Lately the work we have been doing on the back room of our house has really started coming together. Jacob and I can now see a light at the end of the tunnel as well as what our eventual master suite is going to look like!
The past three weekends were big, satisfying work weekends where we got a lot done. Two weeks ago Jacob insulated most of the back room- yay! We used spray foam insulation because it will be better able to keep the cold air our and the warm air in.
before insulation
another pre-foam shot
Jacob in his hazmat suit (gotta love the shades)
the foam
Another big thing was finally removing the wall that stood between the old master bathroom and the back room. We decided a while back that we wanted to open up the old master bath into our new master bedroom to give us some more space, but we needed to get a header because the wall we wanted out was load-bearing. Instead of that wall we now have a giant header to support the weight the wall used to. Last weekend Jacob and I found a beautiful piece of lumber from a salvage yard to use as the header. It is tamarack, over 100 years old and came from an old barn up in Oregon. It’s gorgeous. Why have a beautiful old piece of lumber for a header? you may ask. Because we are going to leave that beam exposed and it will look AWESOME.
the temporary wall my dad built while we searched for a beam
the beam!
Now that we have this extra space in our master bedroom, we are going to put a wood stove in on the left-hand side (roughly where Totoro is in the picture above) and a reading nook on the right-hand side. We are super excited!
Yesterday, my dad and I got a lot done too. We had started to build the wall separating the bedroom and new bathroom, but the temporary wall we used for support before the header came was in the way. Now that the header was in, we could finish! So yesterday we finished that wall and began work on the walls to create the toilet closet in the bathroom. It really is starting to look like something!
bathroom without wall
yay a wall!
Today I framed in the doorway from our bedroom to our laundry room, as well as the doorway between our bedroom and closet. My dad wasn’t here so it is just me doing the carpentry. It definitely didn’t go as smoothly as it does when my dad is here and in charge- but I did it! Jacob helped nail in some placed where I utterly failed (I hate nailing at an angle) and it turned out just fine.
kind of dark- but a before shot of the space where the wall and doorways are
the wall between the bedroom and laundry room! (the closet door is on the left and laundry on the right)
So what has Jacob’s dad been doing this whole time? Taking a break from this enormous project? Nope! He has been working a TON on the electrical side of things- putting in the canisters for the recessed lighting, running the wires, AND he has even started doing some more work on the outside of our house to extend our fence in the back along the side of our flat spot.
Randy taking a little break to figure out his next move
So it is definitely coming together. Who knows- maybe it will be all done by Spring Break in March? Ha we have missed so many imaginary deadlines that I’m afraid to say when it might be done. But we’re a heck of a lot closer.
