[Marlene]

And so we begin. Construction started bright and early this morning, and I'll be documenting the process here. Some of it will even be cooking related.

First, the new island

Overall view


There is room at the end for two bar stools once the door is removed. There will be an archway between the kitchen and the new dining room


The spice cupboard at the end of the island


All of the cupboards hold pull out drawers






The screen room. Now you see it:


Now you don't.


The view from the kitchen door. By the way, the kitchen is incredibly bright now!

[Marlene]

After a day of construction, it looks like this.

Once they finished taking down the room


with the debris, garden, etc all cleared away




Some of that rock needs to be blasted, which won't happen till Friday, so it will be pretty quiet till then.

[Safran]

First of all... Marlene, that spice cupboard...wow, labels and all!!! I am hanging my head in shame...

And the view without the add-on is gorgeous!

[James]

The soil appears to be quite rich, lots of humus accumulated over the years. You're lucky to have a small garden space, rocks or no rocks

[Marlene]

We'll be making sure we have some garden space for herbs at least when this is all done!

Today, they blasted. Yesterday, they came and drilled holes in the rock for the dynamite


They put up a frame around the patio door and the hydro for protection


And tire mats down over the blast areas


I wasn't allowed to be anywhere near the area while they were blasting, but this is what it looks like after the blast




Just big piles of rubble. I think there were 5 separate blast sites, but I am not positive. They're clearing out all the rubble now, so I'll take pics when it is all cleared. Next week, the footings for the foundation go in.

[Madge]

Marlene, this is really fun to follow your construction...especially when I don't have to be anywhere near all the mess. Great that we are having such wonderful weather. This certainly looks like quite the undertaking. I have serious kitchen admiration but that is what it is going to have to remain. Redoing the kitchen would be ridiculously expensive and other than being abit small there is nothing wrong with it.

[Marlene]

A couple more pictures of the massives rocks that were left after the blasting on Friday. These all have to be cleared away, so that we can get the footings for the foundation started.

[Madge]

Marlene, my friend at Georgian Bay would be having serious rock envy. They paid God knows how much to have exactly the same rocks hauled in to make a garden sitting area looking out over the water. Looks fabulous though. Are you going to be able to use any of these around your property?

[Marlene]

Madge, we saved a few rocks to build a fire pit, and one of our neighbours tooks some rock for his place, but otherwise, we don't have a lot of use for it here.

The rock has been all cleared away


Now that the blasting has been done, they are putting in the footings for the foundation


In the meantime, they were busy making our new parking area


We could have a car party out there now


And tonight, this curious fox dropped by to check out what was going on. Not the best picture, and I had to take it from the patio door as he was moving along at a pretty good clip.




The foundation should be poured on Friday. In the meantime, we had the electrician out today and the fireplace guy, which was kind of an afternoon's entertainment in itself. But that is a story for another day.

[Chad]

Wow, Marlene, what an amazing project. Really looking forward to following its progress. And I, too, am humbled by your spice organization.

Chad

[Safran]

All that parking place...careful, Marlene, you'll be feeding a crowd!

[Marlene]

Safran, on 18 September 2009 - 07:29 AM, said:

All that parking place...careful, Marlene, you'll be feeding a crowd!

I very often do, up here.

[Dana]

I think I missed it - is the addition going to be a dining area, or more kitchen? Either way, it looks like it will be fantastic.
Love the island, but I don't want to discuss the spices. I'm making a trip to Penzey's in Houston tomorrow, but even new spices won't help the deplorable state of my cabinets.

[Marlene]

Dana, on 18 September 2009 - 01:09 PM, said:

I think I missed it - is the addition going to be a dining area, or more kitchen? Either way, it looks like it will be fantastic.
Love the island, but I don't want to discuss the spices. I'm making a trip to Penzey's in Houston tomorrow, but even new spices won't help the deplorable state of my cabinets.

The addition is 4 rooms for a total of about 1,400 square feet. A dining room, a living room with fireplace, a hot tub room and a games room. There will also be a loft above the games room.

the will be pouring the concrete for the foundation today. That has to cure for a few days, then the ICF walls go up. I will actually be heading back to the city on Sunday (for the first time in 3 months) so I won't have any more pics (other than the foundation later today) until next weekend.

[Marlene]

The footings have been poured, and next week, the ICF walls start to go in.


Most of this is the wood from the trees we had taken down. But since it isn't seasoned wood yet, we also needed a bush cord of wood brought in for use this winter, when we get our wood burning fireplace put in.



As I mentioned, we saved some of the rock to build a new fire pit. Don and Jake's hubby did that yesterday

[Corgi Man]

I am impressed with how quickly your demolition and construction seem to be going. Projects in NYC are noted for constant shut-downs and delays. May it keep up!

[Marlene]

Corgi Man, on 20 September 2009 - 09:28 AM, said:

I am impressed with how quickly your demolition and construction seem to be going. Projects in NYC are noted for constant shut-downs and delays. May it keep up!

We've been very fortunate with the weather so far, which helps! I'm sure that won't last and we will run into a few delays here and there, but it is supposed to be ready for Christmas. We ordered the fireplace and the wood burning stove for our current living room today. We currently run oil here, but we are switching to propane so we can put in a forced air furnace.

[Madge]

Marlene, on 20 September 2009 - 09:42 AM, said:

We've been very fortunate with the weather so far, which helps! I'm sure that won't last and we will run into a few delays here and there, but it is supposed to be ready for Christmas. We ordered the fireplace and the wood burning stove for our current living room today. We currently run oil here, but we are switching to propane so we can put in a forced air furnace.

Marlene, are you getting a fireplace insert for your wood burning fp? We got one about 5 years ago and noticed a huge difference. Heats the room without having to heat the whole house. Your construction plans sound great. What are you going to do with the space that use to be your living room?

[Marlene]

No insert. The fireplace is more decorative than it is intended for heat. We will keep the current living room as is. The new one is intended to be where we gather to play cards, and hang out, similar to the old screen room. The table that we had in the screen room will go there and we'll add a couple of pieces of wicker furniture or something, likely.

[Safran]

Ready by Christmas, you say...will you be having Christmas at the cottage??