Alistair's Current Closet

We had to empty out Alistair's closet today.  It is right underneath the new master bathroom and will be used to run the pipes up from the basement (and to run the drain back down to the basement.  Shawn worked fast this afternoon.  He has already moved the stack from the middle of the room to the wall and has started running the drain and stack for the sink.

Opening Up the Floor

This week, Colin started wiring for the new bathroom as well as rewiring what was the kitchen and the living room. Chris also ripped up the old floor so that the plumber (Shawn) can run the pipes. In the photo below, the joists under the plywood run perpendicular to the wall. There appears to have been a staircase at some point (fifty years ago or more). Very curious as to what the layout of this house has been over time.

No sign of any bats in the attic today.

New Master Suite Windows

The windows are in, and we can't get over how much light there is upstairs. We know that the light will be different once the walls are up, but in the meantime we are enjoying the light.

The bathroom window is nearly the width of the bathroom, which is kind of crazy.  Again, not what we were envisioning at the beginning of our design process, but the large window will create a bright room.

Here is a view of the future master bedroom of the bathroom, hall, and closet.

New Window Preparations

Yesterday, they prepped the walls for the new windows (you can see the headers).  We have the bathroom window already (since we ordered it for Charlotte's room before we realized that we it wasn't an egress window) and the bedroom window is due tomorrow.

Bathroom Framing

It was too dark to take a picture on Friday afternoon of the bathroom framing that Chris, Brian and Dennis built, so here here a picture in the daytime.  We can't believe how much they have done in less than two days of work.

Bathroom To Be - Demolition

This morning the guys cut away the floor where the bathroom is going to be.  It looks like the floorboards were replaced, maybe for stairs.  We often wonder what configurations and additions this house has been through in the past 150 years.

End of First Day Demo Upstairs

By the end of the day yesterday Chris, Brian, and Dennis had taken down the laundry room wall and the wall between the living room and kitchen.  You can see the stack from the downstairs bathroom that used to run in the wall separating the two rooms.  With the wall gone, the space seems huge, like we should have a dance party or something. 

Demo Phase Two - Upstairs

Today is the first day of work on the upstairs master suite.  Alistair was happy to see Chris, Brian, and Dennis again.  It didn't take them long to knock down the flimsy laundry room wall.  Already the space seems so different.

Brian found evidence of munching carpenter ants on the little kitchen window header, which was what we expected.  We had heard munching and even witnessed a mass exodus of flying male ants.

Porch Progress

We are done working on our porch for the winter.  The screens, lighting, new back wall, and finishing touches will wait until spring.  Here is a brief slideshow of our progress so far.

Standing Seam Roof

Today a team of friendly, bearded men, many dressed in camouflage, installed the standing seam roof on our porch.  They were quick, finishing the job before lunch.  It looks great.  Work on the porch is done now until spring.

New Stairs

Chris, Dennis, and Brian are pretty much finished will all the outside work until spring.  Chris put the finishing touches on the new stairs this morning.  The new metal roof should be installed soon.  Chris put our old stairs off the back of the porch so we can use it this winter.  We still need to figure out what we are doing for a patio off the back.  We'll tackle landscaping in the spring.

Railings

We are nearing the end of the porch construction. Today they installed the porch railings they assembled yesterday. As Dennis said, the railings bring it all together. Mitch and his guys also finished up their work on the roof.