Our Little House is Finally Finished

As most of you know it's been a long journey getting our house roofed and sided. But the day has finally come when all is finished. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, mostly.

Blue band aid on the roof.

Before the new windows were installed. Notice one window had already fallen out and another was soon on its way to the ground. It actually fell out the day the contractor came to install the new windows.

The black awnings were so rusted that the contractors couldn't salvage them.

The south side of the house facing the driveway.

The north side of the house. The window in the middle will be gone with the new siding.

I can't believe how fast they took off the old siding. I liked seeing the history of the house, the old skin  and bones underneath. Yikes! My house is naked!

The address reads 715. That's not our current address. I wonder why it changed. I like numbers,  and when I added these numbers together it equalled 13. I met my husband Matt on June 13, 1989. Since then 13 has been one of my lucky numbers. Our current address is 867. Those numbers add up to 21, which was my waitress number the summer I met Matt. Odd how things connect, isn't it?

I was excited when they uncovered the round vent. I was hoping that we could keep it because it matched Michael's moon window in his room. Sadly, the vents they had already purchased were square, and it would be an added expense if I wanted the round, plus a delay in finishing. 

The yard was trashed with the debris from the house. Lee moved quickly through the piles collecting the aluminum and bundling it in the plastic wrap from the insulation board before tossing it in the truck. Then she did the same with the old insulation. The yard was back to normal in no time.

The insulation board is added.

Lee was the lead contractor of the group. She explained everything to me as they went along. She especially wanted me to notice how they capped the windows. "No water get in here," she said. 

The afternoon melted into evening, and they were not finished. I was disappointed because I was leaving for Chicago in the morning to participate in the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention. I would just have to wait to see the finished product when I returned in four days.

The next day Matt went outside with the camera and took pictures  for me. He also sent me pictures on his cell phone. One thing I forgot to mention...Michael left for his school trip to Mohican the day the contractors arrived to begin the house. Won't he be surprised when he gets home?

They even covered the chimney for me. They were wonderful!

This is a picture of three of the men on our crew. Lee is not pictured because she was already scoping out the next house they were assigned. Unfortunately, I did not get their names. Only one of them spoke English. They were excited when Matt told them I wanted a photo of them to put on my blog and Facebook.

Matt picked up Michael on Friday morning at the school. I was on the phone with Michael hearing all about his adventures at Mohican. Suddenly he squealed, "Oh my gosh! Look at the house! Mom! The house is blue!" He was excited to say the least. I returned from Chicago Sunday evening. It was dark, but that did not deter Matt, Michael, and I from walking around the finished house with flashlights. Michael and Matt pointed out all the fine details, the water spickets were trimmed in white as were the lights above the doors. It reminded us of the first time we went to see the house. Yes, we walked around with flashlights then too. Luckily no one called the police on us. The following photos were taken the next morning.

Yes! The bathroom window is gone. That always creeped me out.

Maybe we should have asked them to take down the TV antenna.

No more awnings. It looks a little naked. We didn't put the shutters back on either. I like the clean look. Although I'm thinking Navy blue shutters and a red front door.

I love the new look of our house. We are the only blue house on the street. People stopped by to comment on what a difference the siding made. Thanks to my family and friends for helping us through our struggle in getting our house finished, April to November. Seven months in the making.