Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Kitchen Remodel Update #7


The kids and I headed to Louisiana for the week and left Ed at home with the kitchen project. I think he's relieved to have us out from under his feet. He sends updates and photos of his progress. Since he's had so much to do at work, he spells himself by alternating office time and demo time. He tells me that this is the first time he's caught up on his backlog of work (not home projects, engineering work) since January. It's got to be stressful to have such a heavy workload plus be the primary on a home project of such magnitude. But he does it! He's an "eat the elephant" kind of guy - he just keep chipping away at these large projects. He works hard, but doesn't ever burn out. It's amazing. 

His primary achievements this past week were to finish creating temporary support walls so that he could demo the remaining area by the basement stairs. He also took off the bathroom door and took down the sheet-rocked wall between the bathroom and butler's pantry. I believe he was able to avoid any further tear-out of plaster and lathe though there may be more of that in the future.  He stopped before tearing out the last of the plaster because it would have meant removal of the toilet and sink. We are loathe to say goodbye to the very last of the running water on the main level. 

What was driving his work this past weekend was the need to fill the dumpsters which is scheduled for pick up today. 

See below for photos and captions of this past weekend's progress. 


Facing west, entrance to basement. The "box" looking thing on the ceiling is the landing of the staircase.
It's not well supported and Ed is working on creating a stronger support system for the stairs. 

Facing north, this window used to be above the sink and will now be above the stove. 
Note temporary support wall in foreground. 


Facing north from hallway looking into kitchen, studs on left will be removed.
Note support wall in center and staircase platform landing directly above it.


The bathroom is no longer private. Looking north from Butler's Pantry into bathroom, both sides of the
wall are gone (plaster / lathe and sheet rock). Door has also been removed. 
Ed used french fries at our date night dinner to explain how the support
beam will be placed. Isn't he romantic?

Sunday, July 9, 2017

May 7th: Jonas' 9th Birthday


This boy turns 9 today. His passions are Harry Potter, Minecraft, legos, and board games. He is a cub scout and capoeista, and is fascinated by alternative energy sources. Fairness and generosity are important values to him. He's always eager to help his brother with homework, but never eager to put away clothes or empty the dishwasher. We love him so and are deeply grateful to have him as our son. Happy birthday Jonas!