If these walls could talk

They'd tell you they were poured on a rainy day but seem to be setting just fine. They'll have the weekend to firm up and the forms come off Monday! Then it's time to paint the ceiling and call 'er done for now. We'll go back add stain the floor in a few months when they've fully cured. 

Permit for upstairs is now in hand so framing will begin soon!!

Floor poured!

All shiny and new... for now

The new floor was poured today. Doesn't it look great?! We'll have it all dirtied up in no time I'm sure. There's still a lot of residual dirt on the old floor in the center of the space, and by the time everyone's in and out for the wall pour, it won't be nearly as pretty so I'm enjoying it now!

Drains installed!

Digging is done, and the trenches for the french drains are dug. Now we just need the rocks and pipes laid, the plastic sheeting put in place, and we're ready to pour some concrete.

Looks like a party to me

Shannon got a little creative with the lighting downstairs...better than nothing I guess!With the flags marking lines (so they don't get accidentally cut or jackhammered), it's looking like a real party downstairs. Good news is work is going well and pretty quickly. It's impressive what three grown men who do this every day can accomplish in just a few days :)

The big dig

 

It's not a clean or quiet job, but it's officially begun and we're thrilled with the progress already.  Here's a sneak peek. Gotta love that georgia red clay!

The guys are already to the edge of the western wall.  You can see how the walls were built right into the ground. Except that ground used to entrench upon about 6 feet of floor space in the basement. Can't wait to see it all finished and sealed. We sure could use the storage!

The plan

After phase I (when we first bought the house, and mostly before we moved in), we took a couple years to live in the space and tried to work on smaller projects... Until now. We're so excited to *finally* be in phase II. 

Here's the master plan:

Taking some time between phases I and II really helped us know how we move through the house and use the space, which informed a lot of our decisions for the following 2 phases. Phase I was mostly making the house livable, and phase II has some major changes. Can't wait to be into phase III aka the home stretch.

Progress

To the recycling center we go!

Change approved!

After nearly a year of making up our minds about how best to tackle our attic renovation, and finding an architect to work with, and going through several drafts and iterations of designs, we finally narrowed it down to one (voila!) in December, and took our plans to the commission in January for final approval (yay!). After some deliberation and material substitutions to ensure we're keeping with the overall historic aesthetic of our 'hood, we received approval (change approved!) and are moving forward.

After (lit'rally) years pondering our choices, we ultimately decided to create our master suite upstairs. We went back and forth on whether or not to expand on the main level (which would actually be cheaper, ugh), but we really want to maintain as much of the granite exterior as possible, and the thought of encroaching into our already limited yard space made me cringe. So up we go!

As a refresher, remember the scale of our home is quite small. Which we love, but also means limited storage and elbow-bashing bathroom. We have two bedrooms and one bathroom on the main level, and permanent stairs to the attic (which run through the center of our house, as does our chimney). The attic has two bedrooms and a bathroom (in a small rear dormer which was added in the 50s or 60s we think), but because of the peak of the roof, and the way the stairs and chimney are situated, it's not a really usable layout. There are currently two small dormer windows on front, but given their depth, and the way they sit in the upstairs rooms, they unfortunately don't let in a lot of light.

We really wanted to maximize our space and have a nice-sized bathroom, but we also wanted to keep with the overall scale of our small house, so we relied heavily on the expertise of our fabulous architect (more here) to accomplish the daunting task of going up and not out. And since we're now tackling a major renovation and removing the roof, we also took this opportunity to get rid of the odd-sized dormers and create more of a cottage look for our little house. So, what are we doing? We're tearing the roof off this place y'all! Seriously, though. The changes include:

• A master suite (imagine an L-shape starting on the left side (if looking at the front of the house) and across the back of the house), including bedroom with small sitting area, a bathroom with shower and tub, and a master closet (yippeee!);
• An open area nestled in the opposing A frame from the  master bedroom, which we're thinking will be a nice office/library space and will be the first space you walk into when coming up the stairs (which is why we're leaving it open);
• To accomplish this, we'll add a shed dormer across the back of the house to allow for ample head height in our master closet, bathroom and small sitting area;
• We're not bumping the ridgeline of the roof up much (if at all), but we are expanding the left front dormer to maximize the light upstairs, and balancing the right front side with a larger gable to mirror the smaller one over the sunporch;
• We're also removing the old louvred windows from the sunporch (we know, we know!) and closing it in a bit more. Its dimensions will remain, and it'll get a nice new gable and great wood windows to let in lots of light, and will still be an unconditioned sunroom, which we loooove;

Before we can tackle upstairs, we're addressing some basement issues (namely drainage and grading issues, and taking this opportunity to reinforce the foundation since we're upping the load up top) which will take some time. So we're patiently working our way down the prep list and can't wait to break ground on upstairs. Stay tuned!