About the Project

Construction is set to begin on September 11th. We will track the progress of the remodel and invite you to check out where we are!

Feb 6th
The carpeting and laundry room floor went in last week. We spent the weekend before that painting like crazy. All of the baseboard has been completed. Most of the doors, too. The laundry room and master closet are completely done.

This weekend, we took it a little easier. We started to find new homes for things in the new kitchen cabinets. The boys couldn't wait to move upstairs - so they've got their mattresses on the floor. They will be getting the girls bunkbeds once the girls move. It will be a phased in process. Mary Kate is getting the old Master bedroom - but Jim and I are still there. Margaret is getting the boys old bedroom - but there is still some cleanup that needs to happen there.

Maybe that would be a good February Vacation project????

January 20th
More work is done on the kitchen. The new "Drawers" are in where the fridge was. Lot's of storage space. I need to figure out how to use it. The counter is in. The breakfast bar will be installed next week. It looks great and is really functional! We just need to get used to finding things in their new spots.

January 16th
Well, we are coming down the finish line. We are in the process of painting all of the woodwork on the second floor. This includes windows, baseboard, door casings, and doors. We've also been painting walls and ceilings. Thank God we don't have to paint the floor! It's taking forever!

The finish plumbing is completed. Thank you, Doug Morin! We have been using the upstairs shower for the last couple of weeks and people have bathed in the new tub. The towel warmer is awesome and definitely worth the splurge.

The electrical is 95% complete. Dave Ash will be back to switch over the dryer once the laundry room floor is put down. He will also get the new smoke/CO2 detectors working once the woodworking room is taken out of our master bedroom!

The kitchen work has started. John Russo of Russo's Kitchens in Middleton, MA is duplicating the cabinets already in the kitchen. We have moved the fridge to a new wall to allow for a larger fridge. We've also added 1 lower cabinet plus a lazy susan. There is a cabinet above the fridge and a large cabinet next to that - and finally a corner cabinet facing the diningroom. This gives a nice finished look. Over the weekend, the fridge was moved and the new cabinet replacing the old fridge began to take place. We have all decided we REALLY like the new kitchen.

January 1st
More work has been done. We have heat on the second floor. It's nice and toasty warm up there. The bathroom is nearly done. The tile has been completed and the toliet, shower and tub have been completed. We officially have two toliets in the house! We even said goodbye to the porta potty this week. The sink faucet and the towel warmer still need to be completed, but beyond that - we have a second bathroom.

Lights and electrical outlets have been installed and the laundry room is nearly done. Paint is still needed and a floor, but the rest is set.

The boys room has become the paint staging room. Jim has set up saw horses to use to paint he doors and woodwork that can be done like that. The master bedroom is the finish carpentry room. That is probably the room that is most delayed.

The stairway has been started. We're hoping to have that done this week.
It's shaping up!

December 5th
Ok. Work is moving along nicely. The siding is finished. Gutters are up. The house is looking fantastic. We are probably 98% complete on the outside. We still need to add pillars to hold up the roof by the front door and lights and shutters. I think that is it.

Inside: Things are moving nicely there too. The rough electrical and rough plumbing are completed. Insulation is in. A half wall has replaced the former wall between the kitchen and diningroom. It is about 6 inches closer to the diningroom. The plasterers have begun. On Saturday, the put up all of the blueboard. There are no longer holes in my walls downstairs! The rooms upstairs look smaller with closed walls. Not small - but smaller. Today, they finished plastering the upstairs and I was told that they have about 2 more hours of work and they'll be done. The host is full of plaster dust! YUCK! I'm tired of that and am looking forward to tommorrow afternoon, when they're done!

November 22nd
The siding has started and we think it looks great! Lot's of hammer's banging.

Inside we've had our rough electrical, rough plumbing and structural inspections.
The wall between the diningroom and kitchen is down. Next week, we should be done with siding and the the insulation will go in. Then we'll start thinking blueboard and plaster!

November 9th
It rained yesterday, so there was no work done outside. But the roofers are back again this morning and working on the roof!

