Texas Room, Day 17!

John started today with finishing installation of the remaining sheet rock; and, unfortunately, we came up a sheet short. But he got started mudding in the main room and actually finished mudding in all the walls. Later in the afternoon, I went in and used the shop vac to clean and sweep the floors.

It really is coming along, but I do hate this. I would rather take a vacation and come back to a completely finished project. Hah!

After the work was done for the day, Terry and I went to Home Depot to get a couple more boards of sheet rock. Fortunately, some nice cashier was able to help us load it on top of the little truck. If not, we would have had a hard time getting that done.

We had some excitement today. I was stepping down off the steps and saw a bunch of "crap" (literally) on the pavement. I thought it looked like bird crap and when I looked up, I saw two heads peeking out from the peak on the canopy. BIRDS!!!!! I yelled and they took off, but they returned a couple times. Guess they are looking for a place to nest. We have an owl up on a cross bar, but with the building going up right under him, I guess they cannot see him. We have a second owl that we put over the motorhome last year but hadn't put him up again. He actually swings and looks a little formidable, so I got up on the motorhome and hung him up there. It may take a little more encouraging to keep the birds from nesting up there. I have a long pole that I use to bump the roof. It is loud and usually scatters them. I will have to be diligent tomorrow to keep them from claiming a permanent abode.

In other news, I walked over to Mom's this afternoon and looked at her cactus as I passed by. One of them is blooming! Whoo Hoo! I haven't ever seen blooms on it before. It's just one, but it is pretty.

Tomorrow the mudding continues, moving along to the ceilings. Once that is finished, they will probably finish up the soffit and the skirting outside to give the mud a chance to dry.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 16!

Today the drywall went up in the room. First, they did all the ceilings. That was finished by noon. You can see in the picture that John uses some props because it makes it easier for one guy to do the job. After lunch they worked on the sidewalls. That is about 85% completed, with some smaller cutting to do now. Terry had to finish up some electrical and now that is done as well.

The air conditioner/heat pump was delivered today. It is in the tool shed. Once the front room is finished and at least the area where it goes is painted, then it will be installed. It in an indoor/outdoor split unit. It works well in applications such as ours, so we are anxious to get it in.

The picture with the multiple outlets and the corner is where the kitchen will be. It is really a kitchenette with a two-burner stovetop, a microwave/convection oven and a small refrigerator.

Terry says the bathtub will be set tomorrow. It really is beginning to look like a little apartment! Woo hoo!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 15!

Today the vapor barrier went up. It really is beginning to look like a room now. The A/C guy came and talked with us about what we are wanting to put in. We came to an agreement and he later brought back a template for Terry to examine. They talked about where it would be placed and decided on a plan of action. We are putting in a "split" unit. There is a portion inside that will sit up high on the wall and the condenser will sit outside at the back of the lot.

Later in the morning all the dry wall was delivered, so it is waiting for installation which starts tomorrow.

While the guys were working on the vapor barrier, I was out running down parts and ordered items that came in. I had several stops to make, but it went well. Just that I hate that part of the job. Hah!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 14!

Today the siding was finished along the back. Wow it sure looks different with the siding on. Then the fun part came. John had to cut in all the small pieces over the tool shed where it attaches to the Texas room. It was really tedious work and John actually worked upside down part of the time. Terry helped cut pieces of siding and Wilmer assisted him. That way John didn't have to keep coming off the roof. He just measured and told the guys what he needed and they handed it up to him. It only took 45 minutes to do the siding on the back wall and the rest of the day to go around the corner and cut in the upper part. Whew.

The room is really taking shape. It looks pretty good now. We have to get some more supplies tomorrow and return some extra items. We are also going to order the drywall tomorrow. They will start hanging that as soon as it gets here. Whoo hoo! We are going to order the kitchen cabinets tomorrow too.

