How we spent our Thanksgiving weekend

In addition to eating, we: 

• installed a door on the outside shed
• demoed (is that a word?) the framing on the south facing walls in the front room
• took a bunch of old wiring and metal to the recycling place (ca-ching)
• hung up a string of Edison bulbs in the front room (looks like a party in here)
• lagged the steel beam to the wood sill on top of it
• stained some of the wood framing around the yet-to-be-installed door
• shopped for our new appliances (big sales going on now)

I have a few pictures to show off the demo-ing, and of the Edison bulbs. But sadly, no pictures of the before or after of the old and new door on the shed, or of the lags on the beam, or of us shopping for appliances during our many, many, many trips to hardware stores. 

Here's what I have: 

 These first two pictures show the framing on the south wall of the front room before I removed it. I didn't take any before pictures of the wall to the left of the garage door opening, only to the right.

Here are pictures of the wall after removing the framing:

Here are pictures of the ceiling with the Edison lights up...it looks like a party in here!

No, we are not giving tours...

Our neighbors and passersby seem to think that we are doing something amazing inside. Yesterday a woman walking by with her dog yelled from across the street that we should give tours. She said that she is dying to see the inside. A while ago, a man driving by asked what our building was going to be. I said it was going to be my house. He said that he hoped it would be finished by Halloween.

I'm not sure what people think is going on...it's not like we're Willie Wonka and this is the chocolate factory. In reality we are living in a construction zone and slowly but surely things get finished.

Steel beam installation start to finish

Last week and weekend was very productive: the steel beam and wood posts were installed in the front room! Here is a short summary of what happened-told mainly through pictures. 

Before the steel arrived:

Arts and crafts night:

The lags and washers that will secure the posts to the floor, and the beam to the posts and the wall were too shiny and new. We dipped them in gun bluing to give them a weathered look that blends in with the braces and steel. 

Here is one of the steel plates that will hold the wood post. These were made by Polynomial from Patrick's specifications. They are beautiful and crazy strong.  

Here is one of the posts in place. Those are hi-jacks next to the post. They used four jacks to lift the steel, and placed the posts underneath.

Here are pictures with the jacks in place, supporting the steel.

On Saturday, Mickey came over and used a grinder and welded the beam to the braces.

We even had a guest welder stop by and help us out...can't find pictures of him right now though.

And finally, pictures of the jacks out of the way. Ta dah:

Today Patrick lagged the steel plates to the floor and to the wall. The room feels huge! Next, we'll stain the 2 x 12s that are on top of the steel beam, and the posts.

Next big project: getting the garage door installed in the front room. Hopefully we can get that in this week. (fingers crossed!)

Shoring up the beam in the front room

Preparation for the beams: 

We have known since the demo guys first took down the drop ceiling in the front room that our main beam needed some support. We have had some temporary supports in place while Patrick got the details worked out with the structural engineers. The plan calls for a steel beam to be placed under the current beam, which will be held up by large wooden posts. 

Yesterday I removed some framing and plaster from the walls so that there would be a flat surface for the posts rest against. Patrick removed the wood floor and subfloor where the two posts will be installed. 

2 x 4 wall removed, subfloor removed

Wall next to front door, 2x4 framing removed,
plaster removed from brick wall

                

                          Close up of floor and subfloor removed for posts

Steel, posts, and plates arrived

Today the steel beam, the douglas fir posts, and the steel plates arrived! We are slowly getting closer to getting our ceiling shored up.

Steel plate which sits on subfloor and supports and secures the wooden posts.

These are our gorgeous Douglas Fir posts!
Aren't they beautiful?

another view of the soon-to-be installed beam

Here's the steel beam!
It is really impressive!









Stay tuned for news and pictures of the beam installation! 

