How exciting – I’m at the point in this process where I can post renovation updates in consecutive weeks, and not have them be totally redundant!
Last week, it was all about excavation and the footings being poured. After that, things continued to move quickly. The next day, the forms went up for the foundation walls.
And the day after that (I believe this was Wednesday!), the big mixer trucks were back to fill them with gooey, yummy concrete.
On Thursday, the forms were removed, revealing the new foundation walls!
On Friday, the job site was quiet. A torrential evening downpour tested my nerves (with all the rubble-like footings on this side of the house exposed), but all was well the next morning. There wasn’t even any standing water in the ‘moat.’ Apparently we have some sort of magical soil – it is tightly compacted/stable and drains well. Who knew?
Yesterday (Monday), the place was abuzz with activity again. Two big things happened in parallel process. One of which was waterproofing of the foundation walls. I followed one of the trucks across town wondering if it was headed to my house…and it was!
I feel drier already.
(Do you have any idea how many times I have uttered the words ‘Do not kick the dirt and rocks into the hole!’????)
All the while, the framing crew finished off the last remaining ‘interior’ room – which was kind of an exterior space, since it was evidently originally open air, and later enclosed shoddily right on top of the decking. No one ever got around to insulating it. It had a little electric baseboard heater, but no cooling (and it was HOT on sunny summer evenings!). Also, it was carpeted. In a beige Berber wool. Suffice it to say, no tears were shed yesterday while witnessing the demolition of our so-called ‘mudroom.’
Just getting started in the morning.
I liked seeing this stage, because I think this is close to how it may have originally appeared – as a little semi-enclosed covered porch. Maybe with some portieres in the arched doorways?
Come 4:00PM, the mudroom had seemingly vanished. And apparently the house is now being held up by a couple of twigs of lumber. I’m sure this is a-ok from an engineering perspective, but seeing those epically sturdy granite piers not supporting anything at all gives me a little anxiety!
Next on tap, the framers will start doing their thing! I can’t wait to see this phase. The new spaces are being created, little by little…
Btw…ever wonder what 130-year-old house guts looks like?
Seeing all of this action around my old mudroom has got me motivated to finalize my design plan for the new and improved one! The cabinetry design is final and in production, and I am close to making final decisions for flooring, paint and wallpaper, and lighting.
I’ll make it my goal to have a more ‘pretty’ mudroom update to share in the next couple of weeks. With it’s nearly 13-foot-high ceilings and gorgeous wall of windows (including a top row of custom arched windows, in a nod to the original architecture), it has the potential to be a pretty spectacular mudroom. At the same time, I am trying to exercise some decorative restraint, and remain focused on the functionality and durability this room must possess. This is as critical to get right as the kitchen, as far as I’m concerned (perhaps more so, considering I rarely ever cook anymore…sigh…).