A snag

Well, I won't have any updates to report this week. We've hit a bit of a snag in the project. So, I decided to share a few family photo updates from this week. I'll resume house-related posts when we're back up and running (hopefully by next week). So, stay tuned....

All dressed up for Halloween

To me, it kind of looks like our house is dressed up for Halloween - you know like one of those huge blow-up ghosts that sway in the wind. It rained yesterday so Mike (our framer) and Todd (our GC) needed to protect our house from the elements. That is a very big tarp.

Steps to nowhere

For some reason, I just love these shots of the stairs.

Many of you have commented on how treacherous our stairs are. And, you're right. But, if we leave them as-is, they are grandfathered in and don't need to be up to code. Bringing them up to code would take away A LOT of space upstairs. So....they're staying. The good news is, we're increasing the space of the landing so you won't hit your face against the wall when you reach the top. ;')

Tearing down the second floor

This is a big week! Today, the second floor came down and Matt was there to take some action shots. So, we now have a ranch - at least for a few days. The plan is to frame out the new second floor by the end of the week, so stay tuned and pray for good weather.

Our shiny new foundation

Here is the foundation for the addition which will include a family room, dining room, 1/2 bath and an office/guestroom. We love the new grading of our yard. It's going to be great...someday.

More demo...

It can be a little scary to think about all that is going on. But, Matt and I are thrilled to see so much activity. Here's a view from the side door into the mudroom and through to the former pantry.

"Dude, there's a HOLE in your house - a HOLE"

Our friend Pierce called us up one night to inform us that he was looking into our house through a hole in the front. Yup, that is Camden and Matt looking through it into the playroom. Good thing we locked the doors...

I wonder what the neighbors think

Aside from our next door neighbor (also our electrician), none of our neighbors really know what is going on. I wonder what this looks like to them - an abandoned house being torn down or a re-birth?

This house is OLD

Look at the roof - I think it's called the ridge beam. You can see the wooden pegs/nails holding things together. Very cool.

Some discoveries

The barn board - under the clapboard, under the vinyl siding - is pretty cool. It will stay. The sills were definitely in need of some attention after 176 years.

We finally discovered why the old photos we had of the side of the house looked so different. Two windows were revealed when the vinyl came down. You can also see the "seam" of the house where the "new" part (kitchen, loft and mudroom) was added somewhere around 1900.

Camden checks it out

I was a little nervous bringing Camden to see the demolition - especially of his room. But, he loved it. Typical boy, I guess. He was very excited about the dumpster and the big excavator.

Let's get started...

We moved into my mother's in late August and left our furniture tucked in a POD in our driveway. We were slated to begin in early September but ran into a few hiccups (permits, etc.). Demo and excavation finally started on Monday, September 29th.

How it all began

Here are a few pre-construction photos. If you look closely at the first one, the front door was crooked when we bought it. This gave the appearance that the whole house was tipped. Also, the vinyl siding on this 1832 house was truly one-of-a-kind (not in a good way).

Matt and I bought 143 Fisher in November 2003, a few months after our wedding. We bought it from the Giffords. Cheryl Gifford is my friend and former co-worker. Adam Gifford renovated some of the house when they owned it - with a new kitchen and dining room and lots of work on the internal systems. We saw the potential. And, we've pretty much been talking about this renovation/addition since the closing. We're sooo excited to finally get started. So, I decided to start this blog to track the progress of the project....