Pre Christmas quick update

I stayed around this morning later than normal to get a couple shots of the floor joists going in and the general look of the outside of the house.  Mike and his team have built a cover and they've mostly been working under it, although they have one guy outside taking out all the old brick work from the old stone patio.  The debris from that is being put aside since we pay by weight in the dumpster and we can use the fill around the house when we start the landscaping (2012, 2013, 2014????).  When i got home tonight the floor joist were in and the flooring is going on (cant get pics cause it's too dark in there).  All is good.  Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!

Its dark as its 6:45 but here is the look of the laundry room and the old
bedroom which was down there.

Terrible photo but shows the floor joists going in.

Brick patio all gone and the tent structure Mike's team built.

The dumpsters with the load of wood being used in the
framing process.

Hello everyone, Scott here.  LOTS happening on the back of the house as you'll see from the photos below--the demolition of the wing is complete, right down to the clean out of the laundry room and old bedroom and bathroom which had been in the basement.  The house is completely exposed on that back side and the wall which separates the old laundry room from the basement is uninsulated (and right outside our basement apartment) which makes our living situation somewhat chilly!  It also has meant that the pipes in the laundry room, which had been shut off, froze over our recent cold snap so we'll be without laundry facilities until the area is tightened up and the pipes are fixed.  But we're doing fine and loving the changes we see on a daily basis.  Laura and the kids head to Vermont tomorrow for the next two weeks and I'll be heading up on Thursday to join them.  As I'm not around during daylight hours there won't be any blog updates for the next two weeks but we'll report back with new photos and details just after new years.

 This is the view with the wing down, and the structure in place to pour the new concrete for the higher foundation

                                              Casings for the foundation

     This is the view along the house towards where the bedroom used to be in the basement.

                                               The truck arrives to pour the new foundation wall.

    The laundry room from above--the wall to the basement is on the other side of the blue tarp

                                                           Caleb supervising everything!

Mike and his crew have cleaned almost all of their stuff off the front porch.  The stairs and floor will be built in                      the spring.

Wing is down! 12-15-10

The maids' wing is completely down...you can see some pictures of the progression below.  Our contractor said he's never seen anything like it -- no two pieces of wood were the same!  Four layers of flooring, an addition to the second floor...it appeared that the wing had at one time been moved off the foundation, the foundation was redone, and the wing moved back onto it!  The next step for the construction crew is to shore up the old foundation and start framing the new family room.  Lots of activity around here!



Roof is mostly off...



Roof is off!



Down to the first story!




Top of the first story, viewed from a dumpster...




Tarping the exposed wall




Preparing for rain over the weekend...




First floor is coming down!  Those are the stairs that led
 from the first floor to the second floor of the wing.




Lots of dumpster exchanges!



Another layer coming off!  (Between original first and second floor)



Down to ground level!




Looking down into the laundry room in the basement!




Life goes on around the construction -- here is Caleb
proudly mailing his completed application to Thayer Academy!

Eliza and Caleb with Uncle Newty and Aunt Lynn before the Holiday Pops!



Roof is coming off! 12/10/10

It's been clear and cold this week and our crew has worked hard on the maids' wing.  All that's left this morning is the shell and some of the roof...by the end of the day there will be less!  Here are some photos of the demolition:

The pantry before...

The pantry now!



The patio before...




The patio now!



The stairs in the maids' wing...from the first to the second floor...



The roof is coming off!  Looking from the second floor up...



Life is never dull...Scout found a skunk two nights ago! 
Getting a bath with Aunt Bz's special recipe!

Winter is here! 12/6/10

Hello!  Winter has finally arrived in Milton with temperatures falling below freezing.  Brrr...  But the work goes on!  Caleb turned 11 over the weekend and more work has been done taking down the maids' wing.  See below!  Laura (photos by Scott and Caleb)



Caleb turns 11!

A family birthday party...David and Judy in attendance!




A last glimpse of canary yellow (1st floor of the maids' wing)




Getting right down to the studs! (2nd floor)



Almost filled our second dumpster today!

Porch Ceiling is finished! Demolition of the maids' wing begins... [12/2/10]

Yesterday the porch ceiling was completed, and today work has begun on the maids' wing.  We've had electricians and plumbers through the house the past three days shutting off the water and electricity to the wing, and then the contractor built a temporary interior wall between the kitchen and dining room (right through the hallway) so that they could start taking down the wing.  All the doors were saved and Mike is keeping a lot of the good materials (door trim, beadboard, bathroom sink, etc...) with the hope we can reuse some of it in a later phase of the construction.  Caleb is hard at work today along with the men...he's been looking forward to this part for weeks!  Laura

Finishing the porch ceiling...



The prettiest porch ceiling ever!



Looking from the kitchen, stairs to the maids' wing on the left,
BEFORE the interior wall is put up.



Now looking from the kitchen with the interior wall up. 
For the time being, we have just a narrow hallway to move from the dining room to the kitchen.



Looking towards the pantry from the other side of the temporary wall...



Looking into the maids' bathroom before demolition...

Caleb IN the maids' bathroom, taking down the wall
(he's standing where the bathtub used to be).



Bathroom wall is gone!  Looking from the maid's bedroom into the former bathroom.





From the outside...ladder creates a walkway right into the dumpster.
It's a beautiful day, perfect for this kind of work!





Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  It was very quiet around the house for four days while we all took a break and celebrated Thanksgiving.  Before the holiday, our work team prepared the bead board for the porch ceiling and began putting it up while the electricians spent a day wiring lighting for the porch and disconnecting the electricity in the maids' wing which will be coming down shortly. 

Preparing the fir bead board for the porch ceiling.



The porch ceiling is going up...plus recessed cans for lighting.



Door from Audubon (that went to nowhere) has been installed in the Nursery (to be Eliza's room), so it will be easier to go out on the balcony.



Door in "The Nursery" from the inside...



Cedar Harbor Conly and Scott checking the turkey just before our Thanksgiving dinner.



Prescott peeling a pomegranate...



Pumpkin Chiffon Pie (Hannah's recipe)



Sunset over Pine Hill



Eliza, Cedar, and Caleb at the Franklin Park Zoo

Today we rescued the pear tree along the front drive from miles of entwined vines.  We hope it will look healthier in the spring!