While You Were Gone

OK, so I haven't posted for a few days. I guess in the excitement of having the plumbing fixed I forgot that the rest of the project was still progressing. So let me catch you all up on what has happened this week.

Check out the shower - nice red floor, huh?

The bathroom is framed and the shower is ready for tile. When I stand inside the shower area, it feels enormous. Now I'm worried our water bill is going to shoot through the roof because I'm never going to want to get out. Oh, and don't be put off by the floor that you're looking at. It's some kind of water barrier that goes down before the beautiful tile can go on it. You didn't really think we'd choose that look, did you?

The new roof is going on much faster than expected. It took them one day to tear off the old shingles and get rid of the bad wood. Today they put on replacement wood and some of the new shingles (you can't see them in  this photo though). They will be back at our house tomorrow, because apparently when you're working with a roof you can't take a two-day break; it's all about momentum. Fine with us. The sooner they're done, the sooner they leave, and then the solar panels can go on. If you have read any of the early posts, you'll remember that those solar panels are what I'm most excited about with the whole project. Well, that and the shower. Did I mention how enormous it is? And it has a little seat too!

Putting the new shingles on the roof

They had to tape around the windows to protect them from the plaster

Also this week the outside walls were covered with black paper and something that looks a lot like chicken wire but apparently has a fancy name when it's used in construction. All I know is that it helps keep the water out and the stucco on. Once all the walls were covered with this stuff, they were then covered with a material that looks a lot like thin cement, called scratch coat, which is the first layer of the stucco.

The black paper and wire coat go under the scratch coat and stucco

The other big piece this week was the drywall going up in preparation for the plaster. They got almost all of the interior walls done, including all the closets. So now you can walk through the entire addition and see where every wall is. Inside the drywall is a layer of insulation, and on the walls between the bathroom and the bedroom we added a layer of sound barrier material. Apparently Darryl thinks this will help him in the mornings when I get up early for work and he wants to stay asleep. Yeah, good luck with that.

When you look into the spare room there's so much dust it looks like carpet on the floor!