Leah & Erik

2011 recap- kitchen before & after

2012-01-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

As per request, here are some great before & after photos of the new kitchen. The photos are courtesy of Bill Lee Imaging- who is an artist with the camera. My camera doesn't do the house any favors, so it is a special treat to have Bill shoot some photos when he stops by on his way to a paying job. We really appreciate Bill's ability to capture these moments. I think they show the space & Erik's craftsmanship the best.

Ps. Lynne if you look close at the photo of the sink, you'll see a piece of Kate's pottery under the dish soap & the begonias from her baby shower.

See ya 2011

2011-12-31T15:36:00.000-08:00

Erik and I ended our 2011 with a walk at Crescent Beach with Bartlett. When Erik and I first got Bartlett, almost 9 years ago, we would drive from Portland where Erik lived on May Street to bring her for a walk on the beach. Serendipitous, now this walk is literally down the street from our house. Amazing that we have been together for almost 10 years now. I just teared up. And only married for almost 3... where does the time go? It's moments like today and the ones when we would bring Bartlett to "the beach with the purple sand", that I remember fondly. I guess I don't remember most of the mundane and the trouble, which is why this blog is helpful. I can look back and see all the work we did in the past 2 years

That's Bartlett in the water, after this shot she lost her beloved ball and cried. Literally, she cried for it. She also body surfed a wave in, according to Erik it was amazing. We all were sad about the ball, mostly because she cried.

Last days of 2011, have seen some progress in the mudroom. This fall the sheetrock went up easy when Brian King came to visit. And then it was duck season. Friday night, Erik put up the first coats of mud over the seams and screws. Today, in 5 hours Erik finished the first round. All the tape is on, and in some places 2 coats were applied. Maybe we'll be ready to lay flooring ?

While Erik was putting mud up, I lugged from the basement all the wood on an 8ft rack for our fireplace.

In the New Year, I look forward to finishing phase 2 of the house renovation. When asked what I wanted most for Christmas, I said "for the house to be done". I am getting tired of everything coated in dust, vacuuming 3x a week, living in one room (although it is spectacular), I would like to unpack ( I just found a bin with jackets & hats I was looking for last year), getting back to things we love to do, skiing, biking, hiking, I am anxious to get the upstairs done so we can have our life back. Things I am looking forward to the most; having people over, having a christmas tree, having a place for friends & family to stay over, and being able to do something else other than fill trashbags with dirty insulation, 2 years is a long time to be living like this, and we are looking at another year at least to finish the upstairs.

What we accomplished this year, has been amazing; we finished the great room & kitchen, we gutted the downstairs of the existing portion of the house, we built a mudroom addition, we replaced all the windows on the first floor and 1 window upstairs, we sided and put a roof on the addition, shored up the Sh-arn for another year, and got new electric and insulation in the addition and the existing portion of the house. Erik rebuilt a tractor. And in that year I passed 2 of my architectural registration exams. I know, it's exhausting!

Well, we look forward to 2012 and Hope you all have a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year!

Fall Wrap-up-Part 3.2

2011-11-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

From this view it almost looks finished. *sigh* The new mudroom/entry. Which now has radiant heat in the floors, insulation, lights, and drywall up. Still needs flooring, doors, and to be mudded, sanded, mudded....

View from the kitchen- to the mudroom and entry. Bartlett doesn't love the open stairs. She would not like to see through, it makes her nervous.

We desperately need to put down a walkway, we track sand inside and it isn't good for our floors. Erik made a temporary gang plank, so only 1/2 the dirt comes inside now.

Fall Wrap-up-Part 3

2011-11-13T16:03:00.001-08:00

That's the inside of the foam truck. Yah. I guess, we were lucky, it wasn't too cold this Fall. Although, the last weekend of October was bitter cold with that freak snow storm. It was awefully cold actually, since the electricians were here that Saturday wrapping up the job, the power was shut off for most of the day, and I was trying to study.Luckily, we didn't get too much snow either, since most people were without power on Sunday and Monday and we had it. Brand new wiring in fact. Finally, on Wednesday we got insulation.

Since the older 1/2 of the house, has nominal 2 x 4 construction we had a closed cell foam sprayed in there. Which gives us an R-21 at the wall. The closed cell also is a bit more rigid and stiffens the walls up a bit. Which also helps. The new construction, roof and 2nd floor got the open cell foam, since it expands more, this fills the entire 2 x 6 cavity and doesn't allow air & moisture to convect or condense in the wall. We are already seeing a difference with the boiler in the older section of the house, not continuously running all day either. Already, we are feeling like the house is more efficient.

Fall Wrap-up-Part 2

2011-11-13T15:32:00.000-08:00

So after 2nd floor was reframed, we needed strapping on the ceiling- to accept the drywall, which in an old house all needs to be shimmed- cause this house hasn't been square...uh.... ever! So that took a while. New walls in the mudroom for a closet and powder room were framed. Pocket door for the powder room, which was tricky, needs special framing. But not a big deal, cause you just get a kit at the hardware store. New walls for the laundry room and Oh, I nearly forgot, new windows on the front of the house. Not to mention, Erik had planned on a hunting trip to the NEK with cousin Bob and his friends. A ton to do and not a lot of time to do it.

Bird Camp

After work & the weekends that were available, Erik managed to do it all. New framing, new windows, and the electricians were able to come in the last week in October and pull out all the old wiring, which was called "2 tube" newer than Knob & tube, but encased in a fabric sleeve that screamed "fire" everytime you turned on the switch. It also made a very loud noise, which I was always wondering if that was a spark and if I just turned the house on fire? It was very unsettling, to say the least. Now, all the basement lights come on when you hit one switch, instead of the one light that was on, when you turned off all the other lights. Bowdler Electric also ran wiring for the 2nd floor, so when we get to Phase 3, we'll be wired in and ready!

New wall at mudroom & wiring for outside lights and mudroom overheads.

New framing & wiring, strapping beyond.

Fall Wrap-up-Part 1

2011-11-13T15:13:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy few weeks here at 528. In order to get ready for insulation, we needed to re-wire the electric, which needed to have all the walls ready, which meant we had to re-frame and build new walls. Brian King came up one weekend to help Erik reframe the living room. It was a little sponge-y when you walked up stairs in the bigger bedroom, turns out the 2nd floor joists ran the lenght of the existing part of the house. That's why it felt like walking on a trampolene. Erik & Brian ran new LVLs in the 2nd floor framing and cutback and hung the existing framing off of the LVLs to stiffen up the framing. It was a ton of running into the basement, jacking up from below, building walls to hold up some of the framing, cutting back the joists, running down into the basement, jacking up below, then moving the LVL into place, tiring just trying to remember everything that was done.

Brian contemplating where the post can be located.

Brian & Erik framing in a new header between the Living & Dining rooms.

Looking down to where the posts are going.

This was a HUGE push, and we couldn't have gotten ready for the electrical portion of Phase 2 without Brian. Thank you for spending your weekend with us. It is greatly appreciated.

Going Postal

2011-09-15T05:47:00.000-07:00

Evidently our mailbox wasn't up to the US postal service standards. The postwoman left us a diagram showing us that the mailbox wasn't at the proper height (45") and the box was not secured to the base. The repairs to the mailbox clearly was not a priority for us, but the alternative of not getting our mail was a swift kick to get this done.

Here is the new mailbox, Erik re-used the post for our light at the end of the driveway, and some leftover decking from the back deck.

Peggy the Postwoman was very pleased with the new mailbox, she even pulled into the driveway one morning to find out what colors we have used for the siding & trim. She loves the progress on the house so much, I think she just wanted to see what we would do with the mailbox.

Stink Fest

2011-08-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

As you can see by Erik's mask, this weekend stunk. We got the majority of the stink out of the way on Saturday by demolishing the remaining walls in the living room. While Erik was going "ape shit" crazy tearing the room apart, I was bagging up squirrel shit ridden insulation, bringing 6 loads of various shit loaded wall board to the dump. On my 2nd trip to the dump as I was backed up to the hopper for what was supposed to be a quick unload, as I went to pull forward....I couldn't get the volvo to shift into drive.

(As many of you know, we have a truck. What you may not realize is that most of the time I don't get charged for dumping materials at the dump, because typically there is no charge for car loads, truck loads are another story- for instance, 10$ a load for wood waste)

The car was stuck, it was running and I couldn't move the gear into drive. I was starting to panic. As it was Saturday morning at the Cape dump and I could see by the look on the guy's face in the truck staring at me, that I had taken too long already in prime dump real estate. I turned the car off, swore, and turned the key hoping my nightmare would move into gear. Luckily, that tricked the volvo and I hauled ass home- Bartlett slid off the seat as we peeled out of the access road. She gave me the stink eye, wondering why all the rush. I tried to explain that if the volvo died for good at the dump, we'd certainly be the talk of the town. We came into the driveway sideways, where I tried to get it into park and yet again, it wouldn't budge. Long story short- the volvo was all sorts of messed up and 1 hr and a half later, I had it towed for it's later fate. The truck took the final 4 dump trips. Those last 4 loads cost me $20. The volvo would cost me much more when I got the bill from John's Mechanical Service, for the burned out relay & gear selector.

