Some more on the bathroom

The progress has been slower lately, largely because Matt has more to do than just build bathroom all day long! The week that Mira was in the hospital, not much happened. The week after was pretty slow, too, because Matt's got to keep up with his real business work as well. Just because one is self-employed doesn't mean there are no deadlines!

BUT, in between all of that, this is what we've seen since the last post I wrote about the bathroom:

Interior blocking installed, so he's back on the outside putting in the last screws on the plywood sheathing.

Waterproofing - I remember how very nasty this job was when Matt and I did it on the big addition! This time around went a LOT better, largely because the bathroom is much smaller, the footings are different, so there's no cutting and forming of the sticky sheet-good material, AND with only a crawl space and not a full height basement, each piece is much shorter and easier to handle. Still, I was not quite qualified as a helper (hard to reach the wall past my belly!), so Matt gratefully recruited his second cousin, Sam (also our two-doors-down neighbor - she's not working this summer as she's in between jobs and school and moving for graduate school, so she's got time that she can give) and they got the job done in just a few hours. Going around this pipe was really the only challenge...and not much of one at that!

After the waterproofing, the rigid insulation (blue) could go on. Matt got it started down at the bottom so that with the next rains (and we've had some doozies!) it didn't matter if the mud slid into the hole a bit. The ledger boards for the future deck were too big for him to install, and since Owen was at camp this week, Sam was back again to help hold things.

The rest of the blue rigid went on rapidly after that was done. Sam got the job of holding things from the roof side of things, where we have a constant 1.5" deep pool of standing water as we still wait on the actual roof installation. For the record, there are still only four symmetrical, slow drips coming in, despite the standing water, so the temporary roof is doing a fantastic job!

The view from the computer/school room.

The most exciting to me so far is the installation on the windows! Since the last update, the holes have been covered with housewrap; on this past Wednesday, Matt and Sam installed the windows!! Just getting the hole cut in the housewrap made such a difference in the room:

Looking through the existing bathroom window into the addition.

Matt and Sam were able to get the single window in just fine, but were really looking for another set of adult hands to get the double-wide one in. Trouble is they're working on scaffolding from the outside (not great for 39+ weeks pregnant me) and no one thought it was realistic for me to crawl through the existing bathroom window to do the inside work. Enter ROSE! the boys' PCA. We had just loaded everyone up (with her help) into Big Blue for a trip to the library. She drives her own car and meets us there because we stay until her shift with us is over. So, as I drove to the library, and had Leah help me get the wheelchair and Krassi out, Rose climbed into the bathroom, held the window for five minutes, and met us out at the library before we'd hardly had time to notice her absence. She has been such an amazing addition to the way our family works! She takes her time with the boys very seriously and devotedly, but manages to do so in such a way that we all feel the benefit. She includes the little girls, always makes conversation with Bobbi when she's out of her room, and even though she's technically paid to work with one boy at a time, if she's outside with Reuben at his fountain and Krassi wants to go out, too, she will carry him out and give him the moments of direction he needs to play safely and happily as well. We're hoping she will be able to keep working with our family for a good long time!

Here you can see (kind of), the results of their labor at the very top of the photo below - little awning windows opening up (meaning the existing bathroom now has some natural ventilation again, too!

The "real" roof should be here within the next two(?) weeks, and then interior work can begin.