10 days down.

(My new work boots.)

I worked in construction once before.  Some of you might not know that- It was during the summer, between my sophomore year of college and junior year, and also the following winter.  I worked as an electrical helper at DIA Beacon.  I had to be up at 430 in the morning in order to drive up to Beacon from Monroe (about a 35 minute drive) at which point the foreman would just scream at me and push me around all day long, everyday.  I learned a lot about construction, and grew in my position during the time that I was there, but I HATED getting up that early, and HATED having a boss who thought he was better than me just because I was a kid.
This experience, on the other hand, is the complete opposite.  I wake up early because I want to get started, but not TOO early, and considering Joe is the closest thing I have to a boss, that pressure is non existent.  We have been working very well together, doing a lot of critical thinking along the way and producing quality work with few mistakes because we are both patient enough to take out 10 nails by hand if a board isn't up just right and do it again. Each day I learn a handful of new things and each time I find a hand tool that is very useful,  I purchase one of my own.  (at some point Ill probably put up a post about critical tools to have for a basic renovation... but I'm not quite there yet)
My previous experience working with electric has actually proved useful- we had to cut about 10 runs of wire in the attic in order to open up the ceiling and I was able to rewire almost everything (temporarily) so as to prevent losing power in most of the upstairs of the house.

Anyway- Im really enjoying this work and was reminded today by my friend Mike (Some of you know him as Dus) that this experience is the perfect way to start out my adventure and get back to the roots of why I got into architecture in the first place, because Jesse Favia and I used to look forward each day to waking up and working on our tree house- it was the creativity along with the physical work that I loved.  Nothing like seeing the results of your hard work right there in front of you at the end of each day.

Here are a few pics:

This was earlier in the week- before the framing, ceiling, or electric came out 

Good Bye old walls (I pulled all these out while Joe was out buying a framing nail gun.  I have no idea how they built house years ago without a compressor and a nail gun... hammering all these nails would have sucked the life right out of me.

Clearing insulation to start framing out the new ceiling from the attic... Joe should have had on his mask- hence the pleasant facial expression from breathing in the fiberglass.  Yum

Good bye ceiling.  Hello (freezing cold) attic

Dennis does electric 101 (black to black and white to white...)

Working out the details of the new ceiling

When you are framing there are two primary positions- the nail guy (joe) and the cut guy (me) he calls down to me "I need a 2x4 cut at 48 1/8"... so I mark it with my tape measure, draw a straight line with my framing triangle, then use that saw in front of me to cut it and pass it up to him...

I think this was at the end of the day on Wednesday or Thursday- we were pretty psyched about our progress.  I told Joe that I wanted to go get some beers and drink them while admiring our work.  We went downstairs instead, but I came back up later to take a quick look at how far we had come

A corner detail- for those who care to see it.

I nailed up some additional support for the roof joists, nothing like leaning in over open space with a huge nail gun shooting 3.5" nails into lumber.

(side note- Joe mentioned that in all the houses he has built, the clients always get most excited when they see the roof go up- for some reason, a roof, by creating an outline of the space, must create the illusion that there has been some serious progress... when in actuality, this was probably one of the easiest, and fastest parts yet...after the roof, says joe, the work slows down tremendously)

This is what the space will look like tomorrow morning when we get started at 8am... 6 hours and 15 minutes from now (I better get to bed) the temperature will be about 40 degrees, but at least we've got it set up now so with one plug we turn on the upper and lower work lights and a little clock radio... wish us luck with week two.

Some pics of food from dinner tonight- A few times now I have taken out my camera at the dinner table.  Each time, Donna, Joe's Mom, kind of laughs that I am taking pictures of her food- I don't know whether it is how good the food is or how well she presents everything, but I just cant resisit.  I mean, from her food to her folded laundry- I thought I was a perfectionist- now I know where Joe gets it from!  Those of you who know me best know how much I appreciate organization, AND good food.

Until next time.

