Odds and Ends...

Saturday, March 21

The stairs are in place and now the long list of little jobs need to be completed.  Strapping is put up on the ceiling, 

fireblocking, taking out some windows and putting in other windows…a few of the highlights will be shown here. 

Here is a view from the top of the stairs 

on the second floor.

Walk down and turn on the landing and the view is of the door into the family room on the first floor. Keeping the door closed keeps the majority (but not all!) of the dust away from the rest of the house.

Below is the view while standing in the new kitchen space,  looking back at the new stairs and the TV room, with the old stairs removed. 

Siding is removed in the new porch area in preparation for removing the old window and putting in two new windows!

And here is a job that is time consuming but rewarding:

During the demolition the oak boards from the floors were saved and Julie hammered out the nails to use the floorboards again in the new space.

Halsey created a great area to complete this task.

About half of the boards were completed over the course of one Saturday.

Stairs, Old and New

Tuesday, March 13

Mid-week work!

Most of the work on the new addition has been taking place on the weekend, with a large crew of guys (and Julie).

This week, work commenced mid-week on stair demolition…and building a new set of stairs.

Above are the old stairs to the second floor. 

The stairs are now demolished but the outline remains and the original construction has been saved...

And while we were away on the weekend,

Billy and Kevin built the stairs to connect the basement with the first and second floors.

It looks great!

This is what remains of the closet and space where the old stairs were.  The window was at the base of the stairs.

Big Demolition Day

Saturday, March 8

Demolition of the what is left of the kitchen, the bathroom and hallway…

The following photos are of a lot of people who had a blast ripping down walls and ceilings, carefully taking moulding off entryways and windows, and cleaning up a lot of dust!
Thanks to Billy, Angel, Kevin, Will P, TJ, Ben M, Alex, Gordon and of course Halsey and Julie!

Billy rips down the wall between the new kitchen 

and the old kitchen.

Ben and Will keep busy with closet demo 

Once all the trim and doors have been salvaged, Alex and Will rip down the walls to the old closets!

Will, TJ and Ben had lots of fun throwing all kinds of items into the dumpster…..

Remember the old bathroom wallpaper?

Julie and Halsey had fun ripping down the ceilings too

Here is the view looking up to the hole in the ceiling created to make room for the new staircase.

Upstairs now, the boys bathroom was taped off to keep dust out!

Here is a view to the left of the boys bathroom door..

Here is a view looking down into the space that 

will be stairs….

And here is a view of new space upstairs that will be laundry area into the new bedroom.

Now you see the beams…...

Now you don't!

Below is an optical illusion- it looks as though Ben is holding up the floor!

Believe it or not…..

This dumpster was EMPTY this morning!

At the end of the day, the space is taking on its new function- and the old stairs will be demolished soon.

The temporary "apartment" kitchen-

Sunday, March 2

The temporary kitchen is in place

Yes, there is a temporary kitchen. It will actually be the new butler's pantry once the entire renovation is complete.

Yes, there is a sink in the temporary kitchen. 

(thank goodness!)

In fact, the temporary kitchen is so cute and functional, it has been deemed:

The Apartment Kitchen

This kitchen is very functional, in fact, the dishwasher is closer to the sink than it ever has been before.  

It is a dream to work in except for the very cold draft 

and poor lighting, and cramped storage space……perhaps…..It is aptly named The Apartment Kitchen.

It also did not take long to make the kitchen feel like home as the refrigerator began to collect calendars, and sports and work schedules.

It's Time…..To Say Goodbye…to the OLD KITCHEN!

Saturday, March 1

Today is the day!  

We are beginning to say Goodbye 

to the old kitchen!

Sometimes it is hard to say goodbye….

Here it is…the old kitchen, complete with it's circa 1938 antique cabinets.  There was plenty of storage space...

The kitchen was accessible to the back stairway…
(note how little light came into the kitchen however)…






The refrigerator was tucked away…next to the dishwasher (which was across the room from the sink…)

We definitely made the best of the storage around the stove area.

And the "butler's pantry" or breakfast nook will be repurposed as well….

Of course the best part of the kitchen was the breakfast nook - the table and benches we put in when the boys were little.  What a great spot for a quick meal or a place for an after school snack.  Alex and Gordon agreed to have their picture taken there one…last…time….

And sometimes it is not hard to say goodbye at all…. 

Goodbye to the shelves over the stove...

Good bye to the table and benches….

The refrigerator has been moved to it's temporary home..

Halsey and Gordon preparing to put in the new permanent wall for the new staircase.

Here is an interesting view toward what used to be the side window.  The new kitchen space is still in the rough state beyond the window while we slowly dismantle and 
re-arrange the old kitchen.

Halsey and Alexander begin to build the new wall.  

The cabinets came down just after this picture was photographed.

Halsey was so thrilled with the progress he kept on tearing up the place!

And, don't forget, the downstairs bathroom, aka "Fenway" will be dismantled to make way for the new staircase as well.  Here are a few final pictures of an old space that was re-invented 8 years ago for little boys and their friends!

The bathroom was put in place in 2006, and the Red Sox have won two World Series since then!

Hmmmm, coincidence perhaps?  Or GOOD LUCK CHARM?

Yes, there is a summon from the boys to reincarnate Fenway for the future downstairs half bath.

We..shall…see...

In the meantime, enjoy a little operatic interlude that may just help describe the feelings of the residents of 2 Old Ayer Road upon the slow demolition of the circa 1938 kitchen…...