New Beginnings
As Jon was removing and saving the pecky cypress, he undiscovered the backside of the outside fireplace. The brick was a nice surprise. We are going to try and keep a portion of it exposed. The cypress will be reinstalled after everything is laid out and rebuilt..
Our first weekend of yard work. It ended up to be over two 20' Containers full of brush. And, we are still not done. It was a great weekend sweating together and the kids really appreciate the work that it takes to get things accomplished. We couldn't of done it without each other!
Jon felt like the 4x4 posts were too narrow for the size and space. To him, they looked like sticks. So, he had those posts replaced with 6x6 posts. After seeing it, I think that was the right call!
The black adhesive needed to come off the concrete. We decided that this was the perfect DIY project. Home Depot had the special chemical to remove this type of adhesive. Gloves, Mask, Floor Scraper, Hard Bristle Broom, Floor Squeegee and Dry Powder. It took Jonathan about 2-days to complete the job (220 sf). It came out really-really good!!! Even to Jon's standards.
(I better say that... He's the one that did the job.)
Everything came out of the downstairs. The rear windows will be removed and french doors will be installed, which will lead out to the pool. There will be a kitchen, couch and television downstairs. We also opened the wall to the stairs and we are framing one of the outside doors. Now, there will be only one front entrance into this space.
Shingles are on and the roofs are leak proof. Some odds and ends still need to be finished and fixed. However, for the most part... I'm relieved that the roof is done. As for Jon... He's not completely happy, but then again, he never really is. ;)
The roofed walkway was removed and really opened up the sky. In the future, we will be designing a pergola to mimic the truss design in the porch, which will tie the porch and main house together.
It's taken some time to choose a roof to put over our heads. What started out as the no-brainer decision to put on a Metal Roof with screws, then became the $$$ decision of installing a seamless Metal Roof (Jonathan's push) and then reality hit... There's more hidden damage to fix. So, shingles became our new best friend!!!
Now, came the bigger decision... What color shingles are we going to choose? After all, we have to drive up and look at this thing for the next 25 years. After Sam from Roofing by Curry sent us to a few houses to see from Bradenton to Bent Tree, we finally settled on "Nantucket Morning". Oooooh-Ahhhhh! Believe me, all those decisions was easier said than done... Just ask Sam! ;)
The "roof picking" process as well as scheduling, finally brought us to today. The roofers were fearlessly ripping the roof off of the Main House with the other two buildings on track to start tomorrow. Actually witnessing the unveiling of the unknown was a "reality check" that our decision to go with shingles versus metal was the correct one. Not to mention, it might just help us stress a little less and not breakout with "Riviera Red" shingles ourselves.
Tomorrow is another day!
Since the bathroom was a complete "Gut-Job" and Jonathan is still wrapping his head around living in a Tiny House... Mike Gordon and I have been discussing how to layout the bathroom, upstairs as well as downstairs living quarters.
The term "living quarters" is quite appropriate... It's about one-quarter of the space we live in now!
Demo began upstairs. The entire bathroom, which we wanted to save, had to come out. The floor beams underneath are rotted. We are closing the doorway (where the "fireman" is standing) and opening to a full door opening (where I'm peeking through) into the bathroom on the 4th photo above. This room will be divided into two rooms, against Jonathan's strong-willed suggestion. But, this 600 sf apartment is where we are all going to live for the next 1 to 2-years.
(Oh.. Did I forget to mention that part?)
