unwrap/rewrap + window installation

once all the windows and interior walls were framed, it was time to deal with the exterior.  at first i wasn't planning on replacing the siding as it was in pretty decent condition, however it became clear that in order for the house to be properly water/wind proofed it was necessary to tear it off and wrap the house in tyvek and 'protecto' wrap all the windows. 

here you can pretty clearly see all the new rough openings for the new windows.  the place looked pretty trashy for a couple of days, even more so than normal, but as soon as the tyvek went on, it looked pretty sweet.  also in this pic you can see the new front porch roof, which made the place look nice and crisp.

ah, thats better....  windows are in, house is wrapped, water no longer is my enemy.  notice the first floor window on the left, we had to move in about a foot so the water from the roof didn't dump right down on it.  it think it was a pretty good choice.  oh, and thats the back window for one of the two guest bedrooms.
now the front.  all the windows are in and i must admit, it looks pretty good.  be sure to notice the post for the porch roof.  there's only one visible (on the right corner) as the other one is hid inside the wall on the left.  pretty cool idea, which i can't take credit for.  todd, the builder, thought that one up.  as for where all the windows go.  the two high horizontal ones on the first floor go the bedroom and bathroom.  the one of the left is bedroom and the one on the right is bathroom.  its right about the shower, which you'll get to see later.  above the porch roof, the two square ones on the right go into the master bathroom and the small horizontal on goes to the master closet.  the large one on the second floor goes into the master bedroom.  (its 4x6 so its pretty good size)  and as you can see, i am a supporter of mission lumber, the best lumber yard in central michigan as far as i'm concerned.  charlie and dave at the contractors desk have been a huge help all along the way.  (i don't know how many times i've walked in there with basically no idea what i'm doing and i've left with exactly what i need.)

wall & window framing: 2

so here it is.  round II of the reframing of the window rough openings and the walls for the downstairs bedroom(s) and bathroom.  the bedrooms and bathrooms are in the area below the upper level on the left of the house.  this area used to be some sort of family room and a bedroom off the back of that.  didn't really make a lot of sense to me in terms of floor layout (but that shouldn't really be surprising as most of this place really didn't make sense), so it needed to be changed...

here's the ultimate construction worker dealing with the new rough opening in the front of the house.  it really wasn't as bad as i thought it might be.  we pretty much just cut a hole in the side of the house with the sawzall and pushed the piece out.  its was the reframing that was more of a chore since each piece had to be cut specifically to match the existing studs and what not.  

here's the downstairs bedrooms and bathroom framed in.  the bathroom door is on the left of the picture and the bedrooms are on the front left corner and the back right corner.  neither bedroom is all that large, but they're plenty big for a office or guest room, each one is about 150 square feet.  the really nice thing is that they have 9 ft. ceilings and huge windows for bedrooms of that size.