Bill Lee stopped by just as things were starting to get going and took some action photos of the living room and the tow truck carting the volvo off to the shop.

I am thinking at this point, I just dropped the transmission and that I might have to dust off the bike for awhile.

Erik has a glimmer of "hope" still in his eyes. After seeing what was inside the walls or better yet the lack of structure in the room, the car isn't a big deal.

Paul Jones in the Wall

2011-07-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

Erik's dad came up to visit last week, and lend us some time helping out on the house. Thursday was going to be a hot one, so we decided we should stay out of the sun & heat and work inside. Demolition of the dining room was on the list of things to do. We started off with trying to salvage the wide pine boarding along the stairs. After about 15 minutes of good effort to pry the first board off, as it was on there pretty good, we needed a bite of that whiskey we found behind the board. Paul Jones whiskey, I hadn't heard of it, coming from a long line of whiskey drinkers myself. A little prying of my own into the history of the brand led to one of the advertisements, "Make a Change for the Better". That also seems to be the motto for us at 528!

Karl posing with the treasure he finds behind the wall. Take a good look as this is the last smile out of him for the rest of the day, I am pretty sure the squirrel nests and mouse poop was more than he bargained for in his idea of helping out. But it was a HUGE help. We gutted the entire room and cleaned up the crap. Literally.

That's me, I've been getting more brave with the reciprocating saw. It's hard to tell with my ventilation mask, but this is evidence that I wear it. See, Mom?!

Karl just took out the china cabinet, it wasn't pretty. It was stained pine shutter with black "little house on the prairie" hardware. And above it, was a very large squirrel nest, built onto the chimney so they could stay warm during the winter.

Before

the dining room with all it's "old world" charm.

During

With the wood paneling gone & the wall paper ready to get the 'ole heave ho.

Product Testing- Redwing Boots

2011-07-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

I think Erik should be a product tester. These are his Redwing Steel toe boots. I don't think we'll be buying another pair of these, considering the boots didn't hold up as well as they advertised. When we brought them into the shop to discuss options for repairing the leather on the front of the boot, the woman told us we "should have bought the toe protector cap", little good that is going to do us now. If anyone has any suggestion for a hearty steel toe work boot, please comment.

New Windows & Reframing Existing Walls

2011-07-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

This is the existing side door and old kitchen windows. Erik and I are planning on making the old kitchen into an office at some point. We are replacing the existing windows with similar high windows so we can furnish against that wall. We took out the old kitchen door and filled in the opening. As we opened up the interior to take out the windows and reframe for the new rough opening, we realized that there wasn't much framing to begin with. It appeared that the studs that were holding up the sill for the window were either rotten or not existent, it was a wonder that wall was even upright. I believe either the kitchen counters or the insulation had structural integrity at this point of the wall.

This wall made me sad. Thinking ahead to the other 4 exterior walls we are going to encounter before we are done, it just got me wondering what other surprises were lurking beneath the surface. I am lucky that Erik has seen just about everything at this point and we are motivated to keep moving ahead.

Also, as a sidenote, since the exterior of the house is pretty much open at this point and it was just a matter of time before the word was out to the flying squirrel crew. We heard the terrifying sounds of them moving back in! "Google" image flying squirrel and you'll see what made Erik panic and stay home on July 4th weekend to button up the exterior so that they couldn't get back in.

Framed & Roofing

2011-07-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

We've been busy with the framing of the mudroom/entry addition. Trying to tie in the existing roofs to the new addition was tricky. We also needed to remedy the flat roof out back. There was a few sleepless nights where the roof over the NEW kitchen was open to the elements and we were concerned about thunderstorms ruining all our hard work. But someone above (my dad, perhaps) was looking out for us and the doppler radar showed the storm headed our way, splitting as it reached Cape Elizabeth and then re-forming after it passed. It was amazing. Amazing that we were saved from further destruction.

Above photo shows the wall and roof of the new kitchen being exposed to the elements, as the roof is being framed up over the new mudroom/entry.

New elevation for the mudroom entry. So exciting to see the progress.

Again, Carter brings his generosity to help Erik roof the new addition. It is amazing to have such a great friend, to take a day away from his family to help us out. We cannot thank him enough or his lovely wife Sarah. It makes the work go so much faster and easier to have the extra help.

The beautiful, blue bird day helped too. We have lucked out with the weather so far....

The Typar goes up before the grace ice & water shield, when water rolls off the roof it doesn't find it's way beneath the building wrap.

More updates to come- so stay tuned....

Got Grass

2011-07-24T06:49:00.001-07:00

It's official...we've got grass growing in our front yard! Last year at this time, we had a pile of wood growing in our dust bowl of a front yard. Since we took down the oak trees that were preventing anything but moss from growing on the front yard, everything including the moss dried up. You can barely tell, but there is a septic under that fresh green grass.

Just in case you may have forgotten what last year looked like.

Framed

2011-05-26T17:49:00.000-07:00

Carter made an appearance, enjoying some G& Ts on the loveliest days we'd had in a week.

And we had the addition framed up. Our plan for the weekend, is to get this side of the existing house stripped and put in the new windows. A big challenge for us, but a good goal for the long weekend. I'll need to have it stripped in order to get the shingles to the dump on Saturday, since we don't have a dumpster this time, which is kind of a pain in the can.

Foundation

2011-05-26T17:27:00.001-07:00

Well, soon after the guys were finished excavating the hole for the addition... (Oh, did I mention we are adding a mudroom entry between the original house and the kitchen. This will house a mudroom, entry, a coat closet, a powder room, and a little linen closet. ) the guys ran off (they had to catch a ferry to their next job!), leaving a giant hole. Fred Prescott, the foundation guy, came in and built the forms for the footings.

And his son took it from here, this was to be his last foundation he poured with his dad before he was moving to Massachusetts to go to college.

Footings being poured.

Moving the wet concrete around doesn't look easy.

He smooths it out with a trowel.

The next day, in between torrential rain, they put up the wall forms.

Bartlett is thrilled to have a new dirty place to lay.

Septic 101- part 2

2011-05-18T10:16:00.001-07:00

Part 2; Septic install.

As you can see from the photo above- this is the leaching bed. What happens is this- PVC piping is hooked into the concrete pre-cast tank and run on top of the black beds which are made out of a geotech fabric and some plastic thing that looks like an egg crate. Inside the tank bacteria eats away at the waste and pees out a cleanish waste and that gray water is carried through the pipes on the leaching bed and is distributed into the ground, which again gets cleaned through the leaching bed system.
Chappy is putting the bed to sleep with a sheet of fabric over the top of the leaching beds.

Then he buries it with another foot of sand.

The excavation for the addition. Ba BYE brick steps. Oh and I forgot to tell you, when they wrecked the front steps to put the connection into the tank- it was a slab of concrete that was reinforced with what looked like an old spring bed frame. The kind that my grandma had on the porch and was super squeaky.
That guy with the shovel just realized there was a huge tree stump/root ball and he is trying to uncover the edges of it....hee hee hee! And that other guy is Chappy the excavator operator and he is not laughing.

The front now has a layer of loam on top of where the septic was installed. It will be great if grass grows.

Large tree stump/root ball. This one came up easy, about 2 hours? The driveway got a bit smaller as the pressure from the machine cracked the driveway further back, yikes.

There it is. In it's glory.

That is the 2nd root. It wasn't as easy, and there were some not so nice words expressed about it.

Septic 101

2011-05-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

It's here! Our septic is being installed, today. It was a bit of a surprise this morning when the trucks showed up. I wasn't expecting them. But there they were at 7am. It'll be a mess out front, for a bit but we'll finally have a septic and we won't be wondering how much longer we could go without it.

These loops are what the liquid waste is run through- or the leaching field.

Looking for the existing cesspool. Surprise! There isn't one or at least there isn't one any longer. It may have collapsed. At least the pond will finally have a chance to clean up.

Close call with the crane and the electrical wires, this guy wasn't even sweating.

The concrete blocks are the bottom and top of the tank.

Lifting into the hole. Just made it under the wire, literally.

Oops, the tank is in the right spot, but needs to be 4" further down and then we won't need a pump. They pull it up and dig a bit more out and set it in the hole again.

Lid on- over a water stop sealant. They are ready to lay the leaching field out. Waiting for a layer of sand, silt, dust to be unloaded in order to lay the leaching bed out.

Kitchen- Before & After

2011-04-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

Amazing what a year can bring you. Although it's been a long hard year. It was worth the work. Many tears (me crying hanging drywall) and sweat, (Erik just about every day) literally working himself to exhaustion. We do have the rest of the house to finish- but it feels so good to have one space that is done.

