Just in time for Halloween....

Once again we have enjoyed the results of another productive week at the house.  I will share all the stories and pictures, but first I just have to try and explain a strange phenomenon to the best of my abilities.  Joel had to drive out to Syracuse on Thursday evening for a business meeting so, left to my own devices, I put the dogs in the car and headed up to check out what was new at the house since I had not had a chance to get there during the day.  It was dark.  It was windy.  It was raining.  I wasn't afraid...Anyway, I engaged the flashlight on my cell phone and let myself in.  The kitchen windows were in place.  Also, the sub floor in the kitchen area had been laid down.  I noticed that the upstairs master bedroom windows had been installed as I drove up, so I decided to climb the back stairs and check those out as well.  Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until I touched the camera app on my phone and got ready to snap some pictures.  The light from my phone exposed these really eerie green and purple horizontal lights, almost like Steve's laser level machine.  I took a picture and was surprised to see the results.  I took three more just to be sure, one with my flash off, one with it on, and one on auto flash.  Nothing made a difference.  The strange lights were there, no doubt about it.  I swiped my phone back to the photos I had just taken downstairs to compare.  No purple and green lines.  Let's just say that I locked up and left pretty darn quickly.  I showed the pictures to Joel later that night and although he listened intently, I could tell he wasn't convinced it was anything to be concerned about.  He is a man of science after all:)  I do find it interesting, though, that he mentioned the incident to Steve on Friday and confirmed that the laser machine was no where on the property!

Here is the photo that I took of the kitchen windows just moments before.

I went back up to the house this morning and took a few shots of the rustic room because Joel said that Steve and Oliver worked very hard yesterday to get it all prepped and ready for the cement mixer pour on Monday.  Remember, this is the room where we are lowering the floor because we can't raise the ceiling.  The old floor has been ripped out and several loads of bricks and debris have been dumped in and raked flat to take up some of the cavernous space so that we won't need as much cement.  We will run duct work and electrical lines on top of the cement and underneath the new floor.  This space will conveniently serve as our indoor workshop during the winter months.

View of the rustic room east wall from the outside

Rain, rain, go away....

The weather certainly could have been better towards the latter part of this week, but Steve and his crew really rallied and accomplished quite a bit despite the rain and mud.  Spike was able to get most of the side steps finished.  He got pulled off that duty to build a stone foundation on the other side of the house.  When Steve and Oliver tore off the kitchen wall, they found that the support beam underneath was rotten.  Before they can rebuild that side of the back of the house, an even, strong footing needs to be in place.

Steve called towards the end of the day on Thursday asking exactly where we would like the two upstairs master bath windows placed.  When we arrived at the house to discuss the windows we encountered quite an eerie scene.  Darkness was falling and Oliver and Steve were upstairs measuring with a self leveling laser machine.  Red and green lines were shooting through the space and the entire wall was gone, leaving a huge gaping hole to the ground below.  As soon as we made our decisions, I took my pictures and headed downstairs to safety!

We also discussed the placement of the wall separating the den from the closet/downstairs bathroom.  Instead of a door leading into this space, we decided to settle for an opening which I can later block off with a dog gate when the need arises.

When we popped up on Friday night to check on the day's progress we were delighted to find that both of the upstairs bathroom windows had been installed along with the second den window.  Steve and Oliver had also framed out the new hallway wall as well as the back wall of the hall closet.  They laid plywood on the downstairs bathroom floor which is great because I was fearful that someone (me even) was going to fall through the open floor joists to the basement!

Home!

So, after 17 long hours in the car, we finally made it home late Thursday night.  Our 2 week southern adventure was truly spectacular, but it is now time to get back to the stuff of real life, and that means house renovations!!  We were able to tie up loose ends and get to the house by Friday afternoon.  Lots of exciting things happening.  An excavator has been delivered to the front lawn in preparation for the big septic dig which will probably happen next week.  Steve and Oliver successfully jacked up the middle portion of the house which means that the Den floor is now level and even.  Our downstairs bathroom window has been installed.  Our other mason, Spike, is beginning work on the stone steps leading up to the side entrance.  Joel dug right in and over the course of Friday afternoon and Saturday morning removed all the windows on the west side of the house, ripped up the majority of the kitchen floor, continued to remove the high peak exterior molding (this time he was careful not to let any pinch bars crack his forehead!),  and hauled in another truckload of concrete block from his father's house.   Since Saturday afternoon was so beautifully fall-like, I asked Joel to take a break from work and do a Christmas card photo shoot.  Mom and Dad came up to take the pictures.  Surprisingly the dogs cooperated, and I think we got a keeper shot:)

discussion of stone steps

Joel removing exterior molding

after the photo shoot

We've Been Framed!

