Patios and Progress Report

First, we've been busy trying to get ready for drywall. The current state of the list is as such:
1. Finish plumbing to redirect heating exhaust and mortar in new concentric vent
2. Finish plumbing redo behind washer
3. Install door headers on back door and closet door
4. Finish building wall on other side of closet double door
5. Install closet double door header
6. Redo window framing (oops again) [demo started]
7. Extend wall behind laundry sink (triple oops)
8. Finish toenailing by hand along door headers
9. Run all cable, speaker, and telephone lines to low voltage box
10. Sink all walls into floor with Ramset (only 3 sections remain!)

Aaron is out of town, so I hope to tackle the rest of the demo on 6 and some of 9 this weekend by myself. The rest are really two person jobs.

Redirecting the heating exhaust was one of the most frustrating jobs that we've ever tackled on the Nightmare. It was just a really, really odd angle, and we needed to leave enough room to pass through so we could get to the electrical box. Here are some pictures of the job that we started last Saturday and finished on Thursday night:
In progress...



Completed!



While this ended up taking us a very long time and was very frustrating, it was definitely worth it to do it ourselves b/c the estimate from a local HVAC company to do it was $700!!!!!!!

In other news, we've been starting to gather estimates for a new, more functional patio and some retaining walls for raised beds in the backyard. We have a gorgeous stacked stone retaining wall in the front yard and we would love to duplicate this look in the backyard. Thus far, we're getting quotes for flagstone and slate, and they're coming out pretty high. We'll keep you informed as this project progresses. We have learned though- we won't start this project until we feel like the basement is nearly complete. We may be optimistic in assuming that we'll be done with the basement in June, though!