Restoration Continues Part 3

October 28, 2007 The work on our house has been so slow we were beginning to think they would never work on it again! And then, as before, when they do work it is amazing what they get done in a short period of time!

In less than 2 days they put up all the walls in the ground floor. We can now see the two guest bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchenette, the garage and the who-knows-what room! I say that because it was meant to be a room for our firewood, but after the beautiful work they did rebuilding the wall it seems a shame to use it for wood! We made it a little larger than originally planned so we may make it into a little living/family room.


















Another couple of weeks went by with no work and then we were called up to show the electrician where we wanted the lights and switches and things. He used red spray paint to mark the walls and floors. He seemed OK with everything we asked for.








A few days later, we met with the plumber. He used green spray paint and made even more marks on the walls! Our contractor was there and I asked if the house would still be ready before Christmas since they hadn't worked on it in a few weeks. He told me they wouldn't work on it again until the plumber and the electrician were done so they wouldn't get in each other's way! So, when the plumber came up I asked when he would be starting and he said that very day and they would be done in 4-5 days!

















He was not kidding! It has only been 3 days and they have completed so much! The first day they unloaded all of the supplies and started installing the plumbing for the toilets, bidets, and showers.


























At the same time the plumbers were working another group started installing the window sills. They needed to drill holes in the rock to put a brace in the wall. All of the windows have the first half of the rock in place.































There are pipes all over the place! The pipes are laid across the floors which will then be covered with another layer of flooring.

























































In order to put the pipes that go up the walls they had to first hack out the bricks! In some places the walls have holes all the way through and in other places more than half of the brick is hacked out!





























They needed to drill 2 holes in the outside wall for the exhaust pipes to go. They also drilled through the downstairs wall to put in a faucet! That particular wall is at least 2 feet thick and is made of rock!!

A Hodge-Podge

October 28, 2007 We've had a few interesting things going on, but nothing worthy of an entire blog so I'm just going to throw a few things together for you! Then you can read the latest construction news!




9/27--while on our walk, my friend Rita and I saw this rainbow over Belforte! By the time I got the camera out it had diminished a little--darn!







10/8--this looked like a weed that was out of control (about 6 ft high) and then it became its own bouquet!


















10/13--the honey festival was this weekend, but I didn't take many pictures because I did a blog on it last year. We helped again with cutting the chestnuts and I also helped make some of the honey desserts. During the day we kept hearing these loud booms, but didn't know what they were. They were so loud they actually shook the doors and windows. We were surprised at about 9:00 at night by more loud noises. Larry went outside and they were having a fireworks display! That didn't have any last year so we weren't expecting them!






















10/18--Great fall colors!















10/21--Last year the only snow we had was the first day of spring! This year it came a little earlier! No snow here in Belforte, but this picture was taken while Larry was on his walk.

Restoration Continues Part 2!

October 5, 2007 The last two weeks have been very slow in terms of work being done on the house.

On the 19th of September, just prior to the slowdown, we were very surprised to go up to the house for the second time that day to find the walls upstairs were up!





We can now see how big our kitchen and bedroom will be, how perfect the pantry and hallway closet will be, how wide the hallway is, and how tiny the guest bathroom will be! Well, it won't be that tiny as it is big enough for a toilet, bidet, and sink! Probably even shelves or a small piece of furniture!












The silver part you see is for a sliding door for the pantry. The two walls are connected by a roof on top so that the light from a window can shine in both the kitchen and the hallway. The ceiling for the pantry, closet, and bathroom is made from brick.


















The first slowdown came when they started making an opening for a door downstairs. The workers found that when the second half of the house was added-on the two walls had not been connected in any way. Over the last hundred years or so, the weight from the top began to cause the walls to separate! They spent the next few days rebuilding the wall.


The man who does most of the work (in the plaid shirt) is an artist when it comes to building a wall from stone. He would go to the rock pile and dig and dig until he found the rock he wanted! The wall is almost 4 feet across!














































After the work was finished on the wall there was still not a lot accomplished. The supervisor of the "muratori" (masons) was sick and the workers were sent on another job! This week on Monday, we were told they would be pouring the concrete for the floors downstairs and for the "scala" (staircase) the next afternoon. We went up only to find no one had been there since the weekend! Last night (Thursday) we got a call that the work would happen today at 10:00. And it did!!

We took over 80 pictures of the whole operation, but I will only share a few here. The two cement trucks arrived just a little past 10:00. The man wearing the yellow remote control is able to raise and lower the boom from that as well as control the flow of the cement!

They poured the floor first and then the stairs.





























When we first got there two men were finishing up with the stairs. When it was time to pour the stairs, the older man had everyone wait while he pulled out all the nails that the younger man had done and replaced them!

























It was so fun to watch. We were so glad we were given notice so that we could be there to take lots of photos--even if the workers think we're a little nuts for always doing that!