Framing soon follows

Joe doesn't rest on his laurels and gets right to framing.  In the kitchen, we steal some space from the dining room for the refrigerator (so that it no longer narrows up the path from the kitchen door and the basement):

Upstairs, we bump out the coat closet in the back bedroom so that you can actually hang your clothes (!):

In the bathroom, we relocate the door so that we can put in a double sink vanity, as well as steal some space from the big linen closet for a niche in the hallway (no photos)

In the front bedroom, we build new, more manageable steps (i.e. shelves) above the stairway to maximize and better access storage:

In the basement, besides framing for the future bathroom, we furr the walls and ceilings so that we can insulate as well as hide the pipes and ductwork:

And, in the garage, we frame around the ductwork so that we can insulate and fire-rate them:

Let the demolition begin

Anyone who's worked on a renovation project knows that before you can make it better, you have to make it worse.  I was lucky that our trusted contractor Joe Kuntz, from Kuntz Construction, had a few days of down time and before we knew he started gutting,first the bathroom:

 

and, then, the kitchen:

This gave me the opportunity to be able to assess the structure and be able to get accurate dimensions so I could draw up the new floor plans and order the new windows.  The only revolting discovery was that the roof had a mere 3-1/2" of fiberglass insulation - which is nothing compared to the 12" that are now required.  (More on that in a future post)

We did have a little excitement during demolition:  While gutting the kitchen, one of the window panes was accidentally broken.  No big deal, right?  We're replacing the windows soon anyway...  Well, the "vacant property" insurance company happened to have come to check things out, noticed the broken window and started to cancel our insurance!  (Who knew that a broken window was so important?)  After a few phone calls and emails, the company put the cancellation on hold with the caveat that we would send them a photo of the new window within the next month.  And, so we did:

By this point, Joe had also gotten to do a little exploratory demoltion of the aluminum siding.  Lo and behold, we found that underneath it was the original redwood siding and it was in great condition.  So, of course, we couldn't leave it covered and the aluminum came off and was recycled.  How much more natural and compatible to the style of the house the wide redwood boards look than the old exaggerated "wood grain" "lapboard" aluminum siding!  Sure, it will have to be painted from time to time, but there isn't all that much of it, and it's all very accessible.  And, besides, the fake sidings fade and get dirty any way; so it's only a matter of time before they look bad and have to be replaced....