Where did March go?

     It's hard to believe that over a month has passed since our last renovation update. So much has happened here at the house since then... maybe we should consider posting more often!
     I think I'll begin with the yard. It's been exciting to see what will bloom next, and I've been amazed at all the beautiful dogwoods around the village (there's a gorgeous one in our front yard too!). Daffodils, tulips, and most recently, irises, have sprung up across the front yard, and the azaleas that we just planted are covered with flowers. We also planted a kitchen herb garden in the front yard, which will be visible from the future kitchen window!

Another score from Bennett's Nursery :) Ms. Charlotte is amazing- she drew the whole herb garden out for me!

So back to the house...

We created this bubble room (A.K.A. future kitchen) sometime after the chimney came down. The dust from that job was crazy, and we thought the plastic would help to contain the area while we continued working there. 

At the end of the chimney knock-down, we still had the brick pile below subfloor level to remove. Steven's best buds are his hammer drill and sawzall!

Removing the remaining chimney brick also revealed more rotten framing to be replaced...

... and Steven did a fantastic job of it!

Here we are with chimney removed to ground level and all rotten framing removed and replaced (taken last weekend)...

Then Steven and I put in new floor joists, also last weekend :)

This part was gamechanging for me. Remember the double layer of hardwood floors we mentioned previously, and how we had to make a decision about leaving what was currently visible on top or risking it to find out how the original layer looked? Well... WE'RE GOING FOR IT! There was some pretty significant damage to the original floor behind where Steven is sitting here, but that area is part of the future kitchen where we already planned to install cork flooring. Steven inspected the crawlspace area in front of where he is sitting in the photo (the front entryway) and did not see any sign of water or termite damage. It was one of those Bob Ross "happy accident" moments... Steven pried up one of the top floor boards further than he intented and there was solid (ORIGINAL!!) wood floor underneath. Hopefully, the bottom of layer of flooring will look great across the room when we get it all uncovered.

This is when Steven pulled the one board further than he intended. Lily had to come and give her stamp of approval before we could proceed with uncovering the old floor.

This week, we are working on removing and replacing the old subfloor in the future kitchen area. I will continue with that story soon... just buying the subfloor was an adventure, haha!