Our Old House Is Taking Shape!

Hello dear friends, things are progressing here at the farm!  Lots has happened since my last update and I am quite behind so lets get to it!

The first big update was framing the rooms and upstairs hallway.   Ductwork for heating and cooling has been installed and the area of the floor that shows open was waiting for insulation to be added to cover the dirt floor and the stone foundation.  A spray foam insulation was blown in followed by a fire retardant covering. The old ductwork under this section of the house was badly corroded so these changes will make a big difference in the comfort of the house when winter arrives.

This is the library.

This is a view looking through what we are calling the passageway into the laundry room and  pantry area.  The metal frames are in place to allow for two sets of pocket doors to separate the passageway and staircase to the old basement from the living room and laundry room.

The living room is framed and ductwork is in place.  An electrician had been on site for two days getting the house ready for power.  The old fireplace has been cleaned by a chimney sweep and is waiting for stonework and a new insert.

This area was formerly two bedrooms.  It took some discussion but we finally decided to combine the two small rooms into one large new bedroom.  

We named this room after our dog Kodiak.  It is now going to be the smallest bedroom and will serve as an additional guest room when needed.

Lots of work is happening to upgrade our second floor bathroom.  Heating and electrical work as well as plumbing is well under way.  We decided to replace the bathtub with a walk in shower.

The upstairs hallway with cathedral window has always been one of my favourite parts of the house.  This will become a little reading nook.  Or snoozing nook.  Possibly hand quilting nook.  We shall see!

After framing batts of insulation were installed.

Our old windows were removed so that new ones could be installed.  The "old" windows were part of an upgrade we did about 30 years ago to replace the original windows which had lovely single pane wobbly glass but were very drafty and frightfully cold during the winter.  A more detailed blog about our new front door and windows is in the blog archive.

The new windows were manufactured by the same company that made the windows for our addition.  These windows are aluminum on the outside and wood on the inside.  We dithered over the cost of this upgrade but in the end I think it is a very good investment.

Next up was drywall.  We had 4 installers here and over a day and a half they installed all of the boards.

Once the drywaller installers were finished a different worker came to do the taping.  He spent about 3 days taping all of the seams and sanding the mud to prepare the boards for priming.

I was pretty happy to have a railing installed again!  The stairs, railing, spindles and banister are all made of red oak and will be stained to match the flooring.  

I am beyond pleased with this selection and love how the railing curves to meet the post at the top of the stairs.  At this point the staircase had already been installed but is protected with heavy plastic and temporary treads.  The staining of the staircase, railing, banister and spindles will be one of the very last stages of the renovation and wont happen until the very last week.

Next was the flooring.  We selected a glue down laminate flooring for durability.  Although hardwood flooring would be lovely we have dogs, cats, live in the country....and we know that tracking in dirt and grit is a fact of life in our house.  We hesitated over this type of laminate but in the end went with the recommendation of the contractor as this type of flooring is not only more durable but is also more stable.  (and we love our contractor and somehow always go with what he recommends ).

 

The flooring installed in what is now a bigger second floor bedroom.

The bathroom has vinyl tile flooring.  I dont remember why we did this but we did.  Perhaps we thought it was more bathroom-y.

And a glimpse of the flooring in the living room.

We are in the home stretch!   All of the flooring is now covered with a protective barrier to protect it while the walls have primer applied.   The paint colours have been selected and we still need to have the new mantel and stonework installed for the fireplace as well as having woodwork and trim installed.  We are looking forward to having everything done just before Christmas.  Then the work of unpacking the storage containers will start...and then we are working towards a Christmas in January!