Demolition Begins

After two days of demolition, we are starting to get a sense of how solidly the house was built.  Here on the sun porch, with the ubiquitous paneling removed, you can now see the 2x12 headers over the tops of the windows.  Those are plenty strong enough for the job!

The massive front of the fireplace is also being removed, to be replaced with something smaller so it doesn't dominate the room.  David is talking about limestone.

This was from Monday, with the beginning for the kitchen demolition.  Gene, our contractor, compared the construction to a battleship. We are not surprised.  Bil Hyder, who built the house, liked to be sure everything was solid.  We have never worried about a hurricane blowing the house over.

So here is the kitchen with all of the wall removed on the inside.  The wall board has been left at the floor on the corner because the baseboard radiator is still there.  The pipe for the radiators still needs to be drained and capped off.  On the right side you can see the studs for the new wall on the back side of the kitchen.

Finally, my office area in the North porch.  This is the only place there was any insulation between the cinder block walls and the paneling.  With the renovation, all of the exterior walls will be insulated, which will save us a tremendous amount of money. 

Hello Dumpster

After some careful maneuvering, backing down one street, then turning the corner to back it into the front yard, the dumpster has arrived.  On the right you can see our contractor, Gene, watching to be sure it did not go too far.

Demolition begins on Monday.  We talked through all that needs to be done, and David will be here on Monday morning to watch and be ready to answer any questions.

Orange Protective Fencing

Yesterday we put up fencing around areas that we want to protect from construction workers and equipment.  Here you can see the fencing around two of the trees.  On the left is a paperbark maple that we planted in memory of Mom.

All of the front porch area is to be removed and a new foundation built for the small addition on the front. I have cut down two large yew bushes that grew near the porch.  The stump of one can be seen here.  The yews were planted by the previous owners, and we have tried to take care of them.  Until now.

This shows the fencing along the edge of the labyrinth.  We need to talk to our contractor about whether we need similar fencing in other areas.  Interior demolition begins September 23rd.

Empty House

The picture says it all - the furniture has been moved either to the storage facility or into the basement. 

Preparing for the Movers

The Surprise Lily, Lycoris radiata, is up and blooming under the Paperbark Maple in the front yard.  This is the only one that has survived critters chewing off the leaves in the winter.

The garden will keep growing, and needing care, even as we are preparing the house for its major renovation.  Over the last 19 years we have done necessary maintenance, such replacing the furnace, the water heater, the roof.  But every time we hired an architect and developed a redesign, something demanded the money we had set aside.  So we still have the original 1963 kitchen and bathroom among other delights.

Two years ago we went back to our architect who had developed an exciting and ambitious design in 2013. We asked him to simplify it, to scale it back.  We could no longer afford the grand design.  He did a great job honoring our needs. But it took another year and a half to get it through all of the county permitting process.  In June we selected a contractor, and applied for a construction loan. We closed on the loan three days ago, borrowing more money to do the renovation than we originally paid for the house.

Here is the front of the house now.  This is where the most dramatic changes will be seen.

 

The back side of the house will look slightly different with new windows and siding. 

The main floor will be gutted, so it needs to be empty.  All of the artwork, photographs, and other decorative items were moved to our condo in DC. The rest has been moved down to the basement for the duration. Today it only has the large furniture which will be moved to a storage bin tomorrow.  So, walking through, this is the existing kitchen, with copper tiles on the backsplash area.

The space for the living room and dining room will remain the same, with changes around the edges and the wood paneling replaced with drywall.

Finally, my office will get new windows that will keep cold or hot air outside.

I will be putting up new pictures as the work progresses so you can see the transformation.