Two steps forward, one step back....

Two steps forward, one step back....

August 28th  -- There has been great forward progress which makes it easier to cope with  the momentary set backs that feel like a step backwards.

First, the forward progress.  Here are some photos showing the view of the south side of the house showing how the mudroom and read addition ties into the roof line and how the mudroom looks like it is sitting among the grove of 100-year-old lilacs

Here is another shot of the west-facing or back of the house to given an idea of the progress with installing the unpainted siding, the soffits, installation of the windows, and so on.

On Monday the plumbing contractors installed a new, power-vented, 40-gallon hot water heater and tank.  The water was shut off for several hours and by the end of the day the old tank was removed, the new tank was in and running.  My showers in the morning have never been more delightful.  

So far so good...that is until this morning.  The electrician was here to move the electrical panel to the northwest corner of the back of the house.  Given the past two bad experiences when all the electricity and phone lines were cut and the power-related refrigerator debacle, the contractor and the electricians wanted to get this right.  So, the electrician is following me to the rooms I am living in to ask which areas need to have power.  The upper-level office/bedroom, the main level living room/temporary kitchen, and then it occurs to me that we need to have power to the clock that runs the sprinkler system because I'm trying to at least keep the city-owned parkway green.  The sprinkler system clock is in the basement.

Behold the power vented water heater!

The electrician and I venture into the basement and there is about 2 inches of water on the floor and we quickly see that there is a significant leak with water running out of one of the fittings near the top of the hot water heater.  Just great.   The electrician is just as stunned as I am.  He valiantly attempts to find the shut-offs to stop the water.  In the meantime, my job was to call the contractor.  I called and left a voice message, and followed that up with a text.  A few seconds later, the contractor replies with his own text that reads, "I know. Plumbers on the way."  Have I told you before just how good this contractor is?

 This image really doesn't do justice to show the standing water, but it isn't too difficult to use your imagination.  Yuck.

In the meantime, I give my cell number to the electrician and ask that he call me when he is done moving the electrical panel, but before he leaves for the day so that I can make sure that the fridge is running, the computer reboots, the DSL is connected and that the land line is working before he leaves.

I'm having lunch when my cell phone rings, and instead of the electrician, it is my contractor.  He calls to tell me that the leaking water heater has been fixed and it was NOT due to any installation mistakes by the plumbers, but that when the heater left the factory it was supposed to have a certain setting in the riser, but that setting was never made.  The contractor also assured me that he would stop by at the end of the day to make sure that the fridge was running and that everything else was connected and working.  It is clear that everyone is working hard here to make sure that I don't lose power, that my Internet connection remains, and that there isn't a second round of rotten food in the refrigerator. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the sensitivity of everyone to make sure past problems are not repeated -- I am so fortunate to have such wonderful people working on this project.

When I come home to check on the electricity, I find that there is lots of framing underway on the main level.

This photo shows the framing for the the guest bathroom that is part of the guest suite.  The claw foot tub will be moved to the back wall and here you can see the wall of the guest bath.

The original brick back wall of the house has been partially demolished.  In the photos below you can see part of the brick wall that is still standing and where a good part of the brick wall is gone.  More of the brick wall below (to the right) needs to be removed, but a lentil needs to be installed first.  Once the rest of this brick wall is removed, it will be part of the galley-style kitchen and the double ovens will be located near this brick wall.

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The photo directly above shows the thickness of the original back wall of the house.  On the left of this wall will be the dishwasher and sink and to the right of this brick wall will be the double ovens.  The new galley-style kitchen will continue to the opening to the mudroom rear-entry and will include a desk/multi-purpose counter top with  a microwave and several cabinets..



In this photo to the right and above, you can also see the framing for what will be a 3/4 bath with an entrance from the gathering room.
 

This view shows the original kitchen cabinet that will remain and will be near the entry to the pantry and opposite the entry to the main-level laundry room.

This view is from the future kitchen looking west to the gathering room.  The framing will be part of the enclosure for the new refrigerator.

Two steps forward and one step back....so even though the fridge is working and there is no spoiled food, the electricity is on to the areas where I'm living, there is hot water, the microcell is working so my cell phone is smart, and I am connected to the Internet.  However, there is one slight problem (or step backwards).  There is only one active phone jack now in the house.  I really need at least two jacks -- one for the DSL and the other for the cordless phones.  I buy a splitter to input both lines, one for the DSL and the other for the cordless phone, into the single jack.  Immediately, the mircro cell signal icon starts flashing which means that the signal for DSL is weak.  So, it looks like I have to choose between DSL or cordless phones -- this is easy -- DSL wins. 

By the way, if you want to talk to me, try e-mail or call my cell, but not my land line!

Stairs, windows and siding....oh my!

Stairs, windows and siding...oh my!

August 26th  -- There is so much progress that even these photos are out of date!  

You might remember the big debate about whether to lower the windows in the southwest corner of the gathering room addition.  The issue is that the overhangs were designed to block the blistering sun from the west at the end of the day in the summer, but to also bring in the light...and the verdict is...yes, lower those bad boys.  In this photo you can see how the framing was cut on the bottom and filled in on the top to lower the windows about half a foot.  This will make for a better view -- I won't be looking at the overhangs -- and still meets the purpose of protecting against the heat of the day while bringing in the light.

