week 1: november 7-13, 2011

since our block is landmarked, our permits had to be submitted to both the department of buildings (DOB) and the landmarks commission before construction could begin.  they were filed early in october and we received approval late in the month. hubby and i moved some of our belongings out of the cellar in preparation.  mike's crew arranged for a dumpster and decided they would start with demolition in the cellar.

the crew began by tearing out part of the ceiling and making some probes to help inform the HVAC work and determine where the new ducts and plumbing lines would be located.  all of the extraneous pipes and ducts (which we soon found out were numerous) would be removed as they worked.  they would also take out all of the non-structural walls and eliminate the existing storage closets.

as early as the first day, we were amazed by how much additional space there was once the walls came down.

before and after pictures of the rear part of the cellar -- doors seen on the left/right in the first/second pictures were inside the arches seen in the third picture on the right:

before and after shots of the storage area in the northwest corner of the cellar (open door in picture on left was inside the arch seen in the picture on the right):

before and after pictures of the old home gym in the very rear of the cellar:

this week, we also reviewed anastasia's first interior studies of the first floor bathroom and powder room and started evaluating various wall and floor tiles and fixtures.  by the time we're through with this, i will be an expert on toilets, faucets and plumbing roughs!  i also confirmed that the proposed space allocations for all of the kitchen appliances worked (30 or 36 inch refrigerator, etc.) by marking out the new locations and boundaries on the kitchen floor with painter's tape......in my next life, i may look into architecture.....