The photo above is of the large fireplace during our walk through. This great room was a surprise to us, it is not apparent from the exterior of the house, that this room existed. It did have some issues, some of you may remember the tree removal. That helped immensely. Now we have a slider with a transom over the top that brings in so much light during the day and gives us a great view of the pond out back. Removing the 8'-0" hearth has helped in being able to furnish the entire space. Of course relocating the kitchen into the room- affords us a place for us both to be- while Erik whips us up a gourmet meal I can sit on the couch and watch,American Loggers. Or did I get that reversed. It is, NOW, truly a family room.

This photo is dark- but really depicts what this room was like. This is looking back toward the driveway- there was a door into the great room right off the driveway and next to it another door into the garage and large fixed window.

This was taken during our gut of the space- where the ladder is leaning up against the wall was what was meant to be ( I think) a powder room- but was never realized. It just became another dark hall way with a large closet. We tore it out- opening it up to the existing house- with the intention of building a mudroom entry at a later date that would open up to the new open space. The door in the background opens up into the garage- for some time our dumpster (s) were in there and that is where a new smaller mudroom, giving a buffer from the garage, instead of just opening up into the great room.

AFTER

We kept the wood box- put new pine paneling inside. We drywalled the entire room- leaving the existing beams and natural posts.

New slider with transom above and replaced the door to the deck with a window. Much brighter.

Sliding barn door, Erik made the door from salvaged barn board and it is on wood rails that run on a metal track. This closes off the mudroom into the garage- if we want another layer from the garage in the winter. It is reminiscent of our trip to Austria- where they utilized many old materials. It helps tie in the old beams to the space as well. The mudroom has changed color since this photo was taken- stay tuned...

Ta DA!! Kitchen revealed, new window over the sink. Island. Pendants. There are a few things in here that need tweaking, but we are officially using the refrigerator, sink, dishwasher and stove. Erik added barn board to the underside of the Island, which really makes this a one of a kind piece.

It's a bit Shaker and a bit Scandinavian. We tried to stay with the classic lines with the cabinets, keeping the old details of the beams, while we edged it up with some modern fixtures. Of course, this post comes after about 15 different paint colors. We finally agreed on Farrow & Ball's, old white. It is a subtle color that is bright during the day and gives a warm cozy feeling at night.

We are planning on adding some more barn board to mimic the beam above the fireplace wall over the sink- but we ran out, so if you know any sources, do let me know. Preferably free. I don't mind dressing in black at night to get it either, if you know what I mean.

Hearth Repair- Before & After

2011-04-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

March 11, 2010 (Before)

Last year about this time, we were ripping up the Hearth that extended into the room 8'-0". It was awkward. Kevin & Erik went ballistic on the brick work- tearing even into the inside of the fireplace. When we brought the wood flooring over the concrete slab- we had to lay thin sleepers over it, in order to maintain an even height over the slab. Well, the same was true when Erik went to lay the bricks back into the fireplace & hearth. Still wanting to maintain the elevation of the Heart Wood floor- we wanted the hearth to be flush to it. This meant that each brick had to be cut to realize the floor height. It was a chore- since the slab was poured rather uneven- each brick was a different height. Some turned out to be a 1/2" thick after being cut down. Not only was this a feat of skill, it was a race against time, with the rental of the brick saw only giving us a small window for all the cutting to take place, 5:30pm on Friday night until 5pm on Saturday. Not quite 24 hours.

The Hearth with the bricks laid out in a pattern- precutting. A bit of history- the bricks were originally salvaged from a building that was torn down at Portland Head Light. The story goes that the Capano kids (previous owners) cleaned the mortar off each brick. Let's see if they confirm that story.

Head to Toe covered in brick dust.

The finished result, Bartlett is enjoying the new flush hearth. She has turned into a dog that loves to sleep in front of the fireplace. Who knew?

Everything & the Kitchen Sink

2011-03-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

We have everything ready for the kitchen, including the kitchen sink. All the cabinets are here, lights & faucet...waiting and ready to install. We are hoping to get them in the kitchen once the flooring is installed. Fingers crossed it will be done this weekend!

boxes

Cannot picture what this is- it's a wall of cabinet boxes.

and more boxes.

That is the path through the dining room. It is about a foot wide. Wall to ceiling boxes of cabinets. Oh, and Yes that is a brick patterned linoleum flooring. It's throughout the entire original section of the house. I know, we are so lucky!

Team Heart Wood

2011-03-05T11:31:00.001-08:00

Erik & Carter begin the installation of the flooring. Erik started laying out the flooring this week in preparation for Carter coming up to help. Since the room is a little bit out of square (6"to be exact!) he started in the center and is working his way out to each side. This is proving difficult- but the boys are making it happen and it looks beautiful.

Here they are putting in the last piece to the wall side- the board furthest to the right is the first piece down.

Carter cleaning up before laying the next piece down. Erik banging the line into place.
Team "East by NorthEast"! I don't think they planned their matching attire...

Heart Wood in the HAUZ!

2011-02-15T17:04:00.000-08:00

Now that the heat is on, literally, we can finally get going on the room. We've got everything coming in, on it's way or in the storage somewhere. On Friday we had the electricians in to finalize some lighting and receptacles. We also got our flooring. Erik and I spent a romantic valentine's day laying out the flooring in the space to acclimate for the next 3 weeks. Then once it reaches within 2% of the moisture ratio as the plywood, then you can install it. The blue tape outlines where the island will be, and the cabinets on the other sides. So exciting.

This photo is taken from the existing side of the house looking into where the new kitchen will be. Again, the blue tape outlines where the cabinets will be.

Here is our flooring. On Friday, the old guy from Bingham Lumber came up and brought the flooring. Erik and the old guy loaded each piece into the kitchen one at a time. It is camp grade Heart Pine. Which is the hardest of the softwoods. It' is so hard, since it taken from the "heart" of the tree. Many of America's mills and factories were built with heart pine, since it was valued for it's characteristics of being rot and insect resistant. They say that it is more stable than oak? I am not sure about that fact- but it sure is pretty.

This image above & below is the butcher block top. Today, the guy from Bingham Lumber brought the top up. It was laying in the back of his SUV and we carried it in together. It was super heavy. When I finally looked at the piece, I was almost crying it is so beautiful. The guys at Bingham did such a great job, picking the right pieces to construct the butcher block. It is so pretty. It is made from reclaimed heart pine. Which means it was originally a beam in an old mill or barn and cut down to take off the worn exterior and has a tight grain pattern. The newer wood doesn't have this character, but it is still beautiful.

Laying Pipe- PEX that IS!

2011-01-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

It is official- we have heat!!! Rick the Plumber came and hooked up the 4 loops of pex tubing to our existing furnace and laid the tubing between the sleepers. He and Erik only got 1/2 way across the room, but the thermostat is slowly going up. I hope he can get back in to finish it, before the flooring is delivered.

This weekend, we also went down to Ma. and helped Stella & Karl pack up their condo in Haverhill for their downsizing to the Franconia Cottage. Good luck on the move! By the look of that U-haul truck they are definitely going to need an addition to fit all their stuff.

Laying Planks

2011-01-23T15:12:00.001-08:00

So, as some of you know we haven't been up skiing that much. Mostly, because we have so much happening so quickly, that we need to get some momentum. We need to get flooring in the room, we have appliances & cabinets ordered. In order to get flooring in- we need heat. In order to get heat, we need to lay the sleepers to run the radiant under. So instead of getting on planks to ski, Erik laid some planks over the sub-floor. Of course this sounds like it might take a few hours, but 1/3 of the room has a concrete pad. Erik put down a reflective bubble wrap over the entire room, this is to reflect the heat from the radiant tubing up instead of heating the slab and the crawl space below. The concrete slab was also about an inch above the subfloor, so Erik had to slice the 2 x 4-s so that they were level with the 2x on the subfloor.

Above is Erik starting to lay the 2x over the subfloor section. Those nailed right in. Over the concrete was a different story. I had to run out and buy a hammer drill- for him to screw in to the pad. He had to spray water as he was drilling so that the bit didn't get too hot. It took about 2 days to get that section done. I also had to borrow an electric hand planer from Mike, since the concrete pad was not level, he was planing each 2x with an antique at one point. The electric hand planer saved him about a week of work.

This is the finished result. Sleepers across the entire room- now we just need to get the radiant in. While Erik was working, the dogs and I explored the woods behind our house. We made some snowshoe trails and enjoyed all the snow, we've had.

End of 2010- Wrap up

2011-01-23T14:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I meant to get this blogged about a month ago, but I am just getting to it now. Kinda feeling defeating in my New Years resolutions already! Oh well, here are some shots of the house in the first snow storm. We had more snow on the coast than they did over in MWV, it was nice to wake up to the snow.Nate and Erik closed out the duck season with two Christmas ducks. Fisher the dog was a big help retrieving them from the marsh. Good Boy!

The Wheelhorse in 'er snow blowing glory. As Erik says, "No amount of snow will stop the WheelHO!"

