Cheers!

You may remember from May, that when the wall came down in the middle bedroom, an (empty) whiskey bottle was found next to the chimney. We decided to replace it with a full one and a note for the next person who opens up that wall. We all signed the note with our names, explaining why it was there.

Our "time capsule" ready to be sealed in - for who knows how long. Another 95 years?

The Padded Room

Framing inspection passed earlier this week, then the insulation and moisture barrier went up. Now it looks like we are inside a marshmallow! The insulation was inspected as well and passed. Sheetrock starts tomorrow.

The old and new kitchen wall. The old part got the yellow insulation, while the new part got the white insulation. No one is really sure why...

The backyard kitchen wall - ready for sheetrock.

And this is?

Have you guessed yet?


It's the plumbing in the shower in the master bath. The oval on the left is the control, the hand held shower is above, and the 3 body jets are down the middle. The tubing needs to be the same length so the water pressure is balanced. Did you guess right?

Old Roof, Meet New Roof

A lot has happened in a week - we have windows for a start. And the roof finally was finished inbetween rainstorms. No leaks! And we have one other addition on the exterior...

After 95 years, the old roof had a bit of sagging around the edges (well, we all do as we get older). Of course, the young, new roof was perky and straight. After trying several ways to get the old and new to align, Brad fashioned some cedar brackets to support the old roof where it joins the new roof. Here are pictures of the two sides of the house where the roofs join. A matching set was made for the front for balance.

Roughing and Stuffing it all in

Looking up into the kitchen ceiling, you can see plumbing, lights, and heating all being jammed in. The walls are getting full. Inspections have been happing this week on all the "infrastructure" areas. And lots of detailed decisions - such as the exact placement of the doorbell. (Yes, it does matter!) And the occasional "hmmm..." as we find out something isn't going to fit where we had planned (like the medicine cabinet). Somehow, all those deadlines for ordering crept up on me and it's time to get the tile, cabinets, lights, and everything else. Yikes - I've had to scramble this week!

I have lots more photos of framing in various stages of plumbing, electrical and HVAC installation. I won't bore you with them. This is a nice picture of the master bedroom window looking out on the back yard. Ah, serenity.

65 Percent

Here's something very cool! Zoe told us today that Atomic Waste has managed to recycle 65% of our construction debris. That is almost 8 tons (that's an American ton or 2,000 pounds, which I have just found out is less than a British ton or 2240 pounds, and different than a metric tonne or 2204 pounds or 1000 Kg - you can guess who provided that information). Wow! No matter how you weigh it, that is a lot. Sorry, no picture available!

Come On In

While things have slowed down a bit on the outside due to the weather, let's take a look at what's happened inside. While we've been focused on getting a roof back on, the framing on the inside is done! The windows have also arrived. Here's the view out the new back doorway from the mudroom complete with a smiling framing guy. (AJ is about to ask if he can visit the portapotty again.)

We have 3 pocket doors in our remodel plan to save space - upstairs master bedroom closet, downstairs half bath, and between the mudroom and kitchen. Here is the framing and (pretty cool) pre-assembled "pocket" for the one in the mudroom.

Remember the view into the backyard from the upstairs hallway? This is the view today. You are looking through the doorway into the master bedroom, through the closet, The rectangle in the outside wall frame is the window in the closet. Bedroom to the left, bathroom is to the right.

New floor meets old floor. Looking up from the kitchen, you can see the old floor joists (near view, more roughly planed) and the new floor joists on the other side of the Really Big Beam (right side of the picture). While it's all exposed, Brad worked on the old subfloor and joists to remove any "squeakiness".

True Blue Electric has begun roughing-in the wiring. We've been talking switches, light fixtures, and who gets to control what on their side of the bed. After living in an old house for so long, the thought of having power outlets and switches where you actually need them is terribly exciting. As is the prospect of adequate circuts and circuit breakers - good bye searching for the right replacement fuse by flashlight!

The view up into the new rafters.

Here's a shot of the Big Header Beam now in the exterior wall of the middle bedroom supporting the new roof joists. There is a similar one on the other side.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

We want to finish the roof today! The weather has not been cooperating, so work has been going on inside while we wait for dry skys to finish the roofing. Here you can see where the old and new roofs join.

Plastic will have to do until we can get the shingles on!

A home-made "drip shield" inside on the rafters under where the roof lines join. The plastic on the outside has been doing it's job, so they have not been overly stressed even with all the storms we have been having.