Windows

Today's photos are loaded in reverse order ---- with the first one showing the maximum amount of progress on window installation. Of course the biggest change is having windows in the master bedroom. The pair on the upper left, in the upstairs hall, are a light-colored version of what has always been there. Once all the windows are painted, they will be the same color as the siding and they will blend well, I hope.

Half old, half new:

The last shot is a better view of the site of the propane gas tank. It was taken from a sunroom window ---- by the end of the week the actual windows for the sunroom will be installed. Lately the builders have replaced areas of rotted wood on the original exterior. They are doing SUCH thorough and professional work. I think the exterior staining work will be coming up fairly soon.

Gas tank installed

So in just a few hours this morning, a hole was dug and the propane tank was installed underground, and then it was covered back up with dirt. It is underneath where the clothesline has been for many years. We thought at least one tree might have to be removed, but no, the tank was installed without disturbing any trees.
The stone guy continues to work on the foundation and today he laid some stones on the staircase. He is doing just a beautiful job.

The exterior wall is going up on the addition --- with new wood, the "board" part of the "board and batten."

The roof is now almost complete --- it will probably be finished tomorrow. New windows will soon be installed as well.

Billy and Pat Williams came out for a visit today and humored us by letting us show them around and point out all that excites us. We loved seeing them, and hearing about "Baby Crab Rangoon" Williams --- Mike and Elaine's little girl in-the-making.

Follow-up on dogs at rental cabin

I was chatting with a friend and she asked me about what had happened to the dogs that lived with the renters at our rental cabin. Guess I left folks hanging on Friday April 1 when the renters had left but the dogs were still there. The next morning, on our way to Charlottesville, we stopped at the cabin, bringing a supply of dog food. Brad had spent a restless night worrying about the dogs being abandoned. Well, happily the owners had come back for the dogs late on Friday and taken them away. So we did not have to call the Amherst County Animal Authority. That was a big weight off of our minds.

Every day progress

So, here's the new dormer being built. This photo is to illustrate that old exterior wood from the original house was used on the exterior wall of the dormer. It will look so good when the job is finished! New beams are used to support the roof of the dormer. They will be stained in a couple of months and blend in well. I can picture myself sitting at my desk inside this window and looking out at the driveway when someone unexpected drives up. Not to mention that I can see across to the garden, although that probably will not be true during the summer months. Part of our contract with the builders is for them to make repairs to exterior wood that has rotted on the house. Here's a good example of where repairs have been made, and it looks wonderful. It's on the side of the original dormer, those vertical boards. Only a few weeks ago, the vertical boards were damaged and rotted at the bottom where they meet the roof. Now, they have been replaced, but still using exterior boards from the original house. Isn't that neat? Silly picture, but this shows two old stumps that the builder pushed out of the ground with his bulldozer when digging the water line. This addresses one of my long-standing pet peeves ---- the old tree stumps in that side yard. Yay, they will be gone!!!! I'm hoping the large stump in the driveway circle will also be removed.

Lots happening here! The light colored part of the roof is where the old roofing tiles have been removed, so just old pine boards are exposed to the air. Obviously, the new, charcoal colored (sorry, Mama) roofing tiles are being installed. The builders use the bulldozer bucket in this exercise --- they throw the old tiles into the bucket. Remember, double clicking on any photo makes it larger.

And finally, we walked around to check bluebird houses today. This one already has hatched babies! Brad is indicating the number. One bird house near the garden also has eggs.

New water line

I love this! I am standing in the second floor window of bedroom #2 and looking toward the old log cabin, where the stuffed hawk used to reside when we were children. The new water line was cut through from the cabin at the bottom of the hill ("Rough House"!!), up the pasture, and then along the edge of the woods to reach the house. We will have a lovely path to walk in the woods when the project is over. It goes to the site of the old cabin.

Next ....................

I am standing on the stone sidewalk and looking down where the new water line will run under the sidewalk and into the house. We were fascinated to note that a concrete wall had been built underground along the edge of the sidewalk/patio --- see it on the right. Just another indication of the quality of the building related to original Hanshill.

Here, I'm standing on the curved staircase coming down from the drinking porch. Again, you can see the new water line, and the concrete support of the entire patio/sidewalk --- in this photo the concrete support is on the left. It seems it will not be too difficult to put the stones back down so that the sidewalk doesn't look disturbed.

Under the house, here's the rear view of the chimney, taken from the crawlspace under the kitchen. The white pipes are the drain system for plumbing.

Wow, can you see the new HVAC system under the house? It is approximately under the entrance foyer. The chimney is off to the left.

