Hi all. After much anticipation, things are moving along quickly here. In the past 4 days we have demolished the pitched roof portion of the house, created a platform for the second floor, and added 3 exterior walls. I have been painting the backs of the clapboards so they are ready to install once the rest of the second floor is up.
Here are some progress pictures
It's getting there! Here are the interior plans for the second floor.
That's all for now. I've got to get back to the mundane task of staining clapboards.
Music for today-
Today is my 10th wedding anniversary to this crazy fool...
So, here are a few songs from our wedding.
1. Rhett Miller (The Old 97's) "Question." This was our song, and I'm so glad it was because it was short to dance to, and because it's beautiful and unique (read "weird"), just like us!!
2. Elvis, "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You." We walked up the aisle to this, played on flute and guitar. (By aisle, I mean the masterfully planted garden at Dave's parent's house.) I'm a secret Elvis fan. I guess the secret is out.
3. Damien Rice, "Cannonball." The wedding party walked down the aisle to this song played by the flutist and guitarist. There were no lyrics, of course, which is good because they are kind of a downer for a wedding.
Other silly love songs-
Ben Kweller, "Family Tree." I saw him open for Evan Dando when he was just a kid, and continued to listen to him as an adult. This is from his first solo album.
Death Cab for Cutie, "I Will Follow You into the Dark." Don't cry, but do listen to this gut-wrenching song.
The past 10 years have been more amazing than I could have imagined. I can't wait to see what the next 10 bring...
I hope everyone is enjoying summer. We are loving having time off even if most of it is spent worrying about our new project, finagling the budget, researching materials, calling people, harassing family members for help followed by long runs. Thank god we have the summer off to do this work because we haven't even started phase 2, and it's already eaten up most of the first part of our summer.
Home sweet home as it stands now.
Addition above pitched roof portion of existing house
Addition with some color added in
To prepare to take off the roof, there were a number of demolition-related projects that needed to be done. Dave and his trusted assistant Sam started by taking out the basement drop ceiling and demo-ing most of the basement bathroom. This was not a job for the faint of heart. I had gotten a taste of how disgusting this job was when we went in search of mice in the basement this past winter, and I decided that I did not need to be a part of it again. Suggested outfit- something out of Ted Kaczynski's (The UniBomber) closet.
Dead mice can't penetrate my face mask. Wait, it's not supposed to cover your eyes too?
The basement ceiling access was necessary for Dave to remove the old electric wires that run to parts of the house that will be demo-ed and re-done. Dave and Sam encountered a few mice (mostly dead) and more than a few fire hazards in the wiring, so here's to making the house safer and rodent free!
The basement bathroom is looking good, no?
Sam smashed out most of the remaining garage ceiling too so we could have access to the plumbing running into the first floor above. After a deluge of cellulose insulation rained on him, Sam looked like an old man with gray hair and a slight case of death. Suggested outfit- hooded Tyvek suit a la "Breaking Bad."
The boys saved the best job for a nice hot day- the removal of attic insulation and plywood. Because we are adding on above a pitched roof area of our current house, the insulation and plywood will not be needed, so Dave cut a hole in the roof/outer wall and he and Sam proceeded to throw insulation and other attic stuff into the dumpster on the hottest day of the year. Oh yeah, did I mention that we had a huge ant problem with origins in the attic? Well, good news is that the ants were dead once the guys got up there. I didn't help with this project either. Suggested outfit- frozen long sleeve T-shirt to help with the heat and irritation from 1950's insulation.
Dumpster delivery!
Glamorous attic "before-ish" shot
An attic's worth of demo
Attic after with dust snow
Yesterday we did the final demo of the take out window bedroom in the area that we are starting to call the musictorium (because when it's done that's where the piano will go). Opening up that area really gave us a feel for the space that we have.
Plans for the musictorium and beyond
"And this is where we will sip sherry and listen to classical music after dinner, my dear." Dave's take on the future musictorium.
Another before view of the musictorium
Similar view after demo. That's the kitchen in the back
Sort of before in the kitchen hallway.
Same view after demo. Check out that mess in the living room on the right. You can also see the hole where the basement stairs are currently.
Entryway looking from the living room to the front door (before). R.I.P. rock planter.
And after
Here's some insider advice- when you have a huge addition looming, the kind of project that is all- encompassing and requires constant attention to detail and planning you should definitely take time to rip out 50+ years of weeds and plant a garden next to your driveway. I've always been really good at procrastinating by finding other things that "need to get done," and this was one of those things. It all started with some $10 trees from Lowes, and it ended with 15 rhododendrons. At least we can look out in the yard and see something beautiful, instead of looking inside and seeing a wreck. Suggested gardening outfit- something flattering and/or cute (that you don't mind getting dirty) because this is when you will end up meeting your neighbors- when you are out in the yard looking like a crazed lunatic moving a potted tree 2 inches to the right, now to the left, now back to the right.
"Garden" before
"Garden" during
Garden after
Garden after.
The garden update is endorsed by this butterfly
We are set to rip off the roof on Wednesday/ Thursday. Oh, that's tomorrow. Well, I guess I should start taking some before pictures!
Music for today:
1. 30 Seconds to Mars, "Kings and Queens." If there's anything I love it's jumping on a sinking bandwagon which is why I decided to wait about 4 years after the buzz to become a fan of 30 Seconds to Mars. Why now? We watched their movie about their record contract debacle ("Artifact") a few weeks ago. If you are not a fan of Jordan Catalano, err..Jared Leto now do not watch this documentary. It will not make you a fan of his as he comes off a little self-absorbed, but it was still an interesting expose of the underbelly of record contracts. Their music is bordering on prog rock, and where is their bassist? Someone is surely playing the bass, but that guy was probably too homely to do the up-fronts. What a ringing endorsement, huh? Listen to this while you smash walls, or if you need to get fired up for the day. According to the video, it is also appropriate to listen to while riding a ridiculous bike.
2. Tegan and Sara, "Nineteen" and everything from their album "The Con." These twin sisters are from Canada and they have been a musical staple of mine since I heard them in the Gap in the early 2000's. I love their early albums too, but the Con is a very exciting and musically diverse album.
Since putting out that album they have changed their music somewhat and it's a little more dancey. I'm still a bigger fan of the older stuff, but this new-ish song is good too. Here's "Closer"
