Room with a View

I know I said I was going to get back to regular updates and here I left you hanging for two weeks. I guess I'm easing back into it.
Thanksgiving weekend Stacie's family was here and we had the first Thanksgiving at our house despite the construction mess. This meant that we had helpers! We got a lot of the wiring done that weekend, though we still need to get the new electrical panel and do all the runs to the panel. We also got the gas lines finished up and pressure tested. We thought they were done last time, but when we pressure tested them we found a leak. We were able to find its location with some soapy water and get it fixed.

This past weekend really felt good though! We made some serious, visible progress. Our sliding doors arrived last week and we got them installed! I had Friday off of work because they were moving our office so we started the demo then. My grandpa came by to help us get the stucco off the outside, the drywall off the inside and we picked up the doors and the new header (a 3.5" x 11 7/8" manufactured beam for the 12' opening). We also replaced the entire rim joist that was totally rotted and got a temporary supporting wall built to support the house when we opened up the wall.

Saturday morning we had Natalie's second Birthday party. We went to our neighborhood park for food and fun. It would have been more fun if it hadn't been the coldest day of the year so far. After the party I again took advantage of all the helpers that were around and we started opening up the house for the new sliders. We took out the existing door, window and most of the entire back wall of the house. Our living room felt more like a covered patio or porch than an inside room.

We got the beam in and the siding on before dark, but we still had a long way to go and it was getting cold! Once we got the stucco paper on (after trips to two different Home Depots) we were ready to start installing the doors. The doors went together smoothly, but took a while since there were four panels and this was our first time with an exterior door. Gradually we started closing the wall back in - trying to keep some of the heat from the fireplace inside the house - until finally around 9pm we got the last door in.

Sunday we finished up with the weatherstripping, flashing and door hardware. What a difference these doors make! The entire pack of our house is glass with a great view of our backyard. This has definitely been the first part of this entire project that we can appreciate and take advantage of now! Thanks to everyone who helped out, hopefully you have thawed out by now.

This week we are trying to finish up the electrical and low voltage wiring. We need to get our next inspection soon and keep moving since our kitchen cabinets will be delivered this month.