More Second Level Pictures...

Taking It To a Whole New Level

While off RV’ing through the West (Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Zion National Park) for Spring Break with the Voigt family, much progress was made at the Center Street Renovation Project. While the thick layer of construction dust within the house made us long for the modern amenities of the RV, we are happy to be home! While we were gone the old attic roof was removed and the new second floor was installed. Word is that we have about two more weeks before we all have to move down the basement….for 8 months. Someone help us! ;-)

Progress 4-11-11

You probably figured out that I'm not all about telling the story. I'll leave that up to Kim as she's better at it and a much, much faster typist then I am. Yesterday they tore out the wall from Eddie's room to the bathroom. The big can looking thing is an expansion tank for the heating system. I'm not sure if it is even connected anymore (even before we started). At the back of the bathroom wall you can see where there was once a window from that bathroom but was closed up when they put the master bedroom on in the 70's (or 80's).

-Will

More pictures....

DISCOVERIES…

Ahh.. Sunday morning and the coffee is steaming, the eggs are scrambled, the spring birds are singing, the cartoons are on, and we all sit relaxing with a film of plaster dust settled upon us. Construction has been moving along at a good clip with lots of dramatic changes! So here we are a few weeks in and the original roof remains on the house. This has allowed the guys (Chad, Edger, Donny) to work no matter the weather. However, since the beams hang pretty low, Chad admits to having quite a few gashes on his head and that his knees are just killing him. I can tell by Chad’s tone that he is rethinking this keeping the roof on strategy, but it is just a little too late to change direction now. As a result, a big square hole, the size of our three year old Eddie, has been cut out of the exterior attic wall of the house. This allows them to pull out all the old insulation from the attic and hoist up the new beams. As the insulation flew from attic to dumpster, Will was scampering around in their mists like a little squirrel in search of treasures so they would not be thrown into “big blue.” (Big blue is Ella’s name for the huge dumpster in our front yard.) Will’s efforts were rewarded with newspapers from 1954 and 1963. Upon inspection, he and Kaylee were interested in the similarities of the marketing from back then to today. However KJ was very disturbed to see that they used to market cigarettes. “Can you believe they did that Mom?” Guess some things have changed…

With the support beams in place in the attic, walls on the main floor can come down …and come down they did! All ceilings in the main portion of the house are now open to the attic, Eddie’s old bedroom walls are gone, and the main floor bathroom looks to be next. Eddie’s reaction to the demolition of his bedroom was one of amazement and excitement. I was all worried he would be upset that his room was gone…he was just amazed to see the inside of the walls. He would certainly make his namesake proud with all his curiosity and enthusiasm about this project. On the other hand Eddie’s three year old girlfriend Ginny Torregrossa came over just yesterday with her Mama. As I proudly showed the progress we were making her little lips started to quiver and she looked at me with moist deer like eyes and asked… “Wad happen Eddie’s room? Where Eddie room go?” “Oh sweetie” I said “We are building him a new one upstairs.” “Were Eddie room go?!” she asks close to tears. At this point Ella takes over and says “Ginny.. Eddies room is gone…its in Big Blue!” Too funny, that Ella, she always knows how to tell it like it is!

The day prior, in a moment of nostalgia I stood in my old dining room looking through the ceiling to the original roof construction of our 1926 home. With the sun streaming though the attic windows, the dust sparking through the air, it brought me back to the days of playing in my Grandpa Eddie’s barn. All the angles, the soft brown wood and its patterns, the obvious hand crafted construction. To me this roof is a piece of art made by craftsman of yesteryear. I sigh and say to Chad wistfully… “Isn’t it beautiful, can’t you appreciate the artwork, the wood, the angles?” Chad skeptically looks at me with one eyebrow up as if to say “Really?” “Seriously Chad, isn’t sad that it all has to come down? Its like artwork and I hate to just throw it away.” “Umm..Kim…umm…not really. Do you realize how much that roof is sagging? You have spots that sag a good six inches and I am wondering how parts have handled some of our recent snows.” “Oh…” Well, so much for nostalgia. The next day Edgar is working at pulling all the plaster from the walls. For the first time we see one of the exterior walls exposed. Again the wood is worked artistically and angled in a V formation from the outer corners to the center wall windows. To me, this is art, to others it is just construction. But then I wonder…where is all the insulation? “Hey Donny…what kind of insulation was in the wall?” Donny scratches his head and calls to Edgar “Hey Edgar…what kind of insulation was in there?” Edgar just shakes his head and says “Nada.” Nothing, nada, just a bit of plaster and wood between us and the elements. Ok boys, rip her down and build her back up, I am over yesteryear craftsmanship!!

So here we are, several weeks into the process. We are now a family of anthropologists discovering everything from cigarette ads, to sagging roofs, to lead weights inside windowpanes, to no insulation within our walls. But most of all we discover each of our reactions, children and adults, to this process of change and metamorphosis. Our discoveries within this adventure have only just begun and we are loving it...ok maybe not loving it. ;-)

Lots of dusty hugs and kisses to all our friends and family out there. More adventures to come.

Lots of dust!

Pictures tell a thousand words. Eddie's room wall was taken out yesterday. Eddie's reaction was priceless as his mouth just dropped wide open. He didn't seem sad at all, just amazed. The space looks awesome and we are very excited!