Le Building Nightmare 2008 continues. There are a lot of things that they don't tell you about what building work does to your life. I vacuum every 20 seconds or so to keep the dust under control. It's a constant battle in the kitchen - once you disturb the earth around the house, as we did when foundations were laid, the ants come in and they bring all their friends for a keg party at Casa de Helen. There's zero privacy as every room has a window that the builders can see in thanks to all the scaffolding, so Angus and I have had to resort to a quickie on the landing of the stairs as that was the only place we couldn't be seen. He and I have both flashed the builders more than once trying to get dressed, but we're now beyond the point of caring. One of these days I'll step out of the shower and get handed a towel by a builder cheerfully whistling Quando Quando Quando.

Four days ago the temporary kitchen we created showed us a slightly different perspective.

That's daylight behind the dustcloth.

The kitchen ceiling is gone, as is half of the roof.

This was once the kitchen ceiling. The window at the top of the picture is the nursery, which will become a family bathroom and an en-suite bathroom. The entire back of the house is covered with tarps, so when you get a wind going you feel like the house may just sail away.

Angus and I spent the weekend working ourselves to death doing DIY. While the builders are doing the big work, Angus and I are doing little bits in order to save money - painting, tiling, floorboards, two bathrooms and the kitchen. You know. Little things.

Because the weather was so amazing the whole family was outside, including the babies, who slept in their bouncy chairs underneath the shade of a giant umbrella. Angus and I tooled around in shorts (OK, he wore shorts. I couldn't find my shorts so I ran around in boxer shorts. Same difference, right?) Surprisingly, both of us got sunburned, which is stupid of us because we're so naive about the weather in this country after last year's miserable summer that we didn't even think about the sun.

We started with painting the garage doors. We've had new barn doors installed on both sides of the newly roofed garage, and we painted them.

The garage is currently brick, but because the bricks on the garage and, sadly, the house are in such a shit state, they're going to have to be covered. We consulted with some experts to see if there's anything we could do to keep the brick as the outer fascia, but even with lots of pointing there's no hope. In some places, like this photo of the fireplace off the study, the horrible white pebble dash rendering was the only thing holding the bricks in place.

We're ripping off the white pebble dash and are going to have to plaster over the bricks. Short of tearing down and re-bricking every wall there's nothing else we could do to save the bricks. The plaster we'll be painting something along the lines of a cappuccino color (as will the garage), with white trim windows and a front door painted to match the garage doors.

The former kitchen ceiling is gone, but what's in place now are the studs that form part of our new master bedroom.

The back of the house is getting there, anyway. The back wall will all be brick (we're not plastering over that wall, as it'll be a feature wall seen only from the back of the house). Doors and windows have been ordered. We're in only half a house right now, but we like to pretend we can see the finished product.

We're absolutely covered with bumps, bruises and cuts. This, because this past weekend we demolished most of the living room ourselves. I'd already started on the living room a few days ago by tearing out the horrible living room carpet, underliner, and those wood strips you nail carpet too. It was a travesty - the original wood floors in the living room had been covered over by concrete, so they're lost forever.

Angus and I went for a walk with the babies, got in an argument, and came home and beat the stuffing out of the living room, thereby dispensing the argument in a giant puff of dust.

The fireplace in the living room had to go. It wasn't the original fireplace anyway, it was rebuilt in the 1980's and we were never that keen on it. The new range cooker has to go in that space, with the hood venting out the chimney, so we knew it had to be ripped out.

So I got a crowbar and went to town. Angus joined in. It was brilliant fun.

This is what the fireplace looked like decorated for Christmas, 2006 (I didn't really decorate last year. I didn't have the energy or, frankly, the inclination).

So we beat the stuffing out of the fireplace and removed the front and you know what we found?

Another fucking fireplace.

It was the original fireplace, put in when the house was built. When the fireplace was re-done in the 1980's, they simply bricked in front of the old fireplace, they didn't actually remove it.

So we stripped down the brick to the original fireplace, which we're keeping and will use as a surround around our new range.

Angus and I stripped off the rails, coving, and all other bits and pieces. Then Angus got that look on his face as he studied the ceiling. You know "that look", it's the one that tells you you're further away from a shower and a glass of wine than you thought you'd be. Angus had long held the belief that there was something under the ceiling, that the levels of the floors above and the ceiling on the ground floor didn't align. So he decided to punch a hole in the living room ceiling and find out. You know - as you do.