Inside: Joe came by yesterday and removed a good portion of the wall between the kitchen and diningroom. Doug Morin (the plumber) stopped by and removed the heat from the kitchen so that the rest of the wall can be removed. Dave Ash (the electrician) stopped by to check the wires and think about how we can replace the switches that were on the removed wall! Hmmm. There is no free wall space in the new kitchen. Just wide open expanse!

November 7th
Roof is done on the garage, over the bedrooms and family room, and the entire back of the house.

October 16 - November 6, 2006
Not much to see done on the outside. The Tyvek is in place all around the house. All the windows are in. We've replaced the front door and also the door in the garage to the back yard. Minor changes.

Roofers arrived today and it's VERY loud! They are removing the old shingles on the house and will get the tar paper up and ready for shingles. I think there is rain in the forecast - cross your fingers that we get no leaks!

Inside: The rough plumbing and wiring has been started and is well on its way. Duane Morin (electrician) was here most o the week getting the rough wiring done.

November 7th
Roof is done on the garage, over the bedrooms and family room, and the entire back of the house.

We insulated the entire downstairs an I have to say, the house is quieter now. Less street noise. It's possible that the wall between my kitchen and diningroom may come down this week.

Day 21 - 27: October 9-15
Framing is complete! The final touches include all walls upstairs and stairs from the livingroom to the new upstairs. The wall has been taken back to show about 4 steps. We also have a cut out to the new attic and flooring has been put down so we could store stuff up there.

The house has been stripped of all shingles and is NAKED. We just learned that there is no insulation in the downstairs walls - we'll fix that. Most of the windows have gone in on the addition. We were one short.

Day 13 - 20: October 1-7;
More Progress! Up until this week, all of the work has been done outside. This week the old roof was removed and the floor, walls and ceiling was set into place upstairs. The tub and shower are already in the new bathroom ready for the plumber.

The chimney was raised 10 feet. All of the roof is on and covered in tar paper. The porch roof is on by the familyroom.

Inside. A hole in the ceiling of the cellar stairs was cut for the new stairs to the second floor. The built-in bookcase between the livingroom and diningroom was removed and replaced with a gapping hole to the cellar below! The built-in china cabinet was also removed. I have found an electrical outlet under there that I never knew was there.

Day 9 - 12: Sept 22-30;
Lots of progress! We now can definitely see what the house will look like. The dormer is taking shape and the rest of the rafters are all on the house. All of the house has plywood on the roof and some of the roof has tar paper. The plywood is also on most of the walls. The covered entry way is framed.

Day 8: September 21;
The gable ends are underway. This is the first step toward the roof. You can really start to get a sense for what the house will look like. There is quite an increase in height - the new peak will be 10 feet higher than the current one.

Day 7: September 20;
We have walls!! The back wall is complete and the side walls have started. We're not sure about the sloped floors though ... I guess it will be easier to fall out of bed in the morning!

Day 6: September 19;
The house is now ready for the walls to go up. The walls will sit on top of the black "Grace" Snow and Ice Shield. The gable ends will sit on the Tyvec - on top of the existing roof. There is staging on the roof too. They're ready to work on the new roof!

Day 5: September 18th;
The floor joists over the family room are done! Tomorrow they will begin the back wall. Could be some rain tomorrow night, let's hope not. They will have it sealed up just in case.

Things will really start to be noticeable now. The plan is to build the second floor around the existing roof and then when the shell is done, remove the old roof. This should be very interesting to watch and document. Keep a close eye on things!!

Day 4: September 15th;
Today they completed the floor joists in the back. Now the joists in the main part of the house are done. The house is sealed up for the weekend. Next week they will install the joists over the family room and begin the walls.

Day 3: September 14th;
Today they completed the front joists. Then built a platform in the back to provide good access and some place to work from. Most of the joists in the back were installed today. They also started framing the opening for the stairway.
The fork lift is doing a great job of roto-tilling the front lawn. Looks like we know what our spring project will be. ...

Day 2: September 13th;
We can stop now! The second 1/2 bath is complete!

Well, I was overruled on that so I guess we'll continue. Rain is expected by the end of the week, so they are keeping most of the roof on and putting the floor joists in with the roof on. Temporary supports in the livingroom and diningroom add a new look to the interior!

Today they installed most of the joists in the front.

Friday, September 8 - Dumpster Arrives on our front lawn. The neighborhood is gonna love us!