The move out is COMPLETE! - July 24th

Well almost.  There's only a garden hose and some wood to move and then we will be fully moved out of our High Tower house.  Unfortunately, we haven't closed on it and we still do not know when we will.  Apparently the buyers mortgage company can't get their act together so every day we wait.

In the meantime we have been packing a bunch. The final count on boxes is 206!  Never knew we could have so much stuff.  I am determined to de-clutter our lives as we go through the unpacking process.  We won't have as much room for it all so more will have to go and that is a good thing.

We moved into a hotel in Eden Prairie and boy is 824 SQFT small for 4 people and a dog.  If we don't kill each other we will be much closer at the end of this experience.  It's all part of the adventure.

In between all the trips to the airport hanger, my mother's house, my brother's house and the Comet Circle house t move all the stuff, a bit of progress has continued on the house.

Mark has been working to correct the sag in the framing between the dining area and living room.  Using a jack and a beam he is able to shim up the sagging floor.  It sure doesn't inspire confidence in the structure of the living room floor when you see this holding the house up:

It makes me afraid to stand on the floor but Mark assures me it won't fall down.  Once he put the shims in under the joists the jack came down.  The architect didn't think it was a good idea for the building inspector to see that so it was finished quickly.

The water damaged floor boards were also torn up.  As has been par for the course, we are discovering "hidden features" of this house every step of the way.  As Mark and Tim were taking off the last section of damaged flooring they found this:

Apparently one end of the living room used to be sunken a second step down (there is one step down from the dining area into the  back end of the living room).  There is no plywood under the sub-flooring so we will have to make special accommodations for that to get the floor level when we are putting it back together.  In the meantime, watch where you walk so you don't take the "express way" to the basement.

And finally, the other big progress we made since I last posted was an amazing amount of tear out in the basement.  I forgot the camera on Saturday so I didn't get any in process photos but the end result is awesome.  Adam Huss (friend of Emily's) and Matt used sledge hammers, picks and a 6 foot pry bar with a deadly point on one end to tear up the tile floor.  Mass destruction seems to suit them but they weren't so happy when they picked up the toilet to carry it out to the dumpster and it leaked water all over their feet.  Not to worry, it was clean water but still the concept is kinda gross.

While they toiled away and Mark supervised them, Emily and I were washing mold off the framing on the load bearing wall.  It was great fun and we all looked great wearing those silly protective masks.  I guess that is better than breathing in the nasty air.  Here's what it looks like now:

Skeleton Bathroom 

Future Family Room

The fun will continue tomorrow.