Making Progress

Well, I am officially a (part time) contractor.  I even have the carhartt overalls and work boots to prove it.  For the past two days, I have been working with Joe to demolish what used to be three closets, a smaller bathroom and a hallway- all off the master bedroom in one large rectangular space.  Our goal- to clear all the smaller rooms and make them into one large bathroom with a raised ceiling, skylights, windows, a claw foot tub, shower, two sinks, and a toilet.  A big undertaking considering our timeline- but last night over dinner when we were talking about leaving in 4 weeks, I heard joe's dad say (hrm, c'mon, 6 weeks... under his breath)  He, I believe, realizes something we might not be thinking about- that this is a BIG project that is unlikely to be completed a month from now- but Joe thinks it will.  Im still too new in this 'construction' game to know how long any of this is really going to take, but judging by our progress in the past two days- maybe Joe is right... check it out.

A view looking into the doorway that will eventually open to the new master bath.

Before picture of the little bathroom area

Just getting started busting out the tile surround

Day 1- mid day progress

Joe loves when I take pictures, clearly.

The end of day one.  An important lesson Joe has taught me is the proper way to clean up when doing a project- the answer: often.  Starting a new days work in a clean space makes the work you did the day before feel that much better and the progress cleaning is similar to stopping to stretch your legs and take a break on a long road trip- when you get back in the car, you feel like you are just starting out and you are refreshed and ready for the next length of the journey.  

All our trash from day one neatly stacked in the front porch... to be picked up on day two and delivered to recycling and the dump. 

Day one happened to be Joe's dads 55th birthday.  We celebrated with the neighbors with some beers and authentic chicago hot dogs.  (Apparently in Chicago hot dogs come on poppy seed buns, have tomatoes, peppers, pickles, mustard, ketchup, and onions ALL on each hot dog...they were good, but it took me a few minutes to get used to how strange they were) 

This one needs no explanation. 

This was a gift from Joe.  Simply put- it takes a good friend to pick up a talisker sampler box set (my favorite scotch- thanks to Fitz) as a gift for my arrival.  I've already opened the 10yr, ill wait on the 18yr and the Distillers edition for another occasion, perhaps even another city.

Lucy helped us get started on Day 2.  (side note- that respirator that joe is wearing is incredible- we got them before getting started- thank god for them because with all the work we are doing with dry wall, tiles, insulation, and dust, our lungs would hate us if we didnt wear them all day.)

Day 2 involved removing insulation from the attic so we can raise the ceiling of the new bathroom and install the skylights- also more demolition... including demolishing the tub... what a sight that was.  Did you know that in order to get a metal tub out you literally smash it up into pieces using a sledgehammer?  I have a video of Joe doing it but cant figure out how to post it up here... anyone know how I can do that?

The attic is a bit spooky- look at this slanted chimney- it's old and not functional but certainly creates an interesting dynamic up there.  I think they should keep it in place if/when they finish this space.

Me smashing up the tub a bit- that was fun...

The tub in (HEAVY) pieces.

And the end of day two- tomorrow we build the new gable in the attic and remove all the studs you see in this picture to open the space up.

Sorry if this post isn't quite as interesting or exciting.  To me, these pictures represent many hours of hard work, and a big project ahead of me with lots of learning involved.  I'm not going to lie here- I don't know if I could do this type of (physical) work full time for the rest of my life, but I am loving the experience and also loving the feeling I get at the end of a day when I can see some tangible evidence of the work I have put in- the feeling simply cannot be compared to the feeling you get after sitting behind a desk all day, and I am appreciative for the refreshing change of pace.

More to come at the end of the week when we've done a bit more.  

Day 4 in Illinois

Disclaimer: For lack of a better term, whether I am on the road, or visiting a friend, until I am settled someplace again, I am simply going to call this time "life on the road" (I figure if twenty somethings who travel between three hotels in europe via euro-rail over the course of 10 days with luggage on wheels can call it "backpacking", why shouldn't I be able to call this life on the road?)