Tapin' & muddin'

2010-12-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the completed drywall in the "great room"! Which means we are getting ready to paint, install floors, order cabinets and appliances. Of course it sounds so simple, but there is a ton of work to do before we can have you over for the "room" warming party. Erik has hours of taping and mudding the joints between the pieces of drywall. The electrical still needs to be finished up, we've got to get the lights in and working and receptacles receiving. We need to get the sleepers down and the tubing for the radiant flooring. We need to take delivery on the flooring and wait 3 weeks for the wood to acclimate to the heat (hopefully we can get the heat running) in the space.

Looking towards the garage- mudroom space. Barty stretchin it out.

Looking at the fireplace.

Towards the existing part of the house- where we are living. And out to the pond. Almost ready for some pond hockey.

The rest of that view towards pond.

Taping the joints and mudding begins. Every night, for a few weeks this may go on. Bartlett is exhausted already.

Let it dry and repeat the next evening.

Again.

And again.

Quack Quack

2010-12-09T16:50:00.000-08:00

528 has turned into a hot hunting spot, not just for chipmunks and mice but the flying feathered animals, as well. Erik has commandeered a duck blind in the marsh and goes out several times a week before work as well as anytime he hears some quacking. One day he had me shoo the ducks from the pond, so that they would fly across the street into the marsh. I don't feel so bad when it ends up on my fork that evening. At least I know we won't starve!
Tom Jordan with his first foul. Mallard I mean. Apologies to your family Tom, since now you are addicted to hunting duck on top of the deer problem. I guess they'll see you in January?
Nate Hicks, he's a goose man himself. He can carry nearly 7 geese at one time. Erik thinks the barrel on his gun is bent, that's why he is carrying these geese instead of posing with a fatty duck.
Erik with his fatty duck. This one was a black duck and was very large. My mom was over when he brought it in, and sang her old girl scout tune to him. I am still not sure if she was horrified or happy?

Before & After Spurwink Avenue- House of Horrors no more?

2010-11-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

This was meant to be my Halloween posting. Such a spooky looking place 528 was when we first bought it. I cannot believe all we have done since the end of March. It's been almost 7 months of this renovation. It is amazing we've done so much, but at the same time, when you live it everyday, it is overwhelming to think about how much more needs to be done. We'll get there...-

528 in it's Final Fall moments

2010-11-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

The following images are courtesy of Bill Lee Imaging- every so often he'll swing by the house- even when we are not there and take some shots of the progress and play with Bartlett. He has been very thoughtful and generous with sharing the images for the blog. His very creative eye which captures some of the nicest shots, images of details and places that sometimes I overlook in my photos- as I am often trying to show you the big picture. You can find more of his work at http://www.bleeimaging.com/ and http://digitalaundry.blogspot.com. The tool belt photo and the before & after represent his work too.

Little Mudroom-Garage

2010-10-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

Dumpster #4 leaves the garage. Sad to see it go- as it was so easy to throw everything away- no need to separate the wood waste from the insulation from the dirt, just toss it in. It barely fits through the door!

But, we needed the space- the "glowing" opening goes right into the great room/kitchen from the garage. We don't want to just open the door into the garage from the house, we planned on a little buffer room- a little mud room space. A place with a little closet and a landing- maybe some hooks, a place to hold heat from the conditioned space inside. It is important to get this laid out, since we'll be heating the space- and we need to have it built in order to run the radiant in the space. We need to get heat in here- fast. As Old Man Winter is fast on his way.

Here it is! It still needs some steps and insulation, but the door is in. Last weekend, I couldn't figure out how Bartlett was getting out of the house- I thought I closed all the doors- except there wasn't a finished backside on the little mudroom and she was sneaking out between the studs. She was so proud of herself too. Stay tuned...for more finished projects.

Roofin the other half, BEFORE WInter

2010-10-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

The goal for the weekend, was to roof the other half before winter. The other half, this was the half of the roof that we didn't redo in April. In April, just after we bought the house we realized there was some issues with the roof, when we had buckets of rain pouring in around the chimney and in the furnace room. The front half seemed okay- okay to live with it for a bit longer. We were hoping to get the mud room and new roof tied in before we re-roofed this roof, but it looks like we have to wait a bit on that phase- but we needed to re-roof what was there as there were some leaks in the garage and we were afraid it wasn't going to last through any more hurricanes or ice damning from the winter. So I took on the task of stripping the roof. I started at 1:30pm on Friday afternoon. By 3:30 Rufus Deering was unloading the supplies.

A start of a pile of roofing.

That's me at my beauty best. Yes, that's a pitch fork. Yes, I stripped the roof, for real.

On Saturday, I had to bring the asphalt shingles to the dump. Yes, in the volvo. We had the last dumpster taken away a few weeks ago to make room for the little mudroom entry from the garage Erik needed to build. The dumpster was taking up too much space in the garage. More on that later.
3 wagon loads of roofing felt, nails, asphalt shingles and metal drip edge and various wood waste, made it to the dump. Funny thing is, they don't charge you if you have a car but if I brought the truck they would have charge me- each load. I think I got just as much in the car as I would the back of the truck.

Erik, finishing off the trim on the edge of the garage, looking good.

New trim on the front and a stripped roof. We were able to get the roof water-tight by Saturday afternoon. Productive day. We also have some helpers coming on Sunday, Cousin Pete and Lisa have wanted to help out, so roofing for the guys and Lisa will help me finish the edge of the garage with laying some stone, so that the dirt doesn't splash back onto the shingles and some plantings of perennials.

The dogs sleeping in the volvo- ALL day. The back was open, but they just wanted to nap in the front seats in the sun. Silly.

Erik finishing the drip edge on the front. Bye- bye red trim, not too sad to see you go.

Erik & Cousin Pete, wearing his volley-ball outfit from college! Look under their feet- new 30 year architectural asphalt shingles. Perfect blue bird day, a bit chilly in the morning but t-shirts by noon. Nice job, the roof was all most done by the time they had to leave, around 3:30pm. Awesome, to have the help.

Lisa & I in front of OUR handiwork. We laid stone 12" out from the foundation of the house along the entire side, making a planting bed in front of the stone for some ornamental grass, lamb's ear, salvia, and another plant that looks like coral bells, but is meant for full sun exposure. This side is officially finished now- well except for the painting part-

which reminds me of what to do this weekend!

can we get ONE more side done before Winter- part deux

2010-09-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so we have flying squirrels. I think some of you may have heard the story of how we know they are the flying type already. If your curious, I'll tell you in person, it would freak most people out, so I am withholding the whole story. Just trust me, it was a gruesome discovery and I was lucky to be out of town that day.

Most of the summer we kept hearing the critters above our heads at night. They started to get pretty frisky a few weeks ago. It got so bad, that we called an exterminator Andy from macandquacks.com, he seemed like the best fit for us. This was something I knew Orkin couldn't deal with. Andy came and gave us a thorough evaluation of our issues. He could see that we were on the right track with spray foaming any hole that a critter could get into. He gave us some hardware cloth to fit in the holes and some super duper spray foam. And some large rat traps, with the plastic touch mount which snap to lighter touch, to catch the *&^!%$*'s. It was going to be a challenge with our situation, given that we are re-doing the existing sides one at a time, and where they seem to be getting into the house, was not on our list of "must do". That first night of spray foaming up all the entry points was exciting, we could hear him or her racing through the walls trying to get out. It was in a panic. I think it finally either calmed down or found a way out, and we haven't heard from it again. However, we are not taking any chances and have traps ready for it when it decides it wants to get back in again.

The finished side! Well, lower half. New windows, new clapboard siding stained, and trim painted. Just in time for snow!!
I will paint those windows, maybe this weekend, if it is nice out?

Nature walk- across the street

2010-09-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from the nature walk across the street from our house. It goes along the marsh and one of the reasons why we love living here. It is such a treat to be able to walk out the front door and have access to this open beautiful space. Even in the midst of the chaos of living in a renovation, we keep saying "we love it here". These are just a few reasons why we think it is so important to bring this house back to life and make it our own.

Can we get ONE more side done before Winter

2010-09-29T16:06:00.000-07:00

So we decided we'd get one more side done before the snow flys. This is the side that the living room/ bedroom is on, and we thought it would be much cozier if we could get it done, with new windows too. So here we are stripping the siding off. Not surprising there was a layer of clapboards under the shingles. We think this was the original section of the the house.

Just to let you all know, I did strip this side as well. There are just no photos of me this time, but I swear I was right there.

After we stripped of the siding and the paper-we found a signature. Harry Jordan and under it read Cape Elizabeth. It would have been great if there was a date, but there wasn't. So we just have to assume, that was who sided the house last? There is a cemetery across the street from as early as 1825, but we didn't see a headstone with Harry's name on it. Perhaps he is buried at the Spurwink Church. I might check that out this week?

That's as far as we go, we'll get the upper level in the spring? For now, this is what we can do. Window out- New one going in. We did one at a time, not knowing how much was going to need to be rebuilt as we took the windows out. It went much smoother than expected.

So smooth, we were able to get both windows in and Typar the sidewall.

