"before" Pics

As we were enjoying a DELISH dinner @ Heidi & Taylor's house Tuesday evening, I was showing off my blog...and Heidi mentioned there were not a lot of "before" pics....so here ya go!

(thanks Sue for the tech help! you're the best!)



back yard before ell is torn down....that little house would be perfect for 2 goats! :)



Another pic of backyard...prior to demo

driveway side of house and ell prior to demo



front of barn prior to demo (barn will be "attached" to new addition....



Front of house....prior to Emily battling the rose hedge!



side of ell, this gigantic lilac bush has been preserved and moved to safety- thanks to the talented excavating staff of Cullen Concrete!



yard side of main house

A place in which to live, resurrected by their own efforts.

A bit to chew on from a website about restoring old homes:

"Certain people are attracted by the lure of owning an older home. Upon walking into an antique house there is that unmistakable sense of history that greets one, the feeling that multiple generations of prior inhabitants have trod the floors, that there have been births and deaths within, joys and sorrows. Wide floor boards that are well worn, numerous nooks and crannies, small rooms, multiple fireplaces, multi-paned windows - all speak of times past, and in some cases hundreds of years gone by.
That the house still stands, having endured countless storms and natural catastrophies, creates a feeling of permanence in a modern world caught up in rapid change. Whether it be mystique or pure romance, the older home appeals to the potential restorer in such a way that any inconveniences will not only be overlooked, but hopefully enjoyed as a part of the entire package. Finally, there are those who relish the often daunting task of the restoration process facing them, knowing that when they finish, they will have a place in which to live that has been resurrected by their own efforts."

Scrape, Scrape, Scrape all day long....Scrape, Scrape, Scrape while I sing this song...

After enjoying a nice bit of fresh air this morning at the Laudholm Farm fundraising run/walk...I donned the respirator, safety glasses, kerchief and grubby clothes I have grown used to ...and set to work.

Scott was finishing up his last open day of the season at The Scoop Deck...he's not too excited to be done, as you can all imagine!  (once he starts his labor at #64 he may be wishing he was scooping 'scream again!)  :)-

I managed to scrape and prep all the ceilings upstairs...proving to be a MUCH easier chore than downstairs! (Thank you to the ceiling fairy!)
& found some more wallpaper to steam/strip,....'cause I was missing that by now! NOT!!  But, we had removed a closet in a bedroom, and a wall I thought was getting torn down, is staying up....so a stripping I ah went!

At the end of the day, the upstairs is complete, and ready for our plasterer to do his thing! YAY!

Foundation walls go up!!!

Permits!!

The legal end of things...but important & exciting....( a bit out of chronological order here...we really did have them in place before we tore things down!!!) :)

Water Boarding

So I came to a few cconclusions around hour 6 of scraping peeling lead paint of ceiling #1...

1st: The government should get rid of water boarding (for obvious reasons), and utilize scraping paint off ceilings, (slow, monotonous work that would cause anyone to confess or go crazy...)

2nd: Working "on your house" in this manner is a very quick way to get "intimate" with your property in a way most homeowners never do...I will know the cracks and crevices, the intimate character of the house like a steamy romance!

3rd: (no offense intended), But its no wonder to me why painters and plasters tend to drink a bit much...this kind of "neck breaking" work would do that to ANYONE!

2 days...8 hours of labor later...1 ceiling is done...(the good news is, I "believe" this is the worst of all the ceilings...(God I hope!!)

It doesn't look better....but trust me, it is!!!

OH MY!

Our yard is looking lovely at this point!!! We did discover we have great sandy soil for around the foundation...good for drainage, & we have beautiful rich soil in the back yard (thanks to the excavator exposing it!) for future gardening!!

(they assure me it'll all be okay in the end!  They'll "put it back"!)

DEMO!

The guys from Cullen Concrete (http://www.cullenconcrete.com/) demolition the building (9/16)!  In 2 days they remove the entire structure...the guys find an old magazine, a childs leather moccasin, and a few other treats...no treasure chest of money yet... (we'll keep looking!)

They do an amazing job of removing only the ell, a delicate project as the ell sits between the barn and the main house...(also saving & transplanting the very large & old lilac tree)!



More digging & getting rid of all the old cement & concrete...preserving the rock on the main house.



More digging....and finally forms are set for footings on Tuesday 9/21 & concrete is delivered....fun to watch and exciting to think we're beginning the "puttinng it back together process" now!

measure twice, & thrice & whatever comes after that!!!

& In goes the concrete!!










 

"I guess we don't have a willow tree anymore Randy?"

Trees limbs are cut, shrubs trimmed....Emily spends 4 hours attacking the rose bushes...they look worse, she prays they will look better in the spring! & she will spend the next 3 days removing extremely painful thorns from her body appendages...(maybe she should have worn long pants & sleeves like Scott told her....!!)

Randy comes over with his chain saw to help Scott cut down a tree...suddenly there are more trees down than one....(like we couldn't see that coming with those two boys & a power tool!!)

A pile develops rather quickly, and the house can actually breathe, and be seen from the road...another improvement!

Architectual Salvage here we come!

The Up-Country gang is hard at work removing any salvageable parts and materials to be reused or sold! 

Thank goodness for the barn- proving to be great storage!!

Copper is stripped and scrapped from Ell.

Steve, our awesome electrician disconnects the power from the main house to the ell to prepare for demo on the ell.

Evils....

(Sadie is helping A LOT as usual!)



I learn that wallpaper is an evil thing....and there are people that think it covers up evils, so they hang it in layers and layers....to cover these evils (called cracks in plaster) instead of fixing it right....
In closets I find 4 layers of paper AND A BORDER!!! (who cares if there is a border in the closet?)

After 40+ hours of steaming and stripping wallpaper, I have become one with my steamer (great investment for $52!) ....& available if anyone would like to borrow it!  The last sheet of paper is down.....yay!  I thought it would never end....4 weeks and done!