An asphalt roof never looked so good.

We finished the roof rafters at 10 am, 12-21-07 and the roofers decked and shingled the job by 5 pm. With the addition under roof we can enjoy our holiday week knowing all is protected. I am sure the Barrs share the feeling.

We received a call for an insurance estimate on this burn out. The house exploded after a water heater flame ignited polyurethane fumes produced by floor refinishing work.

It felt good to finish the wall framing, especially on a Friday afternoon. We end the week and start the weekend with a sense of accomplishment.

The walls take shape. There will be loads of windows, wait and see.

Finally, we get to frame; first the sill, then the ledger, next the joists. Once the plywood is on we'll have a platform to work off. Life will be good.

After the foundation inspection we poured the slab. Danny never made it out!

Before the foundaton can be inspected, the exterior walls need to be parged, asphalt coated and the foundation dain installed. The drain gravity flows through the foundation wall into a sump well.

Now that's a foundation! Compare the old and the new. The homeowner is lucky the old one was cracked, it wasn't worth building on.

It's show time! The footing is in and nine thousand pounds of block need to be placed.

A new footing and foundation guarantees the existing house falls down before the addition.

Can you dig it? We Can. Dan "The Man" DoCouto works a rented mini-excavator. He's such a smooth operator he can handle anyones equipment.

The foundation cracks are a no no. Can't build on this boy. The cracks in todays housing bubble and subprime credit market are also a concern. We fear a recession even though the talking heads say nay, construction is only 6% of GDP.

With the porch demolition compete we can examine the foundation.

The Barr residence before demolition of the back porch. Plans call for a two story addition to be built on the existing porch footing and foundation. We thank the Barr's for the work, which should take us into 2008.

A progress photo of the Retik kitchen in Short Hills, N.J. This kitchen renovation is part of a larger kitchen expansion including a 2nd floor terrace above. The project is complete.