Doghouse- before & after

2010-09-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

Doghouse BEFORE

This isn't Bartlett's house, it is the entry into the cellar, called a doghouse. This is before it was stripped, rebuilt (some of the sheathing was rotted, reshingled, and slate roofed.

Pile of Slate- BEFORE

Yip, evidently this pile of slate was salvaged from a building at Portland Head Light, by the previous owners.Along with the greenhouse too. Erik salvaged it again and used it to roof the roof. Woof.

Erik -Moving stone

So there was a bit of a stone wall here, but we kind of destroyed it when we put the deck in, so Erik is rearranging the stones to make a little bit of a retaining wall for flower beds between the deck and the doghouse. He also moved the concrete pad in front of the doghouse so that wasn't tipped into the structure and water would shed away from the stairs. Hopefully, this helps the cellar be a bit dryer here.

Doghouse-AFTER

The Boys of Fall

2010-09-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

Well it’s turn to face the stars and stripes

It’s fighting back them butterflies

It’s call it in the air, alright

Yes sir, we want the ball

And it’s knocking heads and talking trash

It’s slinging mud and dirt and grass

It’s I got your number, I got your back

When your back’s against the wall

You mess with one man, you got us all

The boys of fall

In little towns like mine, that’s all they’ve got

Newspaper clippings fill the coffee shops

The old men will always think they know it all

Young girls will dream about the boys of fall....

Ahhh, Kenny Chesney song has got me nostalgic about fall, not that I was a cheerleader (Ha!) or even went to a football game in high school, but the small town stuff and the cool air this time of year, totally gets me.

Erik and I went down to see Jarrett (Erik's nephew) play his first football game. It was great, Kendra (Erik's sister) warned us that it was their first game and the practices were challenging for this age (Jarrett is 7, looks like he is about 13, he might be shaving?). But we were pleasantly surprised, the coaches did a super job reeling the kids in and getting them involved in the plays.
Check out the line coach, scratching his head, cute. The game was a little like corralling cats, but the Laurence team won against Chelmsford! Which was a nice way to start the season. Jarrett is so focused on football right now, I think he is eating and sleeping it. Kendra even said he practices the plays every night.

No wonder their team won, look at how big these two are?!!!

West Branch

2010-09-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

Every year since Erik and I have been together (except the past 2) we've been going up to the West Branch on the Penobscot River. We camp on the river. Not in Baxter, since he didn't like dogs, they aren't allowed in the park. But on the Golden Road, where you yield to the massive logging trucks coming out of the forests. The Golden Road never changes, it gets worse for wear each year, but the camp sites remain the same, the beauty of the river and the mountains and forests surrounding it take your breath away. And then there's the fishing. World class fly fishing. It isn't easy fishing, it is tough. It's a big, fast, powerful river with finicky fish. We met up with the Davidson Family on the ride up, we timed it just right and caravan ed up 95, until we got to our camp at Big Eddy. Miles was a great camper, it was sweet to have him there. Here are a few of my favorite pics over the week.

Sarah and Miles setting up camp.

Bartlett barking of course- she is just so expressive! There was a rule that there was NO barking at the campsite, luckily we were right on the fast water, so I am sure it drowned her out.

Setting up Camp, Erik and Carter hanging the tarp.

Miles, eating avocados!

Miles and Sarah getting ready for our big moment.

Erik and Miles at the Crib!

Miles and I playing back at camp.

Carter and Miles with his fishing vest on.

Carter all dressed up, no place to go.

Camo inspecting the length on one of the fish.

Slippery little suckers.

Brook Trout- this was the 5th take on this photo, the last 6 slipped out of my grip, one landed in the Cheezit box. I am super nervous it is about to take off on me.

Drifting in the evening.

CH-ch-ch-Changes-part deux

2010-09-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

Doghouse in progress. Siding is up on the back of the house. We chose to do a clapboard on the bottom, to break up the scale of the house. The little doghouse gets shingles.
The Andersen mulled double hungs- look spectacular. It is a treat to be able to open and have screens and more importantly to close them easily, especially now that fall is fast approaching. It's funny what a difference they make, when the window is open you can hear everything the birds, frogs, crickets. As soon as you close them up it's like having noise reduction headphones on.

CH-ch-ch-Changes

2010-09-14T16:22:00.000-07:00

That song always reminds me of fall, playing pool at Mike's Billiards putting money in the jukebox and listening to David Bowie. The weather is getting cooler and we have a number of things to do before winter comes.

The back of the house is coming along. Here is the progress at the end of August. We have the new windows in and the trim is painted. We are getting ready to strip the doghouse. It's not really Bartlett's house. It's the entry into the basement. We think it's one of the areas that critters have been getting into the house, so it'll be nice to have that buttoned up.

Doghouse- Before

There was a pile of slate roofing tiles in a pile behind the shed. According to the previous owners, they were from a building that was torn down at Portland Head Light. Like many of the materials on the property had been salvaged there as well. The fireplace in the great room was built from salvaged brick from the same building, as well as the greenhouse. Erik has been wanting to use the slate somewhere on the house.

The doghouse roof was the perfect place to use the slate. It is a small enough surface to figure out how to lay the tiles. It also is a place that we'll be looking at it with it's close proximity to the deck. Now it will be enjoyable to look at, rather than looking at asphalt shingles. Not that there's anything wrong with asphalt. Here is Erik installing the slate.

New Door & Window- back of house

2010-08-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

An exciting, tough weekend. We decided to put the new french door from the dining room onto the deck. We took out the storm & picture window that was there. It went fairly smoothly, the condition of the studs were okay, and there was a substantial amount of insulation in the wall cavities. It didn't go so well, when Erik and I were carrying the picture window from the wall into the dumpster- which is located in the garage. I went to step down and my ankle rolled and it hurt something nasty. Later on that day, I was bringing a bucket of waste to put into the dumpster and the same thing happened. My foot just gave out and I found myself on the floor. I was sure I broke my ankle, but it turned out to be just a bad sprain. Unfortunately, I couldn't help Erik the rest of the day. Which was stressful with an opening in the wall and no way to get the door in.

Where the window was. Now open.
Wall open to the floor, ready to start to frame in for the rough opening of the door.
Opening and trusty wheelhorse, for bringing demo material around to the dumpster.
The New French Door. Erik found this at a tent sale this spring, it matches our sliders almost exactly.
This is Erik lifting the brick patterned linoleum up to reveal the Douglas Fir flooring underneath. Pulling up the subfloor seems to be fairly easy here. Let's cross our fingers it continues to be that way.
Bartlett using the new entry out to the deck. She loves it!
Erik recruited Kevin to help get the door in place, after I was on the injured list. Again Kevin saves the day. Erik later cuts himself making shims for the door. Luckily it stopped bleeding. And also in this photo is the new opening for the mulled doublehungs.
There is no record, but I helped put that window in place. Erik is putting the finishing touches on the window, actually I think he is pulling the stickers off.
The ladder configuration Erik and I concocted in order to get the window up and into the opening.
Doors and windows in place. We can already see the difference in the air coming into the door and also the windows into the Living Room. The light coming in is also very nice. I am falling asleep as I type this so, I'll fill in the rest on the next post. nite, nite

Garage Side- semi complete

2010-08-15T18:13:00.000-07:00

Before

(this was the day we first looked at the house, what were we thinking?)

July- We decide the Perkin's should look at the new color scheme and tie into the changes we've made on the front. This is the Before of the garage side, clearly I wasn't impressed enough when we looked at the house, since I didn't record it back in December.

That is the greenhouse off the back with the big concrete foundation that makes a sightly shelf.

After, I painted the window trim on the greenhouse, and already it looks lighter. Erik shingled the back with the Maibec shingles.

Erik built an adorable little shed window sill/ roof on the ugly foundation shelf and added trim on the bottom. Also, he took out the window on top of the four openings. I painted the door and threshold and we got new hardware for the door and of course- re- shingled the entire wall of the garage. Check out the little detail up by the trim with the shingles tucked under the trim. This is my favorite part. We have plans to add some shutters and the fake window with the oil tank exhaust will have the shutters- but they will be closed and hide the exhaust pipe. That's the plan.
The semi finished side of the garage. We are waiting the finish the trim to the left in the photo when we re-do the roof on that side, which it severely needs, but we are thinking we might try and do it when we do the addition- not sure we can wait that long, since we have a little leak over the stairs.

The NeverEnding Wood Pile Ends

2010-08-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Before

March 25th, Erik begins cutting up the wood from the 4 trees removed. The pile was enormous.

August 9th, I move the last of the wood with the wheelhorse and stack it out back. Quickly running out of space, I moved some stacks and re-stack some of the stack in the shed.

After- where the wood pile was!

After

This stack is 2 deep on each side of the shed, and just as tall. Too bad we have to find some seasoned wood for this winter! If anyone would like to trade, please let me know.

it's Log, it's log, it's big, it's heavy it's wood. part deux

2010-08-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

We have this last pile of wood to finally take care of. Erik's dad came up one day a few weeks ago to help out. Having hand split about 6-7 cords ourselves, our neighbor mentioned we could borrow his 25 ton wood splitter. We jumped at the chance. Considering most of the remaining wood was the crooks and corners that were so hard, it was impossible to get through them. So we had it for two weeks and every night we pecked away at the

never ending pile.

