The Finish is in Sight

So here's the latest update on our remodel. We are almost finished, at least the builders are. We still have to lay tile, install wood floors, and add baseboards and any other finish work. We are also out of money so it's going to get very tough from here on out. We are definitely excited for the end though. We've been through lots of bad weather. So this post won't real funny or anything. I just need to pad my November posts a bit and the Christmas holidays will probably give me enough stories.

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So to recap. Here is my beautiful yard back in April, and it remained that way all the way through June. We had a pretty awesome birthday party for Savvy then. Of course that was the last good day my grass saw since the ponies had it for lunch.

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Phase 1: Destroy yard, build foundation. Yup, all the dirt and concrete that made up the patio had to be removed and place on top of my yard. Sigh...the price of progress. This all started in August so unfortunately, we missed out on the rest of summer in our backyard.

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Phase 2: Start building according to plans...right! This is where we got hung up for a few weeks. Initially, this was all the framework we hired for. But somehow the contractor convinced us the house was all wrong and we needed to build more. So we had to go back to the drawing board and back to the bank. Oh, and trust me on this - NEVER EVER use LendingTree.com. It's only a big headache.

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Phase 3: Destroy Mother-In-Law. So now it's October and we're finally getting to see some demolition. The roof came off and the rains came down. It also happened to be the worst rainstorm of the year. We did find out the roof and walls were supported with log beams so we're hoping to find a way to incorporate them back into the room. Plus those log beams weren't exactly stable either so the east and west walls had to be completely removed and rebuilt. Yay!

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Phase 4: Trusses! The magic word! Engineered by the finest minds in the 2x4 industry. My dad warned me not to raise the roof because of the cost, but when did I start listening to my parents? This was at the end of October and the rain was still coming. We needed to build and seal this off soon. And we couldn't do laundry either since it was all outdoors. (Don't worry, I just turned my undies inside out.)
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Phase 5: Boxed In! So by the first of November, we finally had all the walls and roof covered. You can see in the picture where the bathroom (left) and walk-in closet (right) will be in the master bedroom. We installed some french doors and built the laundry room up for inside access. By the end of the month now, we've got plumbing, electrical, insulation, and some siding done. We had some pauses in work because of inspections but we should be done within a couple weeks.