Happy New Year 2024
I can’t believe another crazy year is behind us and a brand new year has begun! Where does the time go? I had hoped to be writing my New Year blog from the warmth of our new home. Well….one could argue, that’s what I’m doing, but I’m here to tell you it’s not what I meant! Our new home is currently a 26-foot travel trailer. How did we end up here? Let’s journey back to where I last left off…the stairs.
Once the major hurdle of the stairs was behind us, we rolled right into finishing the exterior of the house before the winter season was upon us. The decorative trim had to go up first, so Kris rented a lift and immediately began trimming the house! Those big construction rigs are expensive to rent, but boy do they make jobs a lot more manageable. Once the trim was completed, it was on to the roof underlayment, which is a waterproof barrier that you put on before the actual roofing. It seemed to me that this would be a pretty simple task. You peel off the paper backing and stick it on. How hard can it be? Well for starters, I couldn’t even LIFT a roll of the stuff let alone roll it out while balancing on the rooftop! Thank goodness for safety harnesses because Kris literally had to hang by the safety rope to roll it out, then precariously balance while pulling the backing off. Did I mention this stuff sticks instantly to whatever it touches? We were so happy to have high winds during this process so we could peel the underlayment off the side of the house, the basket on the lift, the lift itself….oh dear, what a headache! I didn’t know we also had to wrap all the trim. Kris managed to get me up in the lift where I attempted to hold the roll of underlayment out as he pulled the paper off and applied it. It was a terrible job, but we got it done!
Next was the Tyvek water barrier paper that you apply to the sides of the house. Our stucco crew had already set up scaffolding which was amazingly helpful. Once again, the giant rolls, though they covered a lot of square footage, were too heavy for me to lift. So I just held a section of the paper up while Kris unrolled it and stapled it down. Somehow, whenever we’d try to unroll more, the wind would pick up and try to take it like a sail!
Now for the window and door installation. I KNEW I wasn’t going to be able to help much with this task, given our windows are huge, so I started convincing my parents that they needed a “vacation” to Colorado for a month (or 2!). The biggest hurdle was finding a place for them to stay. I had an idea! A travel trailer or RV! Come to find out, renting RV’s is more than a mortgage! So, I thought maybe we would just buy one. That way, if we weren’t done with the house by the time our apartment lease was up, WE could live in it! So that’s exactly what I did. My parents came out and boy did the fun begin! The first night they slept in our apartment living room because when we hooked water up to the trailer, it blew the bathroom faucet and flooded the bathroom! Once they moved in, they had at least 1 night without heat, cold showers, a plugged toilet and many more “adventures!” Sure glad Mom was there to work those bugs out before I had to move in! Ha!
Once the trailer was up and running, the guys started in on the window install. The first one was a bit of an awkward process, but they got better and faster with each window. The kitchen window was another story. We hired 2 people to help and between the 4 guys, they got the window in, but it was a beast to lift! I’m glad no one was injured and the window is safely in place. We will never tire of the views from the kitchen window. Spectacular!
Next came the doors. The glass sliders were a source of anxiety for all. Super heavy, no directions and a very expensive “oops” if they break. Kris found a YouTube video on how to assemble and install the doors, so they literally had a computer upstairs and assembled the doors step by step with the video. The end result…perfection! The side door wasn’t quite as bad, but still no easy feat to install. The front door will have to wait until our custom door jam comes in.
Moving right along to the stucco. We were very thankful that we hired this part and what an amazing crew we had! We felt very blessed to be able to get this crew as they initially told us they were too busy to take our job. Not only did they do amazing work, but they brought their scaffolding system weeks prior so we could use it and the entire crew was laughing, singing and happy the entire time! Of course we HAD to tell the head guy that my mom was hanging her laundry on the scaffolding to dry…including the unmentionables! He thought it was hilarious! The finished stucco was more amazing than we could have imagined. Absolutely beautiful!
In between stucco coats, work began on the roof. This we did NOT hire out (I’m pretty sure Kris is wishing we had, given the headache it’s been). My nephew flew in at this point, so we had 3 guys to tackle the metal roof. The first piece took an entire day! No one knew what they were doing, so there was a lot of scratching heads and watching YouTube videos. The metal sheets are crazy heavy, awkward and it once again was super windy. Bad combo! After a bit of floundering, they started to get into a groove and little by little, they completed one side. Unfortunately, our family had to return home, leaving Kris to complete the rest of the roof himself. We had friends that helped here and there and we were always grateful for their help! Day after day, Kris would battle the roof 1 piece at a time. Day after day, he hobbled a bit more from crazy sore ankles. I’m happy to report that with a little luck, the roof will be done tomorrow!
So that about wraps up the progress on the house. The roof is on, the stucco is done, our well is complete, the power is on, but we’re just not quite to the point where we can move in. We still need heat, walls, floors and maybe a few other things. Our apartment lease ran out in December and instead of signing a new lease, we opted to move into the travel trailer I bought as a “just in case,” and that’s where I’m writing my New Year update from! Our warm new home for now! Hobbs, our 30 pound cat is literally bouncing off the walls, pulling the screens off the windows, climbing the window treatments and his bed, tent and toys are all over that house. As bad as that might sound, we’re still very happy to be on our property, we’re much closer to moving into our new (bigger) home and our new year has much to be hopeful for! Let’s just hope the weather stays mild, because trailer life could get a bit more than chilly if the temperature drops too low! Eek!
We’re so thankful for all the support from our family and friends this past year and look forward to welcoming each and every one of you into our new home very soon!
Be sure to check out all the updated photos of the house by clicking here!