Anyway, life on the road has already started to throw some curve balls my way.  One such issue that I hadn't anticipated was the lack of time I would spend in front of a computer and the resultant email backup disaster- I currently have 114 unread in my inbox, I am hoping to get that down to zero sometime this week.  While in DC, I had all the time in the world to sit at a desk in front of a computer- in fact it was required that I do so for 8 hours a day minimum.  Now, when I sit in front of the computer, my time is limited to however much time it takes me to get through whatever task it is that I need to do- which right now is to update my blog.

Another issue is how my body would adjust to all this sudden change.  I am sleeping in a new, foreign bed (I miss my bed tremendously... my simmons beauty rest world class pillow top that I have only had for 12 months, which now resides all alone at my parents house in NY... sad sad story, i know) and Ive been going to the gym every day, playing racket ball, swimming laps like I used to do in high school, lifting weights, running... My body feels like that of an 85 year old man each morning, but I know this is something Ill appreciate soon enough.

Overall, I know it is soon to say, but life here in Libertyville has been great- I have no complaints and have been having a blast with the Currans.  Truth is, the reality of this whole thing hasn't really set in yet, so my thoughts feel more like a third party observation on someone else's life than on my own.  I'm sure in time reality will catch up with me, and by then I hope I am prepared to deal with how it makes me feel.  For now, the journey has just begun and Im still in the same ambiguous state of mind I have been in for the past few months.

Here are a few pics- in no particular order. 

This is Lucy... She is the Curran family dog... at first I thought she was too small, but after chasing her around the house and having her falling asleep on me, what can I say, she's growing on me.  

 

(one of) Joe's many tool bags.

 A lunch so good- I had to take a quick picture... three cheese grilled cheese on bakery fresh sourdough bread with tomato basil soup (Donna, Joe's mom, might as well put a sign on the door that says Bed and Breakfast... she is on top of everything and works very hard to make this place feel incredibly comfortable- right down to the comfort food)

This cabinet, up until last week, had basic shelves in it.  Now each side of the wine refrigerator has two drawers, each can hold up to 150lbs of weigh.  The hardware is impressive.

 Joe built each box from top to bottom, by the time I got here all I could really help with was details- the top edge of each drawer has a thin layer of teak on it and the front piece has a small over hang- I measured, cut, glued, nailed the teak and then helped with final installation.  Not a huge task, but already I've learned a ton from Joe.

This next batch of pictures is from what was quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever done.  (adult) go-kart racing.  with full suit, helmet, etc... the three of us raced three time, we couldn't get enough of it.  By the end, no one could pass joe and I- we plan on going back many times in the next few weeks.

 For those of you wondering how we did.  Joe and I were 3/10's of a second off on our best lap time, and that was how they scored each race.  We did ok on the first race, better on the second, and were unstoppable on the third.  Arty (Joe's dad) or Beansy as I like to call him, was right there behind us on each race.

I made it through day 1

I have to say- I never realized what it felt like to be a long distance truck driver... that is, until yesterday.  After packing the car up and a quick farewell breakfast with my friend Tom, I hit the road for 14 hours of driving.  What a long day it was.  I listened to just about everything that Sirius radio had to offer, talked to a bunch of people, stopped plenty of times to stretch my legs, but once I passed Chicago for the last 30 miles of driving, I knew I was close to my limit on what I could handle for one day.  I got into Libertyville around 9:15 pm (10:15pm east coast time) to a warm welcome from my friend Joe and his mom who helped me with my bags and showed me to my new room.
After settling in, Joe and I walked over to nearby bar for a few beers and some food.  It was good to catch up- but I was beat- so before long we came back and I think i was asleep before my head hit the pillow.  Today I am officially starting day one... I dont feel much different than I did yesterday, which is a good thing- but there is plenty to do.  Ill get back to this again after the weekend.

Here are some pics from the past two days:

Finishing packing the car at 715am before hitting the road

My parents

Mileage upon departure... 832 miles to go.

There was a big accident on Rt 80 East, apparently trucks are the only vehicles that travel on this road other than me.

Hello, Ohio.

Passing by cleveland

My new bedroom

Inside the house

Joe doing some work at the dining room table.