Tidying Up Some Loose Ends

Since getting our construction permit, the GC and subs have been busy with various tasks that are needed before we can close up the walls.

In the dining room, the abatement contractor was out this morning to remove the asbestos insulation from the old heating pipe that had been hidden in a corner wall.  The exterior wall, now straight, has been framed out a bit to accept insulation and provide a surface for the blueboard that will eventually go up there.  We've also patched up the subfloor here and there.  Remember the squishy spot at the bottom of the spiral stair?  That was actually a poorly done piece of plywood from the original '70s renovation.  No longer!

Abatement Underway

No more bump and ready for electrical and insulation!

Squishy spot much improved.

In the annex we've fixed up the framing a bit.  The exterior wall is prepared for insulation.  Overhead we've been able to tightly frame around the structural beam and to raise the ceiling back up in the space between the pool table and the front entry wall.

Annex exterior wall ready for electrical and insulation.

Soffit reframed and ceiling raised next to pool table.

The library got a full new subfloor on top of the old one to fix numerous bad spots and to bring the height up a bit to match the adjacent rooms.

Whole new subfloor at the library.

Demo Wrap Up and a Mystery

Since the last blog, we've wrapped up the major demolition, gotten the place cleaned up a little, and the electricians have been busy putting in rough wiring.  And most importantly, Cambridge ISD approved our full construction permit this week, so we are clear to move forward with putting things back together.  Here's a quick photo tour.

Dining room looking to spiral stair.  We'll be fixing the "squishy" feel of the subfloor around the stair.

Dining room laid bare.  You can see the new recess LED cans that will provide the primary lighting.

We're getting rid of the bump at the outside of the dining room by scrapping these old heating pipes!

You're bound to find a little something in every renovation.  We'll be remediating this asbestos insulation that was hidden behind the wall.

The library has been cleared.  New subfloor, floor, trim and ceiling going in, but we're keeping the Invictus paneling and shelving.

A Mystery

 In the library subfloor I noticed an odd marking.  It seems to be the letters "U" and "S", or something similar, carved into the subfloor with a nail or drillbit.  Does anyone from Invictus know the story behind this?  It's a mystery to me.

We finally got a handle on the dust situation as well.

The annex bath is safely sealed off and we've got some protection for the back hall and front double as well.  The traffic patterns have been adjusted so that the undergrads don't have to walk through the space except for two very short paths going to the kitchen door and to the front double door.

Feel the Dust!

We are off and running with the work on the 1st 2 floors.  Demo permit in hand, our contractor had a good go at the 1st floor rooms today.  We can at last see what's going on under those walls, though the dust is driving us mad!

Annex Fireplace

Dining Room - Looking to Kitchen and Central Stair

Dining Room - Disposal Underway

Anyone remember the party light system (round II).  Those are the control wires.

Electrical Demo Underway

In the past week we started the transition from talk to action.  The electricians pulled their demo permit and got underway removing the electrical fixtures.  We should only be a few days away from our full demo permit and some bigger changes.

Fluorescent fixtures have been removed as a first step in demolition. 

We're making use of the bike room as a staging and storage area.

Bill Kreamer and I rode the commuter rail out to Waltham in January 1995 to pick up this pool table light.  It's held up surprisingly well.