New Windows and Immortalized Cheeseballs?

There have been a lot of changes at the farmhouse in the past few weeks, most of them made by our various contractors.

Our barn has finally been finished! Dad hired a team of local Amish men to make the repairs. These guys specialize in fixing old barns, and we have evidence of a job well done.

Before the foundation was repaired - gaping hole, sunken and broken foundation from a large tree that grew into the side of the barn

Because the east foundation was so bad, the whole barn had shifted. A number of the supports in the basement were leaning badly, so our Amish friends are taking care of straightening things out. And yes, that is a floating beam.

Ok, so how about the actual house itself?

We have a new porch!

The old porch floor boards were beyond repair - they actually bounced when you stepped on them! The posts had been held up by concrete poured into an old plastic cheeseball tub. No, I'm not kidding at all. One of these bad boys. Someone wanted to immortalize their love of cheeseballs.

Unacceptable. I have some standards, and a porch supported by a concrete filled cheeseball tub is not going to fly!

Another big step for us was the removal of the siding on the house. Well, kind of. The nasty old light blue aluminum siding has been taken off, but there are still two more layers. Really? If only this house was a cake, I'd be enjoying these layers...

Our house is temporarily a very dirty white. Once this stuff comes off, the new siding can go up. We've made a decision about what color/type of siding to purchase, and our contractor is scheduled to start the siding on July 19th. Daniel and I are going on vacation for a week starting Saturday, so when we get back our house will really look different!

Perhaps the thing that I was the most excited about was our windows. The north side of the house had one tiny window that overlooked our back yard. I wanted more sunlight in my house!

Before

After!

Our living room picture window is in, as is the upstairs bathroom window and our spare bedroom window. None of the windows in this house are symmetrical from the outside. Aesthetically, it's not perfect, but from the inside the placement of the windows makes sense. Oh well. Symmetry is overrated anyway :)

We spent Saturday and Sunday inside the house finishing a variety of tasks. We cut holes in the walls for porch lights and outdoor electrical outlets.

Dan really got into the spirit of things

Dad and Daniel also put support beams in the library ceiling to brace the bedroom floor above it. The floors upstairs are all sloped pretty badly, so putting new supports in cuts back on that a little. 

My big project this week was the fireplace downstairs. It had been encased with plaster before we destroyed all of the evil stuff, but the bricks made a lot of the residue stick. I spent 3 hours brushing the fireplace and chimney with a wirebrush. That was not for the faint of heart! It was like brushing someone else's teeth for three hours. 

Before

After - yeah, I'm proud of this!

We also had some help from some friends on Sunday. Bryan made a guest appearance, ripping up the carpet on the stairs and helping Dan to finish up the wiring in the house. Our buddy Phil also came for a little while to run some wires and help me lift a 12 gallon shop vac filled with plaster and dirt. We're so blessed with awesome friends and family that come to lend a hand with our house; it is truly going to be a work of art because of everyone!

Dan and I are going to Florida for a week, so we'll be taking a house hiatus. Our contractors will be working on the siding, plumbing and ducts while we are gone, so we'll post once we get back of all the fun things that happened while we were gone!