Don't Close the Hatchet ~ A Story of Lots of Work and Progress

There has been a lot of work that has gone into the progress made at our house in the last couple of weeks and I am so excited about it!! Most of the work shown in the pictures below was done over a span of 3-4 days, and already more work has been completed since they were taken.

This is the view we have had going up our stairs since about November 16th. There is a trap door or hatch that we have covering the steps, not only to provide more working floor space up there, but also to keep as much dust and debris from the work up there out of the living room below. I am not sure what we would have done without this hatch! I am certain I could not have otherwise swept and vacuumed up enough to keep the downstairs clean, and we also needed to do what we could to keep heat in the lower level.

Emma calls the hatch, The Hatchet. She tends to leave a little trail of her belongings everywhere she goes, so it is quite common to hear her voice call out right before bed, as we are sealing up the hatch for the night, "Wait!! Don't close the hatchet! I left something down there." The something is usually Pinkie, her pink fleece blanket, or Eaou or Chi, two beloved stuffed animals. There is a heater in their room that keeps just that section of the upstairs warm.

This is what is making the girls bedroom livable at the moment. This zip door and plastic sheet that has partitioned off their room from the rest of the upstairs is surprisingly effect at keeping the heat in and the dust out! Being that it is simply heavy duty plastic and a zipper, not an actual wall or door, it has been quite a miracle that we have had use of the room every day of the project. I don't think we could fit anything else downstairs, so the girls not having to relocate their beds to the lower level has been wonderful.

This is the new flying gable on the front of the house.

The next couple of photos show the demo work involved tearing off the old roof and making an opening to expand the dormer:



Standing in our upstairs looking out at the sky above.

The moon one morning, also from upstairs in our house. It snowed the previous night. My dad had wrapped the house up as tight as he could the night before. Wrapping up a roof and the importance of doing it well, gives a whole new perspective on the idea of gift wrapping. I don't think I will ever complain when I can't get the wrapping paper on a present just right again!

A matching gable for the back of the house.

Beginning to frame out the new roof line and walls.

Exterior walls back in place.

New windows in the girls' room.

Gazing outside to the wintery night from her new window seat.

Loving {!!} the box that our new bathtub came in. My next post will show some more interior pictures of all the work being done. Our continued thanks to my Dad for everything, Mitch for all his plumbing expertise, and to Uncle Dan for the heating he installed. These are all very good and wonderful things to have and we are thankful for their work!