Hmmm.... Now, Where Did I Put That '50s Addition?

So the pace of construction continues at breakneck speed. We're trying really hard not to make any assumptions about what this means for the project as a whole, but overall, I can't believe how much they're getting done in only a matter of a few days.

Yesterday we arrived home much like two kids on Christmas morning, wondering how the familiar would look different, wondering what Santa the contractor had left under our proverbial tree. I had joked that the addition would be gone when we got home, but was genuinely surprised/impressed to see that was actually the case. Where there was once "the slope" there is now bare dirt and a few stray pieces of old plumbing. I would have pictures to post, but it was a little challenging (and probably dangerous) to get good pictures. With the complete demo of the back addition, we finally discovered the cause of the slanting floorboards which lent the space it's nickname. The contractor told us in a meeting this morning that there was almost no foundation to speak of under the addition, and that the floor was, in fact, just a piece of plywood on the ground (!!). I'm not a builder, of course, but I could tell from his tone and the look on his face that such a move is about as shoddy as you can get, construction-wise. So, essentially... we're lucky we didn't have flooding, major termite damage in that part of the house, etc., etc.

Other things:

The efforts and reassurances we went through with our neighbors lasted about 2 hours. The contractor has been taking everything through the house since then. I'm not surprised, but am more than a little disappointed as our neighbors emphasized that they were happy/willing to allow some access to their driveway at key points in construction (like demo and foundation work... i.e., this week). Contractor is making every effort to protect the house while this is happening, but it makes me nervous to think of wheelbarrows full of dirt and concrete going through the house. Oh well.

Current schedule has the footing and foundation for the new addition done by the end of the week. He's expecting the majority of the framing to be done in two weeks, and is tentatively predicting that the majority of framing, windows, roof, etc. will be done by early June. He mentioned that, at this point, weather is the most significant factor affecting the schedule. As long as the weather holds, they'll continue to move as quickly as possible.