Update without pictures

I don't have any pictures for this one but I was talking to Mike the contractor yesterday, and thought I would give an update anyway. 

The hardwood from the dining room and parlour has been taken up and salvaged, and came through the process with hardly a scratch. The two layers of sub-floor below were removed and now the whole main floor has a new 3/4" plywood sub-floor, including the kitchen. The old hardwood will be reinstalled when the time comes. 

The bottom layer of sub-floor was pretty much rotted scrap, but the upper layer (the part that was painted in the main floor bedroom) is in great shape and will be reused for the walls of the front porch and if there is enough, for the bathroom too.  Not only does that save money in materials, but we also get to use what came from the house in a new way.

Mike discovered something about the kitchen walls that I never noticed. They are framed with 2x3's, which structurally is not very strong. The original thought was that he would leave the chair rail and wainscot in place in the kitchen and insulate behind it, but we discussed this a few days ago and decided the best thing to do would be to remove the chair rail and wainscot, and sister 2x6 studs next to the 2x3's of the walls and roof. This will not only make the structure of the kitchen strong enough to withstand the pressure of the lean-to bathroom roof on the back, but also doubles the depth of the walls for more insulation. All of the trim, the chair rial and wainscot in the kitchen have already been removed and the kitchen has been restructured. The paneling survived quite well and will be reinstalled when the time comes for that too. Another benefit of strengthening the kitchen structure is that now the ceiling can be permanently removed without any bracing and the room will be open to the peak of the roof when complete. The north side of the kitchen roof has been stripped down to the old roof deck and new plywood has been installed over top on that side and is ready for the rafters of the roof structure from the bathroom. The north wall of the bathroom is already standing. 

The basement slab isn't in yet but that will be poured soon, possibly this week. Then the basement walls will go up, since they will structurally support the main floor.

In restoring an old building there is always more to be done than what is first expected, but the house will be more solid than it ever was, and I'm very pleased with the progress.