This is the day we decide to finish the pile off and finally return the splitter to our neighbor. Erik is driving the splitter to the pile in the front yard.

Splitter in position. With split wood in the background.

Erik getting ready to split some wood.

The LAST big stump!

The last piece. Erik puts it in the splitter.

This is all mine to haul and stack out back. At this point I want to trade it for something- so if anyone is interested in a cord (or 2) of red oak- I would like an undermount farmer's sink in white, or a LP tank, or 4 yards of river stone OR a massage, because my back hurts from looking at all this wood I have to lug!

My handy work. Stacks of wood behind the shed. Erik's dad started at the far corner and I have continued it toward the woods. (In the photo to the right.) Erik asked me what my talents were this week, and I think stacking wood is one of my better talents. Its like playing tetris.

Wildlife

2010-08-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

It was strangely quiet outside at about 6am. I looked outside and saw about 15 turkeys walking up the driveway- there were 3 little babies too. They headed out back into the Perkin's backyard and gobbled away.

Our Youngest Recruit

2010-08-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

Ben Silva, rockin the wheelhorse! By the expression on his face, he isn't so sure about it. He really didn't like it when Erik started the tractor up. For now he just likes to look at em.

New Sill at Garage

2010-07-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

Monday night, Erik puts the new PT sill in place.
Phewww

Sill Rot at Garage wall

2010-07-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

Erik on Sunday took on the sill rot on the garage. Tearing out the rotten piece. Realizing the sill was sitting on the ground without foundation underneath it.
The sill- with the dry rot. Critters had made it a home.
The pile of cut out sill. Nice.
Middle of garage floating, where the sill was removed. Now what, Erik get's ready to pour a foundation for a new PT sill to sit on and give the garage walls something to be supported.

Trench dug, ready for the form to go into place and then mix the concrete.
Form in place, Erik mixing concrete.
A couple hours later and one trip to Home Depot for more concrete. The wall is formed.
Sunday afternoon. Yipeee!

Front Finishing touches & Demo

2010-07-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

Erik shingling the front. This was the weekend of July 18th. If you recall, it was wicked hot- this weekend. So hot, in fact sweat was pouring out of my face. If you know me, I am fair and rarely sweat. It was gross. While Erik was siding, I started stripping the side of the garage. I worked slow and steady. And had the side of the garage stripped by Sat. night. Unfortunately, I found rot, and when we looked closer- the middle of the garage was sitting on a rotted 8 x 10. More on that later....

My stripping job, hee hee, that sounds funny. Erik checking out the rot.

It's Log, it's log, it's big, it's heavy it's wood.

2010-07-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

What rolls down stairs

alone or in pairs,

and over your neighbor's dog?

What's great for a snack,

And fits on your back?

It's log, log, log

It's log, it's log,

It's big, it's heavy, it's wood.

It's log, it's log, it's better than bad, it's good."

Everyone wants a log

You're gonna love it, log

Come on and get your log

Everyone needs a log

log log log

*whistle*
LOG FROM BLAMMO

Hot- Strapping....

2010-07-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

So the forecast for the weekend was this, Saturday thunderstorms and rain all day, Sunday rain in the morning and clear and sunny in the afternoon. I think the weatherman wanted to go to the beach and have it to himself all day Saturday. It did rain, don't get me wrong. It was so humid it felt like it was raining. So in light of the forecast, Erik and I were ready for a weekend of working inside. Erik went to Home Depot in the morning and bought some strapping and some drywall for our weekend project, he wanted to get it in the house before it rained. He got here in plenty of time, we unloaded it into the great room, which I cleaned while he was buying the supplies. 14 sheets, those are heavy. What makes it so heavy is the awkwardness of the sheet, it flexes, it is big and you are afraid it is going to crack. But before we even got to that we had to put the strapping up on the ceiling to receive the Sheetrock. Which sounds easy enough, but each line of strapping was wavy. Not a little bit, but noticeable looped. Each rafter that strapping was nailed to needed to be shimmed out. That was time consuming.

When we finished shimming, we still had a few hours left before our dinner date with Kevin & Amy. So we decided to put up the drywall. Ouch. That is not fun or easy. I wish that I had some photos to show you the dance we did. It was painful and there were many "piggy" words. It was ugly. I may have been crying, I am not sure? We put up 3 sheets before we decided it was too much, too hot, humid, and painful.

Erik and I think that we are at the 4 month mark. We've done so much, but we have so much further to go.

Deck is Finished!!!

2010-07-10T15:35:00.000-07:00

Before

After

I'd like to report that I put the last coat of paint on the lattice under the deck which makes it complete. Although we have been enjoying some spectacular drinks on the deck before that moment. Here are some photos of the deck completed. It is nice to have one finished space to enjoy. Mom gave us some perennials, so I made a little garden off the back of the house. Now, I just need to put some plantings in around the deck. Erik has also sided around the corner of the house and our next step will be to rip off the shingles by the dining room window, and the clapboards that are underneath and take out that window and put in our new door.

lamb's ear, lady's mantle, thyme, salvia, culver's root, walker's low catmint, chocolate, spiral butterfly, and something that looks like lady's mantle but has a red flower. I want the walkway to have lady's mantle all the way around from the garage- it is such an old-fashioned flower.

The view from the deck and the meranti decking.

demo front

2010-06-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it was my goal toto do the laundry, go to the bank, get some deck finish samples, change my address at the dmv, buy mulch and some other errands. Laundry was top of the list. Yuck I hate laundry. Especially when I have to go to the laundromat. I brought the foulest clothes to be washed, it was embarassing. I brought Bartlett's beds and blankies, which were so gross, especially after Gunnar was here for two weeks.There was so much fur flying aroungs.... Painting lattice was last on the list. Today, I removed the existing siding on the front of the house, big step.

Sorry, these posts aren't very interesting- but I am sooo tired and literally trying to stay awake right now.

New Deck and Stairs

2010-06-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

Hi, here are the photos of Erik putting the finishing touches on the deck. The stairs. Which is a really good thing. Last week, we had Gunnar (mom's dog) who is SUPER athletic, and one morning I went to let Bartlett and Gunnar out in the morning, typically they chase the chipmunks into the woods. Gunnar usually leaps like a olympic gymnist off the deck and Bartlett usually barrels down the stairs. Well, we moved the stairs a few times to give us access to work. This particular morning Gunnar leaps off the deck, one move and Bartlett forgets where the stairs are and drops like a stone. It wasn't pretty. After these photos were taken, she refused to come up the new stairs.

It is looking almost complete. It is nice to have ONE space to enjoy.

New Deck

2010-06-26T18:12:00.001-07:00

Okay, so sorry for the delay. The camera ran out of batteries and I didn't have time to buy new batteries. Yes, I didn't even have time to buy new batteries. That is how NUTS things have been. Actually, I had a deadline at work, and I was putting in some extra time to get it out. Now that it is the end of the month, things seem to be getting back to normal. I got new batteries and Erik and I have finished the deck. The decking is on. What took so long was this...we had to pre-drill each nail hole, since the decking was so hard. We went with the nails because they look better, than screws and since we are on a budget we couldn't do the blind fastenings we spec at work all the time! Anyway the photo above is the deck framing...

Look for other posts with the finished decking, more to come.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-30T18:44:00.000-07:00

Leah with the wrench!

Before I start writing about us, I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all our troops, veterans and those who have given so much in order for us to have our freedom. Thanks for your service and thank you to those that are serving, I thought about you all weekend and how lucky we are to have people like you, sacrificing so much so that we may have the freedoms we have today.

Erik and I are linking the location of the existing deck with the dining room- we got a french door to replace the existing window. So we got started early Saturday morning with the Auger rental.

Later on around 1pm we had a very nice surprise during our digging of the holes for the sono tubes....Luke and Tracy came by. Luke got right into the project mixing the concrete and pouring the footings. Tracy did a beer run ( which is pretty funny, since she is 8 1/2 months pregnant!) It was such a huge help. We really appreciate it!

So we dug the post holes with the Auger- they needed to be 4 feet down. Which

is safe from the frost line, if they were higher the possibility o

f them shifting due to the freeze and thaws we get up here in Maine We made 6 holes for footings. On the 2nd hole we got the Auger stuck and I had to go back and get the wrench from the hardware store- it was as big as me. I was kind of embarrassed walking out of the store with it.

Pics are from Sunday. Unfortunately, I didn't capture Saturday, since it was pretty intense and I had forgotten to buy batteries for the camera.

