New Roof!!!

Last Fourth of July our neighborhood was hit pretty hard by a hailstorm, it didn't take long after for signs to start popping and contractors roaming the neighborhood offering free damage inspections.  Our roof was one of the biggest concerns when we bought the house, it wasn't in horrible shape but probably needed replaced in next 5 to 10 years so we figured why not let someone take a look at it.  The contractor determined there was definitely enough damage for the insurer to total the roof so we filed the claim with insurance.  I also checked with my agent as I wasn't sure what a claim of this size would do to our rates, and learned that they would be going up whether we filed a claim or not as nearly everyone in the area had some damage.

Once the weather broke this spring we finally got the call that the adjuster was coming out to inspect the roof.  That evening we learned that he had indeed totaled the roof and we were already looking over color samples.  It turned out to be an easy choice as we both pointed to the same color as our first instinct so it was a compromise free decision of "Aged Redwood" as our new roof color.  A few weeks later a dumpster and three pallets of roofing supplies were dropped off in the front yard and here are the results.

Before (Note the Open Valleys and "Turtle" Vents)

Materials and Dumpster

More of the same 

Finished product with closed valleys and ridge vents

All in all we are pretty happy with the way things worked out.  We had a leak in one of the valleys that is now fixed, our flat-roofed patio is now properly roofed, and the hail storm saved us a small fortune to get our 55 square roof completely replaced for the price of the deductible.

Drywall Everywhere

With everything ripped out, new walls built, and cable and network wires ran to every room it was finally time to start sealing it all up.  We had 100 sheets of drywall and approximately 2 weeks before we were set to have carpet installed. 

My parents were once again up to help, with my mom stuffing insulation in the walls (there was previously none) and my Dad and I hanging drywall we were off.  It started out slow, but once we got in a groove we were moving around pretty quickly.  I must say after a few rooms I became a master at cutting out outlets and switch holes in the drywall and things were moving pretty smoothly.  It still wasn't going as fast as I had hoped, but we were in a rythm and seemed to be getting the job done. 

The next weekend my brother-in-law made the trip up as well and with a little more manpower we not only knocked out the rest of the drywall, but also got the doors and French door in the living room installed.  Previously our living room had an oddly placed door in the corner leading out to the patio with a huge, albeit, ugly window looking out.  We covered up the old door and took out the window in able to put in some French doors leading to the patio.  Here are some before and after shots...



Before and after shots of the French Door we added. 

 I spent most of the rest of the following week finishing the drywall.  This was the first time I had ever finished drywall and while I din't find it to be a difficult task, it was certainly a tdious one.  I remember my forearm and hand throbbing from holding the knife for such long periods of time, but in the end I was pleased with my work and asides from a few isolated spots I may have missed we ended up with some pretty even walls.  As you will see from the pictures we chose to hang the drywall vertically instead of the more traditional horizontal method mainly because the ceiling was already crumbling where there was existing crown moulding and we were going to have to put new crown up to cover it either way.  Here are some shots of drywall hanging and finishing.

First pieces are up in the Master.

Cut-out four our in-wall entertainment rack.

This was by far the biggest part of our project and it was a relief when it was over, mainly because it was time to get carpet and move in but also because I had been working myself to death for the previous month. 

Taking Out Walls

My next project was to get rid of the pointless wall between the living room and dining room.  It seemed like a very unnecessary wall that closed off the dining room a lot more than it needed to be.  Here is the wall already stripped down to the studs...

You can see that the only real purpose this wall served was housing a few HVAC vents and an outlet, other than that it just seemed weird.  It didn't really seperate the rooms as the opening between the wall and the outside wall to the left was still a large opening, but the offset just killed all flow.  We pictured it completely open with knee walls creating a center opening and a few columns to clearly divide the two rooms but also keep it one space. 

To start out I climbed up into the attic and checked out the rafters to see if it was load bearing or not.  I didn't think it was (as a structural engineer you would think I could say that with a little more conviction), but just to be sure I put up a temporary wall and got to work removing what was left of the wall. 

With everything gone but my "temporary wall" which consisted of 6 2x4's and no nails, probly not the safest but at some point I need to trust my engineering degree and believe myself when I say it isn't load bearing, I was ready to build the new wall.

I used a few 2x6's across the top with some 2x4 spacers to make a beam 5.5" wide to match the 2x6 columns I was putting in.  With the new beam across the top and new columns it was starting to come together. 

Finally I finished it off with the knee walls...

Overall we were very happy with how this turned out, we got two distinct spaces but added a much more open feel to the area.  Plus, we now have the knee wall as a place for decorations and picture frames and of course columns to wrap in garland for Christmas.