Work is moving a bit faster now...

The above photo is the new floor and joists for where the second floor bathroom was. The same spot on the first floor was in similiar shape and also was fixed. When the old bathrooms were put in the owner removed a portion of the joists to lower the floor and then poured a layer of concrete. It isn't clear why this was done. Anyway, it is fixed now.

In other news, I met with the contractor last Friday and this morning to discuss a variety of things. Some of the items decided were:
-the study/first floor bedroom will be extended out into the foyer so it is larger and the foyer is smaller
-the proposed walls between the kitchen and dining room are being deleted to open up the space
-the door to the basement is being re-configured to also open up more space for the kitchen & dining room
-the current plan is to have exposed brick in the study (most of the east wall), above the fireplace and a strip in the kitchen next to the east facing kitchen
-the chimney in the southeast corner of the house (first floor bath & master bath) is being removed completely
-the wall on the dining room side of the stairs will be mostly open
-the "walls" between the living room and the kitchen will conceal the HVAC, plumbing & electrical chase and a "hidden" pantry cabinet (the west side) and a built-in cabinet opening into the kitchen (east side)
-all of the headers will be as minimial as possible so the divisions between the rooms will be minimized (except between the kitchen and living room)
-there will be a built-in linen cabinet behind the master shower
-there will also be a built-in television alcove for the master bedroom (built into the master closet)
-the window seat on the first floor will be removed but a new one will be built in the same place on the second floor

In other news, as of last Friday the contractor was concerned that the first floor hardwoods would not be able to be re-finished and saved. The good news is that the floor guy has a large amount of salvaged flooring that matches what is there so it can most likely be saved.

The neighbor on the east side has decided to chop down the tree leaning on my garage roof.

Today the brick guys were out in full force will be working on the house now full-time. Also the full construction crew was working at the house (fixing the floors and framing out the new window spaces in the back wall). Hopefully this trend (lots of people working on stuff) continues.