The half-way mark

According to the calendar, we're half-way through our remodel. Bill says I'm optimistic to think we're that far, but according to the schedule, we're on track. I'm hopeful we'll hit the early November mark for completion.  

Since my last post on this topic, A LOT has happened. Today was a milestone because we moved out of our bedroom (to the partially finished basement) so the contractors could begin "busting through" the exterior wall this week (the addition is completely framed out). The kids will move down next weekend, when we'll begin the long siege until completion, waiting to move back upstairs in mid-October.  

To accommodate our desire to stay in the house the entire time, the contractor had to split the project into three pieces: (1) work in the basement up until finishing work (trim, paint, carpet, cabinets, tile) then pause while the (2) family moves to partially finished basement while work is completed on bedrooms upstairs, then (3) family moves to finished upstairs, basement is then finished. At that point, everything goes back where it belongs - including the POD that still sits on our cul-de-sac. We're at the end of the first phase.  

Here's a quick roundup of what's been done so far: 

• Complete asbestos and lead abatement. As I've mentioned before, this is no small task. Given all the dust I've swept/wiped the last few weeks, I'm convinced more than ever that it was good to get that stuff out of there. You never know when it will be floating through the air.  

• New roof - a total tear off that happened when an army of guys scaled ladders and began ripping off the old room, papering and then putting on new shingles -- all within three days. Loud, messy and very dirty. They added two new sections - above the addition (which is completely framed out) and the new pitched roof on the pop-out stairwell by our back door (it was a tarred flat roof that we think was causing leaking behind the siding). We've got so many nails on our lawn that we're thinking of getting Evan a metal detector - he'd certainly get a thrill! And did I mention how loud it was? Yikes! Even Rose was hard to hear over the racket! 

• New plumbing throughout - all color-coded (white tubes for house water and red tubes for radiant heat system), fed through the joists in the basement ceiling, and completely asbestos free. The increased water pressure has been awesome, and the new radiant heat pumps are just cool.  

      New radiant heat pumps neatly mounted on the boiler room wall, next to the water heater, which was moved from the laundry room. Boiler sit on the floor in front.  

• New electrical throughout the basement - we had already updated the rest of the house, but with the remodel, we now have more plugs than we know what to do with. All carefully balanced to avoid the "load 90 percent of the house on a single circuit" plan we used to have.

• Completely framed, insulated and drywalled basement. Seems much quieter (Tata will be especially happy!) and brighter. High ceilings (7 ft), smooth walls (still need paint), and no concrete in sight (other than the floor), means it's much nicer all around.    

          
     Family room, hallway, laundry room and guest room.  

• Post-free garage. Yes, it's just one big room with one big door (or at least it will have a door -- now we've got a temporary wall across the opening as we wait for the real door to arrive - it's on backorder.) Yahoo! 

Next comes our bedroom/bath remodel, the work in the kids rooms (floors, closets and possibly windows), the attic access from our upstairs hallway, and some minor work on windows in our living room. Not to mention the truly daunting task of choosing fixtures, paint, tile and carpet. That's a whole other post:-)

In the meantime, we've rolled out the old carpet yet again, moved our bedroom + bathroom, TV room and office down there as we wait. Oddly, it feels little luxurious with all the space. We'll see how long the feeling lasts . . .