Demolition rocks!

My day started with a meeting with a landscaper. She was really nice, and I think she'd be great to work with. We walked through the yard, and I told her what the issues are and what our goals are. We also looked through a huge book of photos, and I told her exactly what I liked and didn't like and why. I was surprised to learn I know a lot more about what I like than I thought. I feel really clueless about this part of the remodel, more so than the rest of it. Even though I liked her, I will still interview at least two others.

The porta-potty showed up today on schedule, without even a call. That's two days in a row of things running on schedule! I had the drivers place it in the backyard so nobody walking by will be tempted to use it.

After meeting with the landscaper and talking about the yard, I just couldn't stand looking at the flimsy, falling-down, rusty archway out front. It just had to go now even though it wasn't on the critical path. I went at it with metal shears and a pruner and in half an hour it was down. I did save the night blooming jasmine, which most people think has a nice smell. My mom thinks it smells like urine. I left a good portion of the bush tied to a stake that I cut to the height of the front wall. I'm pretty sure I saved all the snails in the bush, and there were quite a few! Having a dumpster gave me liberty to throw away the rest of the junk the seller left on the front lawn. I only have to get rid of the oil, and it will be dejunked. I still want to take down the wall out front, but it's not a critical path item. I learned today that with all this hard work, sometimes I just have to step away and do something for my heart rather than what the critical path dictates. Just doing this one little thing pumped me up so much and gave me motivation to continue.

Here is the arch before. It looks much worse in person.



Here it is after. The yard still needs a lot of work, but I think it's an improvement.


Around lunchtime, I met with a structural engineer. We wanted him to look at three things - first, the structural soundness of the foundation. There are some large cracks that concerned us. Second, there are some large trees planted really close to the house. Third, we have a concrete foundation out back where the previous owner was going to build a rental unit. We want to rip it out (it's unpermitted) and grass it over. But, we are concerned it may impact the retaining wall between us and our back neighbors. Well, the good news is the house is completely structurally sound. He was not at all concerned, and in fact said our foundation was in excellent condition and had good workmanship. Yay! He felt the cracks were not serious and could be fixed. He also felt the trees posed no threat, as did the landscaper. Yay again! As far as the concrete, I have to have three large holes dug and let the engineer come back for another look.

Sometime recently I must have really bumped my head. I have a huge swollen bump on it near the front. It hurts! The funny thing is I don't remember doing it.

After meeting with the engineer, I went back to demolition. I completely love demolition! It's addicting - I just keep thinking one more piece, one more beam, just that one board. It is really fun and satisfying. It is really a sense of accomplishment with this. I got the linen closet that I started yesterday completely down.

Here is a before shot of the linen closet:


Now it's gone!


I removed the entire soffit over the vanity. I think it was framed to withstand an attack from a band of marauders. Seriously, there were two 2x4's framing a lot of it, and it was just decorative! Inside it was a hanging flourescent light. I shut of all of the breakers for safety and then I disconnected the wires and cut it down. I am learning that demolition is more about finesse, technique, patience and problem solving than brute strength. I am fairly strong and physically fit for a 39-year old woman, but I am no brute. I found that technique works better than force. When starting an area, I first spend some time figuring out how all the pieces connect and which should be removed first. Then it's insert the crowbar, pry a little, wiggle the crowbar, pry a little more, change to a different crowbar, pry a little more, step back and reassess, maybe change techniques. It's also challenging to get the pieces off the ceiling safely while working alone.

Here is a picture of the soffit gone. Unfortunately I couldn't do any better with the light and couldn't find a suitable before picture. Suffice it to say the area over the mirror had a 18" tall by 24" deep soffit in it. The holes in the corner are from my prying with the crowbar.


I also managed to get one sink removed. I started to do the vanity, and then realized it was good to stand on while demolishing the soffit, so I stopped halfway. I had to go under the sink and disconnect the water and drain. It was nasty to see the drain still had water in it after months of no use.





While demolishing the vanity, I was also working my way across and removing tiles. You wouldn't believe how many wacks with a sledgehammer the tiles will stand up to. In some cases it took 4 full strength wacks just to get some cracking. Wow, it's a wonder they ever break.