Off we go

Construction has finally started!

We've got a top-notch mason blocking in the windows on the back side of the building (the 10 or 15 that are in the wall that's an inch from the building that was built right up against ours). Said top-notch mason happens to be my boyfriend's nephew who lives in the Midwest and is staying with us for the next month while he helps us with our brickwork. I went by the RBB today to see what all his hard labor is achieving and I must say that the results are sweet - a much cleaner, less distracting surface without all those pointless pockmarks.

He also used an electric hammer to remove most of the layer of plaster that was covering the brick wall in what will be our kitchen. We're planning to paint the brick and use it as the backsplash behind the counters.

Meanwhile, our GC brought in a crew of three to finish ripping out the wood framing that the previous owner put in. They had finished what we started on the top floor and were pretty much done the second floor when I stopped by this afternoon.

The dumpster is scheduled to arrive tomorrow so that they can pitch the old wood. Too bad we can't save it for firewood but it would be a lot of work to pull all the nails, cut it down to log-like size, bundle it and bring it home.

Yup that was a shriek of utter disbelief

'cause we just heard this morning that our municipal appeal hearing is set for April 13th. And apparently there is a waiting period of several weeks after the committee makes its decision for the decision to become final and work be permitted to start. Which means we won't have the final word on our renovation project until mid or late May! Incredible, since we started submitting paperwork to the city in early December and we received "yeses" from the two neighborhood committees in mid-January. Four months to move from that to "go"????!?!?!?! Grrr!

We're talking about ponying up our own money (the bank won't cover it) and starting work on a speculative basis, which means that if permission isn't granted in mid-April, we have to tear everything down.