The Great Northern Estate Update Phase 2

So at the end of the last post we were up to summer 2024 and nearly the end of phase 1. You might think this post would be about ending phase 1 but that would include finishing the downstairs floors. If that happened the floor in the living room would get ruined by the work upstairs so we'll pause phase 1 for now.

Phase 2 begins upstairs. As bought the house had 4 bedrooms upstairs. With the removal of the stairway to nowhere three of those bedrooms are all in a line, which is no fun. That northern bedroom was really small and there was only one bathroom in the house so why not turn that little bedroom into an upstairs bathroom and a walk in closet.

The original plan had it as a half bath but Angie and I pushed for a shower and I'm glad we did. It essentially makes the upstairs a little apartment. Its nice to not have to traipse through the kitchen to take a shower.

Bathroom on the left, walk in closet on the right. Well, it was supposed to be a closet. My parents wanted a little bed in there, so for now we're using it as a bedroom.

With the upstairs bathroom and closet finished the guys moved on to the master bedroom. This didn't require a whole lot, new trim and better paint. Electric and insulation had been done by one of the Cushman brothers at some point in the past.

The floor in the master bedroom has been stripped but not refinished. Unfortunately its had a lot of traffic since the finish was taken off so when we do the rest of the floors this one will need to be sanded too but fortunately it'll just be a quick sand to take off the wear. I'm tentatively planning on refinishing the floor in the little bedroom and the master bedroom last summer but that will depend on replacing the windows in the master bedroom.

Actually the big holdup right now is the fact that we've used the house all summer. The guys really only get access from late November through mid-May. I think they had planned to work into the summer but my parents are much more comfortable in the house than the camp, the indoor bathroom being an important feature.

At some point last winter the roof leaked a little around the chimney into the downstairs bathroom. The guys gooped up the joint which stopped the leak but that meant we needed to shift focus and get a new roof.

This will be a standing seam metal roof but we opted for an inch of foam insulation. There isn't much insulation in the roof of the house. We intend to add more but there is only so much you can do so this will help.

I left before the metal started going on, it should be done by now.

Technically the roof is phase 3 but this is one of those things we didn't feel comfortable putting off. It'd be stupid to spend all that money on the inside to have it ruined by a leaky roof. Fortunately this kind of investment is once in a lifetime, I should never have to mess with the roof again.

The Great Northern Estate Update Phase 1

I realize I've been remiss in updating you on the state of Cushman House

Fall 2020:

Summer 2024:

A pretty good transformation right?

In my head I've broken this project roughly into 3 phases. Right now we've nearly completed phase 1 which is to rebuild the downstairs. Phase 2 takes us upstairs including re-working the stairs themselves which are too narrow and steep.

To that end we've rebuilt the kitchen, bathroom and dining room entirely. Thats new windows, exterior doors, flooring, insulation, electric, plumbing, ceiling, cabinets, lighting, shower, and toilet. The only thing original is the kitchen sink and fridge.

I didn't really want the laminate flooring but the glue on the old flooring would have been very difficult to get off the hardwood underneath. I'm particularly pleased with exposing the chimney, I think it looks great. Our builder was doubtful. There is something about folks around here that makes them want to hide a chimney.

The living room and downstairs bedroom (formerly a parlor) got new insulation, electric, windows and wallboard. The bedroom also got a closet:

These old houses never have any closet space and we were lucky to have somewhere to put this one.

Oh and before I forget the reconfiguration of the bathroom had us saying goodbye to the stairway to nowhere:

Its such a weird stairway that it bears explaining. I'm taking the picture from a very small bedroom on the north end of the house. The stairway Angie is coming up ends at a chimney. So there are 2 little like proto-steps that brought you into the bedrooms. I wouldn't have wanted to negotiate those in the middle of the night. 

The spot where Angie is standing in the picture is now the bathroom vanity down stairs.

Still to come in phase 1 is the ceiling in the living room and bedroom and refinishing the floors in those rooms.

Pictures of food

Often I think "This would be a good story for the blog" and then I forget to take pictures.

So instead of the stuff I've been doing lets take a look at what I've been eating. We're making an effort to eat less meat, really chicken, pork or beef. This has mostly taken the form of burritos.

The magic here is that they're super easy and can be made from just about anything. For purely vegetarian we'll grill some peppers and then warm up a can of beans with some taco seasoning. Start with a layer of rice. I usually use white rice, Angie tends to use a rice pilaf like from Goya. Then some beans, and the peppers. You might like onions with your peppers but they upset Angie's stomach.

A couple weeks ago the grocery store had tuna steaks on sale. I've ruined quite a few unsuspecting tuna steaks. The thing I've learned is to not overcook them. This one is done, you might not think its done but you're wrong. Cook it any more and its ruined.

Really good, big wraps are hard to find, if you've got a hispanic grocery near by they're your best bet. Fortunately our local grocery has good ones. Here I've added some Caesar salad which gives a nice flavor. I forgot to add salsa before I took the picture and had to go back later.

This is haddock with "Magic Fish" coating. Again pan fried but haddock wants to be cooked all the way through.

At home we steam the wraps before we assemble, this makes them slightly sticky which helps keep them rolled. At the great northern estate I grill them a little in a cast iron pan which seals them shut. I like the little amount of crunch they get when I do that.

I should note that this is also a good way to eat cheap, I bet we're only looking at maybe $2 per portion.