Some Before and "After"

Obviously, these aren't really "after" photos; they're more like before and "during" photos. We've got a long way to go, but we wanted to give you an idea of what's changing around here. Though it feels slow as molasses sometimes, we're excited about the overall progress of the house. The photos below are of some of our favorite changes so far...

The two upstairs bedrooms were carpeted with fairly dark colors that really absorbed what little sunlight was available. Once we pulled the carpet out and exposed the subfloor, even the bedroom on the north side of the house felt brighter and more spacious. Whatever flooring we choose will be light in color to maintain this brightness.

The closet you can see in these photos has been removed and opened into the bathroom. This will make room for a larger bathroom that will accommodate multiple users at one time--separate spaces for the toilet, shower, and sink. We plan to make up for the lost closet with shelves and built-in storage space in the bedroom areas.

What was under that dark turquoise carpet? Solid oak treads! Yay! That means we can sand and polish them up, and have pretty oak stairs without too much work. I guess it was just the norm to cover harwood stairs with carpets and rugs. The bright side is that the stairs and floors have been protected and will look so nice and new when finished.

We racked our brains for a way to change the odd stairs, but it's just not going to happen. But, we did take the drywall out and exposed the brick of the chimney, and gained about 10 inches of space on the stairwell, which really makes it feel more open. The brick work is pretty sloppy (they knew it would be covered by drywall), so I think we're going to end up plastering the chimney, but the textural difference and the unifying effect of the chimney spanning two floors will make the stairway feel inviting and open rather than narrow and closed off. Though you can't see it here, we also took out the ceiling above the stairs. The space will now go all the way to the roof, and we hope to put in a light tube to get some natural light coming into the space.

We're probably most excited about the changes to the main room of the house. What was once a dining room and living room divided by a wall is now one big, open room with posts and a beam running down the middle. It's hard to tell from the photos, but this change really brightens up the room, as it allows light from the south and east windows into the whole room. It also really makes this a versatile space. A dining hall, a conference room, and cocktail lounge, a dance floor, a cozy conversation spot...we're really only limited by our imaginations! And once the room opens onto the deck, the possibilities are endless!

 Finally, here's a little peek at the new door. This change lets people enter into the main room, taking in the whole room, the fireplace, and the view from the far window (someday to be French doors that open onto the deck!). It also allows us to put in a powder room where the old entry way was. Originally, the only bathroom on the main floor was the master bath, so this change affords more privacy for the Flessners and more comfort for guests. More photos to come!

Playing Catch Up

Here, in photos and words, is a somewhat detailed run-down of what we've been up to in the last few months...

The theme for the early fall was demolition! As a fairly klutzy person, knocking things over is a specialty of mine, so I loved this part. We knocked down drywall, took out wall framing, busted up tile floors, tore up carpet, and ripped out appliances and fixtures. We had guilt in our hearts and "garbage milk" on our shoes from the regular dump runs, but it sure was fun! Then Luke got nervous. "We'd better start putting this place back together again," he said. Sadly, Evan and I lowered our sledgehammers and humphed, "I suppose your right." And he was. The destruction was getting a bit out of hand. We knew it, but we really were enjoying smashing the place up!

Luke is a big believer in insulation. The more, the better. In his opinion, it might be the best investment you make in your home--insulating and sealing, making the house "tight." Common insulating practice in the 1960s was pretty bare bones, which makes this house quite poorly insulated by today's standards. To give you an example, the standard level of insulation in an attic today is R38, but this attic was only at about R19 when we moved in. By the way, R stands for Resistance, as in the resistance to heat flow through a given thickness of material. The higher the R-value, the better that resistance, and the more insulating the material. In addition to the attic being under-insulated, the space between the first and second stories was minimally insulated and open to the outside. This allowed air in and heat out, making the already inefficient electric heat even less efficient.

To remedy the "insulation situation," we used several materials to seal the house. First, I spent a few (sore) days on my knees laying foam sheeting on the floors and walls of the side attic spaces (the upper floor is a half-story, so there are low attic spaces running along either side of the house that are accessible for storage). Since these spaces are not conditioned, the foamboard will minimize drafts and heat loss/gain. Next, we blew in cellulose insulation in the upper attic (between the roof and ceiling of the second floor), between the rafters above the side attics, and in the space between the main and upper floors. With barely room to turn around, Luke crawled into the upper attic through an access panel high up on the side of the house. As you can see from the photo, it was a dark and dirty job. Luckily, cellulose insulation is pretty benign stuff (basically a mixture of shredded newspaper and fire retardant), and though we were covered in it--can even tell you what it tastes like--we had none of the itching or irritation we would have had with fiberglass.

