Thy middle name is demolition

My Partner in Crime...

Demo Day Two...

This summer I have been told that I have to increase my home renovation contributions.  Apparently blogging, documenting and picking paint colors aren't helping the timeline.  So, unfortunately I will be getting my hands dirty this summer.  Very dirty.

This is my partner in crime.  No we are not surgeons.  If we were, I assure you we would pay someone to do our dirty work!

Here are photos of the second day of demolition...

Fun with the Sawzall

The Electrician baffled by the circuitry...

Unfortunately you really can't get a good sense of how gross this is.  So here are some dead things that fell out of the wall.

The bathroom was added in 1973.  Space was carved out of the two bedrooms.  

Removing the wall between the bathroom and Cassie's bedroom.

Another shot from the bedroom of the now-exposed bathroom.

The bedroom/bathroom.  Not sure how my foot got in there...

The bathroom when there were some walls left...

The view from the hallway...

The highlights...

• When the husband tells you a circuit is dead, NEVER believe him.  
• When you gut 100+ year old outer walls, be prepared for a shower of mice feces and unidentifiable skeletons...Also the occasional intact mouse (dead and mummified).  WEAR A FACE MASK!
• Be prepared to vacuum and mop at least 100 times to get rid of the dust.  Then demo again.  

The daughter is not impressed by her new bedroom/bathroom combo.  She is plotting to move in with the neighbors for the summer.  She said "How am I supposed to get dressed?"  "How are people supposed to shower?"  "This is disturbing".  Wait until she sees the new (temporary) outdoor shower on the back porch (coming soon)...she may just give up bathing for the summer...

So it begins...(again)...

Summer has arrived.  The kids and I finished our last days of school and work together this year and now I am off for eight weeks.  Usually summer is about fun and recharging, the days are much less structured and we sleep in.  This year we are demoing the bathroom.  The only full bathroom in the house.  And I only have eight weeks until we return to the whirlwind that is fall - we hit the ground running with work, and school, and soccer.

Bedroom Corner BEFORE

You would think that demoing the bathroom would be limited to the bathroom,  but we have this small problem called a large window.

Originally there were two windows.  We had to gut the wall with the window to get a sense of what was originally there so we could order appropriate sized new windows.

We want to remove the one window, put the two windows back with a wall in between to separate the bedroom from the bathroom.  A STRAIGHT wall. The Current wall angles in to avoid the window and creates a very awkward bathroom space.  We want to make the bathroom a square instead of a trapezoid.  Crazy, I know.

Demo Day One:

Removing the first wall...

The first wall wasn't so bad.  It was covered with rough boards, but no plaster or wall board, so other than the occasional splinter it went quickly.

Of course then we had to peel off the thick plastic and get into the mouse dropping filled insulation.  Itchy and gross.

The first lively discussion was held about only wanting to do in this room what was necessary for the bathroom vs. just gutting the damn room.  The trouble with only doing part is that you live with a partially gutted room for a long time before having to go in and finish wrecking the place.  While your hands are already dirty, well...  I won't spoil it for you and tell you which side won...

Gutting the window

Yesterday we went to Home Depot and ordered two windows to the tune of $1K.  Ugh.  Yes they are Andersen 400 grade, traditional colonial style windows with wood inside and 3 over 3 grids.  We went crazy and got the stool.  If you don't know what that is, well let's just say I am jealous!

The bad news is that the windows take "about four weeks" to come in.  It is that word about that worries me.  That puts us half way through our timeline.  Ouch.  But don't worry, there is lots we can do without windows.

Stay tuned for more demo fun...