Another stud in the wall

I type this as Shannon is still outside (and will be, for quite some time), applying the last strips of Tyvek to the new sheathing he hung yesterday. 

Ahhh yesterday. Fourteen hours he worked on the nursery yesterday, proving to me yet again how motivated and skilled he really is. In another life I'd like to think he would make a fine carpenter. But in this one I'm glad it's just a hobby, something he does to make our home nicer. I've seen the bruises and felt the stiff muscles from it just being a hobby, so I could do without having my husband's body wrecked every day, at the mercy of hammers, saws, nail guns, and tall ladders.

At 8am yesterday morning the room still looked like this (though do note the new electrical; he's also handy with wires):

That is 85-year-old half-rotted sheathing and decaying wall studs. After rebuilding the stud frame under the window and supporting anything ready to come tumbling down....

OFF goes all of the exterior cedar siding, leaving the back of our house looking like this. Our neighbors loved us yesterday. Yeeee-haw!:

All of the old sheathing and ant-infested felt were the next things to go, creating a lovely sun porch on our second floor. Hello nature!

It was a very calming moment to stand up there, in our baby's future home, hanging on to a bare stud looking out at the world. 

But this calm moment was short-lived, as what goes down must certainly go back up again. Next he had to cut new sheathing and nail it to the studs. It also gave me a chance to help out (finally! This pregnancy thing can be so limiting when it comes to power tools), as I handed him the nail gun and used a crowbar to pry away the old rusted window frame. More on the window later...which will be a very happy post.

At 9:30pm, we had a new exterior wall (well, most of it anyway!). Tonight he's finishing up the Tyvek, which, after the new custom window gets put in next Saturday, will be topped with brand new siding.

Inside we still have more electrical to do, followed by insulation, drywall, painting, carpeting, and...oh yeah... bringing home the baby. 

Shannon is bruised and scraped and I'm just generally fatigued from heat and being 35 weeks pregnant. But at the end of the day we crawled into our crisp, cool sheets, thankful that we have the means and ability to take on these types of projects and make our house the perfect home for our family. 

And if Daphne ever complains about her room, I'll lay on the guilt nice 'n thick with these progress pictures. 

 

Comments

[Rachel Heitman]

I know what you mean about hating to see Shannon all bruised. Aaron has what looks to me like 3rd degree burns on his hand and arms from work :( It seems like everyday he comes home with some new burn. I hate it. It hurts me to look at, my poor guy. He's so tough about it though . . "Awe it doesn't even hurt" he says.

[Amanda]

Woohoo! Way to go Shannon. That is awesome.