This image is Sunday Morning- starting to frame

Sunday, we started laying the decking. It's a meranti- a type of mahogany. It is hard as a rock and you have to pre-drill each hole and the nails are freaking tiny and expensive- so I was under the deck gathering ANY that fell down through. Erik cut the planks, sealed the ends and drilled the holes, while I came from behind and nailed then down. The wood is so hard that it eats through drill bits too, we used 6 today ! Luckily, Erik had worked with it before, so he stocked up. I'll upload some of those photos later- it was dark before I thought of it.

Panorama of the back of the house. Its a little skewed so use your imagination- it doesn't really look like a "fun house".

Pre- Decking Sunday night

Trapped

2010-05-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

"Man is the only kind of varmint sets his own trap, baits it, then steps in it."- Steinbeck

Deck Removal

2010-05-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Erik and I took the deck off, Well Erik took the deck off and I moved it into the dumpster with the Wheelhorse. The issue with the deck was several-

1. it was about 12" higher than our finish floor elevation, which wasn't great since water was splashing up into the house.

2. it had a 8' diameter hole right in the center in it from the oak tree being removed.

3. Eric our neighbor said the PT lattice railings were as tacky as his pink flamingoes in his yard ( this is a fact, although pink flamingoes on your yard in Maine is right up there on the tacky meter) I think that he might use them to keep deer from eating his garden. I am hoping that is the reason he has them, anyway.

The last photo is of the remaining wood that needs to be chopped and some very pretty old fashioned flowers that are popping up on the bank above the pond. I cannot remember the name of it- if anyone knows please tell me again.

Seal It!

2010-05-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

Mama and Papa Canadien Geese with 5 babies, honking in the pond.

Tell em Bartlett! SEAL IT Insulation installed our foam insulation. We'll be toasty with our new windows and new insulation. It will keep out the critters too. This insulation is much better than batt insulation for several reasons- we'll double at least the R value in the walls and triple in the ceiling. The install is so tight, we won't be bothered by critters nesting in the walls. no more nut storage. The air quality with foam is much cleaner and does not contain fibers or added dust inside the house where the batt insulation does as it breaks down with time. It is a sustainable product as it outlasts the other insulations out there on the market. The install took a little over a day and a half and the guys were very clean and professional. Reggie was our lead installer and he was great. Best part about SEAL IT- they are a Maine based company (Brunswick), and it feels great to work with a local company. I recommend spending the extra on the foundations of your walls. This will definitely pay us back in savings this winter as well as our many years we'll be having at the house.

We will certainly be looking into the Tri-polymer they have for the existing part of the house - at some point, since it is great for retrofit installations and can be added to each stud bay from the exterior without having to gut the interior finishes- although with the noises I heard last night- we may be gutting the insides of this section too!! It sounds like it is something you want to do in the summer months- since the chemicals react best when it is at a warmer climate. But according to Reggie- it is perfect for historical renovations or retrofits-as it pushes whatever insulation that is currently in the walls, and fills the cavity completely like the spray foam.

Mike Conlyn the Portland representative was very sweet, he came by to make sure everything was okay with the installation and to make sure we were pleased with the work. Which we are of course. He happened to come around the corner of the house, just when Erik had taken a shot at a rodent exiting the house- Erik had wounded the bugger, so to put it out of it's misery Erik stepped on him.

Poor Mike...I am sure he was appalled- but left us with a Thank You card that included a Cabella's gift card- which read "for more ammo!"....gotta love Maine.

Yard Work- Mucho help Wheelhorse and Parents who worked like a horse

2010-05-19T20:03:00.001-07:00

Erik's parents came up on Sunday to help us around the yard. They worked so hard. It made such a big difference. I don't think the yard had been raked in 10 years or more. Ardell raked and dumped leaves, while Karl ran the WheelHorse. Did I mention our latest addition. After careful shopping on craigslist, Erik found a 1971 Wheelhorse lawn tractor up in New Gloucester. He happened to buy it from a Wheelhorse enthusiast and the online Wheelhorse website founder Micah. The tractor came with a mowing deck and a snow blower. We are looking for a rototiller attachment if anyone knows anything about that.

Anyway, since Erik took small engines in high school he is pretty good at fixing some of the issues it came with. He replaced the hydrolic line and has big plans to change out the muffler. So, Karl had it purring all day Sunday- he would stack up the wood in the cart and drive around the house, back in behind the shed and unload the wood, stacking it in tidy stacks behind the woodshed. Then drive it around the front of the house- to pick up more wood and do it all again. Bartlett was such a good girl during the day- at one point she was being VERY quiet and doing her own thing. Until we realized why she was so quiet. She found a skull- maybe a possum and was contently licking out the brains. Ewwww. You can see the sad look on her face when we take it away from her. So sad...

Licked Clean

Windows and Doors Oh my.....

2010-05-19T19:42:00.000-07:00

Our Andersen Woodwright 400 series windows are in! Erik worked his tail off with Kevin's help and were able to install the slider, transom above and the double hung window after work on May 1st. This happened so fast- that I was only able to capture them the next day! The hole in the deck from the tree removal was helpful since the deck is about a foot too high for our finished floor height. That will come off in the next few posts...

Anyway, we are thrilled to have working windows that have a cladding, we won't have to paint the exterior and are already painted on the interior as well. Having a window that we won't feel the draft coming through will make a huge difference this winter. We are also looking forward to the federal Energy tax credits for this year. Stay tuned for more window installations- hopefully before it gets really hot.

Keep looking- we'll be siding that soon, seriously we won't leave the Typar up much longer. Unfortunately many of our fellow Mainers don't realize that Typar isn't a siding material and actually has a life expectancy that is hastened by UV exposure. I am sure our neighbors will be thrilled when some shingles go up.

Thanks Tom Jordan for the spelling lesson this evening.

Moving is the Worst and other Pains

2010-04-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

So this past week was tough, my uncle Ed passed away from Pulmonary Fibrosis- he was a machinist and most likely the lung thing was caused by breathing in metal for so many years. Luckily I got to spend a good day with him last friday before he passed. My thoughts are with my Aunt Leona and my cousins- Carol, Mark, & Joey.

Mom and I went down to the funeral and stayed with Marilyn- who took us in late at night and got us off early in the morning. In the meantime she had dug up and divided some of her plants and many of which were from our old house in Marshfield. It meant so much to me. There are peonies even from my grandmother's house in Upstate. Yesterday was neighborhood cleanup in the Knightville Mill Creek area- and after I dug up some of my beloved perennials for the new house. I got back late in the evening after mowing and weed whacking to clearing out a space at the new house to plant all the thoughtful plants Marilyn had sent with me.

I don't think I can lift my left arm over my head from raking oak leaves. In the back the raspberry bushes had also taken over- so I spend a fair amount of time yanking roots out.

I am taking out forsythia bushes that are overtaking the house- if anyone wants some.

Making headway

This image above & below, is of the new opening for the sliders and transom window above. Once we take down the lattice on the deck- it won' t feel so much like a dog crate. But the view....oh it is so much nicer. Compared to what was there- you couldn't see anything but that oak tree and the room was so dark. This will allow for a view out to the pond and bring so much more light into that space- it will truly be a great room.

On top of it- I am totally unmotivated today. I am clearing out the last items from 72 B street. I feel like I have been moving now for 2 months. I think it might be easier to move to another state than 4 miles down the road. I keep finding stuff in the basement. Check out the back of my car- old skis and surf boards.

Right now, I am actually sitting outside the old house in the driveway posting this- since we don't have internet yet at the new place. I might try and get on the neighbors....see if that works?

Well now I have to go put the composter in the back of the car- poor Barty, she is so tired from watching us work nonstop- I'll have to coax her in the front seat of the car she is completely taking up entire rear of the wagon!

Sonya- The sharpshooter

2010-04-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

This was a couple weeks ago, Sonya and Patrick called from the Mall wanting to stop over. It was great- perfect timing. They brought over some Prosecco & Allagash Curiou- which is Erik's favorite. We set up a spray painted target in the tree off the deck and each had several shots. Sonya was the best shooter of all of us- she made us all look bad. She also took about a half hour to set up each shot. After we went to Binga's Wingas so Patrick could watch Nascar. How did we all get so REDNECK!

528 Spurwink Ave- Reno-cation Plans

2010-04-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

Erik's taken this week off from work, to make some headway on the house. The plans ( photos above compliments of Bill Lee Imaging) are to get the great room/new kitchen to a point where we can get some of the other trades- (that we cannot do) in to do their work, so we can move in soon! So since Friday night, Erik finished ripping off the shed roof that is off the back of great room, putting drip edges on & trimming out the overhangs. I got home from work just in time to lay the ice & water shield with him. Saturday morning, Erik was back on the roof shingling. I ran around getting some supplies and doing necessary errands, bought a washer & dryer off of craigslist (weirdly enough from the broker's wife that listed the house) brought Erik a well deserved lunch. Saturday afternoon, I started cleaning up some of the batt insulation in the great room. Which was disgusting- the whole great room has been infested with varmints. I have never seen so much mice crap. It was so foul.

