The Downsizing:

The Downsizing: Follow our adventure as we prepare to send one child to college, the other to kindergarten and attempt to renovate a tiny, circa 1950 farmhouse of just under 1200 s.f. The house has been sitting vacant for several years following a past renovation attempt that went awry by a previous owner. Our goal is to accomodate an active family of 4 (plus Mulligan the Westie) in a much smaller (yet stylish) space which will hopefully free up more of our time and financial resources. In addition to renovating the house and half acre of land, we'll be doing some serious editing of our possessions since we're coming from a home twice the size. The property borders an up and coming development featuring new homes along with a town center, shopping, and schools all set in a rural farm village setting.

Friday, February 25, 2011

If Walls Could Talk

Well most of the action lately has been going on behind the walls... electrical, plumbling, and insulation.  All good stuff but not especially photogenic.  Things are moving along, albeit not at the speed we would like... we are all getting weary of winter and not having a home.  We are hoping for big things to share in the next couple weeks.


Upstairs bath is starting to look like a bath.  We liked this style of tub from Sterling because the caulkless design means I won't have to spend another winter scraping and re-caulking the tub!  Substance rates high over style in this case.  They actually have a tiled wall design which we liked better but since it wasn't in stock we went with this one.  It wasn't worth delaying the process at this point!

 X-ray view of the bath

Window openings cut-out above tub

 Key to comfort in a cape cod upstairs in the summer time (and hopefully benefits in energy bills)... cellulose insulation blown in ceilings

Surrounding the downstairs tub will help noise and heat retention 

 Point of Entry for insulation... hose through upstairs window


Thanks to Bill and Parkfield Insulation... they really "filled" our needs.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Framed

 Upstairs Bathroom/Dormer framed in...

 Close up view

View from inside... 3 very small windows above shower framed in up high

Thursday, February 10, 2011

A Dormer is Born

This may feel a bit like looking at too many pictures of a newborn baby, but we are very excited about this hole in the roof... aka upstairs bathroom/dormer!

Yes everyone should cut a hole in their roof when the temps are below zero... but the key is dry and sunny!  Hopefully Jim Hostetler and crew are layered up...

 It may look like just a hole in the roof...

 Don't try this at home... better left to the professionals.

 New bathroom walls ready to go up.

 Picture the tub just ahead...

 Ceiling height at just 7' is better than the severe slope that was here.  Logan's head (currently hovering around 6') will thank us.

 And out she pops...

A little roofline interest emerges... to be continued!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Goodbye Old Garage

Robert brought down the old garage this week despite the "historic" ice and snow storm that swept through.

Just a bit of clean up work left to do.