Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The BIG lift
Difficile à croire que des si petites machines hydroliques ont réussi à soulever une si grosse maison ! Oui, en quatre heures les poutres vieilles de 150 ans ont revu le jour !! Encore une fois, j'aimais beaucoup mieux ne pas être présente pour cette grande étape. Heureusement tout s'est bien passé....comme Eric le mentionne, l'équipe de Victor Godin était excellente. À la fin de la journée, c'était impressionnant de voir cette grosse maison dans les airs, mais ce qui impressionnait le plus Sarah c'était de jouer aux archéologues et de fouiller la terre pour des trésors...de la poterie, un petit bout de pipe, des journaux...
When last we left you; we posted that last Thursday, the holes were dug, the blocking layed and the beams were placed and ready to go. On Monday the crew showed up to put the house in motion! After approx.150 years the house was free from it's Earthly restraints and raised towards the heavens....Two large trucks were used to power the hydraulic jacks; one truck in the front and the other in the back. A shout out to the three man crew from Victor Godin House Movers and Victor himself as they were super and made it look like child's play; it took about four hours with steady hands on the controls and many checks with the levels and tape measures to take it up. A quick check inside after it was all done proved that their smoothness payed off as there seemed to be no damage! There will be many more photos to come but these are a small bit to show the day.....
When last we left you; we posted that last Thursday, the holes were dug, the blocking layed and the beams were placed and ready to go. On Monday the crew showed up to put the house in motion! After approx.150 years the house was free from it's Earthly restraints and raised towards the heavens....Two large trucks were used to power the hydraulic jacks; one truck in the front and the other in the back. A shout out to the three man crew from Victor Godin House Movers and Victor himself as they were super and made it look like child's play; it took about four hours with steady hands on the controls and many checks with the levels and tape measures to take it up. A quick check inside after it was all done proved that their smoothness payed off as there seemed to be no damage! There will be many more photos to come but these are a small bit to show the day.....
Monday, October 22, 2012
You want to do what with this house...?!?! / Vraiment ?!? Vous allez faire quoi ??
After a crazy two weeks of packing, cleaning, painting, being sick and finally moving out of our house....
On Thursday; the day before we are to officially become «of no fixed address» and just because we did not have enough stress at this point...the crew shows up early morning to prep the house to be lifted early next week.
Highlights : Nice dry ground, easy digging outside and underneath the house, everything seems to be sound and of no rot, two days work accomplished in one!
Lows : Never felt more stressed in my life !
Pauvre Eric, oui c'est vrai qu'il était vraiment stressé...pour ma part, je ne voulais juste pas voir ou savoir ce qui se passait. Le stress de vendre notre maison prenait 100 % de place dans ma tête...mais finalement la curiosité l'a emporté. Tout semblait tomber en place...juste des bonnes nouvelles : rien de pourri, belle terre... :)
On Thursday; the day before we are to officially become «of no fixed address» and just because we did not have enough stress at this point...the crew shows up early morning to prep the house to be lifted early next week.
Highlights : Nice dry ground, easy digging outside and underneath the house, everything seems to be sound and of no rot, two days work accomplished in one!
Lows : Never felt more stressed in my life !
Pauvre Eric, oui c'est vrai qu'il était vraiment stressé...pour ma part, je ne voulais juste pas voir ou savoir ce qui se passait. Le stress de vendre notre maison prenait 100 % de place dans ma tête...mais finalement la curiosité l'a emporté. Tout semblait tomber en place...juste des bonnes nouvelles : rien de pourri, belle terre... :)
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Une autre découverte / Another discovery...
Cette page de blogue est dédiée à ma soeur (et François aussi) qui sont venus de Moncton pendant la longue fin de semaine pour nous donner un coup de main.
Ma soeur a découvert «l'enlèvage de tapisserie» et je crois qu'elle y a pris goût (idée de cadeau de Noël) ! C'était difficile de l'arrêter. Je dois même dire qu'elle a eu des ampoules...une autre blessée à la maison !?!?!? Hihihi...
Ma soeur a découvert «l'enlèvage de tapisserie» et je crois qu'elle y a pris goût (idée de cadeau de Noël) ! C'était difficile de l'arrêter. Je dois même dire qu'elle a eu des ampoules...une autre blessée à la maison !?!?!? Hihihi...
