Demolition, renovation, foundation repair

More ditches have been dug around the perimeter of the house. It seems Mr is on a roll and wants to finish it all before he stops. The original plan was to do one wall or section at a time. Me thinks is has to do with having all the tools and machinery out and not wanting to haul them back out of storage again to continue work. 


The weather has been pretty cooperative, the soil here is sandy so if it rains the water just disappears. There are no big mud puddles in ditches here after a rain. He says that he has discovered that the problems he was concerned about were not with the house, the house pilings are fine. It is the two wings added onto the house that need the reinforcement. The pilings built on those two areas were not strong enough to hold up what the builders intended and so they need to be rebuilt. A thankless necessity is the best way to describe it. It is costing us all this time and money and it is nothing we will recoup on resale. Resale is looking better and better as each day goes by, and at the same time it is looking as if Mr would not even consider it in light of the efforts he has put into preserving this historic house. 

After living here historic house takes on a whole new meaning. It doesn't have the charm it had before. Historic house means 1870 room layouts, awkward positioning on the property in relationship to the road,  less than contemporary bathrooms, old everything...well you get the idea. I am not so sure how long I can live with the idiosyncracy here. The  bay as a neighbor does temper some of the problems for me. You tend to ignore the annoying when sitting looking at a pink sunset. It infuses patience and fortitude somehow. Sailing off at whim, in the boat right off your living quarters, when things get too rough is also a nice perk. Oh, you pay dearly for it in so many ways, but for today it is on an even keel. Come a nor'easter, blizzard or hurricane things might not look as good for a while, but the lure of the water always seems to trump many of these annoyances.

Here are some photos of the latest work happening here. God bless the contractor he has made a commitment to it and he is keeping it. My contract to myself is to accomplish something everyday that improves my life here. Many times that is a bigger challenge than you can imagine.