A few projects were started, a couple were wrapped up, and the 2nd Peltomaa dumpster left us! Hooray!!

Pekka and I managed to clear the dirt-floor cellar of all the accumulated wood that had been kept there… most of it was the remaining planks and pieces from the initial house construction eons ago. In the lower part of the pile, the wood was completely gone and taken over by wood rot & mold. Literally unearthing it from the dirt-floor in handfuls. It was a rather unpleasant task considering the smell, the low ceiling height and the darkness. Glad that job is finally done. Within a day of getting that nasty stuff out the crawl space had returned to smelling more like dirt is supposed to smell. Whatever that is!

On one side of the property, there is a catch-all of old and discarded wood scraps, remains of an old shed, and other odd and old bits of junk. Most of that made its way to the dumpster too, but not all. There’s still a lot of it left for another dumpster in the future. Sadly because of all that junk, the weeds, trees and anything growing have been contorted and left to just take over.. it’s gonna be a real job getting all that cut back. So, 2 dumpster loads and we haven’t really started any new construction yet!

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To get an idea of how things look outside now as compared to a couple months ago, take a look at these nearly identical location pictures…

Many of the trees aren’t fully leafed out, and the flowering trees are still tightly budded.. except these cherry blossoms…

The plumbers have been busy updating water lines in the sauna out-building, installing a water heater and shower there and hooking up the new kitchen drain and water lines in the house. They aren’t done yet, as eventually the entire project will be connected to tie-in with the city water/sewer systems. We are waiting for the city to okay our connection request and receive the direction for where to place the lines… Queue the digger!

While relocating the kitchen window higher to accommodate for the 90 cm high counters, we discovered this setup instead of the expected ‘regular’ insulated wall..

 

No shortage of surprises… tucked in the rafters of the attic, Pekka and our go-to-handy-man Pete found a cigar box filled with old letters and correspondence… This one on top got our attention with the Third Reich insignia stamped on the envelope…

Besides taking out the wall to eventually pull the upper stairway inside the house, we also took delivery of our Puukeskus wood order on Tuesday.  Now we have the wall & ceiling stringers, along with 75 sheets of drywall, so I guess you can figure out Pekka and I will be doing this weekend!

I would show you a picture of my smashed fingers, contusions and all – but they are already looking a lot better than they did even yesterday. So I won’t bother. Just know that the brick wall in the kitchen is now totally free of masonry plaster… hooray!

Thanks for your continued interest in Vanha Talo Suomi! Pekka and I are thrilled that you’re along for the ride 🙂

– Kate & Pekka