Construction Recap: Part 1

Real Progress on our New Space

Now that construction on our Vermont bakery is wrapping up, we wanted to share some of the highlights of this long process we’ve been through. Construction has been on and off (mostly on) for the six months that we’ve lived here, and to be reaching the final stages now feels like such an accomplishment. We’re so grateful to our contractor and his team for all their hard work converting a 125-year-old horse barn and hayloft into a fully-functional bakery space for us.

If you recall from our October update, we began with a just single layer of wooden beams as the only thing separating our space from the outside world. This recent construction began with framing in real walls and spray foam insulation. As much as we miss the beautiful old wood, protection from the elements is essential now that the outside temperature stays below freezing for weeks at a time.

Our spiral staircase was a fantastic find, and it allowed us to reconfigure the bakery space to both maximize our square footage and to get away from the original, very steep, very short steps that were from a time when people had tiny feet.

The construction workers were constantly amusing us with their creative solutions to various logistical problems. As much as the spiral staircase was a huge improvement for us, it made it challenging for the workers to get their materials upstairs. Passing things through the window was their solution, and it was wild to watch them do so with such ease.

There were a few pieces of the original wood which we removed and saved for window trim and other, more decorative uses. Cleaning off a century of dust was an essential step to preserving the wood and making the pieces usable for our space. Here’s Mauricio working hard with a scrub brush in the snow.

These are just a few of the many steps we and our construction crew have taken to prepare our bakery space. We’ll share more soon!