New Phase Day 5

I closed again tonight, so no daylight pictures of the house. But here's what I found when I went by on my break:

I knew they'd be working in the back today. You see that New Guy and his crew dug out for 'footers' and side walls around the back porch area, then got those in place. They also back filled quite a lot with dirt to try to raise the bed of the porch. And I think some of the broken/damaged/fire brick went in, from the fireplace demo as well, to act as filler.

We decided the cheaper alternative to building a wood deck framing for the porch floor would be to close in the foundation walls around the area, back fill, and pour concrete for a slab. That way it can serve as a covered patio for now, or could be screened in, or even later a porch built over this, if that's what I wanted. It could also be upgraded down the road with tile or pavers. But for now it will be functional with a slab concrete floor.

But what's that? Did you notice?

A back door! Not only did they finish the siding around the porch, but they put up the back door! That's not the door handle I want, but it's temporary and it locks! And closes and opens and you can see through it...

And here and inside shot of the back door. They had to build the frame around the door and yet again I am impressed with their attention to detail and professionalism. New Guy is really excited about my project, almost as much as I am, and I feel like he and his crew are showing the same amount of care in doing their jobs as if it were their own homes they were working on.

Tomorrow New Guy is going to meet me to give me some more estimates for what happens next. It's all exciting. I feel like the past 2 and 1/2 years have been worth the wait.