It’s official, our house is old.

Since we began this renovation, we’ve had quite a few people stop by to salvage items.  By far the most interesting and informative are the crew that have been looking for old bottles over the last couple of weeks.  Old bottles can be very valuable for collectors and tell a lot about the history of a place.

The team starts by probing the back yard to find evidence of an old latrine, usually at the furthest point from the house in the back yard.  When the probe turns up evidence of glass, they dig a larger hole and extract all the glass.

Up until this point, the oldest record we knew of with the house was a purchase record from around 1880.  However, our research suggested that barge board creole cottages were prevalent in the early part of the century and so we used 1850’s as an approximate date on our tax credit application.  Here are some photos of the bottle extraction process with wine bottle seals dated as far back as 1834.

 

So current research suggests the house is at least 180 years old!

Fun with Framing.

We have reached the second milestone with the project, framing complete!  This is only partly true – we have quite a few items that need to be adjusted, fixed or will be framed at a later date.  The nice thing is that the house and rooms are starting to take shape and it is easier to envision the end product.  Here are a couple photos of the *completed* framing:

New ceiling framing around the existing chimney.

Newly framed interior walls – the barge board was salvaged for exterior repairs.

And photos of our main intervention of the house – making the attic accessible:

Stairs!

Back wall of the bedroom.

View of master bedroom entrance – the laundry room is on the right.

His and Hers closets in the master bedroom upstairs. The door openings still need to be framed.

The next step with the interior is to make a decision about the insulation system in the walls and attic so we can properly design the HVAC system for the house.  Once the HVAC has been determined and ductwork installed, the electrical and plumbing systems can be completed and finishes will follow.  The decision about the insulation has been a tough one – our Contractor recommends spray foam insulation but the historic tax credits we are pursuing do not allow it.  They feel that it is irreversible and therefore damaging to the existing structure.  We are working with energy consultants to determine the right solution for this house and will have a post on the subject once it is resolved.

In the meantime, exterior work has begun.  Daniel is working with the Contractor to remove all the siding and make the necessary repairs to the barge board to prepare for the house wrap and new siding.  We anticipate this work to happen over the next few weeks.

Front of the house. Siding removed, windows boarded up.

South wall.

Pile of barge board salvaged from the interior walls that will be utilized in exterior repairs.

Another update is that we’ve gotten the majority of materials back from the stripping shop.

Windows and doors in the back of Daniel’s truck.

Trim materials in the back of my truck.

Daniel built a trim rack to store all the stripped materials – picture railing, baseboard, and window trim.

And last but not least, a photo of notch marks on the ceiling joists – what do they mean?

Roman Numerals?