Work Begins

The first order of business was getting those exterior walls insulated. That's just grunt work. Smash stuff with hammers, make lots of noise with crowbars, rip stuff apart, and throw it out the door. In one weekend, we got half the house done right up to the drywall. That included rewiring, adding cable & phone along the way.

Here's the few shots I got of bare studs; this is the upstairs bathroom. I'm trying to save that wonderful tile in the tub. Still not sure how I'm going to insulate behind it.
Rear bedroom, post-demo, late night.
Living room, post-demo, partly insulated.
Dining room, post-demo, partly insulated.

We left the demo debris until the drywall was done, then cleaned it up.


I'm really happy to see that puke green wall at the bay window disappear.

Here's yours truly sweeping up at the end of the first big construction weekend. The board will go back up over the busted window in a second. Hey, we needed some airflow.

We also test-fit the cabinets in the kitchen to see where they fit. A Home Depot label was on the back of one, so their kitchen designer helped up out by finding a picture of the complete kitchen in an old real estate listing. What a break!



We also tore down the ceiling in the downstairs bathroom in preparation for replumbing the following work weekend. My dad's plan is to come down alternate weekends to help with the big stuff. I can't figure out the main workroom that contains the electrical panel and the incoming water line. What is the layout here? There is no provision for laundry, but there are copper water lines and drains all over the place. The place is shaped like some kind of alcove, but I don't know what it's for.



Part of the block has been broken off and dirt is spilling on the floor. I hope this is just fill; I'm tempted to just tear it out and see if I can get down to a footer further down. I will have to choose my battles until this place is appraised though. I've got to get a mortgage very soon to have enough dough to do more work.