Greetings from the newest Lilly Pad.
This is a 'what's happenin' in our life' update.
We do more around the pad than just cooking and eating!
Last year around October, my parents were making plans to build a duplex apratment and asked us if we were interested in renting one side and them living in the other side.
After much prayer, we made the decision to sell our
mobile home and move into one side.
You know how you make plans and then God has other plans....
We had decided in December that after the new year, we would put our mobile home on the market for sale. On Christmas Day, Michael came down with a horrible cold, but he did not stop. This cold soon turned into pneumonia - he stopped. He had to heal. After healing some, I guess his immune system was weak. He then developed a nasty head cold. All of this turned into about a month of 'pause' for us. We did not put the mobile home up for sale in January. We thought maybe we should wait until closer to the time that the apartment would be finished. Maybe around summer time to put it on the market.
My parents said that whenever the mobile home sold, we could move back in with them until the apartment was finished.
During our time of 'pause', a lady called about renting one side of the apartment. My mom told her that the apartment was already rented, but that her daughter would be selling her mobile home if she was interested - kind of jokingly.
To make a long story short, the lady came to check the place out, fell in love with it and bought it.
The Lord is so good and perfect.
We moved back in with my parents last Wednesday (almost one week ago).
I wanted to share with you our building progress.
I love building and all that is involved.
I guess I love it so much because all I am in charge of right now is making sure they get water and snacks.
...and back rubs!
This will be a lengthy post with lots of photos and explinations so I can bring you all up to the current times.
Drawing the line. They use string to mark where the footings are to be dug.
This is Michael and my dad. They are making sure the line is straight.
The footings are being poured.
The brick are being laid. This is taken on my parent's end. They will have a basement.
I do not care about a basement. It is like the black hole abyss of
'stuff'.
They are painting tar on the foundation to waterproof it.
Mason, Hannah, and Cari enjoying the HUGE mound of red dirt in the yard.
The finished foundation on our side.
This is some kind of insulation between the brick and the green plate.
Laying down the first board. This is called the 'green plate'. It is treated lumber that goes around the whole foundation first. This wood that is so close to the brick needs to be treated to prevent it from rotting.
Next is the floor joist.
Then they nailed down plywood to sheet the floor.
The girls were happy to be able to walk around on the new floor.
Here they are building the first exterior wall. They build it laying down and then stand it up using wall jacks.
This is a wall jack.
Here are the three wall jacks. They are getting ready to lift up the first exterior wall.
This is my dad, my brother, and Michael.
Almost...
Done.
This is the back of the apartment. From left to right: The single window will be over the folding table in the combo laundry/bathroom. The door is the back door. This will lead from our bedroom to the back porch. The double window is in our bedroom.
This is the second exterior wall. The front of the apartment. From left to right: The small window is over the kitchen sink. The middle is the front door. The double window is in our living room.
It's break time.
These guys had a very long weekend of working. They first started this weekend by sheeting the floor. They now have three exterior walls and one load bearing interior wall up. They are all looking forward to going back to their regular jobs!
I got to help pick up the interior wall. They did not use wall jacks. The wall was a little lighter weight because it did not have the sheeting on it like the exterior walls.
I got a nasty splinter. It took me about a half hour of digging with a needle under a magnifying glass to get it out. I wrote 'leather gloves' on my grocery list.
Here is a look at both apartments. They will be seperated by a double car garage on both sides. This the back of my parents apartment on the left side and the front of our apartment on the right side.
Us standing at our living room window.
And you thought I only knew how to cook...
