Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Okay, it's been a while (again). . .
Most folks down here (and in the rest of the country) have heard that we had some snow. Chris was out on Hatteras Island when it started and drove back through it on a Saturday morning. So Larisa, the boys and Peter headed over to the house to check it out (figuring a picture of snow on the house during construction would be a 1-time deal).

16" on center and other fun

Had some fun with the boys at the house. We needed to sketch out the kitchen layout for outlets, lighting and gas lines.
I also happened to bring home my dive gear from the trip to the Florida Keys. The boys had a great time.  The first shows Kai in the BC and lukas in the wetsuit.  The second one of Lukas in the wetsuit really looks like to squashed the picture.  And the last one is their buddy breathing training.

Out to Hatteras for the weekend.  Electrical and HVAC are next in line.  Oh, and whole-house distributed audio.

front porch an dwindows

Chris was in the Florida Keys for a week. The boys got busy with some window installation and porch roofs. They were gentle on existing bedrooms and only removed wood and drywall needed to support the windows. But not to be outdone by the back part of the house, the front roof needed some attention. The 1004 year old rafters had started to sag, so they needed to prop them up so the porch roof would be level and aligned. Not bad. . .

The final pic shows the two windows in what was once the tv/living room and is now the stairway.  The windows are quite nice.  I guess it didn't take much to improve from the friction, single sash windows that seldom opened (or stayed open).  But we kept the sashes and you can expect to see them elsewhere in the house.  The wavy glass is too cool to trash.

Nothing but a reminder. . .

Funny stuff. Farrell left a small nugget from the old roof. This will ultimately be in the attic above the master bath, but he put in an access door so we could open it up and remind ourselves of this time every once in a while.

So it's been decided. The masterbedroom will now have vaulted ceilings throughout. Uses less lumber, of course and SOOOO much cheaper.  The second pic is from teh back yard showing the porch and upper deck (off the master bedroom).  Final pics show the vaulted ceiling and the old roof on the front part of the house.

Ah, progress

But just not the kind of progress we had planned on. So, scrap the re-engineering of the former kitchen/dining room. Farrel and and Bob revisited the charred rafters (from the chimney fire in the 50-60's), the misaligned roof lines between old and new, and the ceiling (shorter than the standard 8'), and the need to reengineer the entire west wall. Of course, all of this we knew about all along. So in 1 day, everything that was remaining from the kitchen and dining room was scrapped and new stick-built roof and walls were constructed.  The first pic is from the Witherington's driveway to our west.


















The second pic shows where the roof used to be and the old roof on the front part of the house.





























The final pic shows the new south wall of the master bedroom (what they had to replace when this all started with a corner falling off.)

Home, crap home, crap crap

So the house is up 16 feet in the air, on a solid foundation (finally? or again?). The former dining room and kitchen, what will become our master bedroom has appeared like a partially severed appendage for some time. Recall from the first few days, they removed the "greatroom", bathrooms and back entry, cutting back the roof to the beam and column. The office and laundry/pantry were also removed (not to be replaced). Since they raised the house, the "greatroom", now our walkin closet and sitting room, were rebuilt with a new roof that reaches to the ridge of the roof line on the front part of the house. Farrel and the boys built around the remaining parts of the old roof over the dining and kitchen. And then you'll recall that the SW corner of the old kitchen fell off.  The lights look like dangling appendages.