September 2, 2015 - Summer is slipping away...and so is our old kitchen.

So now we're into September and the race is on between chilly fall weather...and a weather-tight house. Part of the renovation is a whole new heating system. We're actually installing two new furnaces that will work in tandem - one runs for a week and then the other. During the coldest days of the winter they will both run together. A computer dictates which one runs when and when the temperature is cold enough to require both to be running. This is a more economical way to heat the house since two small boilers use less energy (running alternately) than one large one running all the time. We also discovered that the wall next to the deck was basically being supported by two 2x4s - and nothing else (due to a lot of rot on that wall). That's not a lot of support for a whole wall that's also supporting the room above it. We supported the ceiling with jack posts and cut the two 2x4s. I have a video showing how flimsy the wall was. A very large steel beam arrived today that will create all the support we'll ever need for the upstairs and the roof. Check out some of the most recent photos below:

Although not actually part of the renovation, the front of the house got a face lift as well. All the white trim was painted, we decided to ditch the shutters and go for a more traditional New England look and I finally talked Mike into letting me cut down the two giant Cedars that used to flank the front stoop. I think John Dickie - from The Briar Patch Nursery - summed it up best when he said that those trees had simply outgrown their location. The Cedar shingles that were under the shutters are a different colour than their more weathered counterparts but that will quickly change. In a year or so they will be a perfect match.

The demolition of the old bathroom started with the removal of the - never used except to wash the dogs - bath tub. Besides finding the remnants of a mouse habitat (along with the remnants of one mouse) we also uncovered the old base of the original tub that predated the one we removed. We know that the old original tub was poured porcelain (like the base of the shower) but was destroyed when it was removed decades ago. We had also been told that there had been a foot bath near the shower but we couldn't find any trace of that.

The wall's coming down. Only the mortar backing for the old tiles and the original medicine cabinet remain. It took days to chip away all the old tiles (two layers) and then the mortar and wire mesh that they were cemented onto.

This is the first load of old heating pipes and insulation that was removed from the basement. We're running all new heating lines with more efficient materials.

The vanity is gone and we've exposed the old white tiles that were in the original bathroom. On the right you can see the mortar and mesh that held them in place for almost a century. If you look closely you can also see that the tiles on the floor are identical to the tiles that were in the kitchen. Both rooms - this bathroom and the old original kitchen - had about 5 inches of cement under the tile floors.

Here you can see where the sill (which had rotted out) was replaced with these timbers and insulation strapped together. The floor joists of the deck will eventually be bolted directly to this beam. This is also where the new French door will be installed that will lead out to the deck.

This is the beam that was delivered today. It will go across the ceiling and create the basis of the support system for the other half of the kitchen, the upstairs and the roof. Given the size of the house, a beam of this size was required. Installing this may also help to level out some of the floors upstairs. They will never be perfectly level again but we knew we would never have straight floors in a 100-year-old house and were fine with that. It adds to the character of the house.

Good-bye Yellow Brick Wall

When we first announced the renovation of the kitchen many of our friends were horrified to think that we were going to get rid of the brick features in the kitchen. Although we understand their appreciation of the brick - we didn't share it. This week saw the end of the yellow brick wall. So, sorry to our friends who liked that feature of the kitchen. You'll have to take our word for it that what we have planned for that space in the kitchen will be brighter and better than the formerly glorious yellow brick wall. Here are some photos of what was accomplished this week.

Much of the yellow brick wall is gone at this point. Matt is preparing to take down the arch.

Here is an action shot of Matt delivering the final blow that sent the familiar arch to the floor.

This is all that's left of the wall where the cupboards used to be. As soon as we have the new steel support beam in place, these wall studs will come down as well.

Here is the chimney and old laundry shoot that were both behind the bricks. Although the laundry shoot hasn't been used as one for years, we'll keep it in place behind the new wall as all of our electrical and plumbing for upstairs runs up through it. When the new stove is in place, we may also need to run the range hood ventilation up through this same opening.

Looking through the demolished walls you can see the side of marble shower through the bathroom door.

This is the wall where the old sink and counter were located. The windows will be replaced with new ones and another one will be added to really brighten up the kitchen.

Here are all the bricks salvaged from the kitchen. Our plan is to work with Aaron (our garden guy) and maybe come up with a pathway or some sort of installation that he can create with the salvaged bricks.

I decided all the demolition pictures were getting too depressing so I thought I'd add some pictures of parts of the project that are already done (or close to done). Here is an interior shot of the laundry room. This is the picture window with the brand new trim all in place and painted. Over it is a new pendant light that is a match to the pendant light that will be over the sink in the kitchen. Although you can't see the kitchen window from this window, anyone parking on the parking pad in the evening will be able to see the matching lights through the windows.

