It’s been a week or so since the last update, and things are still moving along at a good clip. I named this post Bricks and Sticks because that’s where the big news is.

First, Bricks. Those who have been following along might recall that the construction started with the removal of the rear of the house. We took down a one and two story brick structure that was in less-than-great shape and 3′ narrower than the lot would allow. Although we replaced some of the floor joists and roof in that section, we reserved the better part of the bricks for re-use in the yard. Check the photos below and you’ll get a sense of what we’re doing with those bricks. The yard walls are being veneered with the salvagable bricks from the back of the house. We’re also going to re-use a steel I-Beam that was originally part of the rear structure. The I-Beam will become a shelf mounted in the brick, about 8′ above the yard, for plants and such. The images below show the start of the veneering process, which has managed to impress even our mason who is not the type to be impressed by his own work. It’s shaping up quite nicely. The work shown reflects only one day of laying brick. We won’t have enough bricks from the back of the house to do the whole veneering job, so we’ll be collecting a bunch of the bricks off the front of the house to finish the yard and the patio.

In other news, we’ve selected the brick for the front. It’s the Charleston series by McAvoy.  We picked up a few samples and Jamus made us a mini-wall of the brick and a piece of limestone, which will be the basis for the bottom of the facade.

As for “sticks,” interior framing is at 95%.  We’ve completed the powder room and closet on the first floor, the second floor is pretty much complete and the third floor just needs the 2×6 wall that seperates the bedroom from the hallway.  Framing went blazingly fast.  Dave and I went through the house last weekend, marked out where we wanted all the walls to go and the guys went to work.  In three days the whole thing was done.  Below are pictures featuring the framing (I’ll post some floor plans later that show the updated layout as it’s now built).

Next up, mechanical rough-in and the facade removal.  Facade will come down brick-by-brick, so it will take a bit longer than usual but care is required.  Once it’s down, the new facade framing starts and within two weeks we should have a finished front!  Woo Hoo!

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These are the panels that will eventually become the hallway.

Looking up from the second floor, through the third floor hallway, at the four skylights in the roof.

Looking through the kitchen door at the yard, a bit of a mess at the moment, but well worth it as the “new” walls go up.

A better view of the bricks re-used from the original rear of the house to create clean rear yard walls.

Our nephew Philip is visiting us this weekend so they thought they’d try their hand at laying brick. Ha. If only.

Back door behind me, looking north from the kitchen at the two “rooms” on the first floor. Really just a closet in the kitchen and our cozy 3′ 2″ x 5′ powder room.

Looking south from the living room through the new staircase with the tempoary treads.

Looking north from the guest room at the HVAC closet, bedroom closet and oversized stair landing. Guest bath, bar/family room and hall closet are in the distance.

Looking south from the family room, through the bar. Dave is “sitting” where the toilet will be and Phil is standing where the shower will be.