Rise Up Rooted

Sweat and Shovels: Reassembling Windows

By Jamie

With the completion of the taping, mudding, sanding, texturing and priming, we moved on to a monumental next step:  Reassembling the interior window trim.  By salvaging the original trim, we were not only saving ourselves a ton of money, but also hours of work.  A few of the windowsills had to be junked but thanks to Jesse's crazy-awesome carpentry skills, he transformed a few 2x4s into replicas of the previous sills.  The race to the finish line continues!

Sweat and Shovels: Primed and Ready

Sweat and Shovels: The night there were five us us in the bathroom

Sweat and Shovels: Pulling it Together

By Jame

Relationships.  It's what makes this big world go round.  The relationships we build with our partners, friends, and family are what bring us peace, pain, and pleasure.  Maintaining those relationships is life.  When we set out to demolish a 100 year old house and rebuild it from the ground up, we knew it was likely that our relationships would be tested.   Over the last two months that stress has manifested itself in a variety of ways.  There have been long nights and tough mornings.  Random bursts of tears and delirious laughter.  Big cups of coffee and cold pints of beer.  As the vernal equinox draws near, the days grow longer and the ground warms.   We all feel like we've weathered a few storms.  We are all stronger from this challenge.  We've rounded the bend, we can see the lights ahead.  We're racing to the end and will probably vomit a few times once we've passed the finish line.

Sweat and Shovels: SheetROCKIN!

By Jamie Herring

Happy Flu Season!  All four members of Slant Street Empire Builders were overtaken by the holiday flu.  Despite running high fevers, runny noses, and hacking coughs, sheetrock has been going up over at the Sixth Street House.  THe first floor is almost complete and the effect is amazing.  The kitchen cabinets are back up on the wall and looking good.  One great little surprise:  Jesse cleaned up one of the countertops, not sure what he would find underneath.   Under layers of paint and vinyl was a solid single slab of pine.  The growth rings are visible on the end, which tells us the tree was a monster, likely a local ponderosa pine that was harvested locally a hundred years ago.  It's the little things like this that keep this project interesting!

Sweat and Shovels: It's Getting Hot in Herre....

A post by Jamie

Three weeks have passed since the last update on the Sixth Street remodel.  The radio silence is partially due to the fact that we had ratcheted down the pace for the Thanksgiving holiday, a few out of town trips, and some opportunities to spend quality time with each other.   But in all honesty, the silence was largely due to the current task at hand:  laying insulation.  I'm sorry but insulating a house is downright unsexy and there are only so many ways that I can describe the monotonous task that just had to get done.  In the midst of the insulating, Missoula was hit with some of the coldest weather we've seen in more than five years.  We  rocked below-zero temps for several days.  In a twisted way, the low temperatures were a blessing.  If we had been insulating in the balmy August weather, we may have been inclined to rush through the work.  Not so in December.  

Sweat and Shovels: Turning the Corner

A Post by Jamie

Over the past two weeks, the house has hummed with activity.  All of our contractors got in, got to work, and got on their way.  New Roof?  Check.  New windows?  Check.  New plumbing?  Check.  New wiring?  Check.  New HVAC system?  Check.  As soon as the last of our city permits are closed, we will officially be rounding the corner and on the next phase of this project:  INSIDE WORK!

Sweat and Shovels: Together

By Jamie 

Within our murkiest moments, when bodies are bone-tired and minds overwhelmed, we are not alone.  There are a pair of listening ears on the other end of a telephone line, ready to help us crack a smile.  Helping hands down the block willing to pull a few nails.  Open arms a few states away sending hugs from afar.  This renovation project is a daily reminder of the power of connections and friendships.  Our informal networks are too often taken for granted when things are smooth and warm.  It's when the road gets cold and rocky, that the importance of relationships become oh so clear.  Together is how hard work gets done.

Sweat and Shovels: Are we there yet?

By Jamie

We hoped to have sweet photos of the new roof for y'all but alas, the roofers got sick and had to push us back a few days.  Next week.  Promise.  This week we finished the last of the interior demo.  Upstairs, the carpet was ripped out and the plaster walls came down from the two bedrooms.  In the bathroom, the clawfoot tub, toilet, and sink were removed, all the pipes were cut in preparation for the new plumbing, and the walls demolished.  Needless to say, it was some nasty work and I wasn't very eager to get in there to document the final product.  The front porch rock pillars were restacked and mortared, marking the last of the rockwork. Phew.  Just in time, as the first big storm of the winter season rolls in....

Sweat and Shovels: Turn Up Your Sleeves

By Jamie Herring

"Hard work spotlights the character of people.  Some turn up their sleeves.  Some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all." - Sam Ewing