Happy New Year!
I really don’t mean to keep bringing up ‘weather’, but the new year arrived with an impressive cold front, even for January in Chicago! Temperatures rarely eked above zero and the wind chills brought down many school districts, including the Chicago Public schools, forcing them to close schools for three days. I know, its Chicago, how did that happen?
Our first real snowfall (more than an inch, but less than 3) has mercifully covered up much of the construction debris and ungroomed yard. If I block out the construction fence, I can see how beautiful the neighborhood is. I have hope that our yard could return to the fold and our neighbors will be happy with us again!
The masons worked up to New Years Eve and won’t return again until the daytime temperature returns to a respectable 28 degrees. They are so close to done on the front face of the garage, they need just another day and a half to finish the last few courses of stone and to break down all their scaffolding. They will have to return in the spring to finish the stone around the front porch columns and the stone around the chimney. We love what they have accomplished, so far!
Living in deep winter this week has brought us to accept that we are finished with any outdoor work until spring. So now what? Rough plumbing, electrical, heating and air-conditioning will continue.
Steve and Eric were here for a couple of days working in the second floor existing rooms finishing up framing out new spaces. A new beam had to be installed to pick up the ceiling joists that were resting on a wall that we wanted removed. All the drywall on the ceiling has come down, bringing with it, most of the insulation in the attic. What did not naturally fall down, every blow of the hammer encouraged the rest to clear out of the attic. There is a patchwork of batt insulation that has been temporarily shoved into place, however, we can see the rafters through many gaps. The end result, is a very cold space within our house.
Our heating contractor was here this week to relocate baseboard radiators in the existing space to fall into the new room boundaries. The radiators are still pumping out heat, as they are tied to the rest of the house, but are fighting the elements in that half of the house. I feel like we are not only heating our house, but the envelope of air space around it outside! It was a bit disturbing and very cold to walk into those rooms to talk to contractors bundled up and expelling steam when we talked. I think we are maintaining a cool 62 degrees in the rest of the house we are occupying.
The village has given us permission to break-up inspections for the rough work. The next group that will be here starting Monday, will focus on getting rough work done in the existing house. Once we pass inspection for the mechanicals, the electrical and the plumbing, we can insulate!
We are officially in the most aggravating stage for the homeowner: A lot of people will be making a lot of noise, for many weeks, but it is not nearly as satisfying as watching finishes installed. Photographs will be boring.
It is time for me, however, to start finalizing finishes. I have dabbled for probably years with choosing materials, colors, fixtures, and now I have to come to final decisions. I will keep you posted on my field trips to suppliers and my final selections. In the meantime….take a look at what part of my upstairs looks like:
View of our old master bedroom. The hideous master bath is completely gone!
Look at those beautiful new windows! This is the view across the new bedroom and its bathroom.
I am standing in the new hallway to the addition. We inherited this door from a client whose project I just finished. They installed a new back door, and graciously donated the old door to us. This will help us get into the addition without climbing a ladder in front of the garage as well as providing a barrier to the unfinished space beyond. When we are done, we too will donate this door, and the temporary steps to a worthy cause.
And finally:
In order to get the beam installed, a wall had to come down, and now we have a view into the construction. We did discover that our linen closet has been taped into the wrong side of the construction…time to fill more bins for storage!
A Dream Under Construction 