DIY House Addition: Month Eight Wrap Up

I’ve been talking about the impending deep-freeze for months and hey look, we’ve entered the 2010 ice age in Southern Michigan. Unfortunately Month 8 is wrapping up, and this is a house that doesn’t yet have heat. It does have a extra large kerosene heater in it though, and believe we can get the whole 2000 square feet up to a toasty 65 degrees in about five seconds flat, but we may be sacrificing a few non-essential brain cells to the fumes.

Month 8 Progress: Studs, Walls, & Pipe

With the cold weather we’ve moved inside both from necessity and well necessity.

Just a couple of weeks ago the house looked liked this:

But there have been a few improvements:

Last month our list included:

• Geothermal wells
• 1 fireplace installation
• Building inspection
• Insulation
• Drywall
• The rest of the siding

We’ve knocked all of those things off the list except the siding (of which not a single board has been installed in the last month).

Taking us into the New Year the list includes:

• Getting the geo working (hopefully tomorrow)
• Picking out bathroom tile
• Texturing walls
• Painting ceilings
• Framing in the master bath tub
• Ordering cabinets

Month 8 Injury Report: All Fingers Accounted For

I sliced one open on a radiator vent, does that count?

Month 8 DIYed & Didn’t: Call It A Tie

Because we:

• Installed blocking (me)
• Installed the vertical portion of the geothermal (MysteryMan)
• Installed all the in-wall wiring for the entertainment system (me)
• Framed out the kitchen closets (both of us)
• Installed some fireblocking above walls and the fireplace (both of us)

And the professionals:

• Insulated the house
• Hung all the drywall

Month 8 Thanks: Mom, We Love You

Really, my mom was my hero this month. Most times I just tell her to come over if she wants to– asking for help is not what I do, per se– but before the insulators and drywallers came, I practically begged her to come help me tackle the disaster-area/construction zone. And then she spent two days inside our 30-degree house vacuuming every square inch of the 2000 square feet with the smallest attachment on the shop vac.

Seriously.

No way I would have gotten through that weekend without her.