Then I got sick of it, and decided to start pulling the board finish off the interior walls of the furnace room- so that the spray foam can be installed there. I was dismantling an old potting bench, and there was plenty of acorns and mice poops, when I moved a drywall bucket of old potting soil- when a dinosaur crawled into the wall- it was seriously a reptile. It must have had 4 legs, if not 6, with a very long tail. I took a deep breath and let it go. I decided enough banging around in there- would keep me safe from the ancient mysterious creature. Later, I found 3 dead mice (golf clap) and one was a fresh kill.

When I pulled out the insulation- there was some that looked intact, but then when you peel back the paper- you can see that Nooo, in fact mice, squirrels, or chipmunks have actually been there. I noticed that they seem to poop horizontal. Sorry, I didn't take any photos, I really just wanted it to be over.

I was telling Erik about my findings- and I asked him "how do squirrels shit horizontal?"

He said, "3...2...1...TAXI!"

(inside joke)

Anyway, Monday Erik took out the window where the "girthy" tree was and framed out the opening for the slider & transom above. He also took out the door into the great room and reframed the wall. Kevin Silva (who is awesome) came over and helped cut the studs and the plywood to patch where the entry was.

Today, Erik took out the window into the driveway- to frame for the new kitchen window. Kevin came over again, and chopped wood, again the kid is amazing. The fact that he could go home to his nice clean hotel suite and watch HGTV, but instead he comes over and chops wood!! Truly Awesome. Thanks Kevin!

When you are in the great room, you can begin to see how great the space is going to be.

I'll try and take some photos next time I am over there. Erik says "from the outside the house looks like it's been condemned"

Honestly, it probably should have been.

A full weekend of rehab fun

2010-03-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

Well....after tearing out the last of the pine boarding in the great room, which revealed that squirrels were living in the batt insulation, a serious acorn storage unit, poop, and what insulation that was not eaten by the nut-smugglers, was wet. So, friday after work, Erik ripped off the roof and I got right on clean-up. We worked until it was dark, and got ready for an early morning. I was on the roof at 8am on Saturday cleaning off the rest of the rotten shingles and swept off the mess. Erik came with more supplies. He had to rebuild the rotten soffits and added trim to the eaves, before we started rolling out the ice and water shield. The roof over the great room is such a low pitch- 4/12, so we applied this on the entire roof. Meanwhile on solid ground- Eric Preston came with his stump grinder- and took care of the two stumps on the front of the house- where we hope to be able to build a mud room addition at some point. It took him about an hour- and there were two giant piles of wood chip debris. I think I might use this later for mulch? Does anyone know if that is do-able? I was thinking I could mix it with peet moss- if anyone has thoughts- please reply!

By Saturday night, we had the roof waterproofed. Which was our goal, since Kevin Mannix said it was going to be drizzle on Sunday. He was wrong- luckily for us. Erik and I got up early and stopped by Home Depot on the way to the house, and I got some mice poison, and Erik bought a roofing gun, and a chalk line. We got right to work putting the shingles up. Erik got tired of me watching him, and he kicked me off the roof and I started raking the hills of wood chips. Good timing, as Erik started getting going- Carter rolled in, ready to dig in.

Camo and Bartlett romped- they played tug of war, swimming in the pond, and followed me around the yard like I was the "pied piper" going everywhere and doing everything I was doing. It was nice to have 2 dogs to keep each other occupied.

After an unsuccessful trip to Home Depot for two more bundles of shingles, there were 2 more trips to Lowes to get the right shade- finally Erik and Carter were able to finish buttoning up the roof, just in time to make a dinner with friends! We might be too old for this?

"That there's what we call a girthy one" the rough cuts

2010-03-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

This portion weighed 13,000 lbs. Marston's guy didn't sweat the cut, or lifting it over the house. That is why they have insurance. We are quite pleased with the removal. The property has so much more sunlight, and we hope this airs out the siding, windows and roof. The neighbors have also commented that there is now more sunlight on their property. Since the tree was blocking the back window and you can actually see out the window, we are looking for some sliders or a french door to open up the view even more from the "great room" out to the pond.

"That there's what we call a girthy one" the rough cuts

2010-03-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

Marston Tree Service in action. The limb being cut off- weighed 6000 lbs. You can see in the 2nd photo the tree was blocking most of the window into the "great room".

"That there's what we call a girthy one"

2010-03-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

Which came first, the tree or the deck? The small window looks out to the massive trunk of the tree from the "great room". This tree needed the crane.

Great Room

2010-03-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here is an image of the "great room" it was covered in a stained pine wide plank paneling. It has a very large fireplace. Today in the rain, we tried it out for the first time. Each panel we took down revealed a storage unit of acorns that the squirrels and chipmunks have been scurrying away. The insulation was not in the best condition either. The wood box has a removable panel to a back room, where you can load wood from the nearby wood shed. Which we have plenty of after the tree removal.

Spurwink Avenue

2010-03-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

We've had a great year. Last weekend we celebrated our 1st anniversary. Our "paper"gift was passing papers on this house. It's a fixer upper. Our first order of business was removing some large trees that were threatening the building. Friday, Marston Tree Removal brought the crane in- to remove the tree growing in the corner of the house. One tree guy said "that there's what we call a girthy one". The crane hoisted the larges section over the house. It weighed 13,000 pounds. The limb that was touching the house, weighed 6000 pounds. Erik and I have much wood to chop.
We have our work cut out for us, but it is a good feeling. We have started ripping apart the interior of the "great room". Yesterday, I moved all the bucked wood to the back of the house, next to the wood shed. Raked up the oak leaves, swept the driveway, and stacked wood that had been chopped. Our neighbor was enthused by the sunny weather and we worked alongside each other dragging oak leaves to a pile in our back yards. Bartlett was such a big help- she followed each trip I made, carried a frisbee for about 2 hours, rolled in the dry dirt, and barked at me when she had enough. It was nice to have a faithful companion.

Apres Ski Chic

2009-02-12T19:18:00.000-08:00

We have just a few weeks until the wedding day. I am sorry I am such a bad blogger- but it has been busy at work (which is good) and tying up all the details takes some time, and of course it is ski season so everything gets put on the back burner until the last minute. I have been asked a few questions about the attire- Apres ski Chic- well to begin to describe it - hmmmm... have you seen the movie Aspen Extreme or Dumb & Dumber, they have some great apres ski chic outfits in there. It is more than jeans less than tuxedos. Lots of Layers, layers of different fabrics, plaids, furs, velvets, belts and boots. Maybe even a cool hat. If you looking for some inspiration look at the Gorsuch catalogue or rent one of those ski flicks- just stay away from the looks in HotDog!

Save the Date

2008-07-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

We have set the date March 7 2009 at the Whitney Inn in Jackson, New Hampshire. It is at the base of Black Mountain. They just renovated the inn and it is so cute. I am also very excited for the party which will take place in the Shovel Handle Pub. Funny thing...the name comes from the first J-bar lift at the mountain. They attached shovel handle to the rope-tow and that was what you held onto when you wanted a lift up to the top.

Erik and I are planning some fun events for Saturday morning. Once those are finalized I will post those up. This is a resort town which is busy at this time of year. If you can I would make your reservations before they are booked up. We have reserved most of the rooms, but I will warn you they will fill up fast. There are plenty of places to stay around town, but those are not as convenient to the hill or the pub.

proposal

2008-07-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

I know, you are wondering why I am telling this now, well...we have been very busy with life and haven't had a chance yet. So let's go back to december 1st. It was an extremely cold weekend. We got up early saturday morning and skied at Attitash. Actually at Bear Peak, since they got the new snow guns the snow was amazing. When we were skied out went back to mom's house in Jackson in the late morning, where we decided to look for a christmas tree. Which I had been talking about doing for years! I had gotten the sticker the weekend before from the national forest to cut one down. We drove out on Carter Notch Road until the paved road ended and we were on the dirt road, which no one had been down yet, there was still a few inches of fresh snow fall from the night before. We pulled into one of the hiking trails and grabbed the hand saw, hats and gloves. The dogs piled out of the truck barking and running down the path. We followed looking for that perfect tree.

Three hours later our necks strained from looking up, since all the 'good ones' were all 40 feet tall, we found one that suited us. We had seen it probably 3 times and kept coming back to it. It was near a little stream. It was perfect. Erik asked me if this was 'the one' and if I was 'sure'? I said this 'was the one' and let's cut it down. Erik paused and said that this was when he was going to get down on one knee, which he did. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. He said that he loved me and wanted to look for christmas trees with me the rest of our lives and would I marry him?
I said yes!

We cut down the tree, dragged it behind, loaded it in the back, got Bartlett and Gunnar in the truck and went to the bakery and warmed up with some hot chocolate.
Erik had made reservations for us a the Christmas Farm Inn in Jackson. Which was the first place we stayed together in Jackson. He also took us to a lovely wonderful dinner at the White Mountain Cider House.

The photo of us on the bed of the truck was taken by our great photographer friend Bill Lee. Who captured us in absolute bliss as well as the tree in the back of the truck. That is Bear Peak in the background, which is where we spend most of our winter.