More Destruction

All I can say it Wow! Ricky took more pictures yesterday of the day's progress. Its a good thing we aren't home right now.

Deck has been removed. The 32 year old stove made it out of the house.

Back of house where deck used to be.

Lumber being delivered.

Fridge has been moved around again. Wall between laundry room and kitchen was torn down.

Looking into laundry room from kitchen.

Door into laundry room has been removed.

Kitchen floor covered with insulation.

Another shot of kitchen. Sheetrock has been torn out.

Paneling/wall has been removed. KC checking on things

Support being added to stairs. KC still checking on things (or driving Ricky crazy).

Playhouse housing the  kitchen sink, outside light, and door. Doug said he's going to replace the playhouse door with the one laying down.

Jesse's First Buck

Jesse's first buck --11 pt! Pretty impressive!

Jesse's First Buck- 11 pt

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Doug and I spent Christmas Eve day, Christmas day, and Boxing day packing up the great room, kitchen, laundry room, and hall closet then left town around 8:00 pm Sunday night for a few days. We spent all day Monday wondering what was going on at the house and wishing we had a video camera installed there so we could see what was happening.  I received an unexpected email from Cathy, Ricky's wife, saying that Ricky knew we'd like to know what they'd gotten done & had taken some pictures of the day's progress. Mallorie, Cathy's daughter, emailed me the pictures and when I downloaded them I was in total shock! Talk about ch-ch-changes! I actually had tears in my eyes; the kitchen I left on Sunday was no longer there.

Kitchen before the demolition began.

Kitchen after demolition began ( I hope Ricky knows the oven goes, too).
Cabinets, sink, and ceiling have all been ripped out.

Notice that the small wall that was to the right of the stove has been removed.

Before picture of the kitchen and great room (take note of the GR ceiling).

After shot of the kitchen & great room.

Insulation from the ceiling.

KC checking things out (or begging for food).

Inside of our lovely resident dumpster.
Looks like this is a new dumpster; the old one was full when we left.

 Ricky... I'll be expecting pictures each day! Thanks so much!

Roof--Before and After

Before and After pictures of the roof...

Before with shingled roof

After with charcoal metal roof

After with charcoal metal roof.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We are in the process of clearing out and packing up the kitchen and great room. I will take and post some pictures as soon as we finish. Thanks to Walker and Stan for helping Doug move the dining room table and other stuff out this morning. Now, I've got to get back to work!

Busy Week!

Things have really been happening at our house this week. In fact, there were so many folks in and out of here today it seemed liked Grand Central Station! Ricky and David got here around 7:45, the metal roofing arrived around noon, the plumbers came not long after that to  put a new hot water heater under the house, and then lumber was delivered!

Ricky and David worked upstairs installing ceiling fans in the bedrooms, hardware on the cabinets, and vanity lights and mirrors in the bathroom until the metal roof arrived.

Mirrors, vanity lights, and cabinet handles have been installed. Faucet is in on one of the sinks.

Knobs were installed on cabinets in hallway.

Metal roofing was delivered and unloaded in the front yard.

Before picture of house with before metal roof installation begins tomorrow. Also, the window in the middle dormer was installed today (I took this picture around 5 so the light wasn't very good).

Grout, Countertop, and Door Knobs

Ricky is putting the grout on the tile in the bathroom. I stressed out about what grout color I should select and am very pleased with the color I chose. The counter top has been installed in the hallway upstairs. Now I need to pick out the hardware for the drawers. We're still waiting on the countertop to arrive for the bathroom. All door knobs have also been installed.

Bathroom tile with grout

Countertop in hallway upstairs


 

Another view of upstairs hallway bookshelves and countertop



Door knobs have been installed.



This room is ready for furniture!



Wall, Ceiling, and Floor

The painting has been completed upstairs and both bedrooms have the flooring in. The floors in closets and hall should be installed by the first of next week.

The ceilings, walls, windows, and doors have been painted and the flooring installed.

Doug and his girls are checking out the progress.

Yay! No more carpet.

Wide Open Space

We wanted a wide open space
Room for Doug to cook
We wanted a new place
For me to work on my MacBook

We wanted a wide open space
Room for the dogs to play
We wanted a larger place
For them to sleep away the day

We got our wide open space
No longer two rooms
We got a larger place
Now, I going to need a new broom!

The support beams came down today between the great room and kitchen and the header was installed. Wow! I had no idea it was going to happen so fast. I guess with the temperature not getting above 30 degrees today, working inside was the best idea. Unfortunately for Ricky and crew, the electricity was turned off all day for electrical work to be done, so it was freezing inside the house, too!

Support beams are gone between great room and kitchen.

Kolle and Kami wrestling in their new space while Charkee refrees

View from kitchen into great room after support beams were removed.

Special Girls

Special Girls! Love them so much!

Lean on Me

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
(Bill Withers)

When Ricky and David got too cold working outside on the stoop, they came inside to work on the support beams in the kitchen/great room area. Since we have decided to knock the wall out between the great room and kitchen, support (and I mean major support) must  be added. Additional columns have been added temporarily for support until the header is installed.

Lean on me, when you're not strong

And I'll be your friend

Stoop Scoop

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we are having a small porch built that will lead into the new side door entrance. Ricky decided to begin construction on it this week in this cold weather (ok, Virginia and Mark, don't laugh at me when I say "cold" weather...it is cold here for us, the highs have been in the 40's with wind).  In just two days, that little stoop is looking so good!

This was taken after dark so that's why the steps look green. This is the unfinished version of the stoop. Beams will go up later.

Stoop scoop...check back later for the finished version.

Walls are Coming Down

Yesterday Kristen sent me a text while I was at work and said "We have a big mess here at the house"! By the time I got home from work, most of the mess was gone but so were the walls between the kitchen and great room. Notice I said the mess was gone...there is still major clutter everywhere!

Wall between great room and kitchen

Short wall between dining area and great room

Another shot of wall from great room

View from great room into kitchen (Amanda in kitchen cooking banana muffins)

View from great room into former dining area (refrigerator has been moved here for now)

View from kitchen into great room

The header in the middle will be extended all the way across for support then the beams will be removed.