Here the new foundation is being built that will match closely to the original stone foundation. Those stones were taken from the creek by the homeowners!!!

I wanted to take more photos but the battery died on my camera. So....... more soon!

granite selection

I forgot to mention that Monday we made our selection for the granite countertops. You cannot tell much from the photograph. Basically, the stone is of a light color, with waviness that is hues of gray and pale brown. I hope it will look good! Wow, my hair is really getting gray.

infrastructure

As the work continues at a very fast pace, it is becoming more difficult to document the changes, since many changes are related to infrastructure and will not be as noticeable/ photographical. But here's a "for instance." You can see the new plumbing and even some of the new electrical work. A couple of days ago I showed some new ductwork in the sunroom. All of the ductwork has been done and both HVAC systems have been installed (one under the kitchen, one in the attic). In addition, all the electrical wiring has been done, with new outlets, and beaucoup new light switches. Not to mention that all of the new plumbing has been done! These guys are amazing. In this first photo you can see when new plumbing and wiring has been placed in the kitchen. Of course this will be covered. This next is a cool shot in the kitchen. I am standing on the eating porch, and you can see the door to the eating porch on the left. Straight ahead (where the green trash can sits) is the area that will be the "coffee station" in the new kitchen. It is recessed, into the former hall closet. To the right of the coffee station is where the refrigerator will reside, also recessed. There's a white box sitting on the floor in that area, and above where the refrigerator will be is the new staircase leading to the sunroom. When the renovation is complete, you will not see that staircase. Farther to the right is the hallway area that will lead from the kitchen to the half bath.

This shot shows how the hall closet has been retrofitted to accommodate the cabinet that will be recessed from the kitchen into the former hall closet. What is so cool about this is that the closet door opening has been modified, i.e. made smaller. So it will looks as though the door has always been a small one. We will have room for a decent coat closet (a feature never available in the old Hanshill house) and also some storage under the stairs for things like coolers and boxes of junk, not to mention boots, etc. There used to be a few tools in this closet. Those things that we keep from that closet will move to the garage, which will be a workshop and tool storage area.

It will be interesting to see how things fit when we move. We have TONS of storage space in our current home; I just hope it ends up that Hanshill has lots of storage space too. We are trying to create additional space as the project moves along.

Attention Men who can Sympathize: Aching Shoulders, Knees, and Butt

This post is for men, since they will understand the mechanics of the job done better than I would. Today, Brad spent 4 hours under the house! You know how, when you walk across the living room floor, it shakes? I remember when I was a child and we had the dachschund named Hansi, when little Hansi trotted across the living room floor, it would shake. (I also remember when she delivered her two puppies on a chaise covered with flowered fabric, in the living room. And another memory of Hansi is when Mama accidentally ran over her, with the wheel marks showing on her back, and she survived with little seeming effect ---- but I digress). Today Brad did some major work to address the problem of the shaking, or bouncing, floor. Here's a view of the approach from the kitchen end of the house, with the chimney on the right, coated with concrete. Six "porcelain" light fixtures have been installed under the house, where no light ever went before! Now you can see the progress!

Brad reinforced the floor with a long bracing beam that runs from the fireplace all the way to the opposite exterior wall. The measurement of the living room is 32 feet, but his starting point was in front of the fireplace, so his beam wasn't quite that long. He screwed together (two 12-foot lengths of 2 x 8, and one 6-foot length ---- to make a long beam) times two, to make a super strong beam.

So basically he constructed one really long, thick post 4 x 8, and all by himself he managed to position four jacks that hold this long support beam in place.

I was there part of the time (to call 911 in case something went wrong!!!) but I can't wait to go back and try to shake the living room floor! It is definitely sturdier now, and he did it all by himself!

The last shot is from a totally different angle. I still can't quite figure it out, no matter how many times Brad tries to explain it.

Tonight he is one sore puppy --- shoulders, back, butt, arms. I gave him two Ibuprofen and he has conked out. He'll be stiff tomorrow.

One more job Brad did today was take down a small area of fenceline and cut down a few small saplings to prepare the way for the electric line to be run underground from the existing pole in the pasture up to the house. The electric service should be installed in the next week or two. Water service should come soon too. It's all amazing.

Back to positives

Okay, so back to the reason for this blog ---- the renovation of Hanshill house. This first shot gives some indication of how the house will look as you approach down the driveway. Just imagine that the new addition has siding and roofing. I think it will blend in nicely. The construction site looks a bit messy, but you get the idea.

They started working on the new foundation.

In the next shot I'm showing how the ductwork has been done for the heating and air conditioning system. I am standing in the new sunroom and looking toward the new dormer window.

