AAAHHHH

It's 4pm here in Lincoln. The biggest storm system in the history of the US is happening now. Blizzards north of me. Tornadoes east and south. O'Hare airport in Chicago canceled over 500 flights yesterday and are still canceling. The storm is heading for Toronto. The other side of the storm is heading up the east coast straight for the Maritimes and I am suppose to fly out of here tomorrow morning through Chicago and Toronto to Moncton.

But that's tomorrow. I am still working on the drawings for the house and I haven't begun to pack yet. I hope this all works out. Wish us luck.

Pictures from Lois

Lois stopped by the house yesterday and took these pictures of the progress they are making with the ICF's. She says it is supposed to rain there for a few days so work will likely slow down. I'm still hopeful that the concrete will be poured by the time I am there, which is Thursday! We'll see.

Thanks Lois, great pictures.  

Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF)

Carter made a site visit this morning to check on the progress with the foundation.  Wet weather last week slowed the process a bit, but good progress is being made now. The ICF's are being placed and the walls are scheduled to be poured next week. I will be there myself next Friday and I'm hoping I'll have a basement when I go. 

This fissure was the air circulation hole we had at the west side of the house. The rain last week turned it into a little canyon and water poured into the basement but dried very nicely. If the hole was any wider I might have ended up with a sunken living room. 

This is looking up under the little closet in the kitchen. The ends of much of the floor deck has rotted.

First row of ICF's at the south-west corner.

Not a single original floor joist spans the floor, and there were no cross beams. No wonder the floor bounced!

 

Lots of rot

This is the north addition. This space will be the lower level bathroom/ laundry room, and another bathroom will be stacked above it.

Under the kitchen. This is right above where we used to keep the milk, butter and beer.

 

This is the footing of the new front porch. It will be slightly larger than the original. Notice at the top the kitchen door and wainscot. 

 

corner of the kitchen where the pump used to be

The new bathroom form again, and the narrow extension to the bottom of the image is where the stairs will go from the new back hall to the new exterior door, that will be roughly where the cellar hatch was.

We're gettin there!

Thanks Carter

THE BIG DIG

Mom, Dad and Christopher visited the house on Tuesday to take a look at the progress. The forms were being placed for the footings, and they should be poured by now. It was lucky they got there when they did. The contractor removed the pump that day, and Dad was able to store it in the garage. As you can see, they made a new "driveway" to the field so they can get the equipment and materials in and out. That pile by the woods is the styrofoam form components for the basement walls. The sandstone from the old foundation is stacked by the garage. I'll use that to rebuild the garden wall by the road. 

The house looks great and the photos are wonderful! Thanks so much Chris for taking these and sending to me. I feel better now.

I can't stay away. David and I will be there in two weeks to check things out.