Look at the old wiring!

Bathroom Light Fixture (click photo to zoom in)
Bathroom Wall Outlet (click photo to zoom in)

So in the above photos you can see part of the old wiring in the upstairs. It is called knob & tube wiring, basically the first implementation of electrical wiring used between 1880 and 1930. The Knobs and Tubes, insulated the wires and the positive and negatives were different runs. Here is a link to Wikpedia about the history of this wiring - Wikpedia Description of Knob and Tube Wiring. Luckly it is less of a fire hazard than it looks.

New roof line and foundations

The second floor is coming along. As you can see the first two dormers (there will be a third on the new bedroom in the rear) are in and the rain and ice shield is in place.

We are currently working on ordering our windows. It has been a long process because of the house being in a the historic district of Marblehead. We have to have all wood, single pane glass windows that look like the old ones. The problem is that nearly all the window makers have moved away from all wood and single pane glass in favor energy efficient multi-pane glass. So we have very limited options. Additionally we have decided to replace every window in the house because many of them are in really bad shape. Why do all this work and then have to replace them later. We also want to get rid of all the external storm windows!

The foundations have been poured which will allow the other areas of framing to start after Thanksgiving. You can see the new entrance to the basement in the photo above. Later on they will pour steps down to the entrance. The new ground level will be about 6 inches below the top of the foundation so there will have to be a set of stairs set into the ground for us to access the basement.

Second Floor Framing Has Started

They have started the framing of the second floor. You can just get an idea of what the change is going to be. You can see the first of the three dormers in the first photo.

Today was such a beautiful day, mid-fifties and bright sun. It was nice to stand on the second floor and take the whole sky in. I will be glad when they get the roof on though. The entire west side of the roof is currently off so we are quite exposed.

Foundation Work Has Started

They began digging the new foundation yesterday. We suspected that we would hit ledge rather quickly since Marblehead is basically a big rock. However they dug 4 feet of earth from each area and no ledge, just nice looking rich soil. I will have some photos tonight.

They also have nearly finished taking down the walls on the second floor. Quite strange seeing the upstairs with no walls. It looks a lot bigger than I remember.

New Ridge Beam for the Roof

They have now put in a new ridge beam into the roof. This was neccessary to support the loads the new roof will carry. The beam runs the length of the house and they used a crane to lift it into place. You can also notice that the old dormers are off the roof. They will start to reconstruct them soon.

It begins - 11/5/2007

Well our long awaited re-model has begun. You can see that our bedroom has chaged a bit on the first day. They have not wasted any time demo-ing the upstairs.

The Beginning

So we do not forget.