Deck Removal

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!

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

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.....

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

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

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

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.