Blue Tarps for a Roof

Week 4 was a huge week in terms of productivity. The past few weeks were slow and steady in preparing the house for the second story. Tearing off the roof, clearing out walls, basic demolition.

Last week, they finished all the significant demolition and started actually building something. They got the pony walls up to begin the structure of the second flooor addition, and they got all the ceilng joists for the first floor swapped out from the original 2x4s to stronger 2x6s. They also moved a wall in the living room about 4 inches so that they have room for the stairs to go up the middle of the house.

Surprises so far have been few, but most notably was the fact that we needed new ceiling joists. Other than that, the only time I really freaked out was when they busted out the hall closet - I had thought we'd be able to keep it, but turns out that we needed the room for the stairs and the pantry. They also had to take out the bookcases in the TV room for the stairs - they jutted out into the stairwell too much. We may be able to put them back, but not sure. Right now they're laying in the boys old room area.

The roof is still MIA - as expected; so the house is covered with blue tarps to keep the elements out as much as possible. By the end of this week, they should have the second floor joists in place, have the second floor subfloor down, and the stairs roughed in. After that, they can frame up the second floor and roof - so we're still about 2 weeks from having the basic shape in place, and a more solid roof over the house.

I'll finalize the window selection this week so that they can get those ordered. Otherwise, we're in good shape for now.