Plumbing Begins

The plumbing has started and it is keeping Brent quite busy trying to stay ahead of them. All the pipes are fitting nicely and the plumbers have done a good job of understanding Brent's drawings. We have had to make a few changes but the progress is moving well. Expect that the plumbing will have final inspection by Wednesday, October 3rd. Hard to believe that we may actually have working indoor plumbing soon.

The roof is nearing completion and wow what a difference to the curb appeal of the house. The color and style of the shingles really compliment the house and the installation has been great. Ther oofing contractor is going to finish installing the floor joists for us and we hope that their schedule wil allow them to perform other work at the house.

The downstairs hvac ductwork has been completed with the only remaining item needed is the gas pack unit. Brent is having our hvac contractor hold the unit at his shop until we have electricity. This is to avoid any temptation of someone stealing the unit. Since we installed the motion detector lights, we have not had any thing else stolen.

Lynn's parents arrived into Raleigh on Thursday and will travel over to see Zelda this weekend. I sure that there will be some magical pictures to display.

An Evening At E.R.

A big sacrifice was made this weekend. Brent agreed to miss a Tennessee Vol home football game and work on projects at Zelda, so Lynn drove over from Raleigh with Cookie. The first order of business was to go to Lowes Friday night for materials needed over the weekend. Once the materials were off loaded Saturday morning, we brought the truck to Gastonia for some much needed maintenance work. This now shortened our work day.

We were able to finish adding the necessary floor joists for the down stairs bath including the subfloor. We did not count on the amount of time needed to romove the old cast iron piping. Brent used a sledge hammer and was able to get in some tight spots. We did suffer a casualty, as one piece of the cast iron pipe, fell on the newly installed ducting. We were lucky as the pipe only tore the insluation on both the intake and return and not the sheet metal. Before our self impossed time limit for the day (had to pick up the truck before the shop closed), Brent was able to stiffen the floor below the upstairs bath.

On Sunday, we needed to frame on new interior wall in both bathrooms as the plumber had advised he needed a 6" wall by code, for the 3" common vent line. We finished the upstairs first and then started the downstairs bath with 10 foot ceilings. While framing this wall, Brent was on the ladder holding aboard tight with his left hand when a nail from the airnailer (obviously at an angle) exited the side of the board and into his ring finger. Ouch!!

After climbing down holding his finger tight with his right hand, Brent inspected the wound. The nail had not gone through the finger as there was no exit hole, but it was starting to swell. He immedialtely removed his wedding ring before the swelling would make that impossible. After much debate, he continued with finishing the framing of the wall and would decide later if he needed to go to the doctor. This happened around 4:00 pm.

With the finger throbbing, swelling and turing dark, we went to the Kings Mountain Hospital Emergency room about 8:30 pm that night. The result is a "cracked" bone below the knuckle. This is our first reportable incident at Zelda. One overlooked item that has been corrected is that we bought a first aid kit that is now kept at the jobsite.

Peeling Back The Layers Of An Onion

Sunday - September 16th

We arrived bright and early to begin the clean-up of the remaining mess of the demolition work from Saturday. Brent was able to take out his frustration by using the sledge hammer to bust up the tiled shower basin. The girls were on hand both days to help out and did they ever. Both J's worked all day and did a great job.

As the shower basin was removed, additional work was revealed. Brent had to stengthen the second floor - floor joists in the bathroom area as we found water damage had occurred over the years. I think he strengthed the floor more than necessary to ensure that the claw foot tub would be supported.

Lynn, the girls and of course "Cookie" left Zelda around 2:00 pm to return back to the Raleigh area. Brent was able to strengthen the floor and cover the exposed area with new 3/4" flooring.

We are now ready for the plumber, which Brent will meet at 7:30 am on Wednesday, September 18th.

All Work - No Need To Watch The Game

SATURDAY - SEPTEMBER 15th

In preparation of the plumber, Brent finished framing the masterbath shower wall and we decided to move the claw foot tub upstairs to the bathroom at the end of the hall. There is one problem, it will not fit. How do you make it fit? The bathroom has been demolished and Brent will increase the size of the bathroom by two (2) feet. The extra space will be taken from the hallway.