John said he would have it finished before he leaves the middle of March. I think he will get it done. We probably won't have any time to enjoy it this year before we leave to head north, but it will be waiting for us next fall when we return.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 13!

I haven't always been able to post because of our irregular internet connection, so I will try to catch up!

Thursday was Day 13 of the Texas Room build. John continued with the siding and it went a little quicker than yesterday because they were able to hang the siding instead of cutting little pieces all day to go around the windows and the alcove, etc.

By the end of the day, the siding was on all sides except for the back side which faces Mom and Dad's house. By this time, we had convinced John that we did not like the problem over the front door. We have been having a lot of rain and there is space above the door where a gap exists between the canopy and the room roof. So the rain comes straight down and as you exit the door, you get drenched. Yuck. So John pondered it for a bit and decided on a little roof out over the door. By the end of the day it was in place and ready for finishing.


Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 12!

Today it was NOT raining in south Texas! Whoo hoo! John arrived just before 8 a.m. and got started on the siding. There is a lot of preparatory work involved with siding. You have to put the facings on the doors and the J-channel, etc. I don't know if those are the proper names, but suffice to say that you have to have something to attach the siding to, so that stuff has to go up first. If you were expecting to see the room get "wrapped" today (like Mom) you were disappointed. While it looks like not much was accomplished, there was a lot of stuff that went up that had to be cut and perfectly fitted so that the siding would look nice when it is done.

By afternoon, they started to put the siding on. They are starting near the little shed first so that they get it straight and in line with that. Once they get around to the side and back where there are few cutouts, it will go rather quickly. John figures three days to do the siding, but Terry thinks that it will take longer. If the weather holds, it could be done by the weekend! Whoot!

It was warmer today. . . in the 80's, but it is supposed to cool down again tomorrow and the high is supposed to be 70*. Quite a change, but that won't be bad for working outside. And if the sun comes out, it will be nice.

Tomorrow we are having another patio sale here in the park, so Mom and I are going to set out a few things. I still have some jewelry left over from last time and Mom has a couple bicycles to sell.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 11!

Today the plumbing was stubbed in and all the vents were done. The bathroom fan is in and all the electrical was tested and it all works!

Later in the morning the insulation was delivered and that took most of the rest of the day. But all the insulation is in place. Terry is pleased that things are going so quickly.

We waited this afternoon for the big delivery from Lowe's which was the bathtub, the fiberglas side walls, the micro/convection oven and the commode. The delivery guys kept calling and postponing the delivery and it finally got here at 7:30 p.m. And they had TWO bathtubs for us and NO commode. What a joke. So after we refused the one tub and got everything else unloaded, we had to drive back to Lowe's to get it all straightened out. Hopefully we did. They didn't have any more of the commode we wanted, so the manager sold us an upgrade toilet ($200+) for the same price. Can't figure that one out because they had a whole rack full of them the other day when we were in there. But we took the upgrade. Hope it works for us.

Tomorrow is a day off from the building. John, our builder, has to go pick up his new motorhome, so he and his wife are taking the day to do that. It is supposed to be nice tomorrow and we are supposed to have our vinyl siding delivered. Hopefully they will be able to get started on the siding when John returns.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 10!

John, the builder, continued with the wiring today and incorporated the changes I requested. . . mainly more outlets.

Terry and I went to Alamo, Texas, to the True Value and ordered the vinyl siding. This is the same place where we purchased the siding for the tool shed two years ago. The owner is very nice and we have an account there which makes it nice. We can just put our purchases "on account" and they will send us a bill. All the siding is ordered and will be delivered on Monday. Also being delivered Monday is the bathtub and fiberglas walls, the commode and the convection/microwave oven. Whoo hoo! We aren't ready for it all, but we try to group the items for one delivery. Actually the delivery charge on the tub was almost $100. However, they deliver appliances for free. So we are having the oven delivered free and had the tub and walls added to the "free delivery" order, so it is all being delivered free. . . go figure. Actually, the appliance salesman told us to do it this way. What a guy!

