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!

New Windows and New Subfloor

I am happy to report we have new windows!  We made the choice to replace all 30 windows (uggg!) with energy-efficient replicas.

Front Double Doors - South

 The stain glass, which was originally on the top half of this window, will be reinstalled after it is repaired.

Original Bedroom Window

New Kitchen Window

Upstairs Landing

There was a couple of exceptions.  We did opt to replace two of the back first floor windows with a patio door.

Back French Doors

New Windows - Back

 Brad, with the help of Kevin and Kurt, has almost finished laying the second floor and attic subfloor.  Once this is done, Brad can begin framing walls! Very Exciting! I should also point out that in attic stairs have been removed.  They became unsafe, so Brad and Matt had no choice but to take them out.  We have decided to rebuild the staircase in the landing area of the second floor.  This will allow for wider and less steep stairs than were previously here, which will be "to code" with the city.

South Subfloor - minus attic stairs (looking West)

North Subfloor (looking east)

Attic Subfloor

Pumpkin Fest weekend is upon us.  This is a long standing tradition in Sycamore, in which there are days of Halloween themed events.  Today is the 10k Race and Pumpkin Parade.  Many homes located in the heart of the parade route have Pumpkin Parties.  It's quite a big to-do.  319 Somonauk IS on the parade route, but because we do not have heat or a working kitchen, our celebration this years is being kept to a minimal. Hopefully, next year our home will be on the Historic Home Walk (which also takes place during Pumpkin Fest) and we will be ready for a Pumpkin Party!!!!

New Roof and New Inspiration

New roof being installed

Thanks to Tip Top Roofing we have a new waterproof roof! We went with the architectural style shingles in Colonial Gray.  Giovanni and the rest of the crew did a great job.

Flat roof on north side being replaced

We also installed four skylights in the attic.  We really want the attic to be a nice "play room" for both Oraya and Brad, so the extra natural light helps.  We understand that skylights are NOT period appropriate for our home.  In our defense, we did not put any of the east side (the front side facing the street), but kept them more hidden on the sides and the back.

More exciting news...the windows are being delivered tomorrow! Install is supposed to begin Tuesday, but that is not confirmed yet.  On Saturday, to save time (which equates to $$$), we took the trim off and the storm windows and frames out.  I should note that we are replacing all of the windows with energy-efficient replicas of the existing ones.  I'm all about rehabing, repurposing, reusing, etc., but the original windows that were still in the house would cost us a bundle in heating costs. All the windows are in the garage and some will get new life in another area of the house.

All 30 (that's right, 30, which does NOT include the basement or attic windows) of our existing windows are custom sizes.  Unfortunately, we just did not have that kind of money in our budget, so we went with the closest standard sizes.  This means more time will need to be spent framing in these windows.  Not a great situation, but the best we could do.  We also opted to close up a couple of the windows that were not original to the house.

My final news of the evening is that I was reinvigorated about our project today by Nicole Curtis, star of Rehab Addict.  Believe it or not, she spoke today at The Old House New House Show at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles.  Strange, I know.  Anyway, she is my reno idol!  Brad is not a fan of her show, because every time I watch it, I want to save something else in our house or find some salvage something or another to put in it.  I'll give you a quick example...we uncovered a "chimney" of sorts, which was obviously used for a wood burning stove and a brick fireplace.  I, off course, want to save it.  Brad, of course, hates it. In the intro to her show, Nicole can be heard saying, "I just want brick" as she uncovers a lost fireplace.  Now you get why Brad is on the verge of banning Rehab Attic from our televisions.

I digress..I listened to Nicole speak and felt like every little architectural detail that I save, is worth it, no matter how many trips I have to make in to the garage carrying heavy stacks of old wood. How many hours I loose to striping paint off of door hardware.  Or even if I almost pass out from the blinding pain in my knee after a mishap while removing nails from floorboards in the attic.  Thanks Nicole!

Oraya is learning about Girl Power from Nicole Curtis of Rehab Addict

Progress at 319

Construction rather than destruction

I'm happy to report that we have made progress, slight though it may be. Thanks to our friends Chris, Kevin, Matt, and Kevin we now have some new walls!  For those of you unfamiliar with the process (like me before we started this project) of removing an existing wall and replacing it with a new wall, first a temporary wall must be built.  This wall will hold the wait of the ceiling until the new, permanent wall is installed.  Below are the temporary and new permanent walls.

Temporary wall parallel to existing wall

New Wall (thanks Chris and Kevin)

When a new wall is built, a "header" needs to be put in any place a door will be installed.  A header is basically a wood sandwich.  In our case, the headers are three boards glued and screwed together.  The headers caused quite a long conversation between Brad and me, since installing the headers meant we had to know where we wanted the doorways.  We finally figured out where we want the mudroom, library, and bathroom doors...we think...and the headers were installed.

Library doorway header

 While the boys were working on the walls, I was stripping adhesive off the floors. I made headway on the floors and I had a flooring guy come and look at them.  Hopefully, his services will be within our budget and we can save these beautiful floors!

While I was working a lady stopped because wanted to make sure we were restoring the house and not tearing it down. We have had many visitors stop in, as there is a lot of curiosity in the neighborhood about our project.  So many people have expressed relief and gratitude that we are restoring this house.  It reaffirms our belief that this is house is worth all the time and money we are putting in to it.  Thanks to those strangers for the "pep talk!"

Vote for our kitchen sink

Here's another voting opportunity!  Brad and I have differing opinions on our kitchen sink. Yes, that's right...we disagree on everything including the kitchen sink!   I originally wanted a copper sink.  Not only would it be a focal point in the kitchen, but I think it is period appropriate?  Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.  I haven't been able to find much information on 1860s kitchens.

I said I originally wanted a copper sink.  While getting water on the counter top for the millionth time when washing dishes, I decided a drainboard sink is a better option.  I also would have to sell a kidney to afford a copper sink.  And since we never fill one side of the sink and rinse in the other, but I often wash extra large items, one big bowl (rather than two smaller bowls) seemed the most appropriate choice.  I really do not want a white cast iron, because it is difficult to keep clean and gets black scratches every time a pan is washed.

I've learned there aren't many choices in drainboard sinks.  White or some composite something-or-another. I like the first one, as I think it's the most period appropriate, but of course, Brad doesn't like it.  I also like the second one, but it is crazy expensive.  The third is the cheapest option, my least favorite.  Brad would like ta standard stainless steel sink, which would be the cheapest option.  Ahhh...what would Nicole Curtis do?

Here are the three options I found....

White Farmhouse with double drainboards

790 (sink) + 276 (faucet) + 44 (additional costs are for basin rack & drain basket) = $1110

White Apron front with drainboard

 1193 (sink) + 125 (faucet) + 276 + 44 (additional costs are for basin rack & drain basket) = 1638

Beige drop in with drainboard

536 (sink) + 125 + 169 + 27 + 44 (additional costs are for basin rack, drain basket & soap dispenser) = 901