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August 26th  -- There is so much progress that even these photos are out of date!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

Soffits, and why I love my contractor.....

Soffits, and why I love my contractor....

August 21st -- The contractor stopped by early this morning as I was getting ready to leave for work.  He told me that he was getting antsy because he wanted there to be more progress on the house. Wow, I thought to myself, shouldn't I be the one telling that to him?   This is just one of the many reasons why I love my contractor.  He is eager to "close up the house," which means getting the windows into the addition along with installing the roof shingles, the siding, and the soffits.  More on soffits in a minute. 

 Also, he was waiting for the architect to stop by because he was concerned about whether the view from the windows in the gathering room would be obstructed by the overhangs (soffits).  He was concerned about whether the windows should actually be lowered about 2 inches.  Really?  Wow.  It turns out that the two windows in question are on the southwest corner and given the concerns I've had about how the blazing summer sun will overheat the gathering room, the architect designed the window overheads to help keep that room reasonably cool during the summer, but to also have good sun exposure during the winter when the sun is lower in the sky.  Ironically, it is my contractor who is always telling me that the architect is more OCD (than the contractor)!

Here is a photo of one of the two windows in the southwest corner of the gathering room and the overhang (soffit) in question.  This is what I saw when I got home, but I still don't know what they decided to do about the position of the windows.



Here is a view of the other window from outside the house and again the lovely soffit on the southwest corner of the gathering room addition.



         And here is the view of the soffit on the north side of the gathering room and the stairwell to the basement.

And here is a view of the back of the house with the soffits!  You will also notice that the second window in the upper level master bedroom has been cut (and the view from there is really something!).

Speaking of the stairwell, we now have treads!  When I asked my contractor if it was ok for me to go into the basement to do my laundry this weekend, he said yes, but cautioned me several times that these are temporary treads and that they can be very slippery if there is construction dust on them so that I have to be very, very careful.  Yes, another reason why I love my contractor.

 As I was walking out of the house this morning to get to my car, I saw my contractor talking on his cell phone and pulling weeds that had grown in the flowerbeds in the front of my house.  When he got off the phone, I thanked him for pulling these weeds for me, and he looked at me and said that he just can't help himself when he sees weeds growing within flower beds and he has to pull them.  OCD much?   And, that is yet one more out of what may seem like a bazillion reasons for why I love my contractor!

Stairs and windows, Part 1.....

Stairs and windows, Part 1.....

August 19th -- This is no doubt the first of several installments of what will be the story of stairs and windows.

Although the construction of the infamous basement stairwell was a focal point of the excavation and foundation efforts (which now seems like a long time ago), the stairwell has pretty much been neglected...that is, until today!  

The following series of photos show how the framers put in the joists for the landing, hung three stringers that define the rise (the vertical distance between each step) and where the treads will eventually be placed.  It is a bit difficult to see from these photos because there is some framing in the way, but there are three stringers.

 Here is a view, looking straight down into the stairwell that shows the third stringer that is obscured in the above photo.

Architects always think about things differently than the rest of us, and the architect for this project is no different.  Because the stairwell is on the north side of the house, he wanted very much for there to be ample and natural light.  At the top of stairwell landing is a window that faces west (see photo on the left) and along the north wall of the stairwell there will be cut outs for three windows (you can only see two of the cut outs in the photo on the right).  I am thinking that during the winter, I might be curled up in a comfy chair on the stairwell landing with a book, because the natural light will be killer!

Speaking of windows....the first shipment was delivered today!  Here they are stacked in the mudroom awaiting their installation.

 Finally, you might be wondering, like me, when the framing for the covered deck off the upper-level master bedroom would appear.  Well, here is a view of the supports needed for this feature, looking up from the floor of the gathering room addition. 

It turns out that constructing the covered deck off the master bedroom is no small feat as it must be waterproof and waterproofing this type of structure that is over a living space is much more complicated than it might initially seem....sort of like most of the features found in a house that I used to take for granted, but now have learned so much more about!

Out with the old, and in with the .....

Out with the old, and in with the...

August 16 - 18th -- With the trauma of the refrigerator episode behind me, I'm in a much better place to chronicle the next phases of this renovation.  It is never easy taking photos of interiors, but here is an attempt for what will be future "before" and "after" comparisons.

First up, here is the old refrigerator and microwave in the temporary kitchen in the living room. Notice a few sunflowers in a jar on the table to the right as an attempt to lift my spirits!




Here is the view when I open the door from the front foyer -- originally there was a bedroom, a closet, a bathroom, a pantry and then the back of the house.  Now, with all those rooms demolished what you see is the door to the back of the house where the pantry used to be.

This shot shows the original brick walls of the house where there was a closet adjacent to the downstairs bathroom.

 Here is the famous original claw foot tub from 1903 that will be moved, re-glazed and will be the centerpiece of the downstairs guest bathroom with all sorts of cool new plumbing fixtures.

This is a view of the door that went from the guest bathroom into the kitchen, which always struck me as an odd design feature.  Again, the lath and plaster construction and the original framing can be seen.

 Here is a view of the south wall of the kitchen with everything ripped out.  The window opening will remain and the wall at the right will be opened up as part of the new kitchen design.

 This will be the only remaining part of the original kitchen, which was a fir built-in cabinet, which the architect calls a "Hoosier" cabinet, but I think that term is best reserved for natural wood, more detailed fancy built-in cabinets.  The very simple kitchen cabinet below is typical of the Victorian farmhouse.

Old houses are notorious for revealing unanticipated surprises during demolition, and this one is no different.  When walls were being demolished on the main level, this heat run, which connected the original gravity heater in the basement to a heating vent in the master bedroom on the upper level, reared its ugly head -- ugly only because it might be wrapped in asbestos tape.  Because we are not sure, we have ordered an inspection to determine what material the tape is made of so that we will know how to safely remove the heat run and to determine the best mitigation strategy.  Stay tuned....  

As the framing crew continues to work on the roof line overhangs, you can see in the next series of photos and just how interesting the new roof lines will be.  This shows the original back of the house, the framed stairwell to the basement (which is the appropriate 5-foot setback from the property line to the north, unlike the original house) and then the west facing back wall of the gathering room addition.

 Here is another view of the west-facing back of the house where the framing on the overhangs can be seen.  There is still another window to be cut out on the upper-level master bedroom and the covered deck that the upper-level doorway leads to has yet to be framed in.

 This view shows the interesting room lines from the north side of the house.  Again, there are two more windows to be cut out of the wall for the master bathroom (below the stack that will be removed).

The roof has pretty much been covered with felt.  In the weeks to come the three layers of roof shingles and two layers of cedar shingles that cover the roof on the original part of the house will be removed.  The exposed rafters will be covered with plywood and after the felt is laid down, state of the art "bullet-proof" shingles (as the contractor calls them) will be laid down (bullet-proof as in 'hail-proof' so that I can get a discount on my homeowners insurance).  Once the exterior of the house is "closed up," then the interior framing of the new walls will begin along with plumbing rough-in valves, electrical fixtures and outlet wiring and plumbing fixtures.