June 16th, Rocks galore

This is the big dumpster we had brought in which I couldn't imagine we would fill up but we just about have already. Look how close it is to the house. I was too nervous to watch the guy backing it in place.

Rock was brought from a plant in a nearby town to fill the entrance to the garage.


Denis got in on the action by moving some of the rock around with his tractor.

Then the backhoe driver showed up at 6:30 at night and got the rock smoothed into place. He was anxious to get it done so he could do the concrete work for the floor of the garage the next day.


He also used the backhoe to fill in the floor of the garage with big rocks and concrete from the old back porch.


Here is the backhoe at rest for the night. I think it looks like a big bug. Look how nice he got the driveway to the garage.



Denis got on the roof to take this picture of the master bath and mudroom. Gives a different perspective doesn't it.

June 12th, Walls, walls and more walls

Wally is waving from the new sliding glass door opening. I'm shooting from the west.

Wally is looking out of the new kitchen window. You can see the old kitchen window behind him.


Denis is sitting on the edge of the garage. This will be the entrance to the garage. You can see there will have to be some dirt work done to raise the ground level up to meet the floor.

And here is that same entrance, shot from the side

Wally and Norma are sitting in the spot where the new bathtub will be located. We are imagining it's a two person tub and we are in our swim suits.

Wally wanted to take a picture of us standing in the new part of our house, so we obliged him.

June 11th, First wall to go up

This is the first new wall to go up. The window is on the west side of the kitchen, and the door opening is on the north side, leading to a patio.



Here is the next wall, constructed and ready to go up the next day. I don't envy these workers, toiling away in this heat and humidity.

June 10th, Floor joists and sub-floor

This picture is the sub-floor for the expansion of the kitchen and hallway.

Floor joists under the sub-floor. They are very substantial, better than what is under the rest of the house.


More joists, specifically showing the ones under the area of the master bath that will hold the new soaking tub. There will be a big picture window above the tub, looking out into the pasture. I'll be able to see the horses while I lounge, assuming it is during the day time.

June 7th, Bye bye back door

In preparation for adding on the new floor joists, the sliding glass door in the kitchen had to be reomoved. For safety, and our need of a/c, the builder put up some boards and then some heavy plastic over the opening. This is the view of it from outside the house.


And here is what it looks like from the inside. We're calling it our Arkansas version of a picture window, plastic on the outside and plastic on the inside.

May 30th, the forms are removed

Now the forms have been removed and all you see is the concrete forming the wall for the crawl space. This view outlines the expansion of the kitchen, looking from the west of the house.

This is the concrete wall that will be the base of the garage on the north side. Nigel (our bear look alike) sneaked into the picture.

This is a retaining wall, built at the entrance of the garage. The driveway into the garage will have to be built up a lot and this was the only way to hold all the dirt.

And this little nook, next to the garage is where my new jacuzzi type tub will go. Can't wait!

May 29th, Finding the water leak

The big concrete truck ran over a water line leading from the well house to the garage. Apparently the weight of the truck pushed a rock into the pipe. Denis had to get the pick and shovel out to find the source of a leak.


Denis found the leak and with the help of the builder put in a temporary patch.