Ils ont surtout travaillé à enlever la tapisserie dans la salle à manger. Maman et Matante Léonie avaient débuté le travail et Karine et François ont terminé. En dessous des nombreuses couches, le plâtre d'origine est peint et on peut y voir des «stencils» décoratifs...c'est tellement beau !
A big thank you to Margot's sister Karine and her partner François for coming up from Moncton over Thanksgiving to help with the wallpaper in the dining room. What a pleasant surprise to find under the layers of wallpaper that the walls had originally been painted with beautiful stenciling all around.
Voici le produit final....
Monday, October 15, 2012
Old and tired...rediscovered hardwood floors...or Margot and Eric
We have spent the past two weeks moving and cleaning our current house to be sold this Friday. We have been sick with flu and colds during this time, hence no more creativity...so just check out the hardwood floors that were hidden under two layers of plywood, various types of flooring and about a million nails.
We promise to be in better form soon.
Ça fait maintenant deux semaines que l'on nettoie et déménage afin de préparer notre maison de la rue Simon qui sera vendue ce vendredi. Malheureusement, Mme la grippe et le M. le rhume se sont joints à nous pour nous rendre la tâche un peu plus difficile...notre imagination d'écriture est donc assez limité cette semaine ! Alors, voici donc les planchers de bois franc qui étaient cachés sous plusieurs couches de matériaux et, selon Eric, de million de clous !
Oui, nous serons de retour en pleine forme très bientôt ! :)
We promise to be in better form soon.
Ça fait maintenant deux semaines que l'on nettoie et déménage afin de préparer notre maison de la rue Simon qui sera vendue ce vendredi. Malheureusement, Mme la grippe et le M. le rhume se sont joints à nous pour nous rendre la tâche un peu plus difficile...notre imagination d'écriture est donc assez limité cette semaine ! Alors, voici donc les planchers de bois franc qui étaient cachés sous plusieurs couches de matériaux et, selon Eric, de million de clous !
Oui, nous serons de retour en pleine forme très bientôt ! :)
Sunday, October 7, 2012
And you thought your house was dusty...? / Partout, partout de la poussière !
In our reno project, we are looking at redoing the entire kitchen. As 150 or so years have not been too kind to some of the plaster walls and ceilings, we decided to bring on the hurt to these poor structures. Bring in myself, brother in law Tony and a big welcome back to Margot's father Jean-Marie. As «safety first» has become our new motto, we decided to use some respirators and for Jean-Marie : Angus' old hard hat from the mill.
The old plaster was made essentially from lime based mortar, sand and horse hair. Much more dense than modern dry wall and much more dusty. With the aid of Jean-Marie's ice chopper it came off pretty well, and with the use of the snow scoop, it went out even better. Behind the plaster, the entire walls and ceilings are lined with one inch laths, all hand nailed using little square nails.
De la poussière partout, partout, partout...! Le plâtre de la cuisine devait être enlevé pour refaire la cuisine au complet. 150 ans passés, on n'avait pas le même plâtre que maintenant...celui dans notre maison est mélangé avec des poils de chevals !!
On avait bien pris la peine de fermer les deux portes de la cuisine (bien pratique, les vieilles maisons ont des portes dans toutes les pièces !), mais la poussière du plâtre nous a trouvés dans le salon...et mes allergies qui recommencent ! Maman, Sarah et moi on a fait du ménage et on a préparé la vente de garage. À la fin de la journée, on avait de la poussière partout, partout, partout !!
The old plaster was made essentially from lime based mortar, sand and horse hair. Much more dense than modern dry wall and much more dusty. With the aid of Jean-Marie's ice chopper it came off pretty well, and with the use of the snow scoop, it went out even better. Behind the plaster, the entire walls and ceilings are lined with one inch laths, all hand nailed using little square nails.
De la poussière partout, partout, partout...! Le plâtre de la cuisine devait être enlevé pour refaire la cuisine au complet. 150 ans passés, on n'avait pas le même plâtre que maintenant...celui dans notre maison est mélangé avec des poils de chevals !!
On avait bien pris la peine de fermer les deux portes de la cuisine (bien pratique, les vieilles maisons ont des portes dans toutes les pièces !), mais la poussière du plâtre nous a trouvés dans le salon...et mes allergies qui recommencent ! Maman, Sarah et moi on a fait du ménage et on a préparé la vente de garage. À la fin de la journée, on avait de la poussière partout, partout, partout !!
Thursday, October 4, 2012
une, deux, trois...douze couches de tapisserie ! Back to the bathroom...
