Houston, we have walls...kind of

Enough to bring tears to my eyes....

Insulated at last!

I am happy to report that the house has finally been insulated!  We used a company called GoFoam. This is a sprayed insulation that is 3 inches thick throughout the house.  There were some things that needed to happen before insulation could be done....

Thanks to Jim and his guys, the electric was completed and inspected.  Also, Brad reconstructed the "maid's stairs" and Kevin installed the remaining windows.  All very exciting!

Next up, staining.  Our new entry door has arrived and must be stained before it is installed.  The "maid's stairs" also need to be stained.  Brad has a couple more odds and ends to complete, but then DRYWALL!!!!  We haven't had walls in two years!  Wooohooo!

Spray insulation going in

"Maid's Stairs" and mudroom

Kitchen

Office

Looking west towards kitchen

New windows in living room

Looking east to living room

Master bath

Master bedroom

Oraya's bedroom

Guest room

Laundry

Big news but little progress

I'm happy to report the electric is done and the house has passed inspection, not without grief from the inspector about the maid's stairs however.   Brad rebuilt the stairs because the old ones literally collapsed when our electricians (or was it the HVAC guys?)  guys where working. However, the stairs are not to code...well of course not, they were originally built In the 1860's!  Apparently, if Brad was going to rebuild the stairs, they needed to be to code...never mind the historic genuineness of the stairs.  Mind you, we have a main staircase that is perfectly in line with code. I am sorry, but I just do not understand the city's lack of protection when it comes to historic homes.  The homes near "uptown" are beautiful and built 150 years ago...most would say worth preserving. Yet, while we are trying to bring our 1860's home back from utter devastation as an apartment building, we are being given a hard time. I do n't understand it. I restored a four-square in Berwyn, and the cities restrictions were much more stringent on restoring homes. There, the inspectors make sure the work is historically appropriate. You may not turn a historic home in to an apartment, but it must stay a single family home. I only hope Sycamore, with the beautiful homes of Somonauk, will start protecting these homes and working with the homeowners (even giving financial grants) to those willing to restoring the historic homes of Sycamore.  After restoring our own house, and very mush speaking for myself (I'm certain Brad will not agree), I would most certainly love to work with  homeowners to restore their historic homes.  It is my wish to see Sycamore restored to its 1860 grander.

Onward!!!!

Now that it has gone from winter to summer overnight, we are back to work at 319!  After much discussion we have finally come up with our kitchen layout!  Now we just have to order the correct cabinets.

We have to send a big THANK YOU out to our plumber Mike who has worked late in to the night to get our plumbing done.  

Well, nearly done (he's on hiatus getting married in Florida)! 

HVAC is also almost done.  Brad has been working on rebuilding the back maid stairs and has recently started working on the electric.  Once electric is done, spray foam is next, which we are not doing ourselves. Then on to drywall..whooohoo!

No progress due to extreme temperatures

Thanks for checking in!  Unfortunately, we have not been working on the house due to the extreme cold.  Hopefully in another two weeks we can resume work!