A Windmill In Old Amsterdam

If you have no clue what I mean, please research the the above song title and you will find what I found running up the wall 😯  Les is still convinced it was a bat (we did perform a batectomy) but unless bats have tails he is wrong, wrong, wrong !!!!!

Anyway, moving forward……..Sunday was the day to start demolishing and rebuilding the *long* wall and great progress was made.  It is soooo strange being able to go in and out of the house through the old wall 🙂

Getting started….

Yes you could see the ground where the siding had separated (do you think we needed this remodel)….

Framing (not sure this is the best way 40′ in the air on scaffolding)….

Easy *in and out*(the old framing before he removed it all)….

Their old header….

Our new *beefy* header….

Old window framing….

Our new and much improved window framing….

After seeing what was behind our walls or lack thereof , Les is amazed that the house survived as many hurricanes as it did – even Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and Marilyn (category 3) in 1996 did not blow the house down (now I’ve jinxed it) – hopefully with all the new and improved framing we will be equally as safe in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over Half Way There

On framing that is.

So yesterday was the day to start on the upstairs – our first day without a wall in our living level.  There were no surprises really except this……..

He was a good 4″ long and came running out of the wall – tail all curled up when Les pulled the drywall off – he doesn’t look too impressive here as he has been sprayed and is good and dead 🙂

The other minor surprise we discovered (or at least we think we discovered) is that our living room was once a deck that one of the previous owners converted to a closed in living space – we found evidence of a red painted railing that they had used for framing – yep framing !!!

Red Railing….

Start of tear down….

All finished – framed in 2″x 6″ and strapped down (no strapping evident on the old wall)

Stay tuned for what we found today when we removed the *long* wall getting ready to frame 😯

 

Batten Down The Hatches

We are hermetically sealed – no light, no breeze no view !!!

In preparation for the removal of the interior and exterior walls, Les needed to be able to seal off the room he will be working in, I mean we really don’t want to be sitting in the house open to the elements  or the 40′ drop on the other side !!!!  He already *sealed* one opening so he could pile the furniture in front of it and today I arrived home to find we have a new *door* where our other opening used to be.  He nailed plywood to the opening and installed a door so he can (obviously) work inside….

So he removed part of one of the window frames and found dead termites (hey at least they were dead) and then started on the removal of drywall which was super easy as it was barely attached – his comment was “could they have used shorter screws – I think not”

Look close for dead termites….

Removal of drywall….

Now because he will be framing in 2″x 6″ vs the original 2″x 4″ he needs to cut 2″ of tile so that he can lay the new sill – here is the first cut which pretty much was the last cut as he needs a new hefty blade….

The line marks the spot….

Cutting….

My living space is getting smaller and……

smaller and smaller (if that is possible 🙂 )

So for Les to start removing the T1-11 from the upper level of our home – this is the level we live on – and start framing the new walls, installing new windows and then installing the plywood, cement board and Total Wall on the exterior along with all new drywall on the interior, we had to empty the room – where did it go you ask (or not) ………..well I’ll tell you……. it went into the area that used to have our small table.  Our home now has all the patio furniture, patio dining table and chairs, the bed from downstairs, as well as our TV, sofa, small table and sofa table in one small area where it will remain for, well, who knows how long but please don’t let it be tooooooo loooooooong.

Now that the “living space” has been emptied, I had a chance to double check that the window/sofa placement would work (remember the wall that divides the two rooms will be removed, a header installed thus opening up the room and allowing for a small dining area as well)  Do you like my drawings on the wall – the painters tape marks the windows and obviously the drawings mark the new TV console and TV 🙂

 

 

Let There Be Light

And there was light……….and our first window 🙂

Sunday was a day to tackle a few small jobs (OK nothing is small but you know what I mean)   Les decided to install the windows downstairs which required him to install some frames to hold the windows in the openings.  He had purchased a new tool – a planer – as he wants to use pressure treated 2″x 4″ for the frame and the pressure treated lumber is really rough.

First he had to cut out the plywood that covered the opening….

Then trim….

Plane the 2″x 4″ for the frame….

Viola – first install….

And second (although once he knew the two windows in the bedroom area fit he removed them – don’t ask why 🙂 )

He installed them perfectly – he measured and fit them so that if the hurricane shutters were accidentally lowered (remember they will have a motor and be activated via a remote control) when the windows were open they would miss the glass – beautiful frames don’t you think….

At first Les did not think he liked the windows – OK that is a little strong – if you remember he really wanted the jalousie windows that he found in Hawaii but I talked him out of spending over double what these cost and not to mention the logistical nightmare of shipping windows from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands, but now that he has actually installed a few he really likes them – he actually said, and I quote, “I like these better” see I knew best all along 🙂

The next job was installing the drip edge along the roof.  He removed the old, painted the overhang with a roof topping – a rubber like paint that is used in the Caribbean on roofs that protects from rain etc and then installed the new….

Removing the old…

Painting with a Roof Topper – such a happy guy….

Installing the new….

We also fit in two runs to the dump with all the exterior old T1-11 and purchased Snow And Ice Shield which needs to be applied over the plywood and before the cement board – who knew we needed a product called Snow And Ice Shield in the Caribbean 🙂 ….

