There it is.  Now all it needs is the furniture. 

Oops.  I mean the rest of the furniture.

How long have I been asleep?

Back to it.

Finish details.  Finish details.

   Here's where we started.  The original cedar side wall shakes with multiple layers of lead paint. . .

  Here's where we're ending.  Fiber cement Hardie with factory applied finish.

I can't imagine ever growing tired of this magic.  Start in the morning with a stack of drywall.  Add skill and sweat and @ the end of the day the project has leaped ahead.  There's always a sense the project's on the downhill run when the 'rock is sanded. . .  Kudos to Jerry and Todd Wold  of JTW Drywall.  Thanks to their crew. 

After the insulating was complete and Mike Palm from the City of St. Paul

had inspected

it's time for the old heave

ho. . .

So last week we got the HVAC, electrical and plumbing rough-in inspections.  Then the framing inspection.  Here's a shot of the foaming just beginning.  Before demo the ceiling averaged R 21.  When the work's complete it'll average over R 40.  The walls and floor of the second level will be insulated with dense pack blown cellulose.  The main level walls will be insulated with dense pack blown cellulose.  Foaming by Spray Foam and Coatings of Blaine.  Dense pack by DiMartino Insulation of St. Paul.  Call Ron Watkins @ 651 688 2299 for a quote. . .

On Wednesday Alex Blaylock of Artisan Plumbing arranged to have Rocko's Recycling come and do a curbside pickup of metallic plumbing scrap.   Rocko's will recycle anything BUT refrigerators, televisions, or computer monitors. Call Steve @ 612 462 3887. . .

One of our medium term aims is to reduce job site debris to zero.  The old carpet and pad were taken to Hank's Specialties in New Brighton to be recycled.  Metals from HVAC, plumbing and electrical will be taken to Leder Brothers in Minneapolis for recycling.  Help us to find a home for old plaster and lath.  Old ceramic tile.

We missed an opportunity to reuse old insulation on this project, but we'll incorporate a new step on the next one.

Hello.  This is the inaugural post .  The tentative idea is to share tales from the trenches about a current SRI project.  Right now one of our projects is renovating and remodeling a home in Highland Park, St. Paul, Minnesota.  We're remodeling two baths, rehabbing the second floor and replacing the siding. 

Today the HVAC rough-in began.  As always, Tom Sadowski of Hi-Tech Heating had a creative solution to a concealed condition.