Demolition: If it Ain't Broke, Don't Fix it!

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it......but I'm pretty sure I just broke it" is what was going through my head when I was doing this:

Yep! I have been a busy girl, ripping and tearing.  Michael was gone all last week on business so it was left to me to get started.  We had to start right away (which I wanted to do anyway) because we are having the heating and air conditioning people out to install our new unit and duct work on Monday (crazy!).  In order for them to do what they need to do, we had to open up walls and rip down the ceiling in the basement.  So that's what I did!

Before Michael left though, we had our first workday out at the house where we shared our first meal together.  A little picnic in the living room. You can say it.  "Awwwwwwwww"

And see that carpet? Well, I ripped that up.  It's gone!

And finding the hardwood underneath was enough to make my week! The plan is to get them refinished so we cannot wait to do that down the road after we patch all the areas where walls have come down.

Anyway, once Michael left for Alabama, it was on! My first target? The nastiest carpet you have ever seen... or smelled.  Ew! The basement carpet had been worn down to the pad and had a lot of lingering animal smells in it. So it had to go.  See the dark area in the picture below? Yeah... that's thread bare carpet.  When I tore that I up, it was like sawdust underneath.  Crazy. 

Here's the before demo picture of the basement:

 And here's the after demo picture:

I did that! I'm so proud! :-) And I had sooooooo much fun! There is something just so satisfying about tearing a room down to the studs.  Speaking of studs... Funny story:

So after I had piled all of the nasty carpet outside, I asked my dad to come over and help me drag it into the garage where it would wait to be thrown into the dumpster that had yet to be delivered to our house.  So he comes barreling over the field and through the creek.  He gets out of his truck, looks at the pile of nasty, stinky carpet and says "You could burn this."  I just look blankly at him and thought to myself, "I don't want to smell this stuff the way it is, and I definitely don't want to know what is smells like when it is burning!"  As I was thinking this he had already gotten into he truck and he pulls out a blow torch (yes, my dad keeps a blow torch in his truck... doesn't yours?), then he starts dragging a piece of the carpet toward the old burn pile on our property.

And this:

 Turned into this:

I just laughed! What else could I do? Avoid standing down wind... that's also what I did. 

So back to business, after tearing out the carpet, I had to scrape the whole floor too to get the pad up.  What a workout!  Then I tore down the ceiling tiles and after that I moved to tearing off the paneling.  I was always just a little afraid of what I was going to find around every corner.  But really I only found a very small amount of mold in one corner, 1 cockroach, and some walnuts.  