Fresh Mud Means New Walls and New Living Spaces

This process has been nearly 18 months and to recap, it's been a much longer journey then I could have guessed.  Opening up those floors to expose decayed sewer lines, rotten floor joists and a soft foundation seems like ages ago.  Greg spent months tearing out and has now spent months creating a new infrastructure for what has saved a 1929 gem, a piece of Charleston history for many to enjoy in the years to come.  A passer by the other day commented on the significant change that is coming to our street.  Three renovations besides ours are currently occurring.  The street is buzzing throughout the week.  He said, "Yours is alot older than the rest of these being done."  This encouraged me because our Freedman's was on "list to be reviewed" which sounded ominous.  And I am glad to think we not only saved her, but we gave this 85 year old structure new life.

Our house has smelled of sheetrock mud for more than a week and fine dust has dropped continually between coats, but it's almost ready to paint.

The wall around the fireplace will be removed according to our plans and is temporary.  It divides our living space for now. Greg hung plastic to keep the sanding dust to a minimum.  We have added a small ceramic stove for heating.

Our walls are new, but these doors and windows are yet to be replaced.  The open door is a closet to Bedroom #2, the door on the right is our front door to the porch.  The door in the center is the entrance to Bedroom #2.  

Our exposed beams and cathedral ceiling.  Greg skimmed the entire area.  This will be bead board in keeping with the antique look in the kitchen.

This short blog is to allow you to see the progress as we seal the walls and get ready to move our living room into the center of the house. I'll add some followup pictures in a week once our living room is in use.

 After Christmas, we begin to tackle the "wing" on the side of the house which will fundamentally change the overall street view. You can see above how low the ceilings are and how the foundation sags.  This will be a new gable roof that will lift the ceilings in the bedrooms and bath.   Until now the neighbors are not able to enjoy the renovation changes.  The roofline change in itself will be eyeopening.  The finishes inside will have to wait on prioritizing the new roof and keeping that side dry.