The metal roof has been completed.

      Yes, a whopper of a storm rolled through here on Monday, and the roofers did not attempt to install the roof in the pouring rain and high winds.  However, on Tuesday they made up for lost time!

     The roof is complete and it looks fantastic. The only drawback is that it looks so nice that it makes me really notice how shabby the white trim looks.  I'll need to get up there ASAP with a scraper and re-paint the white trim under and around the eves.  And yes, the roof above the porch will be getting some new crisp black shingles soon.

      I hired a professional metal roof company to do this job mostly due to the extremely steep angle of the roof (12-12 pitch), and because neither Rob nor I had ever cut metal panels on angles to conform to a dormer window.   

     The company I went with was USA Home Improvement Solutions  in Scranton Pennsylvania. They were a pleasure to deal with every step of the way.  Their price was real nice, and the work looks better than I expected.  If anyone is looking for a metal roof in N.E. PA, give them a call at (877) 872-3398

       Here's some photos:

 

New metal roof for the house

     The third item of importance at the house today was the arrival of all the metal roofing materials.  Yes, this is the big surprise that I've been mentioning in the last few posts.  I saved my pennies, and pulled the trigger on a brand new metal roof for the house.  This will be installed on the very steep(12/12 pitch) main roof of the house above the third floor.  There is currently very old and crumbling shingles on that roof. Although it is not currently leaking, a new metal roof should ensure a nice dry home for decades to come.

       Here's a few photos of the roof as it sits now, and the new roof panels which will be installed on Monday:

Heat in the house soon.

The second thing that I accomplished today was to get the boiler up onto the concrete pedestal. It is now in place and ready for Bob to come over and connect the electrical and plumbing to it.

       

I cannot imagine what it will be like to have heat in this house.  I'm looking forward to it!

We discover a message from the previous owners.

       Today, was a really satisfying day of work at the house for three reasons.  Let me tell you about the first reason.

       Robin came along and began demolishing the piano room. I had her rip out all the wood paneling and the trim moulding.  She discovered that the wall that backs up to the kitchen was re-framed, re-wired, and sheathed with plywood rather than drywall under the paneling.  This will make for a perfect structure to attach the sheetrock to.

       She also discovered the old wallpaper on the plaster walls was in fairly good condition under that paneling.  But the best thing she found was some writing on the wall in the corner where the south wall meets the west wall:
 

        Yep, we found the build date! I had estimated the house to be built in 1875 from photos I found online, but this is the first piece of evidence found during the renovation that indicates that the house is actually fourteen years older than my estimate!
        Rob and I had found a date on the lumber of the second floor addition when we demo'd it three years ago, but it was a date that the lumber was milled. It was in the 1940's and it had the name of the customer who ordered the lumber: Dr. Maxwell Cohen.  This extremely cool message that Robin found is signed by Christine Cohen, the doctors granddaughter.  The house was built in 1861.

First day of work on the house.

      Today my wife Robin came along to the house.  While I was making a concrete pedestal for the new boiler to set on, she emptied out the piano room in anticipation of Robbie hanging all new sheetrock in that room.
      I forgot the camera, so Robin snapped a few pictures with her cellphone.  You can see what a mess the piano room is, as we have been using the table saw and the compound miter saw in there.
I still need to demo the ceiling and rip out the remaining wood paneling.

               Down in the basement, ten bags of concrete mix went quite fast with the electric cement mixer.

        This coming Friday(4/10)  a real big project will begin.  Materials are scheduled to be delivered and work should begin thereafter.  I'm not going to tell you what it is yet though.

        Lastly, I got a bunch of flooring material in for the entranceway and first floor hallway.  Here is a snapshot of some of it.

   

Stay tuned and stay well!  

2020 work season to begin.

      It's nearly the end of March, the weather is warming up, and work will soon begin for the new season.

    There will be some major projects this year, one of which will begin on April 12th, I won't spoil the surprise but it is one that I've been saving up for.

I'll be introducing you all to three new friends of mine: Bob, Mike, and Matt.  In addition to Rob and I we should be making some serious  progress this season.  Stay tuned, and for today I'll leave you with one photo.

Anybody care to guess when this photo was taken?

New Boiler & Oil Tank Delivery

      As I mentioned in my last post to this blog,  I scored a nearly new fuel oil tank. A few days later I completed a deal on a 2017 German made Buderus Logano G215 oil fired four chamber boiler.  It came with a riello burner. I've been told by three different burner techs, that this unit is the top of the line boiler/burner combo. It is supposedly the Mercedes Benz of boilers. 

       For the last few weeks it was a waiting game, as the weather was rotten every weekend. It was either snowing or pouring rain each weekend, so transporting the equipment to Pennsylvania  was not possible.  Yesterday we got a break though.

       I rented a trailer and picked up Robbie, then we headed up to the house. Here's what the trip looked like when we headed out in the morning.

   
      When we got to the house, the first thing we did was to hoist the boiler out of the trailer using a cherry picker (engine crane),  then we unloaded the oil tank and positioned it around the back of the house on the stone patio.

       With the boiler perched on top of a heavy duty furniture dolly, I attached a tow strap to the boiler and connected the strap to my trucks tow hooks. I laid a piece of 3/4" plywood over the stairs that lead down to the basement, and after making Robbie very nervous as we pushed the boiler over the edge, I then lowered it slowly by driving the truck forward toward the stairs.  Robbie guided me slowly and made sure the boiler went straight. After a nervous few minutes, the boiler was on the basement floor.

   

 

   
    Finally, we pushed the boiler over to where it will reside in the basement.  Next month I have a HVAC tech coming over to hook it up and  plumb it to the radiators.  Heat in the house? What a concept.