Plumbing, electrical and appliance choices - or maybe not

So we waited almost 2 weeks for an appointment to make plumbing and electrical choices. However, this happened:

Snomageddon or Snowpocalypse, depending on your source. We have rescheduled.

Then 4 days later we had an appointment to choose appliances. But this happened:

  

Snoverkill!

When the appliance showroom people called Tuesday to cancel our appointment on Wednesday, they said we could call on Friday to reschedule. Okey-dokey.

Next post:  who knows?

Kitchen picks

These are the cabinet colors (not the door styles).The back wall (the whole L-shape) will be off-white. The island and the tall cabinet by the door will be "thistle" (mostly green). The color in the photo is a little darker and harsher than the actual door.

The countertops will all be Volga Blue.

 

Whew. Glad that's decided!

Framing - It's starting to look like a house

Lumber, lumber everywhere

The kitchen will be along this wall (chimney will be removed). The snow in these photos is from last week, not the big weekend storm.

This view shows the family room. The opening on the far left is for the double French doors going from the kitchen to the screened porch. To the right of this is space for a tall 4' wide kitchen cabinet. The next three openings are for a glass door, another double French door, and a single glass door. It's all about the view!

On Friday, in anticipation of the big storm, they covered the roof with a tarp and covered the doors and windows with plywood. This is the new back room with the deck. The next photo shows the screened porch to-be.

Here's the whole thing. Big, isn't it? Very exciting . . .
Snowmegeddon (or snowpocalypse, depending on which channel you are watching) is starting!

 

Next post:  Kitchen choices

Here we go!

Just a small test patch uncovered ...

Demolition 

The original siding on the house was cedar shake, which must be restored according to the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission. Luckly, most of it was in good shape. The worst case scenario was replacing it all (at $22,000). Final estimate: $2,700. Woo-hoo!

Then there's the color ... bottom layer - bad, bad, green (not visible here). Next layer - depressing tone of mustard yellow. Test patch by front door (not chosen by old owners) - bilious green. Luckily we had planned to paint it from the beginning!

 

 Then came the demolition in the back. And not a moment too soon for the deck, as you can see in the closeup of the structure below it.

 

Below: Who knew there was really insulation in the back room?

 

Above:  Carolyn watching, Carole photographing, both wondering why the toilet is still there and how the wood stove will come down. Anybody want to buy a wood stove??
Next post:  Framing

The adventure begins

Well, the adventure has begun. We'll post pictures (not much narrative) to show the changes as we go from "falling apart" to wonderful new addition.


We signed the contract on December 13, one week before leaving for New Zealand and Australia. Demolition started before we left with removal of the old siding and most of the deck. With 20" of snow on the ground, we didn't expect much change when we returned -- and that's what we got.


Finally, the last week in January, we've seen big changes. The old addition was gutted last week and the framing began and moved quickly. We now have a floor and walls - complete with a carpet of 6" of snow!