Weeks 3 & 4: Shoring

The Thanksgiving holiday and many drizzly days slowed down progress on the work, but that's okay because the many Christmas parties and preparations have slowed down my progress on the blog!  Recent developments include more demolition as well as the installation of numerous steel beams that will be supporting the house while the basement is being dug.

A kind of funny view from the street by the garage shows that while much
demo has been done already, there is still more to do.

Here you can see the same wall as in the previous picture, this time the
photo is shot from inside the house (from Tim's room).

And now the opposite view...looking back at Tim's room from the great room.

Over on the other side of the house, the walls around the master suite are
being worked on as well.

Up on the upper deck by the great room, some exploration has been done
in hopes that we'll be able to figure out a way to raise that corner of the
house, as it has suffered from settling of some sort.

In this view of the living room and bedroom wing, you can see into (and
through) the bedrooms, and you can also get a hint of how the steel beams
are installed around the front of the house.

The other end of those beams stretch out the front of the house.

Inside, walking around isn't much of an option at this point.  This picture
is taken from the kitchen, looking towards the living room.

(This is a weird picture—it took me a while to figure out the perspective!)
So, this is taken from the kitchen entrance/dining room wall, looking up into
the great room.  You can see a steel beam in the foreground, you can see that
our chandelier happens to still be in place, and you can see that a fake tree or
two have yet to meet their end.

This is actually looking at basically the same area as
the previous picture was, just a bit narrower in scope.

Front porch & bridge area

Looking from the front door towards the back door.

As you can see, progress is being made.  All the changes feel like big changes, although the end isn't anywhere in sight at this point.  When shoring is complete, the foundation work can begin.  As far as design goes, we are firming up plans for the basement area so that electrical and plumbing placement will be ready to go once the foundation is complete.

Week 2: More Demo

Demolition continued this week--it's a big house and there is a lot to be done.  The focus this week, in addition to continuing effort on taking out existing tile floors and interior finishes, was some exterior walls and vegetation in the front.  Entering the house from the back patio, things don't look all too different until you fully turn the corner.

The living room and kitchen were largely torn out after the first week's work, but the big change there this week is the removal of the exterior siding (other other materials on the exterior wall).  Here are some pictures from both the interior and exterior points of view, including the look into the dining room that I pointed out in the last post.

Another area that saw the beginning of demolition this week was the great room.  The pocket doors by the dining room were removed, and in the great room--the floors, windows, and wall facings.

The last area seeing major change this week was Timothy's bedroom and bathroom.  Walls came down, cabinets and windows were removed

View from Tim's room into what used to be his bathroom (toilet was on the
right, shower in the middle, sink/vanity on the left.)

Same view as above.

I tried to capture the opening to Tim's bathroom
here, to re-imagine the new layout.

Seeing some minor[ish] changes were the master bathroom (where the tub/shower tile were all removed) and the laundry room (where the cabinets etc. were removed).

Master bath: tub was in the middle, with shower on left, toilet on right.

Laundry room...where the cabinets used to be.

Week 1: D-Day/Hauling it all Away

Construction finally began last Monday: November 5th, 2012—almost exactly 3 years since the house first became ours.  It has been a long journey to get to this point, and though we realize that we've got quite the journey ahead of us still, it is exciting to have broken ground.

Walking in through the dining room, via the walkway to the laundry room/kitchen, there is an immediately noticeable difference from last week.  Most of the glass in the house has been removed (and much needed, since that was one of the largest practical issues needing updating) and many areas are now open to the elements.  Here is a before/after from the same perspective, and another photo looking back at the area we walked through (followed by some other pictures of the dining room):

The kitchen had been mostly removed, apart from some of the island.  Walking through here, it was easy to envision the new design.  With the surface removed from the half wall, it is easy to imagine the openness the glass and rail will provide when complete.  It is such a nicer space when it is not compartmentalized as it was previously.  These pictures show the kitchen, both from the kitchen level and from the living room below, with a detail shot of the reverse side of the siding/paneling.

  

There hasn't been any work done in the great room yet, nor have Timothy's room and the guest room been touched.  The office and adjoining kitchen have been torn out though, and the laundry room has been started.  We did find a funny remnant in Melinda's bathroom on the shower tile—a creative way to study vocabulary?

 

The bedroom wing has seen a good amount of work.  The powder room and both Andrew's and Audrey's rooms are mostly deconstructed, and the hall cabinets have been taken out.  It's nice to see the rooms without the cabinets/counters interfering with the view out the windows.

view (from Andrew's room) of his bathroom (left) and powder room (right)

Looking straight through from Andrew's room to Audrey's room. 

Audrey's room: the sink was straight ahead, the bathroom to the left.

Audrey's room: her bathroom (right) and straight through to the Master.

Last but not least, we are finally getting a behind-the-scenes peek at what is going on in the Master bathroom.  It's a bit hard to tell what is what since most of the walls are now just framing, so focus-focus-focus.  :)

From the entrance, doors and closets are gone, courtyard on left.

The bedroom portion.

From the entrance to the master suite, looking straight through where
the closets used to be.  There's a peek of the tub and the courtyard.

From the corner of the bathroom...Chris is standing where our closets used
to be.  You can see Audrey's room in the background.

A funny view from the Master (closet area) where you can see under the house
a bit, and through the hall cabinets all the way into the living room.

All in all, I think it has been a productive week.  We are still hitting the design decisions on a regular basis, really narrowing down our tile decisions, and getting ready to move on to wood finishes.