DAY 9 - better late than never!

As you can tell, I took a posting break last night...another foot came through my ceiling and dumped more debris and dust into my now or was somewhat clean living space and I spent th next few hours cleaning it up. I just couldnt muster up enough gumption to post!! 

Currtently I have 3 layers of 6 mil plastic on my ceiling in hopes of keeping everything and more importantly EVERYONE out of my living space!!  so what I have I learned from this you ask....

1.  Site prep, Site prep, Site prep.  never underestimate the necessity of plastic, tape and plywood.
2.  Plant you and your family in the "safest" rooms in the house (preferably ones not underneath the ones you are renovating!
3.  Demand the level of cleanliness from the workers entering you home that you are comfortable with.
4.  Treat yourself to a few nights out of the chaos - V and I are headed to a hotel - she can swim and I can sleep through the night without waking up because the house is making noises!
5.  Remeber - it will all be worth it in the end because the $8000 you saved on not moving out can be used to pay for your unforeseen change orders!!!

So here is where we are ....all is framed, my floors are braced and blocked, I have a Master "Suite" with a trey ceiling and I have teh most amazing new stairwell that makes me feel like I am walking up to a grand parlor space!!  We are starting the exterior work this week - my front porch got demo'd and footings are being dug as I write.  Jason from Dreamscapes is doing all of my foundation and Masonry work.  he is amazing and is very hands on which takes a lot of perssure off me!  he went above and beyond to find my very special brick....meet jason..

And meet the guy who single handidly saved my brain yesterday by taping up my entire ceiling AGAIN for the 3rd time after the foot came through...Poncho, my hero..he truly went above and beyond to keep my sane!

It helps to have a good team out their, who once they figure out your needs, respond accordingly to keep you happy!

And here are the latest pics - it is hard to see the progress made in the pictures.  You really need to see it live. The next big change to see visually will be with the insulation and then sheet rock and of course all of the exterior work which will be done this coming week!

 The old guest bath - down to the studs and then some.  What we found was lots of old wiring and plumbing - this could be more costly than anticipated to update!!

 No more Front Porch - they are having to salvage each and every brick because my brick is so hard to find now.  Jason is out there as well working hard!

 Viola standing in the 2nd flr landing area that will now be opened up with an open hand railing and high ceilings!

 My new stairwell with the 15 ft ceiling height.....dramatic right?  For my little house it is the piece de resistance...(french spelling is not so good!)

The old master which will now become Viola's room.  see those diagonal braces in the floor, THOSE are what caused my floors to squeak so loud that I am having to foot the bill for an ENTIRE subfloor/hardwood floor replacement instead of just having the hardwoods refinished!  They will now be removed and replaced with horizontal blocking which will keep the squeaking away!

More to come later tonight if there is more to show!