Phase 3- inside the 2nd floor part 2

Putting it back together. Erik reframed what he could. Erik shimmed every 16" to level out the 3" difference across the entire 2nd floor. This was huge. If he hadn't of done that, everything would have been off. Have a mentioned how truly talented he is?  Also, he reframed the interior walls, which were not bearing. This gave us a bit more space in the bathroom and reconfigured it so it feels much bigger. Adding a walk-in closet in the larger bedroom and reframing the other two bedrooms to include decent size closets and little niches for dressers. The 3 bedrooms will remain nearly the same size with a few changes. We had the 2nd floor re-wired for lighting and outlets and switches to update from the old frayed wiring to current codes. As soon as all the electrical was updated and framing, we had the underside of the roof and walls spray foam insulated.  Here are some photos of the framing and the new insulation below.

Phase 3- fall update inside the 2nd floor

The final phase, phase 3. Erik and I spent the better half of the summer tearing the 2nd floor apart and putting it back together. We found; the insulation that was blown in had trails from rodents, the old mineral wool is very itchy when it gets on your skin, there was a good deal of recycled wood holding the 2nd floor together, the front dormers were floating (there was nothing tying it back to rest of the house), a Ted Williams baseball card, all the razerblades from a lifetime of one man's daily shaving ritual fell behind the medicine cabinet into the wall, there was a 3" difference across the 2nd floor, the dump guys can be bribed to fit 4 trailer loads in only 2 and that we like outdoor showering even into October. Here are some photos highlighting the gutting process. 

July 4th

It's been awhile since my last post. Erik and I are about to begin phase 3. of the big phases to the house. We just moved our lives back downstairs and cleaned out upstairs in order to begin gutting the upstairs. We'll probably start ripping it apart tomorrow. It will feel so good to get this done. I can almost see the end! We've been at this house for over 3 years now. Seems like forever. Here are some pictures of what we've been living with. I cannot say I will miss too many of these fine features, but they've been apart of my daily life for 3 years that a thoughtful "send off" seems appropriate.  Here is a list some things that I will not miss; squeezing into the tiny space for the toilet (honestly you have sit sideways it is so tight),  the blue toilet seat which was only held on by one hinge, the blue painted floor, blue dust ridden shutter doors on the linen closet, blue tape on the ceiling to keep the mice in the attic, red rage wallpaper (WOW that color isn't a good one to wake up peacefully), wallpaper on the ceilings, the electrical socket on the ceiling ( I don't know why it was there?), having to use a painters light in the bathroom, the insulation pocking out  of the walls, and the smell of old insulation that probably was wet at one time. Oh, and how could I forget the linoleum floors.