Oh we also finished off all of the champagne and cake – it was a great anniversary weekend 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

We Found A Leak

When Les dug his trench to run the new electrical pipe he found the bathroom pipe was leaking 😦  Saturday was spent going to the hardware store to buy plumbing fixtures and fixing the problem.  Apparently when he moved the toilet location and reworked the plumbing it was not apparent that the old toilet pipe was connected to the sink pipe (I mean who does that !!) so when he disconnected the old toilet plumbing and rerouted it he did not know that the sink drain was tied in (at that time we were without a bathroom sink as it had not yet been installed)  so all this time whenever we used the sink the water was just running out of an old pipe into the ground……….no fun.

Thank goodness he had to dig the trench for the new electricity pipe to be run and unearthed (excuse the pun) the problem or who knows when it would have been discovered – if ever.

The fixin’ of the problem took all day but we tested, tested and tested some more and all is well – everything was put back nicely – well as nicely as you can be when under construction 🙂

My Anniversary Present….

A new electrical panel…………..just what I have always wanted – well, actually it is 🙂

So yesterday was our 7th wedding anniversary and the plan was to take our anniversary cake and champagne to Gibney beach (where we were married) and spend the day until it was time to come home, have more champagne before heading out to dinner at ZoZo’s but nooooo that did not happen, but really it is OK.  We received a call at 7am from our electrician letting us know that he was available and did we want him to start work on installing the new electrical panel and of course the answer was yes – never say no to someone on island that might not be available tomorrow (or the next few months).  Les is doing most of the new electrical himself but as he had never installed a new electrical panel he wanted to be sure it was installed correctly so he hired an electrician for the day and it went super fast – 3 hours and done – well the wiring is not done but the hard work is.

Les dug the “trench” to lay the pipe and conduit and that was completed before the electrician arrived and then they worked together running and connecting the pipe for the conduit.

Digging the trench….

King working on the pipe….

The pipe exiting from under the house….

The new electrical panel downstairs (placed perfectly between the never to be hung 25″ picture frame containing a beautiful St John beach photograph)

The existing panel that the new panel is connected to – you can see the grey tubing exiting at the bottom and don’t worry the whole house will be painted when we are finished – the “yellow” area was behind the old hot water heater and if you remember we now have a tankless hot water heater….

And what we enjoyed for breakfast and dinner….

It was a great anniversary 🙂

 

 

 

Wimpy, Wimpy, Wimpy…..Hefty, Hefty, Hefty

Getting back to our regularly scheduled program (we were looking at a possible Tropical Storm/Hurricane so I was a little preoccupied)  Les worked tirelessly on the downstairs room and I am happy to report it is totally framed in and the plywood has been installed on the exterior.

When he removed the old T1-11 he noticed the room was framed using  2″x 4″ (which actually he suspected  – and not very well constructed I will add)  the new framing is all 2”x 6” – that is where the title “wimpy, wimpy, wimpy” came from – and then he worked on strapped everything down – there was very little strapping on the original structure.

Along with framing, as we are reconfiguring the bathroom and making it larger he had to replace a section of the subfloor as well (which truth be told the subfloor was the actual floor of the downstairs as they never tiled over it) from under the old shower and toilet – it obviously had two holes cut out for drains etc and of course that would not work, and was just a little spongy  (OK a lot spongy) – it was very interesting having no walls and no floor.  Here is our weekend progress….

Remember where we left off….

Soon turned into this….

Wimpy and hefty side by side….

Starting on strapping….

Tarped for protection….

Removing subfloor (like how my new bathroom is taped out on the floor 🙂 )….

New subfloor….

I just realized I did not take a photo of the finished bathroom wall before Les covered with plywood (we did not cut the windows out so the interior would be protected from the storm should she track over St John) so here are a few pictures taken after the plywood was attached and this stage of the room finished – she now holds our new windows 🙂 ….

It only just dawned on me that when we get to replacing the T1-11 and reframing the upstairs area – the area where we live – we are also going to be without walls for about a week and covered at night only by a tarp (see photo above) I mean I knew the walls were coming down but for some reason I didn’t even think about the fact we are going to be open to the elements not to mention the 40‘ drop on the other side of the tarp – it’s going to be interesting to say the least trying to keep from thinking about what’s on the other side and to keep our 2 girls (mini Australian Shepherd dogs if you don’t know named Coqui and Tiki) away from the “edge”………. wish us luck please.

Are We Alive……

Why yes we are but we have been a little distracted watching (now) Tropical Storm Emily approach and hoping she did not turn into the possible Category 1 hurricane with a direct path over St John – luckily she is only a Tropical Storm and her path changed and she is moving South of us as I type (still strong winds – no fun being on scaffolding right now I can tell ya) but that did not stop us from continuing with the remodel.  I am working on a new post and hopefully a new update (including the removal of part of our floor 😯 ) will be posted later tonight or early tomorrow so stay tuned 🙂

How To Spend $4,000 in 60 Seconds……..

Buy 2 exterior hurricane doors – yes I really did say only  2 !!!!! and actually the total was $4,208.95 – oh the joy of living in a hurricane zone 😦

The next “big” expense will be hurricane shutters (unfortunately a necessary expense) and because we have no way of closing the shutters on the second floor – remember we have no deck once the scaffolding is down so no way to walk out and pull them down we have two choices….

1. Electric motors operated by remote control
2. Manual shutters that require a *crank* that is on the inside next to the window

We have a total of 10 windows that will require either option 1 or option 2 and given that the electric motors cost approximately $600.00 each my first thought was to go with option number 2 – I mean how bad can a manual *crank* look given I was told it is only about 2″ long.  Each window would require it’s own *crank* and it would be located next to the window where you would be able to attach a  handle (for the want of a better word) and then lower the hurricane shutter from the inside.  Well judge for yourself and then guess which option we are going with 🙂