Finally! An update...what we've been working on since summer

 Synopsis of July-September happenings

The last time I posted we hadn't moved in yet. Here's a bullet list for those of you with no desire to read the detailed minutia of each step:

Shower
Washer/dryer
Simplisafe Security system
Casper mattress
Garage door for the garage (as opposed to the living area)
Heating ductwork installed and heat functional
A fully functional front door!!
Wall framed, insulated and dry walled between laundry/mud room and the garage and shop

First on the list: SHOWER

We moved into Benson Camp in the beginning of August because I wanted to get a home base before the school year started. The first project we tackled was the shower. There had been a shower in the main bath, but the hot and cold handles were on backwards, some of the pipes were leaking, and I wanted something one step above a camp shower.

I had an exciting trip to the lumber yard, got the wood and corrugated metal loaded on top of the mitsubishi and drove very slowly home on 72nd street. I'm sorry if you were stuck behind me, but I didn't want Newton's first law of motion to send my shower walls shooting off the roof onto the car in front of me.

Patrick created a cedar walled stall on the existing base, and we ended up replacing the plumbing with almost the exact same fixtures...after spending time in Lowe's, Home Depot, and Menards. While the cedar walls smell fantastic and the water pressure is amazing, this is just a temporary shower. The final shower will be much bigger, running along the south wall and will have glass doors...follow P on pinterest if you can't wait to see it happen.

Ok, so we then had a shower! Yay! AC, internet, a full bathroom. Next on the list was to get the washer and dryer hooked up. Patrick watched some youtube videos and we took a few more trips to hardware stores, and then we could wash clothes. Clean bodies, clean clothes, what more could we ask for? Sorry, no pictures...but how interesting could a picture of a washer and dryer be?

Next: Simplisafe 

After our year plus of living couch/house surfing we learned a lot about security systems, and how they can make your life easier...after you've learned how to live with them. We loved the idea of not needing keys, being able to lock/unlock your house remotely, and it gives me a feeling of safety. Not that this neighbor is unsafe, but I didn't know what to expect.

Anyway, Patrick ordered online, simplisafe.com, and it arrived in a box. He plugged in the base, and stuck motion detectors near the doors, on the windows, and put water bugs near watery places. We went online to set it up, and to register it with the police. After a three day practice period, we were good to go.

We all have the app on our phone, and can set it or turn it off wherever we are. There's also a record of every time it was armed or turned off. And we also have keychain remotes that can be used. All we need to do next is to get the doors to be keypad entry and we'll be golden. The Jensens have a long history of losing keys-in Dundee we gave extras to our neighbors...so we'd be able to get in when we locked ourselves out. Hopefully the days of getting locked out are no more!

Casper Mattress

Another benefit of sleeping around for the past year plus was being able to try out many different mattresses. We slept in hotels, airbnb's and our string of friends' houses...and I learned that when beds are too soft, I get hot and can't sleep. With most of our belongings still in pod land, and Madison living with us we needed to get her a bed. For the first week here she slept on an air mattress, poor baby. We decided to give her our mattress and try the Casper ourselves. If we hated it, we'd just trade her back. If we liked it, we'll buy another one when the sleeping loft is ready. 

First of all, we didn't have to go to store-loved that. Second, it arrived in a box that was about 3' x 18" x 18" which is pretty small. All you do is open the box, put the rolled up mattress on your bed, and open the plastic bag. It unfolds itself and becomes a bed in 2 minutes tops. Also, there are free returns for 3 months. They will credit you and if they can donate it to a shelter in your area, they will. That's pretty cool. 

We realized that the mattress was so comfortable that we forgot to ask ourselves how we slept. We both slept great and never gave it a second thought. So, two thumbs up from us. Also, I used a code from Dan Savage or Marc Maron's podcast for $50 off and free shipping! When our mattress arrived, they gave us a link to share with friends so they could get that too. When Molly bought a mattress using my link and they sent me a $50 amazon gift card. Sweet! If you are looking mattress shopping you can come on over and lie down on our bed to try it out-no charge. If you end up buying a Casper, use my code and we'll both save $50:

https://casper.com/friends/lynnaomi

Heating update: 

