one step forward...

...two steps back. We have had a few weeks of making some progress, and then realizing twice as many things that need to be added to the list.

We did take a teeny break to celebrate Micah's first Thanksgiving.

Then right back to it! One of the biggest steps forward was finally getting the permit. Thomas continues to be pleasantly surprised by how little trouble he has with both the Historical Society and the permitting office. He has found that people are really on his side and willing to help explain parts of the process he has never encountered before. We have had two inspections already. Which resulted in one step back of having to bring in a structural engineer for additional advice on the integrity of parts of the house. Which then resulted in digging and pouring more footings.

Thomas and Brite spent another whole day trying to clean out the attic. Thomas found a giant snakeskin. I did not go up there.

He finally finished the major demo work so the studs were exposed in every room. That progress brought the tedious task of pulling nails off of studs and the discovery that the window frames sit at the wrong place and the studs aren't even. Which means several extra steps to add new boards to the existing studs so that they are straight across for the sheet rock to lay flat.

Removing the ugly brick-patterned linoleum in the kitchen revealed pretty good-looking wood floors. That unfortunately have very mismatched patches in them.

When Thomas took down the tile ceiling in the front bedroom, there were hundreds of nails in the sheet rock. He tried to decide if he should take down the sheet rock and totally redo it, try to spackle the holes and repaint it, or remove the nails and then put a new layer of sheet rock over it. 

Our friend Mariano has been helping us and did the difficult job of removing every nail!

Mariano also finished stripping the front porch that we will replace.

Thomas and Walker spent a couple of days removing the wall between the kitchen and living room to create an opening. Then they put in a wall that will hold the bar counter.

This little fellow has been a handful. Although a sweet handful :) Another looong round of ear infections meant several trips to the doctor, several antibiotics, and eventually tubes in the ears. It also meant he needed a lot of attention so I couldn't participate much in the project. So far.

Another unfortunate discovery as we removed the final layers was a completely rotten corner in the back bedroom closet. This is looking from the kitchen toward the back bedroom and laundry room. The floor and several supporting beams were rotted by water damage. The wood just crumbles when touched. We have had to give a lot more attention than expected to reinforcing the floor and studs.

During another work day, Thomas' dad and brother in law helped with adding studs, fire blocking the floor, and framing the wall we are adding to create a hallway off of the living room. None of these jobs are easy since the house is so out of level and the walls aren't square. Each board has to be carefully measured.

Thomas built the frame for what will be the front wall and door jam once the sunroom is torn off. In this tiny space there is a 1/2 inch of fall, which made measurements very difficult. He only had to make a few adjustments to his original plan ;)

And I'll close by saying...Merry Christmas from the Whites and the Hobbs house adventure. Thanks for sharing it with us!