A Roof With View

Seriously having fantasies about solar panels and a roof garden

The Half Wall Dissappears

        
We decided to remove the half wall that surrounded the stair well on the second floor. Because the old wood is an odd size we figured it would be harder to match the thickness than to just rip it out and start from scratch. 

Tearing Down the Tiki Bar

    
Sad but true, we decided we would have to remove the structure that was commonly known as the tiki bar. It's a pass thru from the master bedroom which was once the billiards lounge into a kitchen or bar like area that we thought would better serve as a walk in closet. So down came the shingled roof and out came the counter top and sink. Now all we have to do is find a creative way to fill the gaping hole in the wall. The first picture of it is from when we initially looked at the building back in February and the previous owners were still living there.

Making Decisions on the Second Floor

Here are some pictures of the wall that divides the front and back half of the second floor. We were taking the sheet rock off to assess the possibility of knocking it out. Instead we found the framing to be quite lovely and made of great old wood. Now we are trying to figure out a plan that would allow us to keep it exposed and act as a kind of screen between the entry way and the common area we are going to provide for the tenants of the second floor.

The Surroundings

       

       

I have been asked by a few of you to post some pictures of the surrounding area. I'll start with a few of the old mill, the buildings across the street and the Train trestle and falls.

Arty Pix From Around the Demolition Site

  

    

The Second Floor Lunch Room and a Couple of Coal Miners

    
  
Barry and Allen came out of this one looking like they just crawled out of the mines. There wasn't much to the ceiling of what will someday be the lunch room on the second floor because at somepoint someone had put up several sheets of fake wood paneling to cover a plumbing disaster. There was rotten lathe and crumbling plaster that seemed to be infected with some kind of black mold. Very unpleasant. So the only thing to do was to tear it all out back to the rafters.

Funtime with Sledge Hammer

This is a great way to work off a little pent up energy. 

WEEK 2 One Dumpster Down

  
        I think we can see the end of demolition slowly approaching. We're trying to have all of the miscellaneous crap out of all three floors, as well as attic and basement by the end of next week. But our aching bodies are having a hard time keeping up with our ambitions. We're tempted each day by the mass of people down at the Labor Ready office looking for work, but our budget doesn't allow for it. So, here are a few before and after shots of the first floor now that the lofted office structure is almost completely gone as well as the junk around the boxed out freight elevator. And the second floor is virtually a clean slate compared to the dark box of fake wood paneling and painted over plate glass windows that is was just a week ago. Apparently the front room that you see in these pix used to be a recording studio. Not any more...

Lewiston From the Top of the Ferris Wheel at the Auburn Fair

Looking back across the river toward downtown Lewiston. 

Entombed Windows Get Set Free

As you can tell from the 'before' shots, we knew there had to be windows at the back of the rather cave like cafe space. There are beautiful large iron doors on the rear of the building that we couldn't get open from the outside. Assuming they must be either rusted shut or locked from the inside, but with 6 inches of wallboard and insulation between us and the latch, we decided to start digging. At the closing we asked the previous owner about the possibility of there being glass in the frames, they said definitely NOT, so our expectations were pretty low. Little did they know what we would find!! There are 4 full double hung windows with intact glass and counter weights in the frame. Not the cleanest, but nothing a bottle of windex can't handle. So now we suddenly have cross ventilation which makes our life much more pleasant during the construction phase of the project and in the future we will have light and air in the kitchen area. The last few photos are of Barry and Allen freeing the windows from their confines.

Excavating the Many Layers of Flooring in the Store Front

There is a terrible layer of old plywood and linoleum squares covering the vast expanse of the the ground floor. As we slowly peeled it away and pulled out by hand each and every spiral shank nail left behind by the rotting plywood, we revealed that the entire surface is old hardwood and in the storefront there is a tiled section that must have been the original recessed entrance, complete with the building number and at one time a name (now a mystery) written out in green and white half inch tiles.

The Dumpster Progression

Pretty self explanatory...

Thanks to our official trash compactor Barry, there was not an inch to spare. We're taking bets on how much it weighs! Email me your guess and you could win a gift certificate to the cafe... if it ever opens.