While we went on holiday for a few days to the coast, painter Doug Guildford got right to work. We returned Saturday to discover the living room, both our offices, the Maine bedroom and sitting…

Renovating an old house, everyone seems to know, takes longer than a new build. And extra steps are needed to salvage and reuse old materials, as we are doing for the Red House. We have…

Yes, it has been 52 weeks since we started this renovation project blog. On July 10, 2023 I photographed Al and Josh salvaging barn boards from the old screen porch. It won’t be long now…

The team from Anmar Plastering has taken over the farmhouse bringing with them the tools of their specialized trade. Though we have yet to see one of these craftsmen using them, they strap on stilts…

As June makes way for July, sheet rockers make way for plasterers. The walls are covered and the floors cleared of debris. After seven days of work, the crew was deservedly proud. This project is…

This week a new crew came in to install plaster board on all the walls and ceilings. Plaster board is a type of drywall finished with a special paper designed to adhere to veneer-plaster. This…

This week in Maine’s Western foothills, we’ve had an unpredictable mix of sunshine and summer rain. It’s been hot enough to sweat through your Carharts while working outside, then suddenly cool enough for hail. Our…

This week crews working on the exterior siding and interior insulation made progress incrementally. The clapboards went up row by row; the cellulose insulation was blown in stud cavity by stud cavity. The work will…

It took teamwork to locate and uncover the artesian well and pump Nils and his brother, Peter, believed was buried “somewhere under the driveway” about 50 years ago. They deduced that the well was drilled…

Siding has begun! When the old ceilings came down, we were thrilled to see the Red House’s original wooden beams, but when interior walls were demolished, what was exposed was not so pretty. The Federal…

With two and a half months to go, there is still much to do to complete the Red House’s renovation, but the project has progressed to the point where it’s beginning to be possible to…

We have been away on holiday, taking a much-needed break from construction decision-making and returned home to see things looking up on several fronts: The attic. The Keeping Room hearth. Exterior trim. Front porch. Back…

It’s been almost a year since we cleared out the old farmhouse in preparation for this renovation project. Time to pause and take a look at the big picture, see how far we have come,…

As anyone who has built a house knows, the window install is a great milestone in the construction process. This milestone at the Red House was made more dramatic for having to be completed in…

It’s mud season in Maine, time for ducks to start building their nests, and for Gagnon Geothermal to get their ducts in a row. Nick Gagnon started on Monday at the Red House, setting up…