...more framing updates

As usual...hectic last couple days - work, personal and house stuff...same'ol stuff. Without detail, its been a challenging last couple days in every way.

So, to keep moving forward...here is the latest.

Since we opened up this space on the left (Dining Room to Kitchen), we removed some load bearing walls. In order to keep our structure safe and sound, we needed to add a massive beam across the top framed to support what we removed.
Carpenters are here daily getting stuff done and I always swing by to check progress. I am always interested in watching how things are done and like to understand this stuff. At times I feel like Im eves dropping, but Im really just curious...I guess I should have been a carpenter huh?

 Here on the right, you will notice more wall was removed as well as the large terra-cotta pipe is now completely gone. It would have been a waste of space if I left it in as most people do because its so huge and heavy...but we removed it to gain the space in the corner for a cabinet.
This is me snooping around snapping photos. I told them Id be doing this throughout the duration of the project....so just dont mind me walking around. I do stay away from where they work to not invade on workspace...Id hate it if someone did that to me while I was working.

Here is a shot that I posted yesterday, only this time the water proofing material is on. Perfect timing as I believe it is going to rain this weekend - so the forecast says (which has been fairly accurate lately). Old window and door on the side (kitchen area) have now been removed and sealed. This makes space for a long run of cabinets inside as well as our new location for the range and hood. Looks like all thats left on the exterior is some new stucco in this area. Hope they can match it to the existing......we dont have the prickly type of stucco...its kind of smooth with some texture.

These guys clean the house well before they leave and it is greatly appreciated. Reminds me of how me and RonDZ leave at the end of the day when we did our share of work. As nice as it looks opened up in here, this is not the final layout of this section.
As you can see, the beam across the top has been placed along with some support on each of the sides. This is some heavy duty stuff and feels good again to know this portion of the structure is secured and fully supported again.

Next up is some framing in the bathroom and a little more framing to this area in the dining room. Some of the other little items will be done at a later time as we needed these portions done ahead of time due to electrical and plumbing needs. After the bathroom area is framed (where we added an old closet to become part of the bathroom), we move on to Electrical and Plumbing as the next folks up to do work. I will be doing some of the cabling for the Networking (TV Cables, Phone Cables and CAT6)...that stuff I understand and will be helping with the installation of those items.



Not that you can see out from this picture - but one reason we wanted to open the kitchen up to the dining room was because the windows and being able to look out. Lucky for us, all neighbors across the street have houses that are fine by us to look at - all pretty much renovated, restored and just nice to look at (rather than some beat up houses). Though we removed a doorway and a window from the kitchen and sealed it, we opened this to bring in light and to be able to bring the two rooms together. Better for entertainment and just more functional for us. Ahhhh...I wish the opening was staying this big....but its not. We will still have a massive amount of daylight coming through the opening we will have. It will be nice...promise.