He was right - there was something amiss. At some point in the past, someone had lowered the ceiling about 8 inches.

We're fans of high ceilings.

So we ripped out the entire living room ceiling.

And now the living room - which will become a kitchen in the next few weeks - looks like this:

In other words, it's still a disaster, but we're working on it.

I'm betting we'll have a relaxing weekend in about 2010 or so. Any takers?

-H.

Posted by: Everydaystranger at 07:38 AM | Comments (30) | Add Comment
Post contains 1128 words, total size 8 kb.

1 It seems to be a kind of treasure-hunt, secret fireplaces and all... And there's nothing better to stop a fight than tearing down some walls. Oh, and quickies on the landing of some stairs are not so bad, too Lily

Posted by: Lily at April 29, 2008 08:42 AM (Y8m4l)

2 One word - WOW! You're doing an amaizng job there...can't wait to see the finished thing...

Posted by: Suzie at April 29, 2008 08:57 AM (weSjv)

3 Way to go Angus, what a discovery. You can only move forward now, it's not like you can give the whole thing up as a bad idea. Just like having kids, you get through the bad days one day at a time (or an hour at a time, or the next five minutes)

Posted by: Caroline M at April 29, 2008 09:49 AM (x3QDi)

4 I LOVE the cappucino, white and red color scheme for the outside. And how lucky to find all that extra room?

Posted by: Oda Mae at April 29, 2008 10:28 AM (6zvrq)

5 It's really coming along! So glad to see some progress. I wish I were as gutsy as you to go doing all that demolition and DIY work!

Posted by: Julie at April 29, 2008 11:02 AM (4t9ji)

6 Very cool! I'm always astonished at the tings poeple will cover up. Why in the hell would you put a new fireplace in front of an old one? Or lower the ceiling? One thing though, are those floor joists more than 16" apart? It looks like they are, but that may be the camera angle. I know it looks bad now, but you'll be amazed at how it looks in just a few weeks.

Posted by: ~Easy at April 29, 2008 11:18 AM (XD24A)

7 You guys rock! Incidentally, if you need a vacation from the chaos, Germany isn't TOO far away

Posted by: justdawn at April 29, 2008 11:53 AM (1PXAX)

8 Helen - I can barely manage to paint a room with one child, and you and Angus manage to completely gut and rebuild with infant twins. Where's your invisible jet? And can you send some of whatever DIY mojo you have my way? It's desperate times here.

Posted by: amishpromqueen at April 29, 2008 11:58 AM (OUTBp)

9 Wow, I LOVE LOVE LOVE what the living room looks like, can you believe the extra inches?

Posted by: Super Sarah at April 29, 2008 12:02 PM (d7dEB)

10 I can't wait to see what it looks like when you guys are finished.

Posted by: Tina at April 29, 2008 12:21 PM (ilQ8G)

11 Progress is good! I can't wait to see the end result! Hopefully, you will still be sane by that point, though.

Posted by: Andria at April 29, 2008 12:39 PM (Oo4k1)

12 I love the way you described exploring the ceiling! Yes, that is how it goes. Good luck, sweetie! (We were not even in our house a week when I heard BANG BANG BANG coming from the water closet where hubby was - um - seated. He emerged carrying the hideous TP holder and announced, "this came off in my hands when I was getting some toilet paper." Riight! That hole was there almost three years before I finally patched it.)

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at April 29, 2008 12:49 PM (+MvHD)

13 I am totally loving this renovation photos. It's really coming along! I'm sure you guys aren't loving all the hard work, but it will be fantastic when it's finished. Your living room / new kitchen looks so great!

Posted by: geeky at April 29, 2008 01:23 PM (ziVl9)

14 Can we say BUSY??? I can just imagine stepping out of the shower and a builder standing there. heh.

Posted by: Veronica at April 29, 2008 01:50 PM (vxaoO)

15 I bought my project house 3 1/2 years ago. I wouldn't bet on a relaxing weekend by 2010...

Posted by: Clancy at April 29, 2008 01:58 PM (X+xFB)

16 Wow. I love the photo journaling of your journey with your home. Pretty impressive work you have done. Cannot wait to see what you guys find next.