Finally, we used foam board and spray foam insulation to seal the space between the main and upper floors. This will further help to prevent heat loss/gain, stop drafts, and prevent thermal bridging (the transfer of heat through non-insulative material, like wood or glass). Down the road, we may add more insulation to other areas, like the walls of the basement, but insulating and sealing the attic will make an enormous impact in the years to come, regardless of what else we do.

Insulation is the unsung hero of the house. There it sits, behind the walls and in the attic, protecting you from cold and heat, stopping drafts, preventing moisture penetration. But out of sight, out of mind, right? No one's going to come to The Sweet Farm and comment on the nice insulation job. But you might comment on some other changes we've made lately; namely moving the front door and removing a structural wall. The original front door opened right into the brick wall of the fireplace. Not a terribly welcoming way to enter a home. Luckily, there was a large window in the living room, the perfect width for a door and two sidelights (in a brick house, it's quite easy to make windows taller, but not wider, due to the nature of brick construction). So, we lengthened that space, took the window out, and popped in a door. Easy peasy! The change also gives us space for a half-bath on the main floor, something that was sorely missing before. Though there are no photos of the new door in this post, there will be photos in the upcoming "Before and After" post. 

Oriented on a North-South axis, the house doesn't get too much sun on its North and West sides. Before we removed the wall, the dining room got good light, but the living room got very little. With the wall gone, natural light is able to filter through the room, making the whole place seem more spacious, airy, and bright. It also makes the space more versatile. Most of the time, it will function as a dining room/great room, but when needed it can become a large classroom, dining room, or even a dance floor!

Because the wall was structural, the process of removing it was somewhat tricky. We had to build temporary support walls, take the main support wall out, replace it with a beam and posts, then remove the temporary supports (and pray the roof didn't cave in on us!). Additionally, the Glulam beam and posts (Glulam is structural lumber composed of several layers of dimensional lumber glued together) had to be sanded down so they looked pretty. Fortunately, Luke's dad Mike, and our cousin Tom came over to help out. The long day was full of hammering, sanding, lifting, and leveling, but sure made a big difference. And it was fun. Can't you tell?

NEXT TIME: "BEFORE AND AFTER"

"The time has come," the Walrus said...

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax,
Of cabbages and kings.
And why the sea is boiling hot,
And whether pigs have wings."

--Lewis Carrol, Through the Looking Glass

The time has finally come for us to get back on the "blogwagon" and share our experiences, misadventures, and reflections here at The Sweet Farm. When Luke first started this blog, he was flying solo--a journeyman-generalist off to see the world, and learn a few things in the process. Then I came on the scene, and together we recounted our adventures through Australia and New Zealand. During our time in Hawaii, the blog got a new name, "Pole Barn in Paradise," while we built a home for Luke's brother Paul, and his girlfriend Maxine, out of recycled and natural materials. With the house completed and Luke and I heading home to the East Coast, the blog fell into disuse and has been waiting patiently out there in cyberspace for our return. Though we should have done this months ago, we're finally back in the blog saddle and ready to ride!

This time last year, standing in wet boots on the porch of a run-down old farmhouse on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I suddenly realized we were moving to Maryland. It hit me, as my friend Andrea likes to say about such feelings, "like a donkey-kick to the chest." Until that moment, we had every intention of building our home and our dreams in Floyd County, Virginia (said farmhouse was a property we were considering for purchase). As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." While we toured properties, made offers, sketched home ideas, started a local business, and dreamed of our Floydian future, life was making its own plans...

After months of feeling stuck--living in someone else's home, negotiating land prices, waiting on forms and tests and inspections for our business--we decided to up and move to Maryland. Things started happening. Quickly. By the end of February, Luke's grandmother had moved from the farm and in with Luke's parents to recover from surgery. By April, we had pruned the long-neglected orchard and cleared the house of decades of clutter. By the end of May, we were milling and chiseling and planning for the August Barn Raising. That weekend in August brought friends and family from around the world to work and celebrate together. As the summer heat and humidity broke, our final reservations about our new home melted away. We knew without a shadow of a doubt that we were in the right place. We found our Wonderland.

After the incredible success of the Barn Raising and Celebratory Extravaganza, we turned our attention to the house. We've been working on demolition, insulation, heating/cooling, plumbing, and the like, but there's so much more to do. For the next 18 months or so, we'll be readying this home for the next phase of its life, and its new inhabitants. From there, we'll focus on the farm as a whole with the goal of creating a productive, welcoming and peaceful center of cooperative learning. We encourage friends and family to visit, to share their insights and talents, to help bring the spirit of The Sweet Farm to life, even before the infrastructure is finished. There's always fun to be had, work to be done, an extra chair at the table, and (though it may be on the floor) a warm place to lay your head. "Oh Oysters, come and walk with us;" and unlike the Walrus, we promise not to eat you!