A Week of Breakneck Progress and Gnawed Fingernails

Last Monday, RJ had a construction friend, Ben, come and help with the building of the addition in trade for our crappy 20 year old black Audi. 50 hours of work and the car was his. And this guy...was AWESOME. The difference between having one and two skilled laborers on a project like this is MASSIVE. By the end of the week, we had almost all of the addition framed in. And after a much deserved day off yesterday (it's pretty dreary and drizzly anyway) RJ and I spent some time today framing the roof so we can close in the entire structure. Well, I held some large boards in place while he did everything else...

I've documented the addition process in pictures on facebook but I thought I'd go through it in a bit more detail. I have done minimal work like holding things, cleaning and sanding, so my energy mostly goes into wasting time on Pinterest fantasizing about design elements I can't start actualizing for another couple of months. But by god I FEEL like I'm doing something.

By the time they started Monday, RJ had spent the last week or so pouring foundation and completing the "deck" which was covered in OSB, which is like plywood, but made by smashing together wood chips. It's pretty hefty stuff.  We also ripped off the last remnants of the old house.

The "deck".

Buh Byeeeee!

I had a fairly busy week, though things are slowing down in Creede and at the theatre somewhat. I did manage to check in daily at midday and again close to quitting time, and every day there was something exciting happening. Midday on Monday, RJ called me down to help them lift up the first wall. I was happy to and it was pretty symbolic:

The first wall!

This shit is heavy

I came back at the end of the day and there was THIS: Almost two walls out of the total three!

Tuesday, there was more...all three walls were up, the rooms divided and OSB on the outside. The hole to the right is the access to under the house, which will be in the second bedroom closet.

Walls!

RJ also made the decision a few days ago to move the stairs out of what is to be the kitchen and put them in the addition--the laundry/sun room. Also on Tuesday, they added the closet/utility room.

Weds, they moved the stairs and replaced a wall that was not even remotely straight, something we realized after tearing the old siding off. Like most of this old house.

More room for da cookings

Thursday, I sanded the support beams and they installed them as well as the thick tongue and groove which will be the floor and ceiling. Everywhere else in the house will be insulated so this ends up being way cheaper as well as looking nice. It will be stained eventually.

The upstairs floor...

Downstairs ceiling...

Proud, as they should be, of the work.

Same stuff!!!!

I helped sand those beams. Me. I did it.



















Das boot and the view from the ladder. You can see how thick the wood is for the floor/ceiling.














Friday, they put up the supports for the roof.

And took down the blasted and decaying bowling pins. This has been hard for some people to take. It's classic B, the previous tenant. A tribute perhaps to his creativity. Alas, they were falling apart.

But wonderful stories don't always have happy endings and on Friday afternoon, tragedy struck. I want to say first off that no one was hurt or killed. Luckily. But the black Audi, that had been traded to Ben for all is hard work, came back from the shop Friday afternoon. It ended up being an easy fix that only cost RJ about $60. It hadn't been running and had been sitting in front of our cabin for most of the year. Upon its return, the guys decided to take it out on a test run. Now, having driven it for three weeks last year, I know that the Audi is a finicky little bitch. Once the gas gauge hits a quarter tank, you have to refill because it doesn't read after that point, so you don't know when the car is getting close to empty. On their way out of town, the car started to feel like it was running out of gas. They pulled off on the side of the road right after a curve in the highway. Distracted with the gas gauge, and because the car has a pretty bad blind spot, when they pulled back on the road, a truck was barreling down the highway and clipped the front of the car, spinning them across the road. Thankfully, again, no one was hurt, but another couple of feet and they would have both been toast. And alas, the Audi is completely totaled. Ben took it in stride, chalking it up to a nice vacation in Creede, and went home without his Audi. Poor. Friggin'. Guy.

But...life goes on. The build goes on and we end today with this:

I held some stuff. And took pictures. I was also there for morale!

Not too much more to go!

RJ will continue to work on the roof and should have it closed in by Tuesday or Weds. And then, on our next episode: THE PLUMBING!

Foundation For You? Foundation For Me.

As I contemplate this blog post, pick the latex from today's zombie makeup out of my hair and travel back in time with some recently downloaded music from my youth (Genesis' Land of Confusion happens to be playing right now--can you say Ronny Reagan puppet?!), the subject of foundations weighs heavily on my mind. HA! Foundation...heavy...anyway...

One interesting thing about Creede is that a substantial number of older homes here lack a foundation. They simply do not have one. You see, Creede was originally a mining camp for silver in the late 19th century. People built one room shacks and log cabins to serve their temporary needs. But most of those structures still exist today. The 100 year old cabin we currently stay in, which RJ also renovated, had no foundation when he started working on it in 2008. I remember him having to deal with the structure's extreme fragility and a particularly tense moment when he and his crew thought the cabin miiiiight actually fall over before they even poured the foundation because it was so unstable. The addition still doesn't have one and is literally sinking into the ground. There are some squishy spots on the floor and the north end of the room sinks down about an inch or so each year.

