Tear Down 2 Build Up

We signed a contract with a builder last week who has done several historical remodels and worked on million dollar homes. Walking through our house with him was a joy; he valued the craftsmanship as much we do and has the skill, expertise and knowledge to make our house better than ever. He and his crew wasted no time in getting to work! This week they tore out floors, removed mechanical stuff in the basement and started re-building the sill.

Burned floors removed. This included the entire kitchen, the hall leading to the basement and part of the living room. This shot is looking from the living room, into the basement. The chimney used to set against the south facing kitchen wall.

The downstairs hall. The fire made it's way into the walls, chimney and vents so this wall had been axed by the fireman. Our kitchen sink used to be under the window that you see here.

Basement steps removed and Viking Man climbs down the scaffolding from the back-door to the basement.

Feche-boy standing in the basement looking straight up towards the area between the living room and kitchen.

Another shot from the basement. This is looking up into the kitchen area - the dining room is the room with the boarded up windows. You'll see all of the trim removed. All 23 windows will be replaces but the goal is to retain the historical integrity of the home.

Basement looking up to the back-door. Lots of charred wood that is coming out.

From the basement into the kitchen. We do have high ceilings but not 20' high!

This is from the living room, the awful green tile is the backdoor landing.

Another shot of the missing kitchen floor.

You can see hear where they cut the wooden floor to remove the burned wood. This is from the dining room looking across the kitchen . There used to be a wall here with a built in buffet and built in bookshelves.

Here's a better view of where the built-ins used to be. The large open space to the right of Viking Man was a built in buffet and the open area to the left of him goes into the living room which used to be flanked by built-in bookshelves and columns. Fire and water damage ruined them, so those will be re-built.