Day 18- Bucketload of Crap

So Monday I took a friend to the doctor and took a little sister out for her birthday and that seriously took up my entire day (but a day off from dirt is usually nice)...so needless to say I made one short stop at my house where I noticed my 4TH DUMPSTER was getting kinda full. I did not budget for 4 dumpsters ($700). The first dumpster was included in my roof cost...the others have been so full when they were picked up that we got yelled at by the dumpster guy.
This 4th dumpster was actually suppose to be a 10yarder but they brought the wrong size so the guy told me not to fill it up all the way or I would be charged for a 20 yarder...not sure I can avoid it really. We are close, but it is time for another cleaning and one more plaster wall section that needs to come down. Hmmmm.

Day 16- Getting Dirty

Well the fun part of demolition is the tear down, breaking walls, using sledge hammers etc. But cleaning up always follows and it seems to take just as long...if not longer. Especially when you are tearing down plaster walls that just crumble and turn to dust. So needless to say it is boring to blog about cleaning up but basically half of the time at the house that is what I am doing. I always say I will be sick of cleaning this house before I even move into it...but what I am hoping is that when it is actually clean and livable I will just want to keep it that way all the time.

The whole house is a dusty mess and I have not been able to work upstairs without a mask on since we opened up the walls. The amount of dust and insulation and 80 years worth of crap is just floating through the air and if you are not wearing a mask you will be blowing black snot later that day (just being honest).

So, this past weekend I cleaned and also finished cleaning out all of the attic bays. Once I had decided to tear off the paneling and realized the other boards were behind it and the nasty insulation that was behind that I decided that $500 was worth paying someone else to do it. And it was a good thing I did for the following reasons:

1. It would have taken me a four days to do by myself

2. It was very hot up there and you could hardly breathe even with a mask

3. The brown mexican that went in came out black...seriously

Even this past weekend when I was just cleaning up final insulation residue my arms and face were charcoal in color and my mask was covered in dust. This is what it looked like when the walls were opened up:

This is what it looked like after I paid the guy to dig it all out:

And then I essentially this past weekend I shop vac'd all the little leftover insulation debris, ashphalt shingle debris (that had come through the rooff during tear-off) and 80 year old dust. It was not fun, but felt so good to see this at the end:

And now we are ready for new insulation!

Renovation Day 14- Final Demo

So after the waterfall we decided to rip out the plaster sticks and insulation that was between the two bathrooms...so the carefulness thatwe had taken with taking off the ceiling or my dad taking out each nail the week before was pointless...but really not very much damage for what could have been much worse. The plaster on the walls also needed to come off so the plumber could get access. So here is what it looked like in the morning...

Here is after we ripped out the ceiling exposing the pipes above...

And here are the walls after we tore off the plaster. There was a foot of plaster and sticks on the floor before we cleaned up. Can you imagine building a house with all of those sticks?? Wow.

We also finished demo of the 2nd floor. Things were really starting to open up. The picture below shows the new toy room. I have opened up the attic dorner of the house and will put in a small half-circle window instead of the vent which I sketched below:

Standing at the top of the stairs looking into Lilly's room.

Demolition Day 11- A Watering Hole

Well Monday there was now an official hole in the house because they took the rotted corner out which was caused by water damage from the gutter (if you have been following along). It was funny to see someone just walk out of my house...through the front wall vs. the door. But it all got sealed up and looks very sturdy now. I will have to grab a new picture of that!
Also, when Lisa and I walked in on Saturday we could hear dripping water. We went down to the dungeon (aka: basement) and found out the old utility sink location was dripping...weird the water to the house is turned off. So I got a wrench and turned it off. Monday morning when I came back the old shower in the basement was leaking so I turned that off. Then Tuesday the other faucet at the utility sink started running. I got that turn and then the shower head on the first floor, then the bathroom faucet, then the kitchen sink faucet...and so forth. My HVAC guy showed up and told me to turn the spicket on outside and that way it would empty the system of any water still in it. So I did that and at 8:30 last night I turned the spicket off because I thought the water had to be drained out by then even though it was still dripping. You will have to read Day 13 to hear the rest...but first I will have to write it.

Day 9- Watch Out!

My girlfriend Lisa drove 2-1/2 hours just to tear down a wall with me. And I would have to say it was pretty sweet! I don't think the girl had any idea what I had in store for her...but she was brave and swung a sledge hammer well! Her "ready" pose. The wall to be conquered.

there was a thin particle board on top of what use to be tile wainscot and red and pink ginham wallcovering above. it was crazy.

there were karate breaks... and dancing breaks...

and a giant mess to clean up...

but no worries...we are professionals!

wow...we look like men...

but don't worry...we didn't go out on the town like that!thanks girl! you rock!

