Dig, dig, dig, dig ... the whole day through

slowly, but surely.

Is that the front door or the back door?

There's a door out the back of the house that has been tapes, nailed, boarded, bolted shut since before we moved in.  Not sure why they gave up on the door, but we haven't worried about it. James decided, though, that it would be helpful to have the exit, especially for getting dirt outside (from his digging).  So, he ripped the door off and constructed a new one from something he found in the barn. Mr. Resourceful. 

Did I mention, "What a guy!"

Jackhammering!! -- Phase 2

Next up was the laundry room.  Actually, I was pretty glad to have my washing machine and dryer inaccessible for a couple of days.  Took away the stress and guilt of not doing laundry over the weekend! 

The first trench (and yes, this too, will need to be dug down 4 feet)

The three trenches finished!

The awesome guy cleaned it all up (I helped)...

put down some plywood...

and gave me my laundry room back -- yes, I know you guys are jealous of my laundry room.
LOOKING FORWARD TO FINISHING THAT PHASE!!

Jackhammering!! -- Phase 1

 Well, the next step has been determined -- PLUMBING.  Yuck.  We decided to start working on the plumbing for the future laundry room, guest bathroom and upstairs bathroom. That meant cutting through concrete. We had a great plumber (a friend of a friend) come by and give us some free advice!  So, James rented a jackhammer and got to work. He's digging a trench through the current laundry room and out to the drain line in the backyard.

"The Brute"

The girls are captivated.

Starting the hard part -- digging out the mess



The post-jackhammering result -- now to dig out the dirt 4 feet down!  UGH!

the pile o' rubble -- just perfect for the girls to climb on in their black patent shoes

 on Christmas Sunday morning -- oh, yes, they did!



Moving on

Well, the floor above the garage has to be taken out at some point, so James decided to do that while we think...

An update

Well, there hasn't been a whole lot of visible work done. The work currently going on is in our heads. What's the next step?  Where's the plumbing?  How big will the laundry room be?  Do we want to replace more joists? These are just a few of the questions we're dealing with...

A floor!!!

It's finally time to put some plywood on the floor upstairs!  This a big step!

Oh, what a pretty floor. No more joist-walking...

Can you picture the girls' room???