We also had to make a trip back to Lowe's to change our tub from a right-hand drain to a left-hand drain. We tried making the change over the phone, but that wasn't working, so we went in person. Even then, several mistakes were made, but eventually the correct information prevailed. I told Terry we will probably get 3 bathtubs delivered Monday. Ho ho. We shall see.

The weather was cool today and a little misty, but not wet. Tomorrow is supposed to be a really nice day and next week mostly sunny and warm. I'm sure John will get working on the siding with the warm weather.

I will add pictures tomorrow.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 9!

The rain in south Texas continues. I must say, I have never been here that there has been so much rain. Once again, I'm not complaining, just making an observation. I hope the water table is recovering from the severe drought of last summer.

Wiring was on the agenda for today. The guys worked on that and also built the bathroom wall. Terry changed the location of the washer/dryer and the water heater. I'm going to have the same amount of room as before, it will just be configured a little differently. This was due to the washer/dryer we decided to go with, which was a little larger than the other unit. Also the water heater Terry wanted was not available in a low-boy, so we relocated the water heater and will be able to accommodate the larger, taller size.

Terry got door locks on both the doors on the new Texas room, so for the first time we were able to lock it all up. That will be more secure now. The room is really coming together and it is easier to see how the space will be and I am anxious to get it finished and in use. It will be very nice and comfortable.

After the guys finished, we went to Lowe's and ordered the washer/dryer, refrigerator and the water heater. We will be ordering the siding in the next day or two and next week when the forecast is "sunny," they will start on that.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 8!

Last evening it started raining. It is rare that we ever hear the rain inside the motorhome because we have a canopy over the coach and the rain falls on it. Since there is quite a buffer of air between the canopy and the motorhome roof, we generally don't hear much. But last evening we could hear a lot. The rain beat against the side of the motorhome and we even had some thunder. It is cold here in Texas, but we still aren't complaining. The rain is needed throughout Texas and my cactus are even loving it. I planted Misty, my 2-year old Poinsettia and she is putting out some red leaves for the first time in almost 2 years, so something is agreeing with her. It continued to rain all night and most of the morning.

Today John started with boxing in the alcove in the big room. This is where the fireplace with go and the flat screen TV. This has a little roof on it on the outside of the building, so that had to be flashed and shingled as well.

Then they moved inside and started putting up the ceiling rafters. When the day was done, the rafters were all in and the wall separating the bath and the kitchen was in. Now that there is more definition to the floorplan, it is easier to visualize what goes where and I am starting to get excited about the finished product. It rained most of the morning, but it did eventually stop. But the good part is that now that the building is enclosed, they can move inside and work anytime the weather is bad. They will do some electrical tomorrow. After dinner tonight, we went to buy some more items. We got our tub and enclosure ordered, a toilet and the microwave/convection oven. The oven happened to be on sale and was just what we wanted so we bought it. The other items are needed in order to start the plumbing, and they are going to be delivered on Monday.

Tomorrow John will figure up the vinyl siding and trim, etc., and we will get that ordered. At some point, they will put that on as the outside must be completely finished before we leave the valley in March. But I think that will not be a problem.

The last item worked on was the entry door. After it was installed, we could see that it would not work to swing it left, so I went to McCoy's after getting my haircut today and got a right swing door jam. The guys did switch it out and now the door works better for us.

We went to dinner tonight at the hall. Tonight was the Elm Street dinner. It was very good. Chicken breast, green beans or corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry salad or applesauce, roll, coffee, tea, and cake. It was a very good meal and we enjoyed it.

We still have many trips out to buy supplies and materials. We didn't find the sink base we wanted, but we still have some places to check.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 7!

Today we were waiting on material to be delivered, so John spent time hooking the two buildings together. The shed was built two years ago and we decided to attach them and make a closet with the space between the two. It took quite a bit of time to remove the roofing from the shed in order to extend the roof and affix the flashing, etc., that had to be added.

