Sexy motor, changes in the air

This week arrived a big moment that D. has eagerly awaited for months: the installation of the sexy elevator motor. According to the installation crew, this cutting edge motor design is shaking up the industry and becoming very popular. It uses very little space and energy. It hangs on the wall of the elevator shaft at the 5th floor level. The guide rails now reach the full height of the shaft. The elevator is still being powered by a simple winch motor; next week it should start running under its own power.

Significant progress on the third, biggest clerestory that will light the center of the 2nd floor. The frame is complete - and it's surprisingly tall! Two reasons for that: first, its base is at the level of the 2nd floor ceiling, which is almost 2 feet below the level of the new 2nd floor roof; second, the windows have to be high enough over the roof level that snow drifts won't pile up and melt into the house. (and this height was not necessary on the other clerestories because...?)

Sheetrocking continues; the 4th and 5th floors are nearly complete. Although sheetrock hasn't begun on the 3rd floor, it's becoming hard to remember what it was like to stand in the same spot when it was a ratty old roof. The space is increasingly interior; the air seeping under the old roof door must feel and smell dramatically different. It has awoken Charlie's curiosity; after months of ignoring the upstairs action, he is now very insistent about getting out there.

Charlie was quite freaked out by the transformation of the space we live in this week. In preparation for cutting more holes in the ceiling to install more new light fixtures, the entire house was draped in plastic sheeting. At least it was when I left in the morning. Turns out they needed to stand on the kitchen counters to work, so things like teapots got left out in the dust after all. And of course D. couldn't live with the TV under wraps all day. So far we've completed about 3 rounds of vacuuming and mopping, an removed about 1/2 the sheeting. The sheeting smells awful; it's a good thing it hasn't been too cold out, because we definitely need venting. However, we can't remove it all because the crew has to come back for more work.