Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Renovations and historic finds

It's been a while since I reported on the progress of the reno of our upstairs apartment.  That's because things have been moving ahead but not in a dramatic way.  The plumber has roughed in the pipes for the sink and the washer and dryer, and the electrician has been installing new outlets, updating wiring for the stove and dishwasher etc.  It's slow work retrofitting a suite in a century-old house.

But now we're on the verge of a couple of big leaps forward. The other day the drywall was delivered and today they started to put the boards up on the walls.  We've been getting the walls ready for them for a while now. The new room has been framed up and insulated. The ceiling has been strapped and everything is ready.






It's kind of like archeology renovating old houses.  Traces of previous lives keep turning up.

We've found old cigarette packages, telephone books and newspapers.  But my favourite is the spelling list we found in the bedroom. Some young child wrote his spelling words on the wall. Don't you wonder when this was written. It could have been any time since 1898.



Harry's calculated that if the guy who plastered these walls originally was in his forties at the time the house was built, he could have been alive when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.  History's not really that far in the past.





6 comments:

  1. I love building houses and i can almost smell the scent of sawdust... I am not fond of sawdust, persay, but the smell of it puts me right in a very creative and exuberant frame of mind.
    and the child's spelling list is a definite keeper!!!

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  2. Hi Gwen, I'm like you in that I get energized by building. It's so creative at times. Although the other parts are a slog.

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  3. Sometimes it seems like the all the work goes on and on and then all of a sudden it falls into place and you can get to the fun decorating part.
    The spelling list is very sweet.

    cheers, parsnip

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  4. That spelling list is precious! How will you keep it? I guess a photo will have to do.

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  5. That's really getting down to the proverbial bones of the house!

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  6. Yes William, its bones are showing. And regarding the spelling list Stephanie, I think a photo will be the only way to keep it. Today we readied the floor for the sanding and finishing. Drywall boarding and first coat are complete. Amazing how quickly it's now coming together.

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