...And Then There Were None!

So after many weekends of sledgehammers, pry bars, contractor bags (roughly 200 so far), and dirt, we finally finished the demo for the 3rd floor! It's hard to understand sometimes how much dirt and dust a house can hold in it's walls after 100 years. I mean it's astounding.

We haven't quite finished taking all the bags of debris down to the living room, but all the walls, framing, and ceiling supports are gone. It is a momentous day for us to have all the walls down and finally see the space as one big room. I think Bryan would like to keep the whole floor open as one room, but that would eliminate the bathroom. (it's Bryan...I'm thinking a bar, pool table, plasma and two couches. PLEASE help me make this happen with the boss!!!)

I however do hold onto the idea of the vaulted ceiling bedroom with wonderful evening sunlight, and the spa like bathroom, with claw foot soaking tub, and one of those book holder things that goes across the tub......

somehow we have to compromise, or at least find room somewhere for the plasma TV!

...and the Wall Came Down

So after our great accomplishment of actually building something yesterday, it was back to demolition today. The largest of the remaining walls came down today, and as shown in the picture we figured out how to get it down in one piece (thank the Maker for reciprocating saws).

I think now that we are about done, we finally figured out how to make a bit less of a mess. We now have 35+ bags of rubble in the living room, but the 3rd floor is almost empty!

Some might just call it a door....

But I call it VICTORY!

It's Bryan. Today I completed my 2 week project of creating a new gate/door for our back wall. I started it 2 weeks ago by cutting all of the wood to length and creating the frame (I think Christina posted some pictures). Over the past week after work, I've been sealing the pine, and Christina helped me with the last of that on Thursday.

Anyway, today was the day to assemble, and after about 8 hours in the awesome weather (for once) we now have a gate/door for our back yard into the alley.

Take a look at the pictures, and comment back on how "Great" and "Wonderful" the door is, and even maybe "A feat of engineering and carpentry unmatched since the pyramids". I know....it's true.

Now it's time for a beer!

Cat Wonderland

So the weather has finally cooperated a bit, and with a little spring fever we both left work early today. I put the final coat of polyurethane on the boards for the door, and Bryan did a bit more demo on the 3rd floor. The wall between the rooms is totally down, the doors are off, and a good chunk of the wall in the hall is down as well. Now that there are no doors to the 3rd floor the poor cats have permanently dirty paws. We hope to get the door together and hung this weekend along with the rest of the demo so that we can get on the contractors schedule for sometime soon to frame the new walls!

Successful Stairs

So after many somewhat fearful trips up and down our top flight of stairs they have successfully been jacked back into place and secured. Bryan also met with the License and Inspections officer on Friday and we officially have a demolition permit to post in our front window. Now that we are legal and the stairs no longer bounce as you walk down them we are off at much a quicker pace! If only the weather would cooperate so that we could finish the door......

Demolition and Wisdom Teeth

Last Thursday Bryan had 2 of his wisdom teeth taken out, and came through with flying colors. We then spent Saturday at Lowe's getting flowers and a few odds and ends to try and finish the back door for the fence. The weather didn't really cooperate much, and we managed to get 1 coat of finish on the boards before the rains came. Undaunted Bryan did some more demo to check the areas of the ceiling around the stairs since our contractor is showing up this week to re-support them from the 2nd floor up to the 3rd floor. We also finally rolled up the rug in the living room, which makes the room feel quite large. It is good to see progress though, and we will keep posting pictures as we move along! So check back for more.....

Backyard Fun

To get ready for spring we got a tree in December from a local guy who picked it up for us as part of a fund raiser for Columbus Square Park which is just a block from us. The city and local groups helped fund a major renovation with a new dog run, playground, community building, and new baseball field. Our little Magnolia Grandiflora should bloom sometime this Spring. We also got a new block wall in February before our old one ended up in the neighbors kitchen! It had been leaning a bit and seemed to get much worse this winter, since there was no foundation under the block! Bryan also got to play with some power tools this last weekend building a new wooden door to replace the sheet of plywood, which was our temporary fix. I planted some more flowers and tried to weed our slightly rock filled patch of yard! Since it was all concrete just 2 summers ago, I feel like we have made great progress!

Demolition!

We took down most of the wall between the two 3rd floor bedrooms to open up the space, and also took down some of the larger supports for the plaster ceiling. We are also trying to sell the rug and runner that came with the house, so we had to clean up dirt under the runner on the stairs that was easily 50+ years old. Not a particularly fun job, but it is great to see progress! Bryan is much better at the heavy lifting, and I do better with the photography of the action....

New Dishwasher!

Many thanks to everyone who helped us with the Lowe's gift cards at Christmas. Christina waited patiently until FREE installation (she's very good at that) and then pounced. I received a C- on the stainless steel in our fifties kitchen, but what can you do.

- Bryan