Fortunately, the house we bought had a foundation added to it in the late 1990s. Since we'd like to keep our house indefinitely, it's obvious we would create a foundation for the addition. And, in modern times, a foundation is actually required when building any new structure. Little did I know how much goes into this. It seems simple, but requires many steps.

First, RJ built a wooden frame around the edge of the huge hole he dug.

RJ using his special tool. (no, not THAT special tool)

Then, he added these steel poles called rebar. They stick straight up and when you pour the concrete they keep the foundation from cracking. Genius!

Rebarrrrrrrr!

We did the first "pour" last Friday. You then wait for it to dry (about 24 hours), remove the wood frame and build another level. Once the additional levels are poured and dry, which we did yesterday, you can start to build the "deck", which seems to be a fancy word for floor. Maybe because it's not yet closed in...anyway, not my area. In fact, none of this is my area, but is endlessly fascinating to me. Because it's MINE.

Also in boring-for-you-exciting-for-me news, the concrete is officially the first thing we have used our construction loan for. Since it has to be paid in cash on delivery, a reimbursement check should show up early next week. Word.

First pour complete.

Second pour. I'm told this is a bit messy, but it's functional and no one will see it, so...meh

The beginnings of the FLOOR.

Deck building starts tomorrow. Oh happy joy. To be continued...

Phase Two...Start Your Engines

On Thursday, August 1st, we were able to put an end to the more than three month ordeal of paperwork, insurance, bullshit insurance, proving our intent and more paperwork. We closed on the refinance/construction loan for our house on 6th Street. We finally met Pam, the wonderful and patient loan officer at San Luis Valley Federal Bank, who put up with my multitude of questions and concerns and always responded positively and quickly. Seriously, anyone in Creede needing to do something similar with their property, Pam knows all and is familiar with the area, etc. She rules. Anyway, she sat us down and took us through everything and about 20 minutes later, we had a house. Again! But this time with funds to finish it.  (I am aware that I am married to a contractor/builder so when we say "finished" that is a loose term. Is a builder's house ever really done? Anyway, for our purposes, let's just say: liveable.)

With this in mind a few days before our closing, 99.9% sure we were good to move forward, the back of the house fell off.

Weeeeeeeee!

I had one friend initially think that this was a bad thing. I admit that the way I phrased it on facebook DID sort of make it look like this was an act of god. But after many congratulations from others, said friend realized his error. With all of my parents and step-parents in town last week, my step-father Gerry and a neighbor's backhoe helped RJ pull down the old addition. God it was ugly. It made me sad to look upon it. I did take a photo and even though it's gone it still makes me cry a little.

This isn't even in all its true shitty glory. It was bad. BAD.

Buh bye, ugly.

Eight loads of busted up house to the dump later and more digging by RJ, he will now begin preparing the dug out hole for the concrete foundation. This requires building a framework that is leveled and carefully measured so that all the concrete goes to its proper place. Then, you can start to put in floor joists, which are the foundation for your actual floor.

Oooooooh

Ahhhhhhh!

 

Once we put up the frame of the addition and close it in, we can do plumbing and electrical for the entire house and RJ can then focus on the front. We don't have to have the addition completely finished to move in, and we want to move in as fast as we can so we're not paying full mortgage plus rent on top of it. But...I'm getting ahead of myself. Much, much more to come, friends. And thanks for reading.

I am back to feeling a bit useless again. Or at least back to simply cleaning for a while. Although I do have my eyes on some fabric for curtains...too soon?

Holy Bunch of Swears and Cries of Joy

For the past three days, I've been dealing with the pain in the ass that is flood insurance. FLOOD insurance in COLORADO, you say?! Wasn't Colorado just on FIRE, you say (with feeling)?!

This is what I imagine flooding in Colorado to be like, though hopefully I will never have to find out. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

As we found out a few days ago, flood insurance is a necessary evil in Creede if you live close to the "flume" in town, which most people in town do. The flume was created to prevent water from the mountains from overtaking the town, though Creede has not majorly flooded in 100 years. But, because appraisers are only allowed to use old city plans, which don't include the flume, all of us have been deemed to live in a "floodplain".  And federal law states that if you are trying to get a loan, you MUST have flood insurance if you live in such an area. And flood insurance...is bloody expensive. And the premium usually must be paid up front. Bull shit!!! But, I digress.

HOWEVER! As of this current writing, we were approved today for our flood insurance (at the lower rate, thank the heavens) as well as for our refinance/construction loan.

MAJOR FORWARD MOOOOOOOVEMENT!

