This completes the work at Zelda for 2007 as we are off to Gatlinburg to celebrate the New Year. We wish everyone a Happy New Year for 2008 and please be drive safely over the holiday period.

Past the Five Month Milestone Post

We have had a lot of personal activity this month which has limited the amount of work that could be focused on Zelda this month. Still, constant improvement on the project has been made this month. Lynn's dad Joe, has made some improvement but remains in the hospital and will remain in there with no projected release date. Please continue to keep him and her mom Anna, in your prayers.

Attached are some photos taken of Zelda at the mid point of June 2007 and comparison photos taken on December 22nd. You can cleary see a change in the house which in our opinion is an improvement. The main point of change is the addition of the bathroom closet over the kitchen and the redesign of the roof line on the laundry room and pantry. The photos are only of the exterior as the interior has made an even more drastic change throughout the house. Note that this is a remodel and not a restoration. We plan to leave the original siding on the three sides in tact, but expect there will be repairs needed as the aluminum siding is removed.

Most of the original details inside were taken out of the house prior to our purchase but we are saving the few items that are salvageable.

Ceiling Coming Down - Siding Going Up

The Christmas break has arrived at Zelda. Brent finished working mid-afternoon on Saturday and headed back to Holly Springs. This week he demolished the old ceiling in the keeping room and began stiffening the ceiling or the second story floor joist. He has finished installing all the required 16 foot joist which was a job working by himself. There is still some blocking to finish but he was able to install the headers between the dining room and keeping room.

Some good news in the remodel. Brent has decided that both of the front room ceiling are sturdy enough to support the two (2) rooms above and we will leave the original ceilings. That means the original bead board ceiling in the dining room will stay. We could not be more thrilled. It turns out that the front two (2) room ceilings were installed with 1x6 boards that were tied directly beneath the floor joist which stablizes and strengthens the floor. Unfortunelty, the bedrooms above the keeping room and "Murphy" room had the wood floors nailed directly to the floor joists with no subflooring. This has required the stabilizing beneath the floor joists.

A huge improvement in the appearance of the outside of Zelda. Ray Jr and family have been installing the cement siding on the back of the house. It looks great and once finished and painted it will look fantastic. There is a picture of Ray Jr which his dad stated, "He always wanted a lofty position."

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Signs of Improvement

Improvements all around. First, Lynn's dad has improved somewhat and was moved back into a private room. Current situation is that the doctor told Lynn that his current condition is not life threatening, but he his clearly not out of the woods.

The subflooring is nearly complete in the library/formal living room. Looks like the hvac contractor is showing up today to finish hanging all the duct and install the gas pack unit. Now Brent can finish all the flooring and begin demolishing the ceilings. After the demo, he will inspect the underside of the second story floors and brace/strengthen as needed.

Our contractor that installed the piers and leveled the house is now repairing the fireplaces and installing a brick wall with manway door between the foundation piers. The bricks and sand were delivered yesterday and work is to begin today.

The siding was delivered on Thursday and Ray (our roofing contractor and neighbor) will begin installing the siding today. Brent sill has some windows to install that will impede the progress.

Two (2) electrical contractors have confirmed appointments set for Tuesday, December 18th to view the house and prepare bids.

There are alot of irons in the fire but we are hopefull as the progress is noticeable.

Sub-flooring begins in Library

While Lynn arrived safely in Louisiana, Brent continued work on Zelda Monday night. He was able to start installing the flooring in the room designated as the library and/or formal living room. After installing the insulation, he was able to put down half of the flooring which was approximately four (4) sheets.

Tonight he will continue but will need to make some shims for the floor joists. He want to raise the area near the hall by 1/2" so this will be accomplished over an eight (8) foot length. I assume he will rip some 2x4 boards on the table saw.

Received a call from Home Depot and our cement siding boards should be in on Wednesday. We ordered the 7-1/4" wide cement siding to cover the backside of the house. We plan on using a 2" cover that will result in a 5-1/4" revel. The original siding spacing was all over the place and ranged from 4-1/2" to 5-1/2". The contractors which did our roofing are going to install the siding.

Prayers Needed

Not much happening at Zelda so far this month. Brent was traveling overseas to Finland on business and upon his return Lynns dad's health condition has taken a turn for the worse. He is currently in the hospital in Opelousas, LA. They were in Kings Mountain back in late September and the two (2) photos were taken at Zelda.

We just ask that everyone please include Joe in your prayers as he was moved from his room into ICU this morning. Lynn is traveling down to Louisiana tonight.

Clean-Sweep

Thursday night was a clean-up time. Brent spent about four (4) hours sweeping, vacuuming, organizing and throwing out misc materials on Zelda last night. He wanted to have all the newly installed subflooring clean and he accomplished that goal.

Brent will be out of the country on business for the next week, so progress will be slow. There is a contractor working on the two (2) piers and will begin work on the fireplaces. As mentioned before, the cement board siding has been ordered and should be delivered in about one (1) week.

The first picture above is a photo of our walk-in pantry, looking from the center of the kitchen. We plan to install heavy duty commercial style shelving and put our upright freezer in this space. Notice how clean the floor is.

The next picture is a shot from the dining room looking into the keeping room and the kitchen. The fireplace is double sided and seperates the keeping room and dining room. The kitchen area begins where the work light is standing.

The next photo is our downstairs bathroom. It is located at the end of the foyer near the foot of the stairs. It will have a pedestal sink and a tiled shower, no bathtub. Behind the bathroom is the laundry room and entry from outside. Behind the laundry room is the pantry.