I love our heating guy, Randy, with D and H Service, Inc. The heating and air conditioning installation had to work around and with the roofers, plumbers, electricians, and us. He has been forced to complete the job in bits and pieces as our project moves along. He squeezes us in when he can...and gets us what we need before we need it. He pointed out to us that winter is coming and heat would be good to have. We'd been enjoying our fantastic AC and forgot that the heating system would need some attention from Randy before we could use it. Randy installed more spiral ductwork throughout the bathrooms and into the laundry/mudroom, and got the exhaust fans in the bathrooms installed and ducted. I don't know if ducted is a word, but I used it. The duct work in the front room can't be installed until after the steel beams are in place...which will hopefully happen this week. (fingers crossed!) Anyway, the heat is working beautifully! This past week has been cool in the mornings and it is toasty warm in here. YAY!


(I have pictures...on the other computer. You'll just have to wait to see my ducts.)

Last, but not least: a front door!

When we bought our home, Justin told us that he had never had a key to the front door...so we hadn't been able to lock it. We could open it and shut it, but it wasn't easy. Patrick was able to get it open using a crowbar, and then we used a bungee cord to help it stay closed. Not very secure to say the least. We had originally planned to make a door handle out of a Woodman of the World axe when we thought this was a WOW building. When we learned that this was a water pumping station, P went with a different look. 

I've decided that I need to do this much more often. More pictures, less words. That way I'll have a better record of what we did as we did it.




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Roof, AC, and Driveway are Finished!

The new roof is on...and I do not have a picture showing it off. It would be difficult to get one and, let's face it, it would be a boring picture. Being in Benson Camp as the roofers were removing old layers was anything but boring. It was pretty unnerving to look up and see way too much sky.

The AC is the one thing that made that hugest difference...it is now possible to be inside, working, without becoming a sweaty ball of filth.

This is our new heating and air conditioning unit. There will be a wall framed around it in the future, but for now they are the main feature of the front room. Gorgeous, isn't it?

I know that these pictures are not at all sexy, but I am over the moon with having AC. These pics are from the first day that Randy worked on it.

Here is a later picture taken of the hallway with my very sexy spiral ductwork visible at the top. And, yes, we are leaving the ductwork exposed.

This is taken from the beginning of the hallway, facing East. To the right is the door to the kitchen, and the plastic on the left, is the door to the office/guest bedroom. Randy also removed the old heating unit from this hallway.

And this is the view of the spiral ductwork and hallway from the end of the hallway looking West.
On the right is the master bedroom, and the first door on the left is one of the bathrooms. The second door on the left is the kitchen.


Now for the update on the driveway and garage door. Here's what it looked like when they knocked out bricks to reinstall a garage door:

It is interesting to see the original openings in the exposed brick. There are a number of windows and doors that have been bricked in. We still haven't figured out which part of the building was built first and where the later addition, (the front) started.

Here is what the new garage space looks like inside with the pile of rubble removed.

And finally, the driveway!
Here are Scotty and the crew in their adorable yellow boots, waiting for the cement truck:

And here they are creating my beautiful driveway:

And here is the finished project:

Beautiful!

I went over there today and watered it twice so that it doesn't cure too quickly. This weekend is Benson Days and we are hoping to break it in then! Come on over and see it for yourself!

This brings you up to date with our project. If we could find our wireless router we'd have internet in the house...I think it's in one of our two pods. Getting inter webs set up is my next job.

Patrick's next job is making the shower more appealing. He has many pinterest ideas for the future, but for now we just need a basic shower. (Remember the name is Benson Camp)

To refresh your memory of the bathroom:

Here's the shower:

And while I'm here, this is the sink:

Hopefully we'll have some AFTER pictures to show very quickly...but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

That brings you up to date with our project. Any time you feel like coming over and helping you are more than welcome! Consider us Omaha's Learning Annex. You can learn new skills! "Girls only like guys who have great skills." (Dynamite, Napoleon, 2004)