Check out the rainbow of colors and designs found in the twelve layers of wallpaper in one of the bedrooms.
Au début de la journée, on a choisi par quelle chambre on voulait commencer. Sarah et moi on a choisi l'ancienne chambre à Angus; Maman et Matante Léonie ont choisi de travailler dans le corridor. Pauvres elles...mauvais choix ! Dans le corridor la tapisserie avait été peinturée, c'était extrêmement long et difficile à enlever; tandis que dans notre chambre, on pouvait enlever plusieurs couches à la fois ! Malgré tout le travail et les bras endoloris à la fin, on a eu une très belle journée.
Eric de son côté avait décidé de s'attaquer à la salle de bain...En enlevant le vieux bain, les armoires, le plancher en vinyl...il a découvert des petits trésors : un plancher en bois franc et encore de la tapisserie !
After Margot's father's experience in the bathroom left him with several stitches, it was left to me to complete the job. After ripping out some drywall, 2x4's and finally the tub, what a «pleasant» surprise to see the old mactac stick-on wallpaper that Theresa loved so dearly. Even more of a surprise was the original hardwood floor hiding beneath several funky types of flooring. Even though there is a bit of water damage and missing pieces, we should be able to restore this «lost» treasure to a new glory.
During my attack on the bathroom, Margot, her mother, her aunt Léonie and Sarah decided to start removing the wallpaper upstairs. They started in Angus' bedroom and then moved out into the hallway. Our intention is to work through the many layers, some that are painted, some that are 12 layers thick to bring the original plaster hidden for so many years back to the light.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Take one day off (Thursday), add one old 4x4 truck, one electric chain saw and 3 rednecks...
Another part of our reno plan is to build a combination entry, mudroom and sun porch on the back of the house. That means the old 1980's porch has to meet it's maker...literally ! Brother-in-law Tony built it and was brought in to remove it; along with his old 4x4. Along with myself, Margot's father Jean-Marie, a couple of reciprocating saws and a long sling attached to the 4x4, we were ready to tackle the porch. Thanks to Angus and his little electric chainsaw which helped big time in the crunch.
After several attempts with the 4x4 literally coming off the ground, the many five and six inch nails gave up their hold on the house and gave way to freedom for the porch. Also seeking freedom that morning was one of Tony's abdominal muscles in way of a hernia. He promptly left once the porch and he had their final words.
This left Jean-Marie, Margot's mother Diane and myself wondering what to do next. Well after the porch, the next room in is the kitchen...off with the old cupboards ! I am sure my sisters would have clapped with joy seeing the old, really way-too-short counter and sink come out after the many years of bending over washing the dishes. This went rather quickly so we moved into the bathroom to finish off the early 1980's cabinets, tub and shower. However, one piece of the cabinet did not want to go that quietly. It decided to fall onto Jean-Marie's head; along with it's many nails, gashing him enough to send him with Diane for some stitches.
Then, there was only one; me...... I called it a day.
Ce n'est qu'après l'école que j'ai su que mon Papa avait été «attaqué» par une planche et des clous !! Ce soir-là, c'était notre rencontre de parents et ce n'est que très tard en soirée que j'ai pu aller voir mon père et ses points de suture ! Heureusement, il allait bien !! Oufff....
After several attempts with the 4x4 literally coming off the ground, the many five and six inch nails gave up their hold on the house and gave way to freedom for the porch. Also seeking freedom that morning was one of Tony's abdominal muscles in way of a hernia. He promptly left once the porch and he had their final words.
This left Jean-Marie, Margot's mother Diane and myself wondering what to do next. Well after the porch, the next room in is the kitchen...off with the old cupboards ! I am sure my sisters would have clapped with joy seeing the old, really way-too-short counter and sink come out after the many years of bending over washing the dishes. This went rather quickly so we moved into the bathroom to finish off the early 1980's cabinets, tub and shower. However, one piece of the cabinet did not want to go that quietly. It decided to fall onto Jean-Marie's head; along with it's many nails, gashing him enough to send him with Diane for some stitches.
Then, there was only one; me...... I called it a day.
Ce n'est qu'après l'école que j'ai su que mon Papa avait été «attaqué» par une planche et des clous !! Ce soir-là, c'était notre rencontre de parents et ce n'est que très tard en soirée que j'ai pu aller voir mon père et ses points de suture ! Heureusement, il allait bien !! Oufff....
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