Raising the Roof

Back for another catch-up post!  This one goes through several months and gets us pretty close to current status.

Taking down the roof and getting the new knee wall in place

Even though the front roof was well supported, we collectively held our breath during this part

Getting the new third floor into place

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Back wall and roof framing going up

Starting to look like living space

Hey, there's a dormer

Not weathertight but getting closer here

Toggling back to the inside - for awhile, we had a small ladder from the first floor to the second.  Not too bad, although Bella had to sleep in the living room.  Climbing ladders is not her thing!

Then the guys opened up the first floor to create the full three story stairwell.  And this happened:

Yep, for a few days, we had ladders spanning from the basement to the second floor.  No wine in the evenings when this climb awaited!

Fortunately, they built the permanent platforms and temporary stairs pretty quickly.  Still not OSHA approved but much better

Moving back to the outside - installing the new windows, with siding and trim already on

New windows in the front too - and you can see the new full length cutout under the curved stairwell window.  We had to wait until that brick was cut to custom order the window so lived with this makeshift plywood/window covering for awhile.  I'm sure the neighbors loved it

Brian took a couple days off and tackled the screen porch.  It was supported by hollow - and now rotting - 6x6 wood columns so he pulled the screens and the columns out and replaced them

New 4x6 pressure treated posts in place - screens will be reinstalled next spring

Also worked on some plumbing - running new Pex lines (this panel is now full) and installing a new water heater in the basement utility closet

Skipping ahead in the timeline again: once the structural work was done and all the windows were in, we had the entire exterior repainted.  The white paint on the brick was peeling so the painters did a full scraping, primed the brick, and then put on two new coats of white (Sherwin Williams Snowbound).  Then a single coat of black (Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black) on the Hardie siding.  The Hardie was pre-painted but the finish is so fussy that it ended up with some nicks and scraps during install.  A once-over with a new coat of paint did wonders.

Painting in progress

And from the front

And we're finally at the stage of some "after" pictures!  We'll paint the porch floor and add the screens next spring (not to mention redoing the front landscaping and finishing the back steps/porch) but the house is finally looking like we envisioned.

Not bad.  Not bad at all

 

Now that's a house!

Farewell to the Peach Palace

As usual, I'm extremely far behind on updating the blog so in an attempt to start somewhere (anywhere), here goes.

We started Phase II of construction in April 2022, working - happily - with the contractor who did our first big project, Oscar Villatoro at Oscar Construction.  It's now many months later and his part of the project is complete so I can say that working with him again was the best decision we could have made.  It didn't mean the project went perfectly (no construction project ever does) but he made things as easy as possible for a substantial project. 

So let's talk about the project!  Phase II entailed taking off the back half of the existing slate roof, adding a shed dormer, and gutting the entirety of the existing house (anything that hadn't been gutted and rebuilt in Phase I, that is).  As with past projects, by the time we're finished, the only original thing left on the house will be (some of) the exterior walls.  

During this time, we've crammed ourselves into the finished space from Phase I, which is to say, into the kitchen and family room on the first floor and the primary bedroom/bath/closet on the second floor.  It is...tight.  I'm not going to share a picture of the stack of furniture in our bedroom corner because when this project is over, I'd like to forget it ever existed.

But onto the exciting part!  A few before pictures.  So. Much. Peach.

The dining room

The living room - with a little demo started (we pulled out some of the built-ins, trim, fixtures, and fireplace mantels so they could live a second life elsewhere)

The existing stairwell, complete with matching peach carpet and even more peach walls.  Also, the hallway leading to the galley kitchen, entrance to the den (now blocked as the den became the new family room) and the basement

Looking into the dining room and the already demo'd old galley kitchen - there were so many doors in this little space

And now into the demo pictures!

We moved the stairwell to an entirely new location and reclaimed the old stairwell space for the second floor - won't be walking up these stairs anymore!

There used to be three bedrooms and two bathrooms in this space - gone now and about to be rebuilt as two bedrooms, two baths, and a laundry room.  The ladder went up to the old attic space but was soon removed as the new stairwell runs all the way to the third floor

We kept the old stairwell window so we could preserve the front exterior but now the second floor cuts it in half.  This will all make sense soon, just stay tuned!

Taking down the old attic floor joists and preparing to remove the roof to build the dormer

Another shot of the second/third floors, with the new stairwell opening.  A ladder serves as stairs which is...not convenient

Slightly closer up picture of stairwell opening - the plywood door to the right is protecting our finished bedroom space

Stairwell without stairs

Getting ready to remove the back roof

Taking off the slate

No going back now!

The outside is inside

Ready for rain (but thankful for clear skies)

More updates to follow as I work through our backlog of pictures!