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a tiny house in normandy blog

Progress!

8/9/2016

13 Comments

 
Very excited this week to have photos from our builders of the transformation of our tiny shell of a stone house into some semblance of actual rooms! Let's begin with a "before" photo of the kitchen corner.
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And now, with the insulation and metal rails in for the walls... All the beams above have been replaced with new solid wood.
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Oh yes, the underfloor has been laid and leveled. This "contiboard" you see is a kind of plywood base the builders will walk about on while they do more renovation. Later we will add hardwood flooring once all the walls are up. You can see some of the electric lines overhead.

​We are deciding on the composition of the wall/door between the kitchen and the living room area. Right now you can see some metal rails sticking out where the dividing wall will be. The question is whether we will leave a wide opening, or put in French doors, or put in "pocket doors" that could slide away into the small wall space on the sides. Our daughter's preference is for pocket French doors, and after all, it is meant to be her own little house. Will discuss the feasibility of these with Jim, our builder, on Thursday.
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In the photo above we are looking straight from the front door area to what will be the back wall of the kitchen. We will have about nine feet of wall space to fit everything in, including a clothes washer. I suppose the refrigerator could always squeeze in closer to the stairs. Now let's look at the living room/lounge in 2015:
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The old floor was decrepit and had to be pulled up and destroyed, leaving us with an exposed "vide sanitaire" (underfloor airspace) that was full of rubble. You can see the waste pipe that leads to the mains drains running along the bottom of the floor on the left in the photo below:
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Now the floor has been relaid on concrete pontoons to retain the airspace, and should allow the building to "breathe" from underneath. Water vapor will evaporate up toward the roof. We are leaving an airspace behind the insulation to allow for this, and to avoid damp in the old stone walls. Our heated living areas will be boxed in once the drywall is affixed to the metal studs. Electric lines have already been laid and should be invisible behind the drywall.

With the new floor, insulation and railings up, the living room looks very different now:
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Upstairs, brand new beams have been fitted for the bedroom floor. They had to stop at the main supporting beam. Beyond that beam there is older flooring that we have had thoroughly treated (as with the beam) to be sure there are no wood-eating insects within, but we cannot pull that flooring up as it is the ceiling over our adjoining neighbor's living area! A new hardwood floor will be laid over both. The main beam is very old, but solid.

The view below is looking into the study and bedroom area from inside the bathroom on the middle level of the house. We are going to be sure that the flue from this upstairs fireplace is properly filled in, and will have it walled over. Downstairs we do want to have a wood stove installed, but we'll only have electric heat upstairs.
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The photo below is a view from the bedroom on this second level (which is the French "first" floor) looking back toward the stairs and the now empty shell of a bathroom. Below that is a photo of the bathroom in its "heyday." Yes, I'm being sarcastic. It was pretty sad, I'm afraid. The floor was covered with plastic contact paper with a fake wood grain.
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We were worried that some of this bathroom area might also be built over part of an adjoining property, but once the fixtures were removed and the floor was taken up, it appeared that the placement was entirely over our kitchen.
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It is a very small space to work with for a bathroom, and a challenge for our builders, but they have already replaced the beams, and I'm sure they will have some good suggestions. I will be happy if we can fit a basic toilet, sink and shower in there. Photo below is taken looking up from the kitchen at the fresh beams and reinforcements. You can see the waste pipe in the corner.
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Here are two more views of the middle level and the fresh beams. You can see the windows of both floors. The house faces roughly southwest, so it gets good light most of the day.
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All of the windows and the front door are scheduled to be removed and restored by a fellow who specializes in such work. Meanwhile, we are very pleased to see such progress in the rebuilding of the interior. We hope the house is happy too.
13 Comments
Gill link
8/10/2016 02:28:18 pm

Excellent progress Ellen.
And I'm sure the house is happy, it will be such a great little place once you are done. That living room looks very bright & pleasant.
The important thing is the proportions, not the size of the footprint!
I'm so glad you are retaining and restoring what you can

Reply
Ellen A.
8/10/2016 09:53:47 pm

Nice of you to drop in, Gill! Yes, it's important to make the most of the space, and provide for multi-use if need be. I'll be asking you for decorating suggestions for that narrow living room/lounge! Cheers!

Reply
Catherine Berry (But you are in France, Madame) link
8/10/2016 08:23:53 pm

I admire you! Your posts always sound so positive amidst the reality of your mammoth undertaking. Bonne continuation ...

Reply
Ellen A.
8/10/2016 09:46:25 pm

Sometimes it is a bit challenging to make decisions about a place from thousands of miles away (as you well know), but the people I really admire are the ones who have the skills and determination to do a great deal of the work themselves!

Reply
Lisa link
8/12/2016 07:24:14 am

Hi Ellen. We too have done renovations on our home in Italy 'long distance', but your renovations are so much more extensive. It is sometimes heart stopping to make decisions over so many miles. Not sure if we are all brave or crazy. I need to read your journey from the beginning as I am a recent follower. Buona fortuna. Lisa

Reply
Ellen A.
8/12/2016 12:20:01 pm

Fortunately this is a relatively small living space, so starting from scratch is not as daunting as it would be if it were a huge house. It's so interesting to learn about each stage of the building process as we move from one challenge to the next. If you have a blog on your Italian house, please do include it in the comment the next time you write. We'd love to see it.

Reply
Lisa DeNunzio link
8/12/2016 12:46:19 pm

Hi Ellen. Here is the link to my website. It is not entirely finished (like the house), but is a work in progress.....

Best, Lisa http://www.casalecrete.com

Ellen A.
8/13/2016 10:04:54 am

Hope everyone will take a look at www.casalecrete.com to see Lisa's wonderful Italian house (available for holiday rental) with its incredible views. The play on words "La Dolce Vista" is perfectly apt!
Looking forward to reading your back entries and dreaming of a visit one day.

Reply
Lisa link
8/13/2016 10:41:00 am

OMG Ellen. Now I will really need to finish the site. Thanks for the shout out and for building a fire under me!

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Paulita link
8/22/2016 02:52:19 pm

I can't even imagine how much work this all took, even if you were supervising instead of doing the work. Thanks for sharing and for playing along with Dreaming of France. <a href="http://paulita-ponderings.blogspot.com/"> Here’s my Dreaming of France meme</a>

Reply
Ellen A.
8/23/2016 08:15:21 am

All the credit goes to our builders. It is rewarding to renovate a nice older building, but I can certainly understand that some would like to have the work already done for them!
Looking forward to reading your new book, Paris Runaway!

Reply
Louise Treloar link
8/23/2016 07:30:44 am

What fantastic progress you've made. It's a major job! Well done.

Reply
Ellen A.
8/23/2016 08:18:05 am

Little by little...We are learning a lot about the insides of a home as the builders explain the order in which things need to be done. Thanks for your support!

Reply



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