Onward and upward!

The demo if finally complete, the old chimney is gone, and the new plumbing has begun. It was delayed slightly by a decision we had to make between a gas and electric water heater. Unfortunately, electric won out, since there was nowhere to vent a gas water heater without a lot of alterations and more cost, of course. The chimney came down much easier than anticipated, due to the fact that apparently it was not braced to the wall in any way, and the mortar between the bricks was so old and brittle that our contractor, Randy Cranston, could literally take the bricks out by hand. Yikes - that could easily have been a problem down the road had we left it there.

The floors are the next big decision to be made. We had hoped that the existing fir floors (under layers and layers of old final and Pergo) could be salvaged, but there was simply too much patching that needed to be done. So now we have to decide what to put down. We're thinking wood, but what kind? I'm leaning toward an FSC-certified quartersawn oak. I really like that idea, especially since it's grown locally and doesn't need to be shipped thousands of miles. We shall see how much that will cost.

While shopping at Old Portland Hardware yesterday (a place I HIGHLY recommend for vintage accessories) I found a set of 22 cast iron drawer pulls from the late 1800's. They are spectacular, with a pricetag to match. Unfortunately, we really only need 12 pulls. Nick's pushing to buy them anyway, saying they we could eventually use the extras in our new upstairs bathroom. Hmm. Tempting.

Enjoy the video!