Demolition Day 8- Progress

So Friday there was some big progress upstairs. (Essentially because I paid some guys to do what I didn't have the energy to do). Biggest difference was the upstairs bathroom. It use to be all peach tile...everything was peach and wallpapered.

And YES...that is wallpaper on the ceiling.

And yes, that is the same angle for this picture after they ripped everything out. The bathroom is actually a decent size...just a bad layout. No worries, I will fix that!

And the insulation board and insulation was all taken out. I will have to tell you more stories about this insulation on Day 11...suspenseful I know!

And do you remember Lilly's room before?

Well here is is paritally done. With just a quick jump to the stairs!

It is getting there...wall by wall.

Demolition Day 7- Bye Bye Paneling

This was actually easier than I expected...kinda. The entire 2nd floor which is considered 1/2 a floor? is essentially a big finished attic. The entire thing was covered in wood paneling except for the bathroom which was covered in peach tile (and wallcovering of course).

Big difference with the nasty carpet and paneling gone! Much brighter.
Now one question I do have and would love your vote on. Ok, I love the wood stairs, they are definitely keepable...although a little squeeky. But my inital thought was to carpet them with the new play room at the top of the stairs because I was worried about the kids falling down them (or myself). They are kinda steep and turn quickly 90degress at the end. What is your vote? Leave a comment to let me know!

Big Difference in Lilly's future room too.

And there is actually particle board and very old insulation behind the paneling. I comtemplated with leaving it and laminating drywall over it but decided the best idea would be to rip it all out now and do it right. But that just does not sound fun at all!

Demolition Day 6- I have a roof ...and a Hole

Don't worry...the hole isn't in the roof.
Well the rain held off and my roof got done and looks amazing. I had a neighbor stop by that night asking if I had bought the place. I said yes and she said "Well I like what you have done with it already!"...followed by "You must like projects!" Ummm....Yes, yes I do.

And while the guys were hammering away outside I dug out more of the problem corner inside and confirmed that we are going to have to tear it all out and re-frame the whole corner. Hopefully we can salvage most of the Aluminum siding we take off the corner and only spend a few hundred dollars on the structure. But right now...you can see daylight...not cool. And I think now that most things are torn out this might be the only big surprise I run into (Knock on wood...unrotten wood that is).The final item I tried to conquer that day was the dining room floor...but it conquered my instead. For some strange reason someone decided that they should install a ceramic tile over the dining room wood floor...??? I have always hoped that it is salvagable...but everyone always told me not to get my hopes up because you could not tell how they had installed the sub-floor.
So Cheryl and I had been hitting at this floor with sledge hammers randomly since we started. It was a slow process and even when I got a 3'x3' space cleared I had a hard time prying it up from underneath. The good news was that the subfloor had been glued and stapled down (instead of screwed which is good news for salvaging the wood floor) and the 3'x3' piece did come up pretty cleaned, just leaving behind a sticky residue. The bad news was...this was going to take me 2 days to do by myself. So? I paid my crew to do it and it was done in an hour. Sweet. Now I just need to scrape off the goo and try to see if it will sand down with the rest.

The Eagles Nest in the Dormer

So even since December before they flew south for the Winter there were two Sparrows scoping out where they would build a nest in the A-frame attic dormer of the house. There was a hole in the wire mesh screen behind the vent you see below. I should have closed up the hole before Spring but then again I didn't think it would take 3 months to close on this house either! So needless to say the two little sparrows were back trying to build their spring nest before I got the house last week.

Now by the size of the nest you would not think that these were two little sparrows...but more like two Eagles. I stuck my camera inside the dormer a few weeks ago bc I was afraid if I went in there they would poke my eyes out (What? Haven't you see the movie "The Birds"?)

I think their goal was to build the nest up to the vent so they could sit nicely on their eggs while watching the world outside...but holy cow that nest is 30" tall!

So I took the opportunity yesterday with my roofers there to scare them away and finally went in the attic. Their nest had collapsed a bit since the week before and I am thinking that instead of being sad about ruining their home and taking over their month of hard work that I am really helping them realize that maybe with the economy this year that a bird mansion is really not the way to go.
I am still afraid that they might find me and poke my eyes out...but I did have my dad seal up the vent until I get a new window installed. This little attic dormer/Eagles nest area is going to be finished out for a new toy room!