Here is the door to the TV room with the newly installed trim all painted. The outside trim is white to match everything in the hallway. The inside of the door shows the extra depth of the double think walls. The sliding barn door will go on the outside of the door frame with the track being bolted to the extra long piece of trim you see at the top.  We painted the inside door trim the same colour as the interior of the room. This way, when we're watching TV, with the door closed, we won't be looking at glaring white door trim inside the darkened room. The plastic barrier with the zipper is our entrance to the rest of the house.

Here are the rollers and track after I cleaned them up.  We salvaged them from the original carriage house doors so we thought it would make sense that they stay in the carriage house in whatever form it may be in. Matt is going to construct a door that will attach to these rollers which still work as well as they did when they were new - 100 years ago.

August 21 - The Carnage Continues

It's been 5 days since we began the destruction of the old kitchen. As an added twist, one of Matt's guys called in sick on Friday so I became the replacement demolition guy. I'm no contractor but I do know my way around a crowbar. I think I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. Take a look at some of the shots taken this week:

This is the angled wall which used to hold cupboards and a counter. In the reno the angle will be removed and this will be the straight wall that the new Lacanche range will be against.

This was the doorway on the angled way. It, and the corner piece of wall beside it, are being removed. We will likely have to install extra support beams  in the ceiling to make up for the loss of the support in this wall.

This old door will be removed and a doorway will take it's place.

First thing Friday morning Matt and I took the first load of demolition refuse to the dump. Over 5,000 lbs of debris on this load.

Most people who walk into this room now look around and comment that they're not sure what part of the old kitchen they're looking at. As walls and doors and windows are being removed we're starting to get a sense of how drastic this remodel is going to be.

When I became the person removing the old lathes I got a real appreciation of how many of them are in this house. When I consider that we're only removing the ones from the kitchen I get a real sense of how many were used in the original construction of this whole house.

Ready for work. It was hot and dirty work for sure but I've discovered  there is a certain therapeutic value associated with demolition.  I may continue  with my new found vocation if the boss thinks I did a good job last week.

August 17 - Kitchen Demolition Begins

It's been a few weeks since the last update. We had a short hiatus during the summer to let some of the sub-trades come in and do their work - tilers created the dog shower and tiled the former carriage house (now a laundry/utility area), painters painted the walls and trim, carpenters created some shelves in the pantry and the electricians put in some fixtures for us. Today is the first day of the demolition of the old kitchen. I'll try to recap the past few weeks with some photos below:

Although not part of the actual renovation, we did do a bit of work in the back yard. This area used to have some really old Holly bushes in it. We hired a recent graduate from the NSCC Horticulture program, Aaron Ashcroft-Staples, to come in and help with creating a nice back yard. This is one of his creations - a conifer bed with a touch of Zen. Our Buddha statue found a new home here and has been getting rave reviews.

This new tile floor in the laundry/utility area (formerly the carriage house) is just waiting for the grout to be applied. In the background you can see the myriad heating and domestic hot water hoses that feed through the poured concrete floor and go into the barn.

Here the tilers are creating the dog shower.

Mike is inspecting the new shelving that was being built into the pantry.

We recently went to Calgary and visited the French Barn. This is the store we imported our Lacanche range from. Here, store owners Patrick and Florian, pose with Mike in front of a range similar to the one we bought. He also had a quick lesson on how to operate the new range when it's in the new kitchen.

The Lacanche range arrives.

Even on wheels, the 800 lbs range needed some combined manpower to wheel it up the ramp and into the garage.

This is home until we're ready to move the range into its forever home in our new kitchen. In the interests of protecting it while in the garage we decided not to uncrate it. It'll be like Christmas morning when we finally get to peel away the crate and see the stove inside.

And so it begins. Here is a shot of the kitchen as the guys begin the demolition.

After removing this counter we discovered this underneath. Matt said, "Shhhhh...Mousie is sleeping." This would explain why the cats were often fascinated with this section of the kitchen.

It would be awesome if we'd been able to salvage this old original floor but, unfortunately, it was just too damaged to restore. It was interesting to note that there was no mesh behind any of these tiny round tiles. Each on was placed individually by hand. I may try to preserve a portion of it for posterity.

We suspected that there was concrete under the kitchen floor but we didn't know how much. Once we moved the dishwasher we were able to see exactly how much concrete there was. It looks like about 2 inches above the floor joists with another 3 inches between each joist. Our 800 lb range will be supported no problem.