This allows us to pay off the current mortgage, which was only for five years with the understanding that we would refinance ASAP, and gives us the means to complete the house so we can...wait for it...LIVE in it! Closing will be on or around July 31st.

As for our construction process, the next step is demolishing the old addition to make way for the new one, and then framing and closing in the new structure. Then, RJ will move back around to the front of the house and concentrate on that until we can move in--details to come.  Paid work continues to be fairly steady for him so he'll be pulling double duty for a while. But the best part is, we don't have to pull from out of our shallow pockets to pay for most of this stuff.

So after a three month process, start to finish, Step Two is just beginning. And dang it feels good.

Daaaaang.

The Money Shot

So here we are. The moment of truth. We've done everything we are able to do up to this point. RJ's dad, Roger Sr., has been here the past few days to help RJ rough in electric, which was amazingly helpful. (Photos of the house's present state below.)

The appraiser visited our house today and will give two appraisals to the bank. The first will project what the property will be worth when we are finished, and would enable us to get a construction loan. The second establishes what the property is worth now, and would enable us to get an equity line of credit. Both have pros and cons and both would allow us to take the next step to finishing the house.

So, as of 8:30pm this evening, we've been appraised. They'll give the information to the bank. The bank will let us know how much we can borrow and at what interest rate. And now...we wait. And that's just about all I have to say about that. (And thanks, everyone, for the good thoughts. I can feel them working...it's like eating a piece of really good chocolate.)

In other news, as we dive into Taming of the Shrew rehearsals and the July 4th holiday week, it may be rather quiet. Quiet in a way I haven't experienced before in Creede. Though we've had a couple of clear days, the fires still burn on the other side of the mountain to the south. Hopefully there will be an onslaught of walk up ticket sales in the next few days, but the week that is usually the busiest of the season, probably won't be. T'is strange...Okay bye.

Looking at what will be the living room, and downstairs bathroom. Dorky not included.

View of the eventual kitchen. Damn dog...get out of the...

My contribution today was wiping off window sills and putting a couple of coats of paint on RJ's magic.

This is what we've got. Dear Bank, please send cash now. Love, The Manns.

Mini House Update

So, in the off chance our house goes up in firery flames, please disregard this post. (It's a joke, people, we're still okay.) This post is mostly photos. Enjoy!

Sun hitting the awesome.

I almost had a heart attack today when I listened to the first of two messages from the insurance broker who has been working hard to find coverage for our exact needs. The first message said that because of the nearby fires, they weren't sure the underwriters would go ahead with the policy. Fuhhhhhhhh. The second message said that it WAS approved but that we should go ahead and pay the needed deposit to get things moving (construction policies can require a deposit). So after 20 minutes of printing, scanning and emailing, we should have things all set. (Update this morning: We have a binding contract and all is well. YIPPEEEE!) The appraiser never showed up last week and with 149 to South Fork open only occasionally at present, this may prove difficult. But our banker is checking with the appraiser again this week to hopefully, ahem, light a fire under their butts.

In the meantime, RJ and I (when I can) have been doing some more finishing work on the outside. RJ has done some beautiful, custom work on the porch posts and peak of the porch. It's lookin' saweeeeeeet. Here are some photos I've posted on the Facebook and some new ones from today. Hopefully I'll have more to report very soon.

Post before paint. Each post contains 40 pieces of wood.

Entrance a few days ago.

Reverse side of the entrance way.

Painted posts

Tongue and Groove under porch

Black and white of the detail. (Original design by the previous tenant, who I shall call, B.)

Burning Thoughts: Or, How To Survive a Grand Forest Fire and the Internet

Alright, alright, alright, alright, I'll write about the dang fire. But I'm having a beer while I do it.

So...the entire state of Colorado is having a little problem with...well, fire. And we, being in Creede, are close to one of them, called the West Fork Fire Complex. And it's making a lot of people...well, crazy. And most of this is because of listening to word of mouth, and not from the Sheriff's office or Forest Preserve folk. It's a little like the Boston Marathon madness that caused me to leave the blessed Facebook for a week. About 5% of the information is true and 95% is speculation. But first, to get this out of the way so you can calmly read the rest of the blog: The town of Creede, where the repertory theatre is and where I currently live/work, is still safe. Creede proper is not surrounded by many trees and is, what the Sheriff's office likes to call, easily defensible. If, in the highly unlikely case that any of the fire reaches the boundary of town, it would be easy to prevent the fire from spreading further.

What We Know: 

What is it? The West Fork Fire Complex, which is this: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3436/ Please do read--it can give you more detailed info than I ever could.

Bad news: This fire has the perfect conditions to do its dirty work. There are thousands of acres of dead, beetle killed spruce trees that are just going up in flames. As of this morning the fire was 0% contained and it is unknown at this time when the fire will become contained. It is erratic and "unprecedented".  Crap.