Sheer Brilliance

So do you ever watch Holmes on Homes on the HGTV network? Well let's just say he would LOVE this house. Because that so far whoever has done any kind of repair or renovation to this house before I bought it completely sucks (except for whoever built that extra braced wing wall in the bathroom). All the plumbing throughout has shown some sort of leak issue. There is duct tape holding together alot of the HVAC, there what is suppose to be a air supply going into the bathroom that really goes into an air return. The plaster patch in the master bedroom is the most pitiful patch I have ever seen. The false wall downstairs covering the crawl area is just scary. The tile backsplash in the kitchen looks like a 5 year old did it. The new stick down tile floors in the kitchen and bath are just plain ugly, and the basement cabling and wiring and everything else that is suspending in all directions of the ceiling kinda freaks me out.

But after yesterday I can now give an award to the top #1 Stupid Contractor- The Gutter Man. See the picture below? See the small 2'x2' gutter that is at the bottom of the A-frame dormer? Guess what- it doesn't go anywhere. It is just for symetry with the other side. So guess where the water goes that sits inside it? INSIDE the WALL! Sheer Brilliance!

Sooooooo needless to say the outside corner of my dining room is just alot of rotten wood as well as the whole structure above my front door and behind the front door. Awesome. Well honestly I cannot say that this is the biggest shocker to me, I knew there was going to be some sort of issue. I pulled back some bubbled wallpaper at least a month ago (accidentally of course since the house was not mine at the time) in one corner of the dining room and thought I saw water damage to the plaster and when I looked outside and knew exactly why. I think it just just funny as how I noticed this and not the inspector or the appraisal guy. I think I might just start my own show!

Guess I will be ripping out more plaster this weekend! And I am thinking that maybe when my gutters get installed later this week I will decide to go with what actually works vs. it looking pretty. What do you think?

Demolition Day 5- A demo crew AND a Roof!

Well I not only had a crew out on my roof yesterday, but I also had a crew inside to demo. My little sis Cheryl, parents and even my grandma came over yesterday afternoon! We tore down a ceiling (mental note to self: do not wear a tank top when tearing down a ceiling because you will be coated in insulation and just general filth). That was the messiest job yet.

But we were tough!
Plaster walls and ceiling will eventually be laminated with drywall after the plumbing all gets gutted and redone, including the bathroom above.

My dad got the 2x4 out that was the bottom of the wall I tore out the day before...I think it was more sturdy than the wall! Then we thought we were going to have to cut the drain to get the base out but no worries there! When we got down in the basement the drain just pulled right apart! Niiiiiice! Gotta love high quality.

While the inside was being gutted the roof had been torn off that morning. All three layers of shingles! Needless to say it took them longer than expected and they are wrapping it up this morning so I will post final pictures later today.

It is a pretty steep roof, they were using ropes just in case.

And you can tell it is an old house when it has 2x4 as the decking instead of plywood. None of it needed to be replaced so that was good news. The facia boards were all rotted and got ripped off along with the old old gutters. The house right now has foundation moisture issues due to the gutters essentially being non-existent for who nows how long. I even got a big surprise yesterday due to the existing gutters being installed very poorly...but that is a whole other blog.

The back of the house got wrapped up last night, the picture doesn't really do the new roof justice, it is very pretty 3dimensional shingle (color: driftwood) and will look amazing once the trim goes back up and the house gets painted my favorite color!!

Demoliton Day 4- I TORE DOWN A WALL

That was about the extent of my day, only had 2 hours on site (due to needing to work in order to have money to pay for the house). Cleaned up from the day before, ripped the rest of the carpet off the stairs and tore down the 3' wing wall at the end of the shower. And let me just say that it was the strongest little braced wing wall I have ever seen. I had three people hit it with a sledge hammer the day before and the thing didn't budge.

So I had to rip off the drywall, pull out some screws and crow bar it from the wall. It was insane but it felt pretty good!!

Demolition Day 3- All Muscles

Well it was Easter Sunday so I did take it kinda easy. Plus the muscles were starting to ache a bit...which is a good thing. I ripped this nasty-asty carpet off the cool stairs to the second floor. I am pretty sure it was put down in 1960 because of the type of carpet pad underneath it and I am guessing it had not been vaccumed in the last 10 years. At least someone hadn't locked their dog up there though like the carpet in my bedroom I removed. YUCK!

So...what do you think of the fabulous wallpaper? It is definitely vintage. I thought it was original but I discovered another pattern underneath that is even better- I will try and rip off a piece to show you.

I also had some visitors stop by for a tour and sledge hammer swing (That invitation is open to all so if you are in the area please let me know!). My bff Steph was driving through town on her way home from Tennesse where her brother and sister are starting a church plant (very cool), and decided to stop by and see the new digs! So of course I put them to work!

I think the sledge hammer weighs as much as Steph but she handled it well ...but I am not sure OSHA would approve of the flip flops or underage worker! Ha!

It was off to hide some eggs after that...but check out what I did the next day! Whooohoo!