The cupboards and cabinets are out. Some of these are going to be sent away and repainted and then re-purposed in our laundry/utility area. The other ones will be installed in the garage and used there for storage and in my studio.

We weren't sure which of the beams in the ceiling were actual beams and which were simply decorative. Now we know. When the guys removed the oak exterior we found a steel beam underneath it. To make things even more interesting, the beam is resting on part of the brick structure that we are going to remove. So, we'll need to come up with a plan of how we're going to work with this new wrinkle.

Here is some old knob and tube electrical wiring that we found in one of the 2x4s that used to be part of a bedroom wall. The wiring probably went to light fixtures in the bedroom..

This was a bit of a surprise. The guys removed part of a wall and we discovered these heating pipes inside. They go through the wall and up to a radiator on the second floor. Unfortunately this wall is slated for removal so we'll have to re-route the heating pipes through another wall.

So, at the end of Day One of the demolition most of the cabinets have been removed and relocated to the garage. Some will be re-purposed out there and some will be sent away to be painted and then they'll be used in the laundry/utility room. 

Another view of the kitchen minus it's cupboards. Soon they will seal off all the doors and the dirty work of plaster and drywall removal will begin. Once all that is down we'll bring in an engineer to let us know what we're going to need for structural support.

July 5, 2015. Dog Days of Summer - Things are slowing down a bit.

For the past couple of weeks and for the next few weeks the changes won't be quite so dramatic. The sub-trades have been in completing the crack filling, painting, plumbing, electrical and tiling. This is, however, the first time that the formerly barn and carriage house (now garage and...part of the house) have become accessible from the main house. We've been walking outside to get in until a couple days ago.  Again, I'll let the pictures explain what I mean.

This isn't officially part of this year's renovation project but I did just paint the pillars of the gazebo over the hot tub so I thought it deserved to be included.

You can see the piece of plywood (leaning against the wall in the hallway) that was the temporary barrier between us and the renovations. All the crack filling is complete and a coat of primer has been put on the walls. When you look down this hall you're actually looking into the barn at the end of it. From the opening of that hallway to the far wall is about 40 ft.

This was taken after I walked down the hallway and into the area that opens up into the laundry/utility area. There will be a counter under the window and an island in the center of the room. The dog shower is in the corner (done with ocean stone tile on the floor and it will have white subway tiles up the wall). A set of stairs will be installed in front of the door leading into the barn. The barn itself is actually two feet higher than the carriage house. Once through that doorway you're in our Costco room (where we'll store bulk items - like the kind you get at Costco).

I'm standing in the Costco room as I take this picture into the laundry room and down the hall into the main house. That doorway will be opened up a bit more and the plan right now is to make it an arch. We qualify all plans for the house given that we don't know what we're going to find structurally once we start tearing down walls.

You've probably seen this before but I just love our new barn and like showing new pictures of it.

This is in the barn too. This is my newly created studio. The sink was hooked up a couple weeks ago and my dear friend, Andrew, gave me a pottery wheel that I refurbished and set up. My shelving units hold my tools and pots that are drying and also create the wall that separates my studio from the rest of the garage.

Here's my new pottery wheel all set up. I covered our newly painted walls to try to protect them from any mud that may get splashed around.

Shameless self promotion. So far I've been involved in one sale. I branded myself and set up my little booth. The sale was just my pottery classmates and I but it was fun. I sold $62.37 worth of pottery. Unfortunately I bought $62.00 worth of pottery from my classmates. My business model needs some work.

Here's the completed carriage house. The cedar shingles are all up and the windows and doors are all installed. The light golden brown of the shingles will take on the same grey hue as the other ones on the barn over the next couple of years. The ones we put on the cabana during the deck project two years ago are almost completely grey already. That palette in front of my car (and a smaller one in front of it - you can just see the corner of it) is what 3000 lbs of porcelain floor tiles look like. We calculated that the kitchen and laundry area will need about 1100 square feet of tiles. Our designer found ones that she (and we) liked but they were in Dartmouth. We asked them if we'd be able to go get them instead of having them shipped down. They laughed and told us that many tiles would weigh 3000 lbs. To put that in perspective - our truck only weighs 5000 lbs.

Here is our new kitchen entrance with a new garden door. The kitchen windows are all being replaced and where you see shutters right now will also be a new window. There will be extension posts attached to the tops of the stone pillars and a pergola will be built there. I plan to cut a hole in the concrete below each pillar and plant some Wisteria that will crawl up the pillars and wrap around the pergola. That will take a couple years but should be spectacular once it's established.