Here are more windows in the mud room rear entry

These photos show the progress with the siding on the back of the house.  The siding is thinner than usual in an attempt to mirror the width of the bricks on the rest of the house.

You can also see the soffits and how the overhangs are less deep on the north side of the house compared to the south side

To the left is the view of the mudroom rear entry, which is really shaping up.  Today the contractor and I talked about the type of door that will be installed.











Here is a good view of the southwest corner of the gathering room addition with the deep overhangs and soffits.

This view is looking at the south side of the house and the back of the mudroom entry.  Soon the double windows will be removed and a set of sliding doors will be installed that will lead to a deck and pergola. 



 The same view is shown below with a bit more perspective.

And now a brief break for a tomato update.....

Here are the bloody butcher heirlooms

In this pot we have the black cherry tomatoes..

                                                      And, last, but not least are the celebrity tomatoes that are green and looking a bit water-logged.

Back to business...The next three shots provide views of the west-facing wall of the original house.  To the right is the old kitchen window (partially obstructed by a box that contains the new power-vent hot water heater), to the right of that you can see the electrical panel (that will be moved to the northwest corner of the addition), and in the center is the door that now leads into the kitchen.  Pretty soon this entire wall will be demolished!

  

Remember how freaked out I was about the brick foundation that the original house was built on?   Well, it is still pretty freaky, but it turns out that the wall is more than three-bricks deep and much sturdier than it initially looked.  Of course, it is still a brick foundation, which is not the most stable foundation to build a house on, but has stood the test of 110 years.

I was also able to finally venture down the new stairs to the basement.  Although a ladder was left by the crew and will soon be removed, this photo shows the opening into the 3.5 foot high crawl space under the addition.  Eventually this will be cleaned out, leveled, a vapor-barrier will be installed and it will be a nice storage space.

Finally, this photo is a bit dark, but here is the view of the new basement stairs from the basement.

Let's close with a little game of Q & A:

So, what is the most frequent question I have been asked and what has been my response?


Question:  "Given everything you're doing to your house, why don't you just level the entire thing and start over by building a brand new house?"


Answer:    a.  "You clearly are not a glutton for punishment."
                  b.  "You do not understand the thrill of renovating an old house."
                  c.  Deep sigh, followed by an eye-roll.
                  d.  All of the above

It's a zoo IN here.....

It's a zoo IN here.....

August 25th -- That's right, it is a zoo IN here...literally. 

It has been interesting and actually mostly enjoyable living in a house with so many openings -- places cut out for windows, doors, open rafters, demolished walls and all the rest.  At evening there have been beautiful sunsets, at night there have been amazing views of the stars and even the space station in its orbit, not to mention the recent blue moon, and the cross breezes have been refreshing.  Ok, worrying about the rainfall and the damage it would do was not a highlight of living among the openings.  And now there are more NOT highlights of living among the openings.

First, a hairy woodpecker, very similar to the one shown in this photo, not only decided to pick the back of the house for his pecking, but then he flew inside.  I chased him out with a broom, but I'm sure he and his friends have been back when I haven't been looking.  They are beautiful birds, but much more appreciated outside, rather than inside.
Second, I had an encounter with a mouse in the temporary kitchen last night.  And, the mouse in my house did not look as cute as the one in this photo.  I can tolerate lots of things, but the thought of mice is not one I'm looking forward to.  The good news is that soon the windows and doors will be in and the house will be closed up.  Until then, the mice and I will need to figure out a way to co-exist, yuck.

Third, I now have an even deeper appreciation for screens on windows and doors.  I've had mosquitoes buzzing around my head at night when I am trying to fall asleep, more varieties of spiders than I care to think about (arachnophobiaville), flies, and other flying and creepy insects.  This morning when I looked into the mirror it was clear that something bit me last night on the side of my cheekbone. At least I remembered not to pack the benedryl anti-itch cream.

The only thing right now that I think I would seriously become unhinged about is if a squirrel decided to spend the night.  Keep your fingers crossed for me, and if you have any anti-squirrel remedies, please send them my way.

Asbestos here today, gone......

Asbestos here today, gone.....

August 24th -- The contractor called Friday evening to tell me two things.  

First, the quote for mitigating the asbestos heat run, as well as a few vents wrapped in asbestos from the furnace that will be replaced.  In full out zen-mode, I just said OK -- it has to be done, let's do it.   With old houses one should always be prepared for unanticipated surprises when a wall is opened up.  A good rule of thumb to remember is that things like this is why you come to expect that the project will cost a bit more than what you think it will.

Second, the contractor told me that this really needs to get done so that the new water heater can go in.  The asbestos mitigaters (that is my own made up name for them!) are super busy (who knew?) and could come Saturday morning at 8:00am, otherwise else they would not be able to come until after Labor Day.  Since I am by nature an early riser, I think I shocked the contractor when I said, no problem; let's get this done.  Actually, they would do this one job on Saturday, a day that they usually don't work.

A crew of three guys showed up and their boss, the owner of the environmental waste disposal contractor company.  Again, extraordinarily polite and friendly guys.  I am beginning to think that the entire construction industry hired Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce for an image make-over! 

 They connected their machines, went to town on removing the asbestos and were done in less than 90 minutes and then off to dispose of wherever the EPA says you dispose of toxic materials. 

I am breathing a bit easier these days.

 Asbestos heat run                                                                       Asbestos free