Below is a shot taken from the bathroom looking towards the front door. The flooring in the foyer still needs to be removed, reinforced and new subflooring installed. Notice the clean floor.

The last photo is looking from the dining room into the foyer and the room on the other side (without subflooring) is the proposed library/living room. The entrance to the foyer will be a wide and tall opening with no doors. Notice how clean and uncluttered the floor is in all the pictures.

Weekly Goals Accomplished

Last night, Brent worked for more than four (4) hours but he was able to complete all the items on his list for the week. The dining room, kitchen, keeping room, pantry, laundry room and bathroom all have been completed with insulation and subflooring in place. There are a couple of spots in the room that require the hvac contractor to hang the vents.

Tonight, Brent will clean-up, organize and start installing the chicken wire for the insulation in the library.



The contractor has started work on repairing the fireplaces. First, he is installing two (2) piers outside where the extension of the pantry hangs out from the original footprint.

The cement siding has been ordered and should be delivered within two (2) weeks. Our contractor neighbors will be installing the siding for the back side of the house.

If you have never experienced it, you do not have the appreciation and feeling of accomplishment for having the subflooring down. We are now able to walk around over half the down stairs without trying to balance on floor joists. The floor is very level and little or no height difference when you transition from one room to another where a wall once stood.
The house has taken a few breaths and is starting to come back to life. We just hope it is not the old lady that locals say appears in the upstairs dormer window.

Sub-flooring in Dining Room

Last night, Brent put down two (2) more sheets of subflooring in the dining room. He ran out of subflooring and was able to leave early around 9:00 pm. He plans to purchase additional subflooring and finish the around the edges in the dining room, keeping room and kitchen. The majority of the first floor is now covered in subflooring which makes a huge difference in appearance and being able to work. Still need the HVAC contractor to return and install the return ducting and hang the vents in most of the rooms.

Brent should be able to finish up the trim work in the rooms in the next two (2) nights before heading to Finland for one (1) week. Its a shame he has to travel because the momentum in putting down the subfloor is very high. He is hoping to starting installing the chicken wire for the insulation in the library sometime Thursday night.

After The Turkey Break.

After the Thanksgiving Holiday break, Brent has resumed work at Zelda. After returning from East Tennessee, he finished removing the remaining aluminum siding and installed the OSB and housewrap. During the break, the Kings Mountain utility department, moved the electrical connection from the side of the house to the temporay pole. Once relocated, this allowed Brent to finish. He also installed the framework for three (3) additional windows. On Monday night, he installed the final chicken wire in the dining room for the installation and two (2) more sheets of subflooring. He expects to finish the dining room subflooring by Wednesday night.

Also, a contractor is working on our fireplaces inside to strengthen them and make them ready for the gas inserts. The same contractor will also install an additonal pier outside to support the pantry addition overhang.

Expect some pictures tomorrow once they are available.

Weekend Warrior

This weekend, Brent was working alone and decided to take off the aluminum siding and old wood siding of the kitchen. Our plans are to install cement siding to replicate the old siding. The existing wood siding was not in great shape, but the biggest obsticle was having enough to repair the bad spots. Brent saved enough of the siding to repair spots on the remainder of the house once all the aluminum siding is removed next spring.

Brent did work both days this weekend and finished up his work Saturday with daylight to spare. He was able to demo, install new osb and the house wrap. He also was able to get a jumpstart on the aluminum siding removal on the side of the house before calling it quits on Saturday.

Sunday turned out to be a different story. Issues with the temporary electrical line being in the way and a gas line called for some delays and working at a slower pace. Also, Brent had to frame in for the kitchen window, which required a trip to Lowes for purchasing 2x4x12 ft studs. Numerous obsticles occured on Sunday, such that the daylight spared on Saturday could have been used on Sunday. Brent finished installing the osb in the dark and will install the house wrap on Tuesday.

Funny how they never show the obsticles on HGTV.

Pathway - Front to Back

Now there is a continuous sub-flooring from the back of the house to the front wall. Brent was able to install some sub-flooring sheets in the dining room and reached the front wall.

His prep work took about an hour as he installed the chicken wire between the floor joists and then the installation. He is also using liquid nails and then screwing the sub-flooring to the joists.

The next accomplishement will be to have the subfloor from side to side.

Four Months Work on Zelda

Today marks the forth month to the day (july 13th) that the first dumpster arrived on site at Zelda. Since then, alot of demolition and ground type work has been performed on the house with minimum cosemetic work, besides the roof. Now the sub-floor is reaching into the dining room. Last night, Brent laid two (2) more sheets, installed chicken wire and insulation. He is on a steady pace and makes small accomplishments each night.

The photo shows the subflooring in the dining room entrance from the keeping room near the bay window
area. Progress is slower here as angle cuts need to be made and the transition from one room to another also required the use of an electric hand planner.

The results of the planner are fantastic. Prior there was a large height delta between the existing beam and the new floor joists but now the transition is seemless.

Each time a new sheet of subflooring is laid, Brent must install the chicken wire between the joists using a pneumatic stapler. The the installation is installed. This takes time and all his work is covered up once the subflooring is installed.

Be sure and vote on the poll about the installation of the kitchen cabinets. We are currently planning on having electrical contractors visit the house to give bids on the electrical work for the downstairs portion only. The electrical work along with the sheetrock needs to be installed in the kitchen prior to the cabinets being installed.