A new Fireplace

What were the goals last week?...

We did manage to get the new hearth and fireplace insert in place. A crane and 6 burly guys loaded it into the truck. Back at the house, 4 guys (who have no business lifting heavy objects) managed to set the stone in place... all red-faced and probably needing hernia surgeries. As it was wrestled into place, all the cement that I had lovingly spread and leveled was scraped off and mangled. Once the hearth was where we wanted it, I tried smearing cement into the gaps, but I think the 700 lb stone will be difficult to move regardless if it is cemented down or not. The hearth was in place by 9pm on Thursday and Friday at 9am the gentlemen showed up with our new insert. Yay! Our first piece of the house that we have started to put back together.

Over the weekend we had one lone helper (which we much appreciated) come to help us continue deconstructing the house. We got two more rooms of carpeting removed... some of the padding had been glued to the floor. Big dreams of getting a lot accomplished, but we are taking baby steps instead. In my mind we should have a lot of time to work on the house over the weekends, but alas, 4 kids also need some watching and feeding.

I would like to say the goal of the week is to finish the tear out... but that may take another 2 weeks at the pace we are moving. Stay tuned for pictures of progress!