Good news: There have been NO reported structure losses at this time. The fires are still 12 to over 20 miles from Creede itself. There is no pre-evac notice for the town of Creede (a 10-12 hour notice that a mandatory evacuation MAY take place) nor is there a mandatory evac for Creede either. The theatre has a couple different plans in place if the need for evacuation arises. We have had meetings and emails on a daily basis to keep us up to date on all of the information about the fire. Most of us feel pretty dang safe and well taken care of. Go CRT!  So, you can feel good about supporting and donating to your local non-profits. Do it. Yay.

It is also important to keep in mind that in the grand scheme of things, this is a very natural and positive process. Meaning, fires start to destroy overrun forests and make way for new growth. It's been this way for a loooooooong time. Beetles kill the spruce, fire burns the dead spruce, aspen grow up in its place and provide shade, allowing for new spruce to grow. Thus making future fires unlikely for many years to come. Brilliant! Thanks, Mother Nature! Oh...there are houses there...well, you've gotta take one for the team sometimes.

So...yes...there may be damage and loss outside of Creede. Even though Creede is a town of about 400 people year round, there are many outlying areas that are in danger--4UR Ranch, Blue Creek Lodge and Wagon Wheel Gap to name a few. And though they are many miles outside of town, they are still considered the Creede area and HAVE been evacuated. South Fork, the town 21 miles from Creede, is 3 miles away from the burn and has been evacuated. Firefighters are working NON-STOP to control this fire. It is big. But it depends mostly on conditions (dryness, wind, temperature, amount of dead wood to burn vs. live wood). The conditions right now are so good that Mother Nature is dancing around naked on the burning hillside. Like she does.

Now that I've gotten the facts off my chest, I can let you in on my feelings. I have been through a fire before. One that was much more urgent and personally damaging, though on a much smaller scale. About 10 years ago, in Chicago, a woman on the second floor of my apartment building in Uptown lit a bunch of candles, probably drank too much wine, and then passed out/fell asleep. When she eventually woke, half of our apartment was on fire. I was woken up at 3 in the morning in my loft bed by an upstairs neighbor who sounded like he or she was running back and forth across his or her floor. Then there was a knock on my door from a police woman telling me I had to get out of the building. My mind flashed back to stupid college fire alarms caused by too much pot smoking, so I didn't take anything as I went to leave my first floor apartment through the nearby back door. As soon as I walked into the hallway, I saw that it was foggy. Smoky. I turned around, threw some essentials in my large purse (thank Jeebus for large purses), grabbed my cat and left the building. As I walked to the front of the apartment building, it was like a movie. Flames were lapping out of a second floor window and a few minutes later we just hear this "WHUMP" sound as the roof caught on fire. I put Oscar the cat in my car and stood with the rest of the neighborhood watching the place burn. Because, honestly, what else is there to do? (Besides making sure you have renters insurance, like I thankfully DID.) It is at the same time terrifying and beautiful.

Which is what the feeling is around here currently. RJ and I drove west yesterday to see if we could see anything and about 12 miles out of town you start to see flames on the mountain top. Yesterday, the weather report was completely clear. But you'd never know because the smoke was so thick it looked like it was overcast. (Mmm beer). We arrived back home and I freaked out a little for about 45 minutes. Even though we had to drive 20 minutes TO the fire, you can't help but feeling like it's RIGHT THERE. It is really fucking scary. And beautiful. People are on edge here. Some people with medical problems or small children have left voluntarily because of the smoke.

And you have to be really careful about what you say, in person or on Facebook, and about what you "heard," because 9 times out of 10, it's incorrect information. Even major news outlets are reporting incorrect information. So if you have questions about safety in Creede, please contact me directly. Getting information from people who are not in town or the immediate area, who always have the best of intentions, can end up making it worse. Someone posted an article which gave South Fork a low to moderate chance of survival. My own father had heard this information. And that information was speculative, but when people hear it, they think it's fact, or at least imminent. And right now, South Fork is okay. So I've been trying to stop leaving pissy comments on friend's pages and doing anything but extreme damage control to outright wrong information. And you know what? We're ALL tired of talking/hearing about the fire. It's exhausting and stressful and scary not knowing if we'll have an audience at the theatre for the rest of the summer, or whether the smoke will get so bad we DO have to leave. It makes me long for hot, humid and rainy Chicago even more than normal. Right now I could use some humidity and thunderstorms.

But I'm okay. We're okay. I'm not lying to you or sugar coating, it's just the truth. RJ is down working on the house today and hopefully in a week or so, all of our refinancing/appraisal business will go back into motion.

And for now, it's business as usual, if just a bit (or a lot) smoky. But right now, just right here in this moment, the air quality is good with not too much smoke. I have the afternoon and evening off and I'm almost finished with my Banquet of Beers. Everything's gonna be alright. Probably.