Sunday, March 17, 2013

Progress through Week 2

Sorry for the delay in updating our progress folks.  It's been very busy as you can imagine and we are simply exhausted by the end of each week. 

I will provide the re-cap on the previous 2 weeks' activities first and then follow with the pictures:

1. Old sub floor planking screwed to floor joists with 3" screws, about 500 of them.  Then new underlayment of 1/2" CDX Plywood, screwed again to floor joists with 3" screws on 10" centers.  This will make a very strong and stable floor to tile on without cracking issues.

(Translation: the floor is stronger and better.)

2. New plumbing  and wiring have been installed.  We ran into two snafus, which delayed our progress by a few days.  First, we failed the plumbing inspection but passed electrical.  The plumbing was a minor fix (thank goodness) and passed when the inspector returned.  There was one electrical issue that we just could not figure out what was wrong.  So, a friend recommended an electrician and we had the pro come out.  Between him and Chris, they got the problem fixed!

3.  Insulation.

4. Sheet rock -- It's starting to look like a room again!

And now, enjoy the pictures:





    


We had some extra help.  :)








New plumbing


New wiring




Along this wall is where the micro-hood will be installed.  You can see the square frame for its spot.

           

         Wires everywhere!




Insulation Day.  The pink stuff, NO cellulose!



I was given the job of using the staple gun.  Can't believe Chris trusted me with that thing.




Matt, as always, was a tremendous help.














Now the sheet rock:





Plumbing hook-up for the ice maker and water dispenser in the refrigerator. 


This electrical box is what gave us hell, but, with the help of the electrician, we got it working.

We even put in the new door from the kitchen to the back patio!





We are really getting sick of take-out.  So, Chris decided to hook-up the camp stove in our temporary kitchen in the basement and made breakfast for dinner. 


Never mind the blatant warning on the camp stove about using it inside.  Oops.


Sunday, March 3, 2013

D-Day!

 The countdown begins:

March 2, 2013:  The calm before the storm.....






The picture to the right is where the stove used to be.

 




The corner shown in the picture on the right is where the refrigerator was.







I was given the privilege of taking the first swing!





Heeeeyyy, battabatta....heeeyyyy, battabatta.....






                        SA-WIIING!!!!!!!




Don't mess with me when I'm holding a hammer.



March 3, 2013.  A day that lived in infamy.






Out come the cabinets.





Next the sink.....





Now the fun part....knocking out the walls!


Our house had cellulose insulation.  Stuff is a bloody nightmare!




These guns are ready to go.


You know those shows where the hosts chase ghosts and other paranormal activity?  We've discovered their secret.  Those so-called "orbs" of light that appear in the camera picture are nothing but dust!



Out comes the floor.





Look at that hunk-of-a-man with that manly saw.














 And then, all was quiet.....





 I spent the better part of the day going to town with the shop vac to every nook and cranny and along the walls.  It's amazing how much dust was generated.  Thank goodness for N-95 masks!






 I even took the vac to the ceiling beams.  Now more than ever am I grateful for the exercise classes I teach.  Manual labor takes some serious endurance and core strength! 





Anytime you tear out the walls in an old house, you're bound to find some issues that need to be addressed or fixed.  We found evidence of some termite activity in a corner along the ceiling (picture below).  Luckily the damage wasn't too extensive.  For a house built in the 40s and this is the only problem we found, I'd say we did pretty well!



All in all, the demo went smoothly and we go a lot accomplished this weekend.  We cannot thank our friends enough who came out and helped us this weekend.  Stay tuned as we start to put it all back together!