New Front Entry!

It has been a very busy week. Last week the new front door came in and we installed the new front entry. First we removed the old windows and door, and then we reframed the front wall to house our new door. Originally we were not expecting the new door until the 30th, but they called and told us it was ready for pick up the same day that we started the work!
Here are a few shots of the old wall coming down.


After pouring a new footing and installing a 4X12 header over the entire opening, we fit the door and the new front window into place. Then we framed the old doorway to hold the new window there.


I was alos able to pick up the new beams from the mill. the first time around, the strange January heat wave and change in humidity caused the hemlock to bow and twist, but this time they were assembled perfectly. We put up the new beams using lag bolts, and then covered the bolts with oak pegs. I sized the pegs as 1 inch to make it seem as though they were wood pegs used in the assembly. Here are the new beams in place.


The front porch remains covered in case of bad weather until we finish the first cement coat on the outside wall before the stucco. We also need to pick a stain color for the door and treat it before it is exposed. Here are a few peaks under the tarp. No shots yet from the front yard showing the whole new entry...

This week we have been finishing the plaster and drywall work inside. I added the drywall to the new front wall and built up the posts that support the beam. I also started sanding down the glued in wood pegs on the beams. (Note: The hardware on the door is temporary and was borrowed from the old front door.)

I also added a new vent hose in the laundry corner for the dryer. We had almost forgotten about the vent, but I was still able to route the vent under the house and the output will be mounted to the side wall after the stucco.

We also poured the cement in the bathroom shower and floor, and our tile was delivered, so we can start the tiling soon!


The last few days have been all about the final touches on the plaster. Tomorrow I am on a commercial (two to go after this one!) but Javier will be at the house doing the repairs to the subfloor by the main front window and installing the last two side windows which came in today! Then, after a little more sanding, the interior will be complete and ready for painting, and the wood floor guys start work on refinishing the floors on Monday!

-G

Window Inspection Passed! New Front Door Coming Soon...

Today we had the final inspection for the windows, and we passed with flying colors! That means that we are almost ready for the new stucco. Since the last post, the french doors were installed in the master bedroom as well as the new window. We still have a few windows left in the new front entry section, and after seeing the new windows, we also decided to change the two in the living room as well. They were the french style opening windows, which we loved, and at the beginning they were the nicest in the house, but now, they don't look as good, so we ordered two more windows that should come in next week or the week after. until then, we will begin the framing for the new entry door.

Here is the bedroom before...

and after...


Here is the back of the house before...


and after...

The front of the house is really coming together. This past weekend, Abbey treated the new clear redwood for water and termites, and we have almost finished installing all of it in the front! I had almost given up on considering a dark color stain for the trim and going with a paint, but now that the wood is in place, it looks great and I am once again going to start campaigning for the stain.


We also finally have the new side door installed...


The garage. Yes, it was in poor shape. Yes it had a giant open hole in the roof, and many people suggested tearing it down, but I always knew that it just needed some extra attention and that it would make a great wood shop and storage space. So this past weekend I set to reframing the damaged areas, and with some help from Raghu, I managed to get some of the new plywood roof on. Then in the past two days I framed the new storage area/ loft and redesigned the structural support so that we could keep the ceiling open without as many support beams across the room. Two of my old beams that have been in my shop since I got them from the set of Constantine (after filming when they were tearing down the sets) have made perfect new supports for the loft and future carriage doors.

Before...

After...

I am working this Friday and Saturday on a commercial, so the next update with pics of the new entry will probably have to wait until next week.

-G

WINDOWS!!!!!

They have finally arrived!

Our new windows were delivered last Thursday and we got almost half of them put in on Friday!

Let me start from the beginning of what was a very eventful week. As you see in the last post, the interior plaster work is moving along nicely, and after a few bumps in the delivery schedules (and one returned door) we were able to get back in the swing of things after the Christmas break. I got called in for two days on a commercial on Wednesday and Thursday (bringing my arduous commercial task down to 10 more days!) On Friday I was off again and I started the day early at Lowes to pick up our vanity and medicine cabinet/mirror for the bathroom. Then I was off to the lumber yard where I picked up the hemlock we had cut for the beams in the living room and kitchen. I returned to the house by 8 and found Javier working on the big window in the green (formerly green) bedroom.

I took a few minutes to go over all the windows that had been delivered to make sure the sizes and details were all correct.
Here they are all packaged and ready for installation.

Then i left to take the beam lumber to the mill that is fabricating the beams. While there I got a call informing me that I was nominated for two DGA (Director's Guild of America) awards. These awards are selected by the members of the union to recognize the work of the directors and assistant directing teams for various projects over the past year. My nominations are for two different commercials that I worked on last year. One is the "Carrier Pigeons"as seen during the superbowl last year. and the other is for the new "White Gold is" milk campaign. The nominations mean that I will get to go the the awards dinner with all the other nominees from commercials, Tv, and feature films. I was quite surprised and excited to hear about the nominations. You can see more about the awards here.

After that bit of excitement I returned to the house to find our first window installed!! It looked fantastic! The rest of the afternoon, we finished installing the windows in the green room, the bathroom, and the large picture window in the front.

We are so excited about the windows! They are better than we hoped and the grids are adding such great character to the house!

Unfortunately I am going to be away from the house until Friday this week while working on two more commercials. Monday and Tuesday I will be at Lowes all day doing a commercial for them and then Wed and Thur I will be on another spot. That will bring me down to six days for those keeping count!!

While Im gone, Javier is going to finish installing the bedroom and kitchen windows as well as the french doors in the master bedroom. It should be an exciting week. Then next week we will get to start on the new front entry and I will begin reframing the garage.

Abbey and I had a very busy weekend visiting no less than six different tile stores and we think that we are nearing a decision on the bathroom tile. With any luck we will start the tiling in a few weeks.

More to come next weekend!
-G