Knocking down old doors and Opening up new doors

Another week of construction has passed at 307A.  We were able to virtually complete demolition of the interior finishes downstairs and started on some alterations to the interior framing.  However, this week was most poignantly marked by the arrival of a new door and twin window to replace the busted up aluminum sliding door we demolished at the back of the house last week. 

The door and windows arrived on Friday afternoon just in time for us to install on Saturday.  They were graciously delivered by Carmen's dad, John,  from Purcell Lumber in Louisa.  Carmen and I were on the road that evening, so we (and John) were thankful that our friend Matt Bernstein was willing to stop by and help unload the windows/door. 

Kyle and I framed the new openings Saturday morning and were installing them by midday.  My parents arrived at the house around 1pm.  My dad helped collect some of the demolition debris and clear a work-space on the patio and my mom went straight to pruning the lavender bushes which were sorely in need ot some TLC.  Not long after, my dad started on priming the front of the house.  Carmen's dad showed up soon after and helped wrap up the priming effort on the hardie panel and battens on the front of the house.  Meanwhile, Kyle and I sealed and leveled the window/door.  We closed out the day by completing demolition of the remaining drywall and insulation.  It was a refreshing feeling to have all of the old drywall removed and clean studs to work with.  I'm sure our MEP contractor will apreciate the open walls as well.

Sunday was a short but productive day.  The day kicked off with a few curious kids from down the street running around the house and asking why we were taking the house apart.  The eventually found the guest bed upstairs and enjoyed a little bouncing on the mattress.  Kyle showed up shortly after and we got to work on the cedar battens.  By the end of the day, we had put up all but 2 ro 3 of the battens along the long wall of the house.

One thing I forgot to mention was that Matt Bernstein came by earlier in the week and help me start some re-framing of the interior walls to fit the new kitchen design.  Hopefully, Kyle and I will wrap that up tomorrow evening  as well as the framing beneath the stair and trim around the back window/door.

The week ahead will hopefully be the start of our MEP work - new electrical panel, new heat pump, new water heater, relocated washer/dryer, new outlets for an oven, microwave and dishwasher.  Once they have completed the exterior panel work, Kyle and I will follow behind with sheathing, tyvek, siding and battens to finish out the corner.  When it's all said and done, we will have a patio without the noise of the heat pump, a kitchen without the noise of the washer/dryer and a dishwasher we didn't have before....very exciting!

You can see more photos of our progress at:  https://picasaweb.google.com/112282802816936221737/307AConstructionPhotos0711071602?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNfk3oOvvrH4kQE&feat=directlink

Thanks for checking in!
Love,
Justin, Carmen and Norah