As we near the end of our whirlwind tour of the South, we can't help but get excited about seeing the progress on the house.  Both Cathy and my dad have been emailing pictures which never cease to wow us.  Thankfully the weather has cooperated and Steve has been able to really accomplish a lot.  Between he, Oliver, and the mason they have solidified the dining room foundation, framed out the new walls, zipped the side and installed the windows, and dug a trench in the front of the house which will divert rain water from the road away from the basement.  Eventually we plan to have a stamped concrete patio and walkway laid down in the front, sides, and back of the house.

We should be home by the weekend. It will feel great to get back into the swing of house renovation!

See What's Happening at the House!

We are away on our anniversary bike trip, but Cathy has been keeping me updated with pictures and descriptions of what Steve has been up to the past few days.  I've got to say that I am kind of glad that I am not there to witness the mayhem (and I mean that in the most loving way!!)  Just before we departed, Steve and Oliver had prepped the outside wall on the east side of the house to be jacked up.  Joel and I stopped by to take a look the evening before we left.  We laughed as Joel texted Steve to ask exactly what was holding the dining room up and Steve's response was "air"!  As you can see in the photo, the dining room is just sagging over nothing, and the exterior wall is completely useless. 

Steve told Joel over the phone that as he and Oliver braced for the big effort to jack up the house they realized that all that exterior prep work was unnecessary as mere human lifting did the trick!  Even more surprising is that once Steve dug down underneath the foundation he discovered that the stone work just ended...he will have to build it back up using the cement blocks that Joel conveniently just got from his father.

Cathy sent me this next photo of the side of the house with the walls of the dining room completely torn off.  See what I mean about mayhem?!  Yikes!

I will end with a picture that I took the day before we left which clearly shows the beautiful path that we are on.  Steve finished flashing the chimney and tied the siding and molding in so perfectly that I just had to smile:)

Repeat Performance!

Once again the week flew by and a lot was accomplished at the house.  Steve and his nephew Oliver got the front sided and moved around to the west and covered the majority of that as well.  Steve also added a decorative trim to the top of one window on the front of the house to see if I liked it, which of course I did!  Down the road he will trim out all the windows that way.

Joel and Steve met with an engineer to discuss a new septic system, a leach field, and the vaulting of our upstairs ceiling.  All good!  We passed our perc test ; they mapped out where the septic may go; and the engineer is looking into our vaulting ideas.

Over the weekend Joel and I enjoyed our mugs of coffee as we once again cleaned up inside and out.  We rallied so much, though, that we surpassed our goals...On Saturday Joel removed three windows, tore apart the side porch and the side wall just behind the parlor.  He hauled down 30 bags of insulation from the Yoga room and threw them into our 7th dumpster.  While he was prying some molding off of a high peak on the west side of the house mid-day, he banged his head with the pinch bar and lacerated his forehead pretty good.  Off to the ER we went and he got 4 stitches.  Didn't slow him down though:)  We returned to the house and finished our projects until the sun set.  Back again on Sunday.  I shop vacuumed the entire upstairs again while Joel stripped nails from all the flooring wood.  I photographed and measured the kitchen space because I am meeting with a designer from Lowe's tomorrow to lay out a plan.  Joel removed all the remaining exterior trim work, loaded the dumpster up with stray wood and debris, and loaded up a trailer with wood that we want to save and reuse.

We are off to the south this coming week as we celebrate our anniversary with a bike tour and visit with our kids in fun places.  Joel and Steve will stay in touch, and I will post if anything super exciting happens!

Joel and I make a GREAT team!!

We accomplished so much at the house this weekend.  Working side by side for the better part of both days, Joel finished removing the last of the lathe and plaster on the back staircase while I started in the front upstairs rooms and swept and used the ShopVac to clean up all the dust, debris, and stray insulation.  We created quite a mound of filled-to-the-brim garbage bags! He caulked and put a second coat of paint on the side windows so Steve can round the corner and continue with the siding.  I took the wheelbarrow around the entire property and picked up nails, stones, and bits of wood.  It finally feels like we have reached ground zero on the inside.  There is very little left to remove.  Soon (well, relatively soon...) we can begin the interior rebuild!

                   Look how clean and ready to be made beautiful again the upstairs is! 

  

There was a flurry of activity in our front yard yesterday morning as the Lake Delta Half Marathon runners passed by.  We seem to be the halfway point of the race, and the volunteers had set up a water and orange slice station on our lawn.  We turned up our music nice and loud and took a moment to cheer the athletes on.  Who knows?  Maybe next year we will be out there pounding the pavement with the Roman Runners instead of pounding nails.

I stopped working halfway through the day yesterday so that I could get my parents up to enjoy the afternoon at the lake.  Several of our friends dropped by to say hello and check on our progress.  My caramel popcorn is a favorite of Karen's so I was happy when she and Mitch sat for a moment to enjoy a few bites.