What Happens Next

Before construction can start, the house has to be prepared. Our friend Dolly whom I work with will be going to the Island with David and me to help out, and we will meet other family members there.

As much weight as possible must be removed from the house before it is lifted for the new foundation.

This porch, the cellar hatch, steps and the pantry all have to go

Interior of the back porch

This little front porch has to be torn off too

The kitchen and Parlour chimneys will be removed completely, brick by brick, and not rebuilt

Dad and Mike took out the china cabinet so we can tear down the chimney it leans on. The cabinet will be re-installed in the dining room

Remove, label and store all of the interior door, window and baseboard trim, and ripping out ALL of the existing wall and ceiling plaster. Dad and Michael did a great job there a couple of weeks ago getting the process started. They stayed at the house for four nights and they were able to remove all of the built-in cabinets and cupboards, including the china cabinet in the Parlour, cupboards in the pantry and kitchen, and the mantel in the downstairs living room, and put them in storage in Montague, along with most of the furniture.

Built-in cupboards in the pantry that were removed and will be reused

They were able to also label and remove most of the interior doors and also put them in storage too. Because of the various swales and swoops in the floors, not one of the nine interior doors close properly anyway, and they are heavy! Most will be put back in their original location later and some will be repurposed in new locations. Dad and Michael were able to pop some of the trim too. Dad told me that George Lowe used every type and size of nail possible, so it’s a little tricky, but not as bad as he anticipated, mostly because the plaster is basically dust and held up by the dozen plus layers of wallpaper.

The pump has to go

SOOO, if you are one of the lucky ones helping out when I get there, bring your hammers, sledge hammers, dust masks, pry bars, gloves, goggles, steel toed boots and shovels if you’ve got them. I have rented a dumpster for the debris. We will stack the bricks and sandstone to eventually use to rebuild the garden wall along the road.

My friend Carter will be giving the old wood burning stove a new home.

My goal is that by the time I have to leave, the house will be an empty shell, ready for the new work to begin.