Also today the windows were installed as well as the door. The open area to the left of the door is actually an offset in the wall which will hold the flat screen television and the fireplace on the inside of the room.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 6!

Today was roof day for the building. John first rolled out the felt, then placed the shingles on the roof. Not a lot of pictures because with the pitch of the roof, you really cannot see the shingles.

It was a cold day today. I don't think it got above 60 degrees, but that was okay for laying the shingles. It wasn't so hot, and this week promises to stay cool; then it will warm up once again.

So the roof was finished today and then Terry and I had to make another trip to the lumber yard to order the next truckload of materials. We get a list of what to order for each phase. It is working really well because we don't have a lot of material sitting outside for long. The order is to be delivered by 10 a.m. tomorrow, but there is work that can be done before it arrives.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 5!

The roof rafters went up this morning. We are putting a "shed" roof on the building which follows the roof line of the canopy that covers most of the lot and under which the motorhome is parked.

After the rafters were up, they started placing the sheeting up on the roof and nailing it down. That took most of the day. It was hot here, over 80 degrees, and it was hot up on the roof. When the roof was completed, the drip cap was added and they called it a day. My job has been to clean up every day. It wasn't hard today because we had considerable wind and all the sawdust was blown out steadily all day. On Monday they will start laying shingles.

Whoo hoo!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 4!

Even though the forecast included no rain, that didn't stop us from getting a bit. Yesterday it was actually forecast, but none came. Today, however, we had a couple moments of brief showers. The first time, the pavement didn't actually get wet, but it did later on. However, we had considerable wind and it dried very quickly. It didn't stop the work on the building, though.

The sidewalls went up today. Now we have four walls. The stage was set for the roof. I'm not sure they can get it done tomorrow, but hopefully the rafters will go up and maybe the decking. It is starting to take shape now.

We went to the jam tonight. There were some incredibly poor performers tonight. I can't imagine what makes people get up and sing who do not know music and cannot carry a tune. I wonder if they ever tape themselves and listen to what they sound like. The jam is supposed to last from 6-8, but anyone who wants can perform, so they started at 5:50 tonight and probably went till 8:45. We left at 7:15 at the break. The best performers are usually in the second half, but we were tired and it gets to be too much to sit on those chairs for almost 3 hours. Next week we will probably go after the break.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Texas Room, Day 3!

Today began with the building of the side walls.

First up was the south wall. It was built on the deck and when it was completed, everybody in the park came to push it up into place. It was braced and then the build on the north wall began. Once it was completed, up it went. It also was braced. Today the two side walls will go up and tie into the other walls and then the roof will get started. Hopefully once that is done, we will be working with lighter materials. It has helped that some neighbors have been around to assist. And then we also have had the naysayers who told Terry that "you can't do this, you're in violation of the covenants." Go read them, sir. He went on to say that anything we built on our lot had to be permanently attached to the motorhome. . . yeah, like that's going to happen. Well, we aren't in violation of anything and we have a building permit. Work continues.

We stopped yesterday afternoon in time to shower and go to the park dinner. This was another of our "street" dinners to raise money for the park. They are going to have to improve this one if they expect us to return. This was the ham ball dinner. Serving is from 4-6. We got there at 5 p.m. and they were already out of green beans. What's up with that? So Terry went off to get our drinks. Iced tea with NO ICE? They ran out of ice. Halfway through the dinner the ice arrived so Terry went up for a refill. . . now NO TEA? What's up with that? First you could have warm tea with no ice, then you could have ice with no tea. Poor planning on someone's part. But we did get enough to eat and we didn't have to cook, so that was good.

We were pretty tired last night and retired early. We both woke up during the night, but I still think it is better to lay in bed and rest your body even if you can't sleep. We both did go back to sleep though and are ready to go again today.

Till next time. . .

Dale