Upstairs Destruction-The Itchy Phase

In order to finish the outside roof, Skip needs to plan where the dormer and the upstairs bathroom will go. This means removing the inside walls and ceiling to gain access to the roof from both sides. Skip was not looking forward to this as the walls and the ceiling is insulated with fiberglass. Lots and lots of fiberglass.

The planned area for the bathroom contained a few closets prior to Skip attacking the area.

The walls were very thin and it didn't take much effort to remove the doors and shelves. 

What's behind wall number 2? Lots of fiberglass just packed randomly in the otherwise empty space.

Insulating the ceiling. . .more fiberglass. We can't wait to get all of it out of the house and use synthetic/plastic insulation from here on.

What you're looking at is the area of the new bathroom! Looking good right? A dormer will be added between the rafters to the left in this picture. You need to check back next week for that update!

The New Old Chimney

When we bought our house we were a bit surprised to see that the original chimney was not in use. Instead, a new metal chimney had been installed next to the old chimney. It created a major eyesore as this new chimney came through a hole in the floor on the second story and continued up to the roof. Just bizarre!

Here's what it looked like downstairs. Notice the wheelbarrow. Skip is ready for demolition!

The upstairs view. Love the random metal tube with a hole through the floor.

To  begin, Skip removed the wall behind the fireplace which revealed the original chimney. You can see the opening into the chimney to the right of the metal chimney.

Then Skip removed the whole metal chimney along with the stove. 

This left us with a hole in the floor and the ceiling upstairs which will be dealt with soon!

Skip peeks down through the hole in the roof which was quickly patched as the forcast called for rain.

We then had the chimney repair crew come in and reline the chimney to seal any cracks and to install our new wood burning stove. We can now heat the whole neighborhood!

I wish I could say that it looks perfect now but you will have to tune in for an update once the chimney has been painted! Now we just need to get the chimney certified and we are ready to light the first fire in our new stove.

To Be or Not To Be. . .Weight Bearing. That is the Question

As Skip is working away on the old front entryroom, aka the mudroom, he keeps running into delays. Delays caused by previous work done on the house. Although I am not used to rebuilding, or building, houses I realize that things, like weight bearing structures, are important items to consider.

With that in mind, Skip became a bit concerned when he removed the inner wall of the entryroom. That is the wall connecting the room to the mainhouse. It seems that the weight bearing logs have been cut and other, shorter, pieces of wood have been used to connect everything. Sometimes with only one large bolt. It looks like a giant game of Jenga.

These structures hold up our roof and floor upstairs. At least for now. 

Needless to say, we can't just patch it up and pretend it doesn't exist so Skip will have to modify the structure so that we can actually trust it to hold up the house. At least we don't live in an earth quake region!

Letter Hidden in the Ceiling

Our house was originally a log cabin built in the 1900th century. Since then, additions have been made to the original structure. The original logs have since been covered by more modern materials.

To aid with the remodel, Skip has enjoyed making random holes in the walls and ceiling around the house to see the structure that lies underneath.

Here is a picture from the livingroom:

We figured that there was a metal beam in the ceiling here as any compass go crazy when placed underneath it!

This is what it looks like without the panelling: 

As Skip was removing the panelling, a letter fell from the metal beam. The previous, previous owners had written a letter and placed it there during the remodel in the 1980's. 

The letter simply states who lived in the house, when they moved here and when the remodel was done. What a great idea! We'll see what we will add to mark our remodel!

Playhouse Down

    The typical Swedish country property has many buildings, large and small. Often the kids are blessed with their own playhouse but, after years of neglect, our playhouse had fallen to disrepair and was more of an eyesore than a useful play area. The only one enjoying the place was our cat Flea who used it as a hide out.

   It was with joy that I took a sledgehammer to it after removing the windows and the door. It proved to be a good workout for the upper body and the quads. Who needs crossfit when you have a farm to fix up!

   The wood was unfortunately rotten so instead of reusing it we had an awesome bonfire during a birthday party. There is nothing like a bunch of people enjoying a cozy little fire in the middle of the night (thanks for the picture Fredrik N).  Yes, I did say the middle of the night. It is never quite dark in Sweden during the summer.

   Skip will remove a few of the stones before we fill in the area with grass to expand our lawn into the area. It is going to look great!!

Reflections on an Old Pool

    The previous owner was kind enough to leave an above ground pool for us. Being very tired of stacking wood I (Skip) decided to take a break and remove this eye sore.  (The POOL!)