Our Renovation ~ Setting Trusses

 

Our home is starting to come together & actually look like a home.

Well, kind of...

We have set the trusses to the addition.

 

Don't worry, there are windows.

We are just leaving the house mostly covered for now,

 so we don't expose the inside to the elements. 

Or at least try to protect it as best we can.

 

The plywood sheeting is going down.

 

 

Here you can see part of a view from the driveway.

The opening is actually partially open to where there will be french doors leading to a patio one day.

 

Hope you are having a great weekend!

 

 

paticipating

The DIY Showoff

 

 

Dwellings Fall 2012

 

Visit Dwellings in downtown historic LeClaire, Iowa this Fall.

The perfect Fall trip for a leisurely weekend getaway.

Dwellings welcomes you with all the warm & cozy touches & scents of the season.

 

 

The shop is set with new seasonal inspirations for your home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you'll stop by the shop sometime:)

Let me know if you make it to LeClaire!

I would love to hear all about it.

 

 

 

 

participating

The DIY Showoff

 

Dwellings Fall 2012 ~ Sneak Peak

Well friends, sorry for my abesence this last week. 

Here is a sneak peak of what I have been up to this week.

Dwellings is set for Fall 2012.

This week several nights after work I helped Michael at the shop.

He does all the fun stuff & displays.

I help price and put new merch out.

It's always a whirlwind that sends me on decor inspiration overload!

But, it is so much fun to watch the shop transform from season to season.

I see so many new things that I know will be just perfect in our new house!

It's hard to not buy it all!

I truly love the Fall.

I especially love LeClaire in the Fall.

You start to feel the slight brisk breeze in mornings roll off the river.

The afternoons are sunny & beautiful & by evening it cools off

just enough to throw on a cozy sweater.

 I normally get several questions when I post about Dwellings.

So, here is a little about the shop.

Dwellings is located in historic downtown LeClaire, Iowa just 2 hours west from Chicago.

We unfortunately do not have a website at this time, although it is in the works for the future.

We would love for you to visit!



Our Renovation ~ Walls are Going Up

The walls are going up on our renovation!

It's amazing what just a day can do in framing.

The addition is going to be our master bedroom, master bath,

a laundry room & a second bath & will give us the ability to make our kitchen much larger.

This is so exciting to see for the first time.

It really is an amazing feeling the first time you walk in & start to see how things will take shape.

I'm so forntunate my husband is a great carpenter & has great friends to help out too.

While he is a great carpenter, he is an even better framer that is his specialty.

Our master bedroom, master bath, & a walk in closet in the back left corner.



Our Renovation ~ Addition Sub Floor Complete

Shortly after we received our first lumber delivery Travis got to work on the addition.

The floor joists & sub floor were complete the very next day.

We could actually walk inside part of our new house... very exciting.

I can't wait to see how fast the walls go up!

If you are wondering why we have left some of the rickety walls in the existing house,

they will eventually be removed. They are providing some structural support (believe it or not).

When our addition is complete Travis will eventually tie the new roof into the old roof and remove that small hip you see on the left.

He will remove the load bering wall, or what's left of it, & tie the two old & new together.



Our Renovation ~ Lumber Delivery

It's Construction Time!

It's Finall...yy time for the fun to begin.

The lumber has arrived.

Now we can begin building our new home.

We have taken our 1880's bungalow home completely down to the studs.
Now it is time to turn this drab & delapitated structure into a home.
Follow our journey here.

Yeah!



Our Renovation - The Foundation

We are adding a large 800 sq. ft. addition to the back of our new house.

The addition will allow this house to become a 3 bedroom 2 bath house.

In order to do that we need to put in a new foundation first.

If you haven't seen the before photos you can see more of our renovation here.

Normally my husband would have subcontracted this part out.

But, since it's a complete DIY project we are doing it ourselves.

And by "we" I mean my husband & some of his friends who are also in the trades.

Thank goodness for all of their help.

The foundation was one of the most difficult parts.

We rented pans that had to be put together as forms for the concrete to be poured.

The pans are extremely heavy. 

But, doing it ourselves saved a ton of money.

Next the concrete truck delivered several tons of concrete and poured the foundation walls.

You actually have to spray the pans before the pour so the concrete doesn't stick to the pans.

I wish I would have been there to see the pour.

Sorry, I missed the photo op. 

I was working.

But, I came home that night to this.

We let the pans set for about two days.

Then they had to remove the pans quickly so that they were not set with the concrete.

Our pans did not have the brick stamp, some pans have.

We didn't really mind because this part of the foundation will never be exposed.

Even though we will not be having a basement in this part of the house.

We had to pour our footings nearly five foot deep for a crawl space under the new addition.

We also finished the floor with a very rough thin layer of concrete for code compliance.

Thank goodness this part is done!

Next comes the fun stuff.

My husband is a builder by trade.

When the framing begins we will begin to see serious progress very quickly.

So exciting!

See the rest of our renovation here.

LeClaire ~ Sound System & Information Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Tonight in LeClaire.

We celebrated the launch of the installation of the new Sound System & 

Grand Opening of the Information Center!

It was a great night.

The LeClaire Chamber of Commerce raised money from

many of the local business owners & community members to make it possible.

I'm especially proud of my Mom who was a big part of it!

She is the Chamber Vice President & helped cut the ribbon.

These two new features added to the downtown charm will certainly

enhance visitors shopping expereience.

I wish I had a shot of the inside of the information center to share.

I was helping with photos & was also using another camera.

I'll have to share that a little later.

It is really a great experience to watch our community grow.

It's great to see community members come together for our town.