So in the next shot I'm standing on the new staircase to the attic, with the chimney behind me. Between the cameraman and me is the new HVAC unit that will heat and cool the second floor.

In the last shot you can see through to the window in the sunroom. That view will be closed off shortly. Today we visited the cabinet maker and finalized the cabinet design and layout for the kitchen. I can't wait to see it all come together!

The down side of owning Hanshill

Just to give you a feel for the rental cabin. The tenants have moved out and left piles of trash, as well as scattered trash, all about the property where they were living. The former corn crib is filled with old engines, broken tools, junk. Most of the house itself is empty but there is a mountain of discarded items positioned in front of the cabin, including tires, broken furniture, and worthless household items. This will be one huge project. As a symbolic gesture, I have removed the hanging Christmas lights that were adorning the front porch of the cabin. I dislike those things. We put two old automobile engines on Craigslist --- trying to give them away.

distraction #2

The annual Garden Club of Virginia Daffodil Show was held this week, in Lynchburg. I had several roles --- bottom line it required most of my time the last few days. I can't wait to re-focus on Hanshill.

distraction #1

There have been a couple of major distractions this past week which kept me from focusing on Hanshill. First was a trip to Charlottesville for the annual DKE parents' weekend festivities. This was the last year for that --- can't believe that graduation is just around the corner.

Eddie is proud of the wardrobe he recently inherited.

First of April - one-sixth done???? probably so!

Well, it's been a whole week since my last post. This has been for 3 reasons. One, I have't been to Hanshill as much as I would like. Two, when I did go earlier this week I was too busy afterward to have time to create a post. And three, which really is not an excuse, early in the week, there was not a whole lot that was visible to photograph to show changes. The things that were being done were not real obvious.

But today, what I think you will see again is PROGRESS!!!! Last week, the area above the sunroom's wall of windows was open. Only $10K more would have allowed us to have a beach-house effect of windows up high on the exterior wall ................................ NOT!!!! Now we know what the natural lighting will be like in the new sunroom ---- totally awesome!

This is a cool photo because Justin is working in an area where the former attic is exposed. You can see the rafters in there. A couple of days later a new wall was erected between the attic and sunroom, so this particular view will never be available again.The stone wall in the lower right area is the original master bathroom.

The next one is a really cool shot of the "new"ceiling for the sunroom. I'm standing in the sunroom and looking up. Justin is working.

The next shot is how the house looks at the end of the week from outside. Note the new attic end-vent that matches the old one --- they will even use the old wooden insert to fill in that space. Sorry I don't know exactly what that thing is called. Anyway, the shape of the house is getting well-defined.

Next time, I will include a shot of how the house looks as you come down the driveway ---- not so different from the past.

Sorry for all the ladders in the next shot. I'm standing in the sunroom and looking back into bedroom #3 (in recent years called "Kelly's room") You can see all the way through the house to the window at the other end, in BR#2, where the critters have chewed up the window frame pretty good over the years! (that part is NOT visible --- this is just a comment).

In this next shot, I'm standing in the sunroom, and looking back into the original master bath. The new shower stall has been framed. the long time original stone wall is still there, not to mention the medicine cabinet on the right hand wall. That needs to go, doesn't it??? (Not to worry --- it will)

Okay, next, here I'm standing in the original master bath, and looking out to the sunroom. The old medicine cabinet is on the left, and the new doorway has been cut. The old window is gone. This is going to be so wonderful!

Here comes the last photo for this post ---- I'm checking out the brand new "staircase" that leads to the attic --- a place I have NEVER been before!!! The new ladder staircase was installed today. We found five old suitcases in the attic --- guess Nannie and Pop got some new luggage one year and decided not to take the old stuff home, or forgot. You can double-click any photo to make it larger.

As we left for the day, Brad went down to check on 907 Elon Road. It appears that the house has been emptied, or at least mostly so. There is a huge pile of trash in the circular drive in front of the cabin. The most disturbing thing is that several dogs are still there in pens. We don't know if our tenants are coming by to feed them. If the dogs are still on the premises Monday, we will call the Amherst County animal authority (not sure of the exact name) and have them come out and pick up the dogs. It is very upsetting that the dogs would be left there unattended, but it is not totally surprising.

Next week the builder will begin work to upgrade the water line, which means turning off the water service for a few days, at a minimum. I think roofing is a near-term item to perform as well.

Brad and I are heading to Charlottesville in the morning, for a lacrosse game where Virginia plays Maryland, and later in the day for a DKE parents' weekend party and dinner. We'll return home Sunday around midday.