May 3 - This is a rear view of the main house at Lowcountry Plantation. The Kitchen (left) will be remodeled and a Dining Room will be added at the center.
May 3 - This is another view of the house. The kitchen is just behind the service yard. The dining room will be built in the inset (just above the hot tub benches).
May 7 - This is where the addition will be built. Although it is not visible in the photo, flags mark the area to be excavated for the crawl space. The back porch and siding will be removed today.
May 8 - The powder room and short hallway will go here. The deck (in grey) has been cut. This is being dug by hand since it would be difficult to reach with heavy equipment.
May 8 - The siding and porch are gone. The bushes have been dug so they can be transplanted. Crawl space excavation should be done today.
May 9 - The crawl space has been excavated. It is about 2 feet below the surface of the ground.
May 9 - The footers for the powder room have been dug. A short hall will also be built here.
May 9 - This is another view of the crawl space. If you look close on the right, you will see stakes for the batter boards. They will be built today and foundation footers will be dug (weather permitting).
May 9 - The kitchen is empty. Cabinets, counter tops, island and appliances have been removed.
May 10 - The footers are dug and the steel rebar is placed. Inspection is tomorrow and we will possibly be able to pour concrete tomorrow afternoon.
May 10 - This is the bar area. The cabinets and appliances will be removed and the floor repaired.
May 10 - Often in remodel jobs, we run into hidden damage. This is a pole supporting the carport roof. It will be replaced.
May 11 - The sheet rock has been removed from the kitchen. The far wall (with the double window) will be pushed out 8 feet to increase the size of the kitchen.
May 11 - This is the bar room floor. Part of the remodeling job is to refloor the bar room.
May 14 - The footer for the powder room off the kitchen has been poured. Block will be laid today and framing will start in a day or two.
May 14 - Here are the footers for the dining room and kitchen addition. The large area near the center is where an access door will go.
May 14 - The blocks (on the left) will be laid today. Tomorrow, the bond beam should be poured (after inspection). Framing should begin mid week.
May 14 - The upper two windows in the stairwell are being removed because the new roof will interfere with them.
May 15 - The foundation wall is built. As soon as we have an inspection, we will pour concrete in the top and form a bond beam. This should happen today.
May 15 - The windows are now closed. Before many days, the roof will be attached to this wall.
May 15 - A hole had to be cut in the existing foundation wall for access to the floor under the powder room.
May 15 - Rebuild projects often have surprises. We planned to put a pocket door in this wall. Unfortunately, the wall has a 4 inch cast iron pipe in it.
May 17 - The curtain wall is in place, the bond beam poured, and anchor bolts installed. Sill plates will be put on today and framing will begin soon.
May 17 - This is the main addition area. The foreground will be the enlarged kitchen area. The distant area is the dining room addition.
May 17 - Sill plates are being installed. This will be finished today. Framing will begin very soon.
May 17 - Sill plates are being installed. This will be finished today. Framing will begin very soon.
May 21 - This is an access hole for getting under the house addition. The small hole on the right is a vent.
May 21 - The bottom of the existing wall has been cut off. We did this to make sure the new floor lines up with the old one perfectly. This wall will be removed when the new outside walls are up.
May 22 - This is the floor joist system for the small hallway and powder room.
May 22 - Tongue and groove plywood is being installed on the floor system. We use a special water resistant plywood in case we have rain before we get the room dried in.
May 22 - This is a view of the joist system for the dining room floor. These are engineered floor trusses called TJIs. These trusses are strong and very dimensionally stable.
May 23 - The floor is down. The lower plates are down. The corners have been erected. A portion of the house wall is being removed so the new wall can tie in securely.
May 23 - The floor and bottom plate for the hallway & powder room is down. The sheeting on the mechanical room has been removed exposing the water heater.
May 24 - Walls are going up around the new kitchen and dining room. The big beams are headers and go over windows or doors. Wall framing should be done today.
May 24 - This is a view from the kitchen to the hallway and (through the walls) to the powder room. You can see where the original and new floors join at the lower part of the photo.
May 25 - Plywood is on the walls of the powder room. The outside door has been (temporarily) installed.
May 25 - The top plates are now on the dining room and kitchen additions.
May 25 - This is a view from the house into the new dining room. The middle large opening on the far wall will be a double door. The other openings are double windows.
May 30 - Plywood sheathing is on the walls. The window and door openings are more obvious now.
May 30 - The short roof next to the stairway has to come down. New roof trusses will go against the stairway today.
May 30 - This shows two of the many steel rods that tie the top of the wall to the massive concrete foundation. Steel straps will tie the rafters to the top plate shown here.
May 30 - In just a few minutes, the rafters on the stairway will be gone. Next is some trimming. After that, trusses will be installed.
May 31 - The trusses are in place. They don't come to the end of the dining room because it has a Dutch gable.
May 31 - This is another view of the trusses. It shows how they hit the stairway where the windows were located. See May 14 photos.
May 31 - This is a view from the house through the door to the new dining room.