| Once we'd settled on the plans for my Tower Room, the next step was to figure out how to build it on top of an existing partially two-floored house. My imminently practical builders decided the first thing they needed was a way to get to the roof. Of course, they chose a path through the deck cover they had put up just two years prior! !
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In almost no time, as such things go, the walls were up on the back of the second floor, and then, with third floor laid, the guys were erecting the Tower Room walls. I believe that's two Craigs and a Mike on the job here. |
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| The first view of three floors! Of course, the deck is level with the first floor; the second is peeking just over the edge of the blue gutter. The third floor flies out about four feet below the original roof peak. Those six beams jutting out over the edge are the joists for my Balcony! (Doesn't every good Tower Room have one?) |
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More time passsed, but not much, and there was roofing and tarpaper on the walls. I took this photo from the garage roof. Doesn't it give a good perspective of the way the Tower Room already seems to fit with the rest of the house? |
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| What a scary sight to come home to! Ladders that seem to sprout from the roof with no visible means of support ! ! Maybe it's just as well that my leave had run out by then? The good news is that this signalled the completion of the Tower Room exterior!
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Finally, we're about to see the Tower Room from the Inside! It's much easier since the 12 foot ladder was replaced with this neat staircase. Yes, the walls are of the same waferboard that you probably have in your garage. It's going to look great once the guys have coated it with polyurethane varnish, trust me! |
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First, let's step out on the balcony. Oops, looks as if the guys haven't gotten those railings up yet! It's a great view though. If you look just over my shoulder, you can just glimpse my pond, about thirty feet down and not too far away!
The chain and hardware I'm wearing was put to better use as I installed supports for two slings and other suspension "systems"! |
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Not only did I get to climb to twelve foot heights putting up sling harware, but I got more down to earth too. Am I floored, or just resting? The flooring, as you can see is Puzzle Mat, which is now available in many colors and designs. Much more forgiving for walking or resting on, and no carpet to vacuum! |
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| Wow! Speakers up, lights in and working, and sling ready for testing. Maybe this Tower Room will get finished soon!! I wonder how that fireboot worked in the stirrup ? ? |
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Bringing Grandfather, our family's 200 year old ticking patriarch, into the Tower Room marked the formal end of the Contruction Phase. A friend carved a new rosette to match the one we had lost some 40 years ago, and Dixie Glass cut a replacement glass for his upper door. Some ten months after this photo was made, the Clocksmith returned Grandfather's works, and his authoritative bell could be heard throughout the house. |
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