Home Improvement Time....

This weekend the Bolt family took on the biggest home improvement project that we have done yet. We decided to replace a small window in our master bedroom with french doors. This turned out to be a huge success! This was a big project because we had to tear a big hole in the side of the house (in a load bearing wall) and then re-frame the area to support the doors. We were able to do this with a lot of help. Grandpa Roth came down to help us install the door and put the siding back on. Grandma and Tana help watch the kids. Dawn had to sit much of the heavy stuff out because she is expecting number six, but she did make a fantastic lunch!

This first picture is a picture of before the project. The window is where the french doors are going to go. As you can see the back area of this house was pretty plain and needed some jazzing up. We had to remove the siding and that window. You can also see in this picture that we already have the gravel base down for the patio that is going to be built.



The next photo is a shot of the work in progress. As you can see, there is a huge hole in the wall. We had to build a temporary wall on the inside to support the load bearing wall while we re-framed and installed the header. It is difficult to see from this picture, but the 2x4's are actually inside the house.



The final picture shows the finished door. Thanks Tana for modeling and also thanks for help with the kids. You are the best, I don't care what your parents say about you ;).



This was a very rewarding project. It makes a huge difference with the back area of the house. Of course it was completed with no debt. I'll get more into that later..

Sunday was a nice relaxing day since we finished most of the project on Saturday. We went bowling and watched the NFL Replay of the Indianapolis Colts vs. Kansas City Chiefs playoff game. Just in case you forgot, the Colts won that game! Training camp is in a couple of weeks! Check back for some Colts training camp updates....

After we finish the interior trim around the door, the next home improvement project will involve building a patio outside the french doors.....