An Addition is in Order....

This morning I stopped at Home Depot and bought a 8' by 4' piece of 1/8" thick plywood, otherwise known as door skin. I was surprised that they no longer carry pieces the size of a door. Oh well. I can always use it for another addition.

I think that I told you the other day that I intended to put an addition on the kitchen end of the Glencroft.(I have to think of another name for this place. Glencroft isn't very Steampunkish.) Anyway, the door skin is the same kind of plywood that the Greenleaf kits. It is perfect if you want to make add-ons. The cost with tax was $11.75. You sure couldn't get even the cheapest kit for an add on for that price. Granted, I have to cut out the pieces. It was free for the guy to cut it in quarters. That was more manageable for me to get into the car. I couldn't handle any larger pieces, guiding them through the Dremel saw either.

I then stopped at Ace Hardware to buy some copper and brass wire that I am going to need for the house. It will have to have exposed pipes and other steamy stuff here and there. Our Ace also carries Basswood so I stocked up on a little wood that I needed.........The best part of Ace? They have a popcorn machine by the front register and when you buy something, you get a free bag of popcorn! What more could you ask from a hardware store?

I came home and traced the end piece of the house onto one of the pieces of ply. Then I started figuring out how big to make the kitchen addition. I decided on 9 wide by 12 deep. I got the two floor pieces and the end gable piece cut out before strange things started happening.

It seems that two days of peace and quiet are all that I deserve in one chunk. Yup. I laid the pieces that I had cut on the table and turned my back to cut another. Weird little tapping noises started behind me. I turned around and there she was. Tessie has decided to help......HELP!!!

She was standing in the corner that I put together yesterday. She had the magic hammer in hand. Not again! I politely asked her to go home. She, not so politely, told me that that guy that was in the photos yesterday was "Not at all photogenic!". She informed me that I shouldn't "let him out of his cage" until he actually looked like a man. She then spouted a laundry list of what he should look like and how he should be dressed. In other words, she wants me to make her a dream man of her own......I don't think that will happen. I have plans for a live-in housekeeper. Tessie is definitely not qualified.

She wanted to see what the extension was going to look like when finished. A propped up the floor and the end piece so that she could see the dimensions of the kitchen area. She mumbled under her breath that it looked bigger than her whole house. Not true. I think that she is just jealous because this house is going to have a lot more rooms than hers.

I got ahead of myself yesterday and glued the end piece to the floor. Now I have to cut the same holes in the new end piece and fill in some of the ones in the original. I want to echo the shape of the inner doors that are in the kit. Why can't I do it the easy way? I guess that wouldn't be much fun. It is much more entertaining to have to cut all new holes and plug up the old ones.

I did fix the gable end so that it will be correct. The pointy part will be in the right place now. I didn't want a hip roof going across the top.

Here's a photo of the whole house so far. I know it isn't much, but as you can see, nine inches longer puts it off of the end of this table. Another set of problems.....Now I have to find a place for it to live once I finish it. I think that I will be moving Tessie's house and the other two that are on this cabinet to separate locations. I haven't measured yet, but I think that this house will fit perfectly.

I haven't asked Tessie yet. Maybe I should be quiet about it until time to move. I don't want her following me around nagging.

I guess that, since I have a new helper on the job, I should get back at it and keep a close eye on her. She can wreck faster than I can build.

See you tomorrow.