House Remodel Edition 4: Controlled Chaos

Expect the unexpected. That's what all the remodeling books say, and I can say we've certainly encountered our share of unexpected hurdles. Rain has been our project's biggest enemy so far, and these last two weeks have been a challenge, given the record rain and winds that Portland has been experiencing. We've had rain seep into our basement, kitchen and living room ceilings, creating drip emergencies that we (mostly Tom) have had to deal with at all hours of the day -- definitely not our idea of fun, but simply have had to get done. It's definitely a challenge to go through a remodel during the Portland rainy season.

I think if you ask either one of us how the project is going right now, we'd answer, "Stressful." We're in the thick of it, there's no doubt about it. Temporary plywood walls and cardboard floor "ram boards" are covering many of our rooms, and the back of our house is pretty much all open now. The main door to Leo's bedroom is closed off, so the only access to his room is through a small shared closet between his and Liana's room. The kids are actually LOVING going back and forth through the closet and refer to Leo's room as a cabin! Thankfully, the kids have been adaptable throughout all the changes and disruption, and are mostly unaware of all that's going on behind the scenes.

Today the roof trusses arrived on a big flatbed truck, and were lifted by crane over the top of the house, to the back. We hope those go up soon, and the roof gets installed, so that the house is less exposed to the elements and we can (hopefully) move on from this stage of worrying every day where the next new drip or crack will appear. 

Here's what the addition looks like at this stage, showing the two levels.

Finally, I feel compelled to post at least something upbeat - the kids pretending they're on an airplane in a closet that as of today, has been demolished.

Keep smiling kiddos - we all need it!

All Month 2 progress photos

and Month 1 photos