Catch Up

I realize that I have been neglecting posting updates from our current house project.  We have been working on it between trees and stones and fires and life. 

When I last left you, we had just put the beam up in the front entrance.  You can check that out again here: Beam Lifting.

So here is what you've missed (or I have forgotten to show you):

We built stairs to the attic.  The old stairs were not stairs.  It was a slanted board in a closet to a hole in the ceiling with a couple of boards nailed so you could stand on them and pull yourself up into the attic. 

Now there are real stairs. So the attic has become usable space.

Walt Kowalski built them himself. Ok the electrician helped a little.  Plywood was added to create a stable attic floor.  Getting it almost level was the hard part. 

Along with moving walls and adding structure and stability to the entire house, we also replaced floor boards.  The bathroom floor was in sad condition.  We didn't want to add any additional weight of new boards and new tile to an unstable floor.  Same with the kitchen floor.

And drain pipes were removed and added. 

We also had to add a beam in the kitchen. We *think* the kitchen used to be a porch they enclosed and opened up to add more space.  In that process, they cut a major support beam holding up the back of the house. 

Nothing a few boards and a lot of screws couldn't fix.

Back to the second floor, you can see the new door entrances and support.  AND the electrician was busy wiring. Proper electrical boxes at standard heights, new wires, cable, and high and low outlets.

Yes, those boxes are the new laminate flooring.  We aren't even close to be ready for it, but it was on sale at such a great price that I made Walt Kowalski go buy it NOW.  Yes, we'll be stepping over and around it for a few months, but at 50% off, I couldn't pass that up.

We still need a piece of a handrail at the top of the steps and to clean up the old handrail.

I was working on inserting fire blockers while Walt Kowalski was doing some additional patch work. After removing all the old plaster, we found there had been a fire in the living room that creeped up into the upstairs.  The boards were scorched and crumbling.  Nothing that couldn't be replaced and repaired. And a good indicator/reminder to insert the fire blockers around the base of the second floor.

Which leads us to today.  With the wiring on the second and third floors complete, we started insulation.  Yes, of course we start insulation when it is 86 degrees and 90% humidity. That's how we roll. You know, roll of insulation. 

Which means drywall was next.  

We're moving right along.