Posted by: Cori at April 29, 2008 02:08 PM (LumIA)

17 It was great to find that ceiling, I bet! I'd love that too.

Posted by: kenju at April 29, 2008 02:23 PM (yvCMb)

18 Wow. I find it impressive not just that you ripped out the living room fireplace and ceiling but also how clean you got it after all of that. It looks like you could actually sit on the furniture and drink a glass of wine. You continue to amaze me.

Posted by: BeachGirl at April 29, 2008 02:40 PM (/P5cn)

19 Although it probably seems it is taking forever, in reading this it seems to be going really quickly! How cool is that to find an extra 8" in the ceiling? Very nice. I agree with others that I can't believe how CLEAN it is... I mean, good grief people. You destroy and then you clean! No wonder you're exhausted. All that and babies, too! Just gonna wait and collapse when it is all done,huh?

Posted by: sue at April 29, 2008 03:15 PM (WbfZD)

20 But you're so going to LOVE it when it's done! (And why would anyone *lower* their ceilings? Bizarre!)

Posted by: The other Amber at April 29, 2008 03:43 PM (zQE5D)

21 I can't believe you are remaining so sane through this. How old is the original house?

Posted by: Jen at April 29, 2008 03:53 PM (FYm8s)

22 I'm betting we'll have a relaxing weekend in about 2010 or so. Any takers? Every snarky answer I can think of sounds pretty mean, so I'll simply say that my wife and I had to rebuild a substantial portion of our previous house before we sold it. The worked blew enormous chunks, but the end product was pretty darned good. Stay focused. Odds are pretty good that the sun won't have gone nova before you're done. Aw crap. I just couldn't help myself.

Posted by: physics geek at April 29, 2008 05:24 PM (MT22W)

23 Wow. I am loving all the pictures. Thanks for journaling it and sharing with us.

Posted by: Lisa at April 29, 2008 06:31 PM (EcHBm)

24 I am amazed you and Angus are still talking frankly! I would have been out of there and into the nearest travelodge on day 2 I reckon. You are amazing.

Posted by: Betty M at April 29, 2008 06:55 PM (sYvPe)

25 I can see the finished project coming into place. You're getting there!!!! And I think it's wonderful you and Angus are still on speaking terms, period. I am sooo excited to see how it continues to progress!!

Posted by: Lauren at April 29, 2008 08:00 PM (iUfJz)

26 Once while vacuuming my dining room carpet (WTF?) in my 1902 Glen Rose Texas Victorian, I noticed a wet spot in the corner. By the time my husband was home I had ripped out the carpet, the rotted pressed board, the rotted flooring and was down to the rotted sills of the house. We literally had an open pit baby gated off in the middle of our home for six weeks while we organized the work and found replacement pine boards to match the orginal flooring. I love what you are doing to your house and am so excited to watch how you and Angus are removing the previous "remuddling" attempts. Having lived in a previously remuddled home, half the joy is discovering the house hidden underneath all those horrible changes.

Posted by: Melissia at April 29, 2008 08:13 PM (mJWbf)

27 I am amazed and awed by all the work you are both doing. You deserve many glasses of wine and lots of backrubs when you are done.

Posted by: sophie at April 29, 2008 10:49 PM (ZPzQL)

28 You made the right call keeping the original fireplace. It will look nice. Based on my experience, it will feel like it is taking forever. But when it is done you will wonder how it happened so fast. And there will be so many stories to remember. My favorite is the night it poured and the tarps on the addition leaked sending a steady stream of water into the piano. The piano survived and I learned to never move it in bare feet. I ran over my big toe - TWICE.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at April 30, 2008 01:40 AM (R7LgM)

29 No matter how much destruction there seems right now, every time you post pics I get greener with envy. It is going to rock. Hard.

Posted by: Teresa at April 30, 2008 01:41 AM (BxbHb)

30 Wos, it's really coming along.. I love watching people's remodeling jobs, so this is so kewl we get the photo journaliing of your progress. it's gonna look awesome when you're done, and I love the secret fireplace and extra inches ..that's sso kewl! Hearing you talk about the builders catching you dressing made me think of the Gilmore Girls episode where they're rebuilding Lorelai's house for her and Luke to live in and the she tells Luke that the builders saw her naked getting out of the shower. LOL

Posted by: JaxVenus at April 30, 2008 05:50 AM (pIF9I)

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