Update with photos

A "new" grill dad picked up for us (at the dump). I am planning our first cookout Labor Day weekend so adjust your schedules.













Framing and new electrical boxes. This was taken from the far wall of Jenny's room looking into the hall and through the closet you can see our room.

















This took forever and it is only one side of the door. Every door we do we are saving $200 by not paying someone else to strip them.

Half Bath

Yesterday I went to the house after two days of not visiting. It was nice to see lots of new walls and plumbing going in. After we visited the house we went to Home Depot and we saw a toilet that matches our pedestal sink. We decided to go with the Kohler Archer series toilet and pedestal sink.

Here are some pictures from Kohler.

Weekend Roundup

Friday- Greg removed the plaster and lath that was remaining on the basement stairs.

Saturday- I watched Greg and his dad remove the boiler, we had quotes of $1200 and $500 to remove it and it only took them an hour and a half. We then purchased our second and third fixture a pedestal sink and toilet. We also picked up materials to replace the sills in the mud room and removed the flooring.

Sunday- My parents and Greg's dad came up, we jacked up the mudroom replaced the sills, replaced the floor joists and put down new plywood and studs in the wall. Mom and I worked on sweeping up the mess on the second floor and I trimmed the hedges. We also knocked down the chimneys in the basement and carried most of the bricks outside.

Monday- Greg and his dad took the day off to work on the house. They poured a new concrete pad for the new boiler and hot water tank to sit on, and removed the flooring in the first floor hall. The plumber came by and will start tomorrow. The framing is progressing slowly, but surely. A guy named Pedro stopped by and took the old radiators and pipes we didn't need, he even took some junky bikes that people left in our yard. I guess you can get money for any type of metal.

The bank and electrician will be by on Wednesday

Baseball anyone?

This weekend we ordered the new windows. Please send money.

On Sunday my mom, Jenny, Greg, Don and I went up to the house. We removed a lots of stuff from the basement and a huge net that was buried a few inches below the soil in the back yard. I saw our neighbor while we we're removing it and asked her what it was, it turns out the previous owner had a huge baseball net for his sons to practice batting & pitching. It must of been 20'x40' with vines and poison ivy holding it in place. Greg is covered in rashes as a result.

On Monday we had our energy audit and learned about the rebates and loans we can qualify for. Do it yourself window installation does not qualify for the loan so we can only use the loan for the boiler and insulation.

On Tuesday Greg removed the rest of the flooring in our future master bath. He then took an ax to a section of our basement, we'll need to pour a new pad for the furnace and hot water heater. I pushed down a brick column that was holding up the house, but now we have new lally columns we don't need it. Of course we then had to carry out all the bricks and cement so that was lots of fun.

Today we got back two quotes for the plumbing and heating, $8,000 more then I expected.

A Little Progress

Today we had a delivery of lumber, nails and adhesive. There are 4 new footings in the basement for the new lally columns.

Building Permit

We got our building permit today and our framer is starting tomorrow. Finally a little progress on the house.

My Story

I have always had an interest in houses and construction. I am the daughter of a carpenter recently turned restaurant owner so I grew up around construction sites. My dad built our family house (on weekends and after work) and it took 4 years. When my dad first started the "yard" was 5 acres of trees. Slowly it took shape and I visited the construction site all the time. I think that experience has made this whole project easier. Any normal person would probably be freaked out.

I work in the renewable energy field and have an interest in energy efficiency. I hope to make our house as efficient as we can afford. About two days after we closed on the house I called and scheduled an energy audit. There isn't much for them to look at, but we need to have an audit before we can take advantage of 0% interest loan for energy efficiency improvements. We had a serious debate about what to do with our original 1860s windows which were historic and pretty, but probably contain lead paint and definitely have significant heat loss. I was fighting to keep the windows and re-glaze them and add new storm windows, but in the end I lost the fight and we agreed to get new windows. Yes, they will cost a fortune and we won't see a payback, but I think I will like them.