On May 30th, the sale of Scholefield House was finalized and we (Tana, George and two sedated cats) flew to our new "home" in Hamilton. The movers had packed up our belongings (what was left after we sold most of our furnishings with the business) the day before.
On arrival in Toronto in the early evening, Muriel was waiting at the airport to pick us up in our car (the Toyota Matrix) that had been sitting in her driveway since George's last visit in March. We made a speedy trip to Hamilton, hoping to arrive before the predicted thurnder storm began and before the cats had totally panicked. Tana spent the ride patting and consoling them as they remained confused, upset and disoriented in their travel cages.
Our first night in the house went well. We let the cats out into their new bedroom and went downstairs to upack the picnic basket Muriel had given us as a welcome gift. It was packed with all that we needed - bread, butter, cheese, crackers, fruit, and even figs and a bottle of champagne. Pauline had left us a welcome note and a bottle of red wine; so, we were set for the evening and the weekend; gratefully consuming the offerings and began to feel at home.
We, and the cats, had survived the trip. The only concern that first night was that Galileo remained drugged. The poor guy was pathetic - crying as he kept falling over and seeming drunk. The thunder storm in the night cheered him up; it was the first he had seen (as these did not happen in his native Victoria) and he was fascinated. By morning he was feeling fine and ready to explore, quickly giving the house his wholehearted approval. Enchante, though a bit less ready to explore it, seemed also to approve of her new home.
78 Mountain was looking good to all of us though we could not help but notice that it was in a state of disarray from the renovation. The dreadful pantry/kitchen had been torn off in readiness for the new addition. We (just Tana & George) spent much of Sunday salvaging bricks.
Bright and early Monday morning the work began.
On June 2nd the excavation began for the addition on the west side (the back) of the house. A backhoe dug the trench for the concrete, forms were put in place and by the end of the first week, the foundation was complete.
(click on picture to see a larger version)
Week 2 saw the walls go up and by early in week 3 the exterior framing was complete. Boulders that had served as foundation for the pantry were saved and positioned to create a rock garden beneath the Garden Room windows.
Putting in the forms
for the concrete |
Dave putting up
the first wall |
Walls up and roof
going on |
Dave and Caleb
constructing rock garden
| 
Roof on and walls
ready for bricking |
Despite the heat (35C+) and a mild heat stroke, Jeremy, the roofer, completed the roofing while Dave and Caleb studded in the interior.
Week 5 was drywall time. Three fellows who reminded us of "Larry, Darrel and his brother Darrel" from the Bob Newhart show of the 1980's, did the drywalling slowly but finished by the end of the week.
Floor trusses and beams
going in
|
Ready for windows
and doors |
French doors and some
windows in place |
Bedroom painted
fireplace positioned |
Garden Room
being painted |
Week 6 began with the fireplace installed and the rooms beginning to look like rooms. Holes were cut in the former exterior walls and these rooms became accessable from the house. Work was begun on the archways that leading from the kitchen and living room on the main floor into the Garden Room and from what used to be Kay's bedroom on the 2nd floor into the new master bedroom.
Alas, the bricklayer who was supposed to have started work that Monday decided on the weekend that the job was not to his liking; so we waited as Dave sougt out another "brickee" (i.e. bricklayer) to begin applying a veneer of brick to the exterior. We had wanted bricks to match the orange brick common to many house built in Hamilton at the beginning of last century. Initially, reclaimed brick looked promising but we needed 6,000 of them and the waste was going to be 30-40%; so, Dave researched the matter and found a perfect match. The only problem was that this brick is made only in Leicester England and had to be railed to a UK port, shipped to Montreal, railed to Toronto and trucked to our driveway.
The truck had arrived early and, at first, the driver claimed that he couldn't unload them down the driveway unless we wanted to risk having his crane knock down the existing house. Dave naturally had wanted them way down the driveway but, as the truck was huge, that was clearly impossible. Eventually, the driver agreed that he could probably (without damaging the house) lower the skids of bricks part way down the driveway and that was done successfully so the 6,020 orange bricks had been sitting in the middle of our driveway already for a couple of weeks. There they sat for yet another couple of weeks.
Six yards of sand and mortar were piled onto our front lawn and the new brickie, Patrick, began the process of mixing the mortar to match what had been used a hundred years earlier and began the job. The first day proved unproductive as necessary equipment wasn't there; the second day the mixer died and, rather than rent one on the Friday and leave it there unused for the weekend, the guys took off, saying they'd return on Monday. Finally, the job got started and, due to several thunderstorms and several occasions when (mysteriously) the brickie just didn't show up, the job was completed. Patrick got all the details right (including 'soldiering of the bricks over the windows') and neighbours who came by to inspect, kept claiming that the extension looked so similar to the old exterior that it seemed that it has always been there.
Archway cut
into Parlour wall |
Neighbours' pool
after torrential storm |
Garden Room
before moldings |
6020 bricks from
Leicester England |
6 yards of sand and
mortar for bricklayer |
Patrick used some of the old bricks, from the demolished pantry, to patch old woodstove holes in the exposed brick wall in the kitchen.
Throughout the construction, heavy rains and thunderstorms frequently delayed work. It's been that kind of a summer - a very wet one! And that's been a problem not only because it delayed work but also because it soaked the ground. Because of the renovations our back yard seriously lacked groundcover and, unfortunately, there is a natural water flow down from the yards further uphill into our yard and on into that of our neighbours Scott and Michelle. Their swimming pool has too frequently turned the colour of mud. Some temporary solutions are in place and we're all hoping that it will rain less next summer. Groundcover will help but with rains as extreme as they've been this summer that will be only a partial answer and we'll have to be creative.
Bricking the
west side of house
|
Bricking done and
eavestroughing being added |
Brick repair
in the kitchen |
Dave hanging
antique chandeliers |
Finally the cleaning -
the new hardwood floors |
Inside the house, work has continued - much of it finishing touches such as the hanging of antique chandeliers in the Garden Room and the new master bedroom. One major task has been the laying of hardwood floors. Finding the right wood was a challenge as the front entrance and front parlour of the house have wonderful, well preserved "signature" hardwood dating from the early 1900's. Matching it perfectly was impossible but we did find hardwood that looks like it belongs in the house. The new hardwood floors have been laid in the Garden Room and the bedroom and we have an extra supply of matching wood to be laid at a later date in the living room once the wall-to-wall 1950's wool broadloom is torn up.
As we approach our three month anniversary in the house (August 30) we're getting our furniture finally unpacked and arranged, and figuring out where to hang pictures.
Outside, the cleanup and construction of the deck has finished.
Collecting the
rubble and brick
|
Taking away the
rubble
|
Some of the 11
yards of sand and soil |
The deck
is on
|
And the Jaguar
arrives safely
|
Now onto landscaping (and winter!)
