Where There is Smoke There is Usually Fire!

Our journey through this detailed renovation continues.  I feel like we need to sprint here as we come to the downhill toward the finish, but to rush is to put our project at risk.  Liked the picure which captures a similar thought!

I arrived home around 5:45pm after work a few weeks ago to the intense smell of smoke throughout the house.  I noticed it too outside, I walked around hurriedly inside and out, but I could not see anything.  I called Greg and fortunately, he was on Rutledge Avenue, just a few minutes away. As soon as he arrived, he looked under the house and a line of fire was running along the ground, but it had not ignited our foundation and piers.  He had installed a hose bib in our backyard during the winter months, so we went to work pulling the hose out to extinguish the flames.  He had it out before the fire department could have even arrived.  You may believe in coincidences, but I happen to think God was looking out for us.  Minutes later, and we would have lost the structure.  Greg's Dad said that cloth wiring should never be exposed to the elements. Below is an actual picture of the wiring.

It is scary to think people lived in here with this old wiring for years. We have many more electrical items being used than the former tenants, putting us at risk of overheating the wires, which is what happened.  One of the cloth wrapped wires like the one pictured above  had overheated and ignited causing the plastic barrier on the ground to catch fire.  Greg spent the evening pulling new wire and making sure none of the old wire had any degree of load on it.  He examined the breaker box, but to be honest, I did not rest well that night.

 I am excited to think we are almost at the point of a new electrical panel being set.  Our power company will be installing a new meter and a new line for us after our inspection has passed.

 Below is the existing panel that has been there for decades.  The breakers are on the outside of the house.  At one time, this house would have been fuses.

 This house's electrical is only a 120 meaning it isn't even capable of providing for a central HVAC unit or a laundry dryer, both large items that require 220.  It is good to know that our changeover is soon to happen.  The old electrical panel is located on the piazza we are setting a new unit this weekend just outside our back gate.  Greg has to prepare the new service prior to getting our rough-in inspection.  Most of our month, he has been running the wiring and putting the finishing touches on our plumbing so the inspection can be done.

 This is the new electrical breaker box that has been in our hallway, but new wires are being added daily.  Below, the wall in our bedroom that is bringing all of the wiring back to the above panel.

We had a dumpster next to our house and we believe our neighbor had it there for several years.  It blocked her driveway, but more importantly, We were unable to work on the siding.  In order to roof the opposite side of our cottage, we covered the dumpster with supports and plywood making it a platform.  

Greg on the backside of the roof installing the metal sheetingThis was a hard weekend.  His feet were very sore from this position on the roof all afternoon.  We are thankful there were no falls

 The dumpster was removed one day when we came home from work.  This is such a gift.  We did not complain, but we knew it would be an issue when we began to side this part of the house.

 Now the driveway is back, and you can see the roof is finished.  The pipe along the street is due to waterline work that is being done in this part of the peninsula.  Greg engineered this shelf looking mechanism to line up his metal sheets. (Pictured on the left)  A "helper" so to speak.  It took two hours to construct, but ended up well worth the time.

The piazza or "porch" has been part of our changes of late.  As Greg opened up the edge of the roof exposing some of the rot, he also tore off the entire street side of the piazza as well. He constructed the end out of treated lumber making it less susceptible to moisture and termite damage.  We intend to reintroduce a door on this end, bringing a larger amount of security to our entrance.  A locked gate on one end and a door with bell at the other. 

The piazza floor had to be replaced and we decided to go with a stain over a painted floor.  This area is bombarded with street dusk.  It will require blowing or sweeping several times per week.  On the right you can see the foundation of the piazza prior to the porch boards being installed.  Porch boards are a specific type of lumbar, cured to handle the wear and tear outside of a house entrance.  After looking at several types of wood, we decided on one with a grain.  The front doors, both will have transomes and be on the corner, will be stained the same as this floor.  Once he was done, I thought it was too pretty to be on a porch, it looks more like an interior hardwood floor.  He put three coats of sealer and we did not walk on it for more than 3 days to let it cure.

The porch floor as it looks currently.  We have all the rails to install and more siding to come in this area, but we are going to be moving inside soon to work on getting our rough-in inspection ready.

Greg is caulking the outside so he can paint prior to adding the new electrical panel.  We had expected rain (today was the Bridge Run in Charleston), but it is full sun now.  We are glad to be able to begin to paint.

Our color board has been here for a few weeks, and we are going with the center color only with the off white trim.  Historic Charleston color Weatherboard and Aunt Betty's China is the trim color

As it looked originally.  The bottom support we will remove.

After Greg initially stripped the piece

 Moving inside, Greg has begun to refinish our master bathroom vanity.  We found a antique mahogany dresser that fits the space exactly.  It has carved edges and the wood has a beautiful grain. We would like the stain to keep with the retro feel of the house.  The deep drawers will add much needed storage.   We plan on cutting off the platform wood at the bottom bringing it to the standard vanity height.  We purchased the sinks this week and are waiting on them to arrive.  We went with a rectangle square that is a partial drop in, but has the same feel as the surface square vessels.  I want Greg to make a mirror out of the salvaged beams from the addition we tore off several months back.  Our jacuzzi tub has been plumbed in fully awating our rough-in.

I'll add in another completion picture at the end of our weekend!  Hope you are enjoying this Spring weather.  From our Freedman's Cottage to your home....till next time!

UPDATE:

 Greg got the new service pulled from the outside to the inside of the box.  We are excited to have this heavy task done.  He set up a level pulley system.  It takes alot of pressure to get 20 feet of electrical cable inside the box!

I finished the paint on the end of the addition, and below is how far we got on the side of the house.  We will continue to work on getting it finished over the next few weekends.  Spring has sprung in Charleston.