The Roof Trusses Have Arrived!

Yesterday we stopped by the house to check in when we turned the corner to go down our street we could see off in the distance, at the end of the block, our new roof.  And what a beautiful new roof it is.

You can see the trusses and framing of the roof and if all goes according to plan, by the end of this week they will have it enclosed.

Here's a picture looking up to our new addition from the new stairs.

And here are our new stairs going to the basement.

I can really envision what the house will look like when it is complete and I am thrilled.  Keith is still struggling to see the vision but he was all smiles as we walked through the house yesterday and I could see the word excitement written all over his face.

Witness the Love Chamber!

On Wednesday John, our GC, called in the morning and asked us to stop by the house as he needed to know our preference on a couple of things.  When we arrived we were shocked to see that the stairs going up to our bedroom (aka The Love Chamber) were constructed and all but two walls to the upstairs addition were complete.  We can really see our vision coming to life now and we are pumped!  

This is the front of the house.  The window on the left will be just at the top of the stairs with a loft-like feel open to the first floor.  The window to the right is the room where Keith's office will be.

The stairs are just to the left of the front door and go up to the loft, master suite and Keith's office

This picture is taken from the southwest corner looking at the future master suite

Another picture of the master suite - notice the three beautiful windows facing the east where we will be able to enjoy Denver's beautiful sunrises.

This picture is taken from the south wall and just beyond where John is standing is the staircase.  We are very excited about the loft window facing west which will bring in lots of wonderful afternoon sunshine!

The guy on the right is John Cimbura, our GC, and two of his crew.  They are a great, friendly team!  Ironically, the crew member in the middle is from Dundee IL which is a city right by Elgin.  Crazy, small world.

Everything is on schedule, going as planned and we couldn't be more happy.  Appliances were purchased yesterday, January 17, the cabinets were selected and the roof trusses were ordered.  So, unless something unforeseen occurs, it sounds like they'll be constructing the room sometime next week.

Our Eastern Bedroom Wall

Today we stopped by the house after spending a couple of hours shopping for new appliances.  We were filled with excitement as we pulled onto our street because from the distance we could see the first sign of our bedroom.  You can see that they have started to construct the 2nd floor and this picture shows the first (eastern) wall of our bedroom.

The other pictures we took are miscellaneous shots of the construction:

Poppin' the Top has Begun

When we moved to Denver and began our home search we frequently heard a phrase we hadn't heard of previously - "Poppin' the Top."  It is a common remodel technique in Denver.  Most city lots won't accommodate expanding out so people expand up.  Initially we thought we would expand out to keep everything on one floor but we just couldn't bring ourselves to take up any of the lot we love so much.  So we quickly got on the pop the top bandwagon.  

On Saturday we stopped by the house and the crew was hard at work.  We were excited to see the the top had been popped so we hope for some good weather since a blue tarp is now our roof.

We also learned that we can no longer just walk around and assume there will be a solid floor or sidewalk under our feet.

And remember the wall with the door that opened to the crawl space that housed the furnace and yards of original 1955 ductwork?  Well, check this photo out because all of that is now sitting in our garage waiting to be hauled away.

We are quite amazed at what has occurred in three weeks.  And we're very grateful for our crew, the subcontractors, everyone's hard work, their expertise, and their smiles that greet us when we walk in the door.

A Christmas to Remember!

On December 24 we stopped by the house expecting it to be vacant but were surprised to find our two demolition guys hard at work.  We felt bad they were working on Christmas Eve (also known as Keith's Eve) so we ran out and got them a nice lunch to show them how much we appreciate them and their diligent work.

We stopped by again on December 28 and were so pleased with our project.  It won't be long now before demolition will be done and they can begin to frame the new floor plan, rip off the roof, and begin to construct our 2nd floor master suite and Keith's home office.  

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v8qakkfl4syoe6c/VIDEO0099.3gp

Demolition - end of day four

You might recall the lovely rustic paneling in the basement.  Well, at the end of day four the paneling is gone as is the drywall behind it.  Envision if you can, the wall knocked down that separates the basement family room from the crawl space because soon that wall will be gone.  The duct work will also disappear and our family room will be extended about 1/3 of the way into the crawl space.  Keith has a grand vision for this room as it will be his media/theatre room and you know how that man loves his movies and video games.  Check it out....

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d7yg1rms7qui4wc/Newport%20Blog%20Day%204.mpg

Demolition - Day Three

We had no idea just how quickly the demotion would occur.  Here is a video of the house at the end day three.  This is the work of two guys who are incredible and have our utmost respect.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sq5m5hfdh3z5xcj/VIDEO0097.3gp