the heat mat sits rolled up in the shower. 

finished with the shower tile (on the left), Mike prepares the floor for the heat mat. 

more floor, almost done. 

a new floor in the den. 

the kitchen ceiling restrapped and ready for sheetrock. 

Raleigh watches from a safe distance. 

The doors and windows are finally in. 

Cutting more frames. 

Dave replaces the rotten sill under the window-to-be. 

I level the doors on the inside. 

Dennis and Josh help with the doors. 

Samantha's finished front door in handsome blue. 

Samantha's first coat of blue paint on the back door. 

the same frame, showing the new flooring extending out onto the sill.  

the header and jacks for the frame for our new doors in the living room. (note new doors and giant pile of debris just outside). 

the installation completed 

the new window with solid header and battleship strong framing 

Bud and I examine the original framing 

the old window comes out 

a new kitchen window

Not nearly as difficult as I expected, our new kitchen window installation was completed today. Lot's of heavy framing, compensating for everything else in the kitchen being off-level, and a bit improvisation is all it took. Bud was a big help, and our watts line to Dave's boatshop for last minute advice was invaluable.

sam makes a fire - walls stripped back for new windows 

new wall in bathroom with switches 

mike roughs in the shower for tile 

the kitchen fully gutted. the window to the right was removed today 

our new dumpster - filled in two hours! 

siding removed to make room for new doors and windows 

progress

Two weeks ago, I stated here that we had passed the point where demolition ends and recontruction begins. Wrong. We've discovered since that any room receiving a moderate amount of renovation needs to be taken completely down to the studs. It's just that much easier to work from scratch than to work around little details.

But we have made significant progress lately. The bathroom is now in the hands of Mike G. - our friend and the tileman on the project. The master bath now has complete plumbing, and the walls are back up, including the new walk-in shower. 40 gallons of concrete and some sticky black waterproofing have made the floor for the shower, and the tile is sitting in one of the barns, waiting for installation, which begins later today. Samantha and I have installed some new wiring in the bath, including switches for the lights, which previously required hand-screwing to turn them on and off (?!).

The new kitchen windows and the large glass doors and matching window for the living room have arrived as well. Framing for the kitchen window is partially complete and I'll be doing more of that today as well.

Samantha finished painting the front of the house, just in time for two weeks of heavy rain, so no further exterior work has been possible. Although Dave and I went up on the roof on one dry day to check the flashing around one of the chimneys where some water was getting in. It was an easy repair and the chimney stack has been much drier since.

I expect the kitchen to start coming together quickly over the next two weeks, and we'll probably ask the appliance people to deliver the big appliances toward the middle of next week.

With the amount of work the two of us are putting into the house, there's no doubt that this place will truly be ours when it's done.