More slow-n-steady...

I just happened to be here when the truss guy showed up to measure 

our foundation walls on Monday morning.

How fortuitous that was!

I was so happy to be able to talk to him directly, with the blueprints 

laid out in front of us, about some concerns - 

the biggest being the discovery of that three foot foundation wall under the old front porch.

GREAT NEWS!

I showed him what we were dealing with and we discussed the possibility of extending the roof another 18 inches over the south-west section of the porch and relocating the footings and support posts.

 I was concerned about how this change would effect affect (oops! it was late) the roof lines.

I told him that Dean and I would discuss it and let him know our decision

 as soon as possible.

So, on to the next question...

"If I want to have Dutch gables, do we have to let you know? Do the trusses need to be built to accommodate that detail?"

"Yes", he said.

And then he continued...

"And ya know what! If you want Dutch gables on the west side, 

then you DON'T NEED that footing and support post."

"WHAT?!", said I.

"That's right.", he replied.

"Why?!"

"Because the trusses will be built approximately two feet shorter to accommodate the hip of the Dutch gable , which puts them under a span that would require support."

This was about the happiest news I could hear from Matt-the-truss-guy and 

not only because we no longer have to worry about

 pouring a footing in a very difficult spot OR moving the footing/post 

and compromising our roof lines...

it's also very happy news because a few weeks ago I asked Mr Mossi 

what he thought of doing Dutch gables on the front of the house. 

He just looked at me from across our little trailer table, shook his head, 

put his face in his hands and didn't say what I know he was thinking, 

which pretty much goes like this...

"WOMAN! Another change?! Seriously?! You make me so tired."

Needless to say, Mr Mossi is now more than happy to indulge my Dutch gable whim.

Now, on to what all went down this past week.

Remember all the back filling we did on top of the rough plumbing?

Well, it seems we over did it and Dean had to take a couple of inches off the top to make room for the under-slab/under coil insulation. I got the awesome job of moving that 12' long by 3' wide by 2' high pile of gravel into the window wells. Dean says that counts for a good, hard workout at Lady Fitness. I guess so. I just makes me feel good to get that floor space cleared up and cleaned up.

Dean, with some help from Tan, got the moisture barrier, insulation and wire grid down for the radiant heating in the basement. Yes. We are installing radiant heating in the basement, but only where we removed portions of the slab to put down the new rough plumbing. 

So, the bathroom and SW bedroom will be heated with the boiler. 

Here are some photos...

More than half the floor joists are down and Dave started laying the OSB flooring.

He called the OSB that he nailed down "Sheri's dance floor" because I told him 

that when I started seeing the floor go down I'd be so happy I'd get up there and do a jig. 

The jig will wait til later this week when the entire floor is nailed down.

It rained poured Wednesday night.
That was hard.
We just wanted to get out and get things done, but we were holed up
in our cozy little trailer and ended up watching 4 or 5 episodes of Green Acres on Hulu.
Actually, I read while Mr watched.
I think he feels a special bond or kinship with Oliver Wendell Douglas.
Or maybe he's just got a crush on Ava Gabor?
Wednesday's rain made for a Thursday evening of playing 'Catch up' and all I could think about was missing out on a dinner date with girlfriends in Salt Lake because Dulsanna was in town.
Such is life, I suppose.

Dean also got all the digging completed and the footings formed for the main front porch and
the roof for the back deck. Tan showed up to help with that too.

On Friday night, Saturday seemed daunting.
Dean had some hard stuff planned that needed to get done.
I got off easy because I'd had a hectic week and we'd run out of everything from bread to t.p.
I desperately needed to do some grocery shopping.
Saturday turned out to be  very successful and satisfying because Rich and Reese,
my brother and his son, and Joe all showed up to help.
This was such a blessing because we really needed more man-power.
First they heaved and ho'd and hoisted that big,old fuel cistern under the
NE basement window up and out of the ground!
Awesome!

This part (above photo) was a crack up! They were doing a 'leg press' maneuver and it was 
working great but Dean ran out of leg before Rich did; Rich's are twice as long.  

After that BIG job was done, Rich, Reese and Joe all stuck around and back-filled
the GIANT hole left by the extricated tank and helped install the window well for that window.
They hadn't had quite enough yet, so they stayed even longer and helped hand shovel the
 big, NE window well. Mr Mossi reports that that was some tough diggin'.
We are so thankful for Rich, Reese and Joe.

One other technicality before I sign off:
the foundation hold downs got installed this week. They hold the house onto the foundation; a concept apparently unknown or undiscovered when the original house was built.
Our Retro Bungalow ain't goin' nowhere.

That's it.
Mr Mossi has given up on me and gone to bed.
I think I'll join him.
Thanks for stoppin' by.