A mudroom appears….

Saturday, February 15

TJ was back on Saturday along with Angel and we had big plans for the mudroom area.
But first, the train table had to be dismantled.

Just a quick aside, this train table was created by Alex, Gordon and Will P 4 years ago in 2010 when Alex and Will were in 5th grade.  Once the idea was hatched they all went to work and they were together almost every day after school until it was completed.  
They did a brilliant job of laying track, painting roads and parking lines.  

The sad news is that in order to create the flow necessary for our new mudroom area the train table had to be dismantled.  It was a quick but nostalgic pack up of the trains, buildings and cars.

Once that was completed, demolition began on the wall that separated the basement from the garage. Here Alex, Gordon and Angel are taking down the mirrors that had been placed across the old door to the garage.

Below is TJ on the opposite side of that door:

 Below shows BEFORE the wall was demolished…

And AFTER …..lots of space!

 The above view and the following few pictures are taken from the same angle - looking from the basement toward the garage.

 Halsey began to frame the new wall between the garage and the mudroom.

 Alex finished the framing.

 Meanwhile, TJ and Gordon were upstairs on the second floor removing the studs from the old guest room to allow for a new wall arrangement.

The adventures continued in the basement when Halsey asked Angel to cut out part of the steel beam with a grinder to allow for a full sized door for the mudroom entry.

Here are the entangled wires mentioned in a previous post and the space where the stairs will be built.

At the end of this day, here is a great perspective with Julie's car pulled into the garage and the door to the new mudroom area is framed.

Basement demolition…second floor work...

Saturday, February 8

The messy work in the basement was much more fun in with a large group!

With thanks to Angel, Will P and TJ we were able to demolish the rock lathe ceiling in the old basement.  This will is the beginning of the formulation of the new mudroom in the basement.
The gray material is cellulose insulation that we had blown into the walls back in 2007. 
The demolition revealed all kinds of electrical wires both old and new that will have to be removed and re-wired. 

Also accomplished on the same day was the demolition of the plaster walls that separate the old guest room with the new upstairs space.  It really opened up the feeling of the future room.

Below:  Looking into the old guest room and beyond into the new upstairs space.

Where the radiator is currently located will be the future stairwell.

Above is a photo looking back at the demolished wall and the old guest room.

The view at the end of the day was spectacular.

Garage doors!

Thursday, January 30

Garage doors and a visit from the plumber…

Just to refresh your memory, this is what we have been using to keep the cold air out of the new garage.  It has been effective shielding the wind from the garage.

Above is what "Julie's side" looked like.  

Below is "Halsey's side".

At the end of the day on Thursday, here is an exterior view of the new garage doors.

They are not connected to electricity for automation yet, however they can be lifted by human power!

 Below is a view from the inside.  The windows allow for much needed natural light.

On the same day, the crew from Taft Plumbing and heating arrived and began the rough plumbing for the new kitchen and the future master bathroom on the second floor.

Below is a view of the hot and cold water lines that will run to the second floor.

Below is some of the rough plumbing that was completed on Thursday.  
On the left, drain lines from the future master bathroom.  On the right, plumbing for the future master bathroom shower as viewed from the first floor.

Demolition begins upstairs

Saturday, January 25

Demolition…..

On Saturday, the demolition of the upstairs began to connect the new addition to the existing house.  Working from the new addition, the siding was taken off the existing house and the insulation was pulled out.  It was a messy process.

There was a lot of wood that came off the side of the house!                                                             It showed how well the house was built in 1938. 

Here is a view of Alex - he is in the new addition working on taking away the old window that is close to the front of the old guest room.

Here is the same view, minus Alex, the window and siding, insulation and studs!
This perspective is standing in the new addition, looking into the old guest room and beyond into the hallway.  Once the addition is complete, the door into the hallway will no longer exist.  It will be re-framed and become a wall.

Below is the same view, now the wall is being framed to close off what will become the darkroom (temporarily) and then Halsey's closet (eventually!)

This perspective is from the existing back hallway looking toward the new addition during the siding/studs demolition.

Halsey wasted no time framing up the wall for his future closet!

At the end of the day- big progress was made. 

Upstairs the "old" is beginning to connect with the "new".

Welding in the new garage….

Sunday, January 19

Welding the beam in the new garage

Halsey asked our local ironwork specialist, Ray Ciemny, to come over and weld a piece of steel onto the connecting beam from the old house to the new addition.

This piece of steel is needed to assure the connection will stay in place.

 

The photos above show Ray at work in the garage, welding the steel onto the beam.
Below is the fantastic result!

Insulation Part I

Tuesday, January 7

Foam insulation in the addition

On the coldest day of the winter (so far) the foam insulation was blown into outer walls of the garage area, the ceiling of the garage, the outer walls of the new kitchen space and upstairs.

The new space is does not have heating yet, however the foam made a big difference in temperature!

 Garage space with foam insulation

Kitchen outside walls have some insulation 

Ceiling has insulation and temporary lights strung through

Ceiling in the old guest room now has insulation 

Ceiling in the new space has insulation...

And now there is a wall that will separate the future bedroom from the bathroom and closet area.  This view is looking toward the front of the house.

 This view is looking from what will be the sink to the closet (part of the old guest room)

This view is looking toward what will be the shower and through the wall toward the back of the house.