Our favorite new place

Now that they finally took down the wall between the dinning room, entryway, and living room things have really opened up. It doesn't look like much, but it makes a huge difference and the first floor appears more spacious now.

View from the dining room looking out

Even that old narrow dark hallway seems bigger now :)
Yes that metal pole is going away, we're not sure why it's still standing.

Week 21 windows and siding

Started the siding this week. The best part is the house is now fully insulated- that should make a difference in these freezing winters and humid summers. Oh and did I mention we had to put in a new (more efficient) heating and air conditioning unit? We should be set now- Roland will need to get a second job but the house will feel comfortable :)

New windows- love them!

New double window in the breakfast area-this used to be the kitchen where the sink was

Picture window at the top of the stairs- One of Roland's favorite features

Master bedroom with french doors installed finally. Yes it really is pretty much that narrow, but it goes back long enough for a walk in closet and full master bath. Why is the ceiling framed like that? .....I forgot already... something to do with a structural issue. It was either make the walls more narrow or change the ceiling- so we opted for the altered ceiling

Week 19

The small boarded window in the middle (second floor) will be a large picture window (rounded at the top) and the sun deck will go on top of the mudroom addition- Two french doors will lead on to the deck from the master bedroom on the left.

View from our front door looking into what used to be our dining room and kitchen.
The framed "closet" looking piece in middle is going to be a pantry for storage and necessary support for the second story.

View from our fireplace in the living room into what was the kitchen. The large double windows to the right will be installed into the back wall on the right where the small boarded window is now. Essentially it will be a wall of window in the breakfast area. The green space will be the new kitchen and island and the crap on the right (old kitchen) will be the breakfast nook/exit to the new mudroom.

View from front door again looking right into what used to be the guest bedroom. This will now be the formal dining room and the existing framing you see right in front of the stairs (where the wall phone used to sit) will come down.

View of the stairs from the secondary story standing in what used to be half bath upstairs- it will still be a bathroom just a full bath, with a tub and storage.

The main portion of the masterbedroom- facing backyard- garage actually. The walk in closet will be to the right (Claire's side of the driveway) and the master bathroom will also be on the right and directly behind the closet....if that makes any sense. The french doors will be on the left in this picture. t his was the new space we added over the office.

The new bedroom we built- it will be the first one you come to at the top of the stairs. There was nothing here before.

Colin's new bedroom-our old "master bedroom" - We love this room the best. It has great lighting and great view of the neighborhood.

View from what was the guest bedroom showing the new open space in the stairwell. We couldn't open them all the way up so we took down part of the wall on one side and will be redoing the stairs with better treads and formal landing at the bottom . Again the red wood framing still standing will come down when other supports go up for the second floor. The first floor is not any bigger, but just appears more open.

Week 18

Week 17

24 degrees outside.......brrrr

The old kitchen on the main floor has been completely torn out and one of the two main walls have come down. It is hard to get pictures now of the main floor because we can only really go at night and the lighting has been removed in the construction areas.

Finally moving along again!

The poor lonley house finally got some attention last week. They took all the brick off :( on Dec 28th and finished the demo of the upper level and wood floors a few days after that. It's pretty exciting to go over there now...cold, but exciting. Next up is the second floor addition and remodel. Supposedly 2 or 3 separate work crews are coming on the same day to take off the roof, frame and get the new addition and roof put on quickly before it snows or rains again. It is a critical project, I hope it goes well or we will have a flooded house. Look for new pics @ Jan 4-6th, that is when they are supposed to start again.

I thought this was Colin's old room but it's our room...woops. His room looks the same.

Our old bedroom and half bath

Believe it or not I am standing at the top of our stairs where the banister used to be, colin's old room is behind me.

Week 11

"Bye bye curb appeal, Hello new water line"
This was a loud messy 4 day project. We now have beautiful new 1 1/2 inch copper piping into the house and better water pressure. The old lead..yes corroded lead valve that connected our house water to the main line on the street has also been replaced...I cringed when I say what our water had been running through.

They dug a 7 foot hole in the road, the sidewalk, and the front of our house

This is what you want to wake up to at 7:30am right?