Turning the porch into two bedrooms

My kitchen is officially turned over and even though there’s loads of cooking to do over the next day and a half until Pesach begins, I’m feeling upbeat and fairly relaxed.

When the delivery truck arrived with the materials to close in our porch a week before Pesach, I felt some concern about how much progress could be made in such a short period of time.

It was a lot of building materials.

That concern was amplified when my husband checked the weather, and saw that from the afternoon the materials were delivered all the way through Pesach, there was rain expected every single day. It didn’t look like there would be much time for an outdoor building project.

My boys have a lot of positive energy and aren’t easily daunted, so they said they’d get started and not worry about the rain until it came down. Despite the threatening looking skies and some massive downpours, the boys have made amazing progress in a short time.

First they had to dissemble the porch railing/fencing.

Once the fencing was down, they installed tracks for the wall panels.

Then they needed to install the walls.

Once all of the walls were up, the question they were chewing on was how to get the long, unwieldy and heavy roof panels on top.

They figured it out! Here it is below with the roof completely on.

Once that was done, we had one large closed in room.

Below, what will become room 1.

Below, what will become room 2.

Next, they went to work to create two separate rooms.

We won’t be installing windows until after Pesach.

I told the boys I wouldn’t be able to get an electrician in until after Pesach to install the ceiling fans so there would be light and air circulation, and they confidently assured me, ‘We’ll do it, it’s no biggie.” 🙂 They did the electrical work late two nights before the Pesach seder. We’ll call in the electrician later on to finish up some wiring and add the electric outlets.

This is room 1, that will become my husband’s office, and where grandchildren will stay for Pesach.

Here it is below, set up for grandchildren.

Below is the second room. Someone was giving away the foldup bed frames a couple of months ago, and I got them, thinking they’d come in handy. (We had extra mattresses that fit.) Then yesterday, someone else gave away the end tables, so I snagged them.

It’s not fancy (or even finished!) but it will be a functional set up for our guests. One married couple will be able to stay in this room with their baby, and their children will sleep in the adjoining room. They’ll be coming the same Shabbos that two other married children are here, and it’s so wonderful to be able to have them all together for the holiday.

I am amazed at how much the boys did in such a short time. I’m even more impressed by their positive attitude about all that there was to do, the work they did willingly and without complaining, even when unanticipated challenges came up, challenges that created hours of extra tedious work for them.

On a side note, my sons aren’t happy with how much our dog is shedding since the floor doesn’t stay clean, and asked if we could keep her outside. To facilitate that, they build this cute little Lincoln Log-look dog house, recycling materials we had around so she’ll have an outdoor space. Nala is very suspicious of it and won’t step foot inside (and naturally would prefer to stay inside with us), so I’ll need to get her used to it bit by bit. It looks good, though, doesn’t it?

Chag kasher v’sameach, a kosher and happy Pesach to everyone!

Avivah