It all began with the insurance company

After my father passed away the house went into probate, what came next were the tax bill and the insurance renewal. Because the house was now listed as an estate the insurance company had to treat it like a new policy, so they sent out a photographer, My major concern at the time was the roof, the chimney and adding a garage. The Insurance company's concern was the kitchen floor because there was a lifted section under the table, they called it a trip hazard, sure I guess someone could trip on the section but they would have to have been short enough to walk under the table. the other concern they had was the cement front steps because the north side of the steps had a hole where three cinder blocks met. The insurance company was worried about structural integrity. The fact the no one used the steps because they were buried under a handicap ramp seemed not to interest them at all. So contractors were called in. Mazzella Brothers in Groton handled the hall and kitchen floor. The fact that the entire area of the kitchen ceiling, walls, cabinets, etc were to be cleaned, stripped and painted and the new floor would be under all that was not their concern. 

Doug Junior from the Motorcycle Club helped remove the ramp, and Doug Senior lined up a contractor to do the concrete steps. Of course the ramp would not be able to go back up because it no longer met code, new ramp $7000.00 so...no ramp. M&W Enterprises came in, removed the old steps and poured new ones. According to the building codes, because the steps were under 32 inches in height no railing was required. The steps were poured, the contractors left. The insurance company wanted railings, according to insurance law, anything over three steps requires a railing. So because the contractors were already at other sites and could not get back in time the insurance company removed Liability from the insurance. Had they mentioned it at the time it could have been done when the steps were built, because it was a fresh pour there was no way to drill into the concrete anyway because it hadn't cured. it would be a little while before the railings could be added and Liability protection restored.

Meanwhile, the kitchen floor... The original floor tile under the linoleum was laid down in the late 50's, back then the tile was asbestos. This was a problem, because to remove the old tile would require hiring a Hazardous Materials handling team to rip it up and remove it, But... it turns out that while you can't remove it, you can drill into it and place a sub-floor for the new flooring. This is the way we went, of course now there had to be drop moldings added to take care of the lip the new floor height was causing with the connecting rooms.