Sticky post
How This Whole Thing Started
When people find out we bought a farmhouse that was built in 1848 and needs a complete renovation, they are mostly unsurprised. To grasp why, you must first get acquainted with the men of the Papineau family: Brendon, his dad, and his uncles, who I like to joke that if you put them in the middle of the field, they could build a house with their bare hands. … Continue reading How This Whole Thing Started
Concrete – Part 2
Out of all the work we’ve done so far at Woodside, the concrete projects seem to be the most challenging. First, the weather has to be dry and above freezing if you’re pouring outside (which is why we had to wait until spring for this work after finishing the first part last fall). Second, since concrete is pretty permanent, you have to plan out things like drainage … Continue reading Concrete – Part 2
Porch & Basement Work
Ah, spring (kind of). The weather has been pretty wacky the last few weeks in St. Louis, and the cold, wet days have led to us delaying and rearranging several projects, including our concrete and basement work. We were lucky to have a few days last week that were warm and dry, which helped us knock out a few things this past weekend. First we … Continue reading Porch & Basement Work
Electricity
Some parts of a house renovation don’t necessarily have that “wow” factor. Most people are into pictures of new kitchens and bathrooms, but don’t really get that pumped up about things like waterproofing and gas lines. Well, most people aren’t on their second year of a (mostly) DIY total gut renovation, so we are quite excited to announce that we have permanent electricity hooked back … Continue reading Electricity
Doors & Windows
Progress at Woodside seems to happen in waves. We’ll be trucking along from day to day, a little bit of demo here and a little bit of demo there, and then all of a sudden everything happens at once. Soon after our concrete work was done, our first set of windows arrived for the garage and kitchen, as well as doors for the garage and … Continue reading Doors & Windows
Concrete
Happy Holidays! This time last year, Woodside was in the air. A lot has changed over the past year, and we’ve made significant progress during the last few weeks. We built the porches during the weekend after Thanksgiving, and then our concrete company got to work pouring the garage and basement floors, basement steps, and front and back porches. Fortunately our first round of concrete work … Continue reading Concrete
Construction: Porches
Mother Nature has not always been on our side at Woodside. We installed sill plates in below freezing temps and built a kitchen and garage during a heat wave. But, last weekend the weather gods smiled upon Missouri – we had gorgeous post-Thanksgiving weather and it was perfect timing to start construction on the two-story enclosed porches. We also were fortunate to have help from … Continue reading Construction: Porches
Porch Prep
On a very hot day last July, we removed the two-story enclosed porches from the west end of Woodside. The porches were deteriorated beyond repair and starting to pull on the west end of the house, causing it to fail. We counted eight layers of shingles on the porch roof, although they didn’t do much to protect the porches from the elements: We poured a … Continue reading Porch Prep
