Progress

"Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress." - Mahatma Gandhi

Doing dishes was never so exciting

Bapu had this one correct. After watching our countertop subcontractors shoot themselves in every appendage, and in some of them twice, we had about given up on the concept of running water in our kitchen or master bathroom. It was beginning to seem as if we were going to keep the house a little too period-authentic. Healthy discontent, indeed.

However, progress was finally made on many fronts, at least on the inside. While there are still some touch-ups remaining on the various stone surfaces installed in the kitchen and bathrooms, we are up to 100% functionality in those spaces, following the completion of all the the door and drawer pulls.

Side porch in 1975

The drop-in farmhouse sink was choice #2 in the process, and it turned out great along with the classic faucet. During our decision-making process, we learned about a building industry feud worthy of Hatfield and McCoy, namely the decision on whether honed marble is a perfect or prohibited choice for a kitchen counter. We went with the argument that 13 coats of sealer does the trick, when accompanied by the proper incantations.

Elsewhere, the final porch was rebuilt adjacent the original back door and alongside the dining room, where an extra door has been reframed into a salvaged window. It replaces a miserable pressure-treated deck that itself was clearly not original. In continued research, we dug up a picture from 1975 that shows the flat-sawn balusters and corbels that once graced the entrance of this porch, and this picture will be used as the basis for the final look of the porch once it is trimmed.

1850s Heart Pine Flooring

The main parlor of the old house, now our living room, finally was retired as construction storage shed and received its flooring. Over the last few days, our flooring contractor installed the remaining 1850s reclaimed heart pine we sourced, and finished it with a clear coat of sealer. It is just an amazing looking floor, with a patina that can't be replicated by any flooring made today.

Another major development was the unloading of the cargo container of furniture on our makeshift driveway and the downsizing to a smaller dumpster, signifying the last of the major construction. With our furniture now in use in the dining room and our kitchen unpacked, the house is starting to look more like an actual house.

Over the last week the basement has started to come to life, as we were able to move all of the furniture and boxes out of the basement bedroom so it could be trimmed and painted. An exciting development was the drywalling of the media room, and the relatively little dampness in our basement following last weekend's monsoon in northern Virginia. Over the next 7-10 days, the media room will get its screen, projector, paint, carpet and be ready for use!

There are still a number of significant projects to complete. On the exterior, the gas fireplace on the screen porch is only a drawing at the moment, the chimney for the interior wood-burning fireplace still needs to be built, the screen porch itself needs railings, balusters and screen, and the newly built side porch also needs trim. Coming soon to the eaves will be a gutter system, which the house has been without for more than a year since the 2012 derecho. Inside the house, the fireplace surround needs to be built, the mudroom and pantry need shelving and paint, the library needs to be built in and the basement needs to be finished.