But, by adding space to the bathroom, this now means having to relocate the door to the master bedroom. So, more demolition was required. Then to remove the tiled shower in the bath, access was gained by demolitioning the wall in a spare bedroom (we really loved the lime green walls). On Saturday, we demolished all the needed walls and ceilings and would return the next day to clean-up the remaining debris and remove the shower basin. We arrived around 8:00 am and returned to the rental house at 8:00 pm.

The majority of the demo work is finished. We were able to complete more work today than expected, because the Vols got stomped hard and there was no reason to watch on tv.

Driving the "Nail"

The results of the poll were overwhelming at 80% of people voting in favor of Brent letting Pa Pa Neal drive a nail at Zelda. How times have changed in 35 years. If the internet and blogs were around back then, maybe Brent's grandfather would have been given the chance to drive a nail.


Not much work has been completed over the last few days at Zelda, but the weekend brings hope that a new push of progress will be made. Last night, Brent along with his mom and dad, roughed out the location of the corner tub in the master bath, in preparation of the plumber. Brent's mom was working on pulling staples and nails out of a wood floor that had been covered with carpet. Removal of all nails and staples is required before sanding of the floors. Brent has awarded the plumbing contract and expects to award the hvac in the next few days. He still has some evaluation to do on the hvac quotes.


Expect to have the shower wall framed on Thursday and the last of the demo work downstairs to begin on Friday. Also, the first of the demo work will begin upstairs on Saturday in the guest bathroom. We will be working at Zelda this weekend because the Vols are playing an away game.

Full Circle

The construction/remodeling has now gone full circle with the arrival of Brent's parents, Neal & Bettie, at Zelda on Monday, September 10, 2007. About thirty-five (35) years ago, Pa Pa Neal was building a new home, and similiar to our situation, worked on it in the evenings and on the weekends. Brent's grandparents would drive every saturday from their house to "help", but Pa Pa Neal would not let Brent's grandfather drive a nail. By the way, Pa Pa Neal is a retired "chemical engineer". Enough said. His grandmother would cook great meals each week, such that some family members would arrive in time for lunch and then leave.

No work was done on Zelda this weekend, because there was a home football game at the University of Tennessee. As mentioned in the first writing, nothing will happen at Zelda on weekends that the Vols play home games, because we have season tickets and go to all the home games.

Brent should award the plumbing contract today or tomorrow and then will make a decision on the hvac contractor. As you can see from the photos, mooning seems to be a common theme in our family and it too has gone full circle.

Good Progress

The roofing work continues and the pantry/laundry room now has the rafters attached and will be ready for sheating and then roofing.

Our roofers are doing a great job has the new roof looks great. The original schedule was only to roof the very back of the house this week and the new extension so we would be protected against the weather. But good fortune shined on Zelda as they were able to add a few days to work our project this week before heading to West Virginia on Saturday. This means that the right side will also be shingled this week before work continues the week of September 16th. We clearly made the right choice in roofing contractors as they are very good at their trade, exceptionaly nice/trustworthy and have the good fortune that they live in our neighborhood. Or maybe I should say we are moving into their neighborhood, since we are the newcomers.

We are getting closer to awarding the plumbing to a contractor and hopefully work can begin before the end of next week. Once that work is underway, Brent will then award the HVAC work. He is now planning on installing the remainder floor joists inside the house at nights after he gets off work. This will be a slow process with him working by himself, so he has set a target date of September 30th for finishing the floor joists for the entire first floor (this smells like a poll question). I am sure there will be a few unexpected items that are not seen at this time that will eat into the schedule. One quick lesson you learn in remodeling an old house. Expect the unexpected and do not let the small things bother you, otherwise, it will eat you alive.

No Supervision Needed

The OSB is now on the pantry/laundry room. This was accomplished as the roofers moved to another area and there was no danger of objects falling on us. Brent showed up at the end to lend his supervision expertise at the end of the day.

The sheating has been installed on the roof of the extension and it should be roofed during the day on Thursday, September 6, 2007.



Some success on getting plumbers to view the house and provide us with an estimate. We have figured 21 fixtures that will need to be plumbed.

