Kitchen Expansion

Work is starting and we have so much to do!! Before we start tearing giant holes in the roof for the new dormers, we have quite a bit of structural work to complete on the first floor.  And that includes expanding the kitchen, which is pretty exciting to see.

First things first, the guys posted up the existing structure so we will be able to remove the staircase walls.  We’ll leave those walls and door intact until the new dormers are in place – that way we’re not trying to heat the great outdoors (yeah it’s spring, but this is Maine and we could still get snow!). 

It also required a steel beam to be installed across the back of the old kitchen.  This will allow us to remove the wall to access 45 square feet of living space – a real game changer for this kitchen!

 

The posts aren't touching the ground!

Of course that means the guys need to enclose the old porch/mudroom.  And that was when we got a nasty surprise.  We had assumed that it was built on nice concrete footings – but unfortunately it was old tree trunks (or fence posts?) that had completely rotted away.  We ran into a similar problem 20 years ago on another project and our carpenter said ‘Ain’t nothing holding that up but habit’.  Déjà vu moment – because we have that same situation here.

 

Thankfully the weather was mild enough that we could dig 4 foot deep footings and pour concrete to provide a nice solid base for new structure to support the porch.  We'll probably have snow again next week, but it was so nice to get a bit of warm weather!

New kitchen space is taking shape

New doorway getting cut in

 With all of that done and the new walls in place, the guys knocked out the old wall, cut out the new back door and suddenly the house feels completely different!  45 square feet might not seem like much – but look at how big the space looks now.  Can you believe it?

I can stand so far back to take a photo now!

 Of course it will look even better when we open up the staircase, but that will be a few weeks away.  In the meantime, I’m just going to savor how nice it is already!

Kitchen Before

Kitchen in-process - see how much longer it is now! 

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