After a two-week curing time for the driveway we were able to schedule the garage door install. During that waiting period, we sided and added the soffit and fascia. And for someone who has never sided before in her life, I can tell you it's not that hard. Like fitting together pieces of a puzzle, vertically, and giant pieces of a puzzle, but you get the idea.
We started on the side next to the lawn, which only took a couple of hours and set my expectations pretty high. Mike and I built scaffolding with some 2x4's and sawhorses to make reaching the higher pieces easier, and aside from my unexpected fear of heights (yes, it was only about 4 feet off the ground, but you try shimmying across two 2x4's as they bow), it was pretty easy. No guessing at weird angles, no 14' high nailing. Just making sure the joints didn't line up.
Then we moved to the back and my excitement deflated a little. The bottom 5 or 6 pieces went up pretty much the same, but then we had to go higher. This took a lot of climbing up the ladders, nailing in place, climbing down, moving over 2 feet and repeating. Needless to say I was happy to be on solid ground by the end of the day.
The next day I woke up bright and early, okay, maybe not so bright and not really early. But I was up and no matter what Mike might think I was willing to work. The thing is, I was putting my coat on when I casually looked out the window and noticed our neighbor, Chris, helping Mike out. Maybe I removed my coat and ducked out of site. Maybe I putzed around the house for a couple of hours and maybe walked outside when I noticed the guys were putting the last couple of pieces on. The point is, I was ready and willing to help. It's not my fault if my neighbor is stronger and taller. I sat out for the sake of our garage. We all have to do our part.
After the siding was up, Mike added the fascia, which was a pretty easy job and thankfully he was able to do on his own. I don't want to step on another ladder unless I'm climbing out of my house on fire.
The next step were the gutters. Being that both Mike and I work, it's sometimes difficult for us to make it to suppliers in time before they close. In this instance, I was on a jobsite down the road and was able to leave a few minutes early to make it to MBS before they closed for the day. This seemed like a simple task, Mike had called and told them I would be there to pick-up the supplies, screws, clips, braces, and 2-29' sections of gutters. Wait, say what? Yes, that's right, Mike sent me to load 29' pieces of gutters into our extended cab Toyato Tundra. When I told the guys in the shop, they actually laughed at me. I think one actually clutch his belly, I'm not kidding. After 43 calls to Mike telling him I'm going to beat him over the head with his 29' gutters, he showed up and the laughing ensued. We finally bit the bullet and decided to redneck it since we were less than 5 miles from our house and besides one wide turn, it was a single straight shot home.
Against Mike's protest, I did get photographic evidence. I only wished we had a third party to take a video of the trip as Mike stood in the bed holding the gutters, especially when he started yelling at me for "flying" down the road when I hit my max speed of 32 mph.
After the gutters got to our destination in one piece, we were able to install them, again with the help of our tall neighbor. With the gutters in and the garage door installed while we were at work, we were good to go.
Against Mike's protest, I did get photographic evidence. I only wished we had a third party to take a video of the trip as Mike stood in the bed holding the gutters, especially when he started yelling at me for "flying" down the road when I hit my max speed of 32 mph.
After the gutters got to our destination in one piece, we were able to install them, again with the help of our tall neighbor. With the gutters in and the garage door installed while we were at work, we were good to go.
We did have one hic-cup with the final inspection, most notably, the glaring red sticker of doom that said we were "'disapproved' reason: locked". As I was enjoying the drive down my fresh driveway pulling towards my shiny new garage, the sticker stuck out like a sore thumb. Of course I immediately called Mike, and of course some swearing ensued.
An advantage of working in the construction field is having a master list of building inspectors cell phone numbers. This definitely came in handy at this particular moment. Afterschooling politely reminding the inspector that an interior inspection was already approved with our Rough Inspection and only the gutters, siding, and doors were needed to inspect for a final approval, not to mention the personal items that we had already placed inside the garage, Mike explained that he did not have to leave the garage unlocked. The inspector then bowed down to Mike's superior knowledge, okay maybe simply said she would change the status of the inspection and our permit would be closed. Even though we never got our friendly yellow "approved" sticker, it's still nice to be completed!
An advantage of working in the construction field is having a master list of building inspectors cell phone numbers. This definitely came in handy at this particular moment. After
Now a trip back in time to look at the transformation from the very beginning:
And finally, the big reveal:
A HUGE thanks to everyone that came out and helped along the way through this process:
Chad, Justin, and Judy,
Brian, Jana, Michelle and Keith
Dave, Ray, and Jeff (and Sarah for letting Dave come over so often)
Kyle (and his mono)
Norm
Steven, Gary and their helper Bookie (and Melissa for letting us borrow her family for the day)
Chris (our tall neighbor) and Cindy (for letting Chris come over all the time)
The Upson Crew: Kyle, Tony, Tony, and Kevin
And everyone else who commented, followed along on the blog, and anyone who stoped by! We definitely wouldn't have been able to do it without all the help, Mike and I are so grateful!
And if you missed anything, and are interested in reading all the trials and triumphs from the beginning, check out the posts here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
And finally, the big reveal:
A HUGE thanks to everyone that came out and helped along the way through this process:
Chad, Justin, and Judy,
Brian, Jana, Michelle and Keith
Dave, Ray, and Jeff (and Sarah for letting Dave come over so often)
Kyle (and his mono)
Norm
Steven, Gary and their helper Bookie (and Melissa for letting us borrow her family for the day)
Chris (our tall neighbor) and Cindy (for letting Chris come over all the time)
The Upson Crew: Kyle, Tony, Tony, and Kevin
And everyone else who commented, followed along on the blog, and anyone who stoped by! We definitely wouldn't have been able to do it without all the help, Mike and I are so grateful!
And if you missed anything, and are interested in reading all the trials and triumphs from the beginning, check out the posts here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.