I just found out that Becky (Brent's sister), better known as "Lotta Moon" scored us a Kitchen Aid stainless steel dishwasher. The new models are coming out and she got this years model at 30% off, still in the box. Now that is the type of deals I like to see. We have now aquired a new microwave and dishwasher for the kitchen and a jacuzzi tub for the master bath. All the items were purchased on sale and they are in storage (our garage).

Up on the Roof

The roofers are continuing with the installation of our new roof. It looks fantastic and they are doing a great job. The ripple effect in our old roof was being caused by a foundation of cedar shakes with two (2) additional layers of asphalt shingles.


All previous shingles and cedar shakes have been removed and any new slates have been installed. The original rafters are in good shape and there was evidence of a fire near the chimney at one time. The new roof consists of a foundation of 7/16" OSB and Owens Corning 30 year Architect shingles. We chose the estes grey color which will look great with the white color of the house.

The floor joist installation has continued and brings new hope for the interior completion. I would estimate that we have about one-third of all the first floor joists in place.


Our current challenge is to locate a qualified plumber to rough out the house. Brent has decided to sub out the plumbing, hvac and electrical. We will do the majority of the finish work.

Labor Day - A Turning Point

Wow. This day was correctly labled. We had a great day at Zelda as our roofers began tearing off the three (3) layers of old shingles and the cedar shakes. What a mess! The crew worked the entire day and sheeted the entire back of the house and extension before they left for the day.

With debris falling over the work area for the pantry/laundry room, we were forced inside. It was a nice cool day, but we still ran the 36" fan for a breeze. We have finally turned the corner on Zelda and our making our way to the light. I know that there is a ton of work remaining, but we have come a long way since work began on July 16th. We I say we turned the corner, I mean that the new roof is going on and we now have floor joists in the kitchen. It may not sound like a big deal, but getting off the dirt is a huge feeling.

We are now is a push to get the plumbing started which will be followed by the HVAC, then electrical and finally sheetrock. This should bring us to the occupancy permit. It will be a challenge to make Brent's prediction of getting the permit prior to Thanksgiving, but it is a goal.

Our scientific poll indicated a tie of 41% each for November and December for getting our occupancy permit with October dragging the rear at 18%. Those who voted for October should know that it is not wise to vote while intoxicated.

What a difference since July 13, 2007, the date that the first dumpster arrived at Zelda. I have no idea how many dumpsters have been at the site as I quit counting after ten (10).

Walling in the Pantry

September 2nd brings forth the challenge of putting up the walls, roof and designing the space for doorways and windows in the pantry/laundry room area. In keeping with the theme for the time period of the house, we have decided to build ten (10) foot walls. This will allow for a lot of storage shelves in the pantry which will be very nice.

We were surprised to find a four (4) level condo inside the wall once the siding was pulled away. Not sure if this is a wasp or hornet nest, but we are very happy it was vacant. The nest was found in a space out 6 inches tall by 14 inches wide that the nest occupied. No injuries and/or incidents to report, that is due to wasp or hornets.

A New Month Brings A New Moon

September 1st not only brought a new month in Kings Mountain but also a new sub-floor for our pantry and laundry room shining under a new moon. We were surprised that while laying the sub-floor the moon decided to make an appearance.



Once it was decided to tear out the existing structure, we decided not to put the half-bath back into the plans. Instead, we have increased the pantry, which will also house my upright freezer, and decided to entry from the patio into the mudroom/laundry room.

The goal for Saturday, was to build the floor for the pantry and lanudry room including putting

on the sub-floor. Just like for the rest of the floor

joists, we have decided to use all treated lumber.

The temperature was only in the 90's has we

were able to complete the goal set for the day.
It might be a small step, but it sure does feel good to start back building the floor instead of demolishing it.

Porch Discovery

Friday, August 31st began with a layout of the pantry and half-bath/laundry center in the existing room off the kitchen. Brent took the day off work such that he could do some physical work at Zelda. The discovery of the space revealed an old converted porch that was in very bad shape. It was decided to tear down the existing walls and remove the flooring at which time we discovered the floor joist were in bad shape and not supported. As we are quickly discovering, water can be very damaging if not maintained. This was not in our plans, but in the long run, we will be very happy that this was replaced. Now, the entire first floor of Zelda has been removed.