That Hole's Supposed to Be There, Sort Of

Since the addition and renovation project also involved installation of a completely new HVAC system, the opportunity was there to get this old house to feel more comfortable and for it to feel more consistent throughout the house. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that the design of the downstairs system successfully accounted for the different heating and cooling needs in the kitchen, and I ended up having a separate zone system installed to separate it from the rest of the downstairs.

But before taking that costly step, the HVAC installer wanted to try some other remedies first. One of those was to relocate the downstairs thermostat from the front entry hallway and to put it between the old and new parts of the downstairs, in a transition area that has been named the "anteroom." This didn't solve the problem, so the thermostat was relocated to its original location and the kitchen got its own zoned thermostat. That means a brand new wall outside the butler's pantry was left with an unnecessary hole. This shot is of the beginning stages of repair.

Update [March 15]: Pete LaRoque, the general contractor, has now finished filling this hole and it has been painted over.