Two Views

Day 81

Here's one from the outside in.

Notice that there is work being done on the frame for the roof.  They spent a lot of time on that today.  There were a lot of small pieces that the cut to do that.

Here's one from the inside out.

And that's all for this week.

. . . And He Taketh Away

Day 80

Another boring picture day.  How do you take pictures of pipes that used to be there or gas lines that have been removed?  Or framing for the old closet that is now gone?  But despair not!  That's not all they did.

They removed some of the drywall at the base of the stairs so they could remove gas and water lines but that is also where the new door to the outside will be.

They also had to raise the ceiling over the last part of the stairs.  That's part of Albany code which doesn't make any sense.  Why would someone taller than 5'7" need to get down the stairs without bonking their head?  It didn't give me any problems.  :)

We also had a visit from the person who is helping us choose our fixtures so my mind is on plubming stuff which brings me to this.

Why does a person have two valves and three shower nozzles for a space that seems to be able to fit only one person?  That's a picture from a house down the street from us.  By the way, they are selling so if you want three shower nozzles in your shower, your wish could come true.

Seeing the Unseen

Day 79

Sometimes what they do is not very obvious.  For example, today they did this:

That is the door to the guest room.  Doesn't seem like a lot of work but there was a wall there at the beginning of the day so they had to tear down, clean up and then build so that was probably time consuming.

As for the outside second floor, they put up another support beam.

That horizontal beam is where the kitchen ceiling ends and it rises to the vaulted ceiling in the great room.

They also did a bunch of unglamorous work in the kitchen ceiling.  There is a wall that we are removing that held up where the joists met.  They are having to put up other supports in there so that our ceiling doesn't fall down.  Necessary stuff but it makes for very boring pictures.

The Incredible Un-Shrinking House

Day 78

We got back some of the room that was taken away!  This room at the bottom of the stairs used to be divided by a plastic wall but that has been taken away so we feel a little less cramped.

I thought the kitchen looked bare yesterday but today it's gone from bare to skinless!

I guess I should have taken them more seriously when they said they were going to gut the kitchen.

The main beam no longer looks like it is going to fall over.   It looks much sturdier now with some framing around it.

 

We are also seeing the beginnings of the pantry.

And lastly, that might look like an oven but it is actually a glorified storage cabinet.

No gas line, electrical issue, and no hood.  Two pretty darn good reasons for not making it operational.

The Incredible Shrinking House, Part 2

Day 77

We lost a few more square feet but I think this is as far as the plastic wall will invade us.

It has a zipper so we can now snoop around after the workers leave.

Behind the plastic wall there is a whole lotta demo going on.

Look, Ma!  No cabinets!  Mika is excited about the fact that they were torn out.  I think she has been looking forward to it for a long time.

No appliances either.  And some walls are gone for good measure.

They also put up the main support beam for the roof.  You can see it lying on the ground in the previous picture.  They had to bring in a "genie" (no, not the one from Alladin) to lift that beam up there.

 

And finally, we found this little treat.

 

I believe Mahlman was William G. Mahlman of Berkeley Thousand Oaks Real Estate.  I found a listing for him in the 1920 California Real Estate Directory-Bulletin.  My guess is that this is the original for sale sign when the house was originally built in 1915.  It was sealed inside of the wall of the guest room.  It was also suggested by Mika's colleague that we leave a time capsule of some sort in the wall of the extension so that someone decades from now might find it.  I think we will.

Too Late

Day 74

Today's post is going to be disappointing.  I tried to get home before they closed everything up only to see this:

But I persevered and climbed up hoping to find something.  Anything.  And I found the beginnings of the framing for the great room and guest room closets.

And I also found this:

 

That's just our old stuff that needs to be hauled away.

Give And Take

Day 73

So they seemed to demo a lot today.  Kitchen counter is gone.  Sink is going.  Appliances have been removed.  And they started demo'ing the guest room closet.

They also removed the doorway but they started framing the new wall as well.

But that's not all.  They started framing the upper floor too.