Family = Free Labor!

Mom and Dad, my cousin Seth, and his daughter Ella came down from Vermont for another weekend of work. This followed a busy couple of days last week with my brother and my folks. Although there is still a lot of work to do prior to moving weekend, this felt like we were getting closer to finishing projects that require lots of tools. And let me tell you, lots of tools were used! Seth's car was loaded with fun tools such as a drywall screw gun (so much his wife, Shannon, wasn't sure where Ella would fit!). Having his expertise and the right tools made the jobs go by faster. Many, many thanks to all of my family. We couldn't do it without you! Here is a sampling of the projects we tackled:

Dining Room Floor

Last weekend Dad and Scott patched the hardwood in the Dining Room using wood that my brother had pulled out of his kitchen when he remodeled it nearly two years ago. This weekend Justin and Dad sanded, and sanded, and sanded until you couldn't even tell it was patched. Next up: stain.

Master Bedroom

Since the downstairs bathroom has been reduced to studs there is a good deal of urgency to replace to the shower in the master bath. We started last week by getting the tub and surround in. Dad, with supervision from Trooper, plumbed it. Seth, Dad and Justin installed the greenwall and corner rounds. They also reworked the electrical to install a vent fan and a dimmer switch on the vanity lights (I think every bathroom needs a dimmer switch!). Luke, Anna, and Ella helped wash the walls to start prepping for painting. 

 

 Kids' Rooms

Since the kids like sharing a room we've made one of the rooms into a bedroom (the green room) and one into a playroom (the orange one) and figure that in a few years they'll probably want to separate. This weekend Mom and I finished the painting in each room.

And what is a work weekend without a good romp in the dirt mountain?

We're looking forward to having Bill and Gail Hemm come next weekend to see the house. I'm sure it has been killing them to be so far away through this process. But don't worry - we'll make sure they get their hands good and dirty!

All work and no play...

...isn't much fun! Especially in this beautiful surprise summer weather in March. Every day this week we've been able to get out and play.

My rule is your are only allowed to eat Popsicles outside 

And here is why!

Anna is watering the flowers and the compost

 

We have neighbors!

As we continue to work on the house we've started to meet more and more of our neighbors. The first, of course, is our immediate next door neighbors, Dawn, Kelli, and Drew, who have been enthusiastic and welcoming from the get-go. They even brought us a true Welcome To the Neighborhood basket full of goodies. Drew is 2 1/2 and will be a great playmate for Anna and Luke. And I see lots of "stooping" in the future with Dawn & Kelly. ("Stooping" is a term similar to "front-porch sitting" for those of us with stoops instead of porches.)

On the other side is an older lady, Louise, and her daughter Louisa. They weren't so sure about new neighbors at first but Justin charmed them with a lovely letter explaining who we were and what we were doing with the property. After that they were very sweet and had some choice words about the people who lived their previously - words you don't expect to come out of a 90-something year old mouth! Apparently the tenants had left impression on everyone to say the least. One neighbor told us how nice it was to use her front yard again now that they were gone. Stories include banana peels being thrown at houses, cars parked in other people's yards, police monitoring, 3am fights in the street. I can't imagine living next to people like that and that's something considering how I feel about my current neighbors!

Last weekend we took another step toward seeing our new neighborhood - we shortened the fence. It has made a world of difference. Take a look:

It was a fun project to see such quick progress

Fence or no fence - Anna likes the dirt mountain the best

Now that the sun can come through this looks like a great place for the garden

Tight quarters as the trees have grown into the fence on
one side and there's a mountain of debris behind the shed

 

The final panel

Adieu, adieu to pool, and pool, and pool!

One of the major drawbacks to this house was the extremely large pool that took up the majority of the back yard. When it was installed in 1980 it was certainly top of the line and would have been an AMAZING addition to the house if we had older kids or lived in South Carolina. However, since we have a toddler and a preschooler, live where it snows (usually) in 7 months of the year, and this pool hasn't been taken care of in ages, we decided it had to go. 

The Before: 16' x 32' with steel sides

We cut a window for Drew, our new neighbor, to check out the action with his Moms.
Sadly, all the work took place while our kids were at school and they missed all the
diggers & dumpers.

 

The fence at the driveway was removed to allow a massive excavator access.

After only one day of work the steel was gone, concrete broken up, and the compacting began.
Check out Tim's chair to supervise the work! 

Clean fill being brought in to level the yard

Note the pile of dirt ready for some raised gardens and strawberry patches.

After:
Looking forward to Bill & Gail to come in 2 weeks and help us start creating the outdoor space this new yard deserves!

Tim and Steve at Littleton Pools had worked together to install the pool originally and now came to remove it. They were incredibly professional, considerate, and thorough. They took out a stump (that was unfortunatly stuck near a gas line - eek, just ask the firemen and police who came to check out the resulting leak) and a unruly bush that blocked the shed and left us extra dirt to build raised gardens, all for no cost. I would recommend them to anyone. 

First two weeks

Since Closing Day two weeks ago we have spent many, many hours in Maynard since then. Our days have been "go to work, to go work at the house, come home and collapse" which is why there hasn't been any updates here or many even on Facebook! I'd like to say I'll do better over the next few weeks but... well, we'll see. 

We've had a lot of support which has made what could be daunting work quite fun. We really appreciate all of the friends and family who have stopped in and got their hands dirty. So here is a glimpse into the progress we've had.

 Week 1: Demo

The first order of business was removing the carpets. The immediate progress was a great way to jump start all of the work that we have ahead of us.

Surprise! There was hardwood under the downstairs carpet. The  ugly piece is left over from where a closet used to be when this was a one floor house and this was used as a bedroom. Luckily the hardwood that Scott pulled out of his kitchen matches perfectly and we'll be able to patch it.

Upon inspection, the upstairs tub had to go. Dad started the demo, Mat and Justin tossed it off the balcony into the backyard, and Maynard came around to take it all down to the studs.

Mat & Justin did a number on the downstairs bathroom, reducing it to nothing but studs.
(insert your own stud joke  here)

This bathroom may remain in this state for a number of months but at least it is gone!

The cast iron tub didn't last on the curb long before the scavengers came around.

Scott, looking to demo something, went after the Octopus room. Despite many guesses about what a white tiled, insulated room with florescent lights might be used for, I'm going with Scott's explanation: a room for the plumbing, etc for a large fish tank and possibly breeding tanks.

 Week 2: Painting & Cleaning

At the Painting Party this past weekend Lara and Mila got rid of the red room. It seems so much larger now! 

In each of the bedrooms we tore up carpet, peroxide washed the subfloors, and painted it with Kilz in an effort to get the smell out and prep for carpets. This is Justin in the master room. Is it the great progress or the Narraganset that is making him smile? 

Dying to help paint, I outfitted Anna and Luke in old C-21 shirts and let them at the subfloor in the future playroom.

We'll always know that Anna and Lucas have their names written on the subfloor beneath the carpet. Decades from now someone will tear up the carpet and wonder who they are.

The basement has been made into a safe play space for the kiddos which has helped a lot! Last week Sue Maurice  helped wrangle 9 kids down here while their folks lent a hand upstairs.

We managed to fill a 15yd dumpster without any trouble. And Justin and Mat found out that the driveway went all the way to the fence once the debris was shoveled off.

Next: Pool removal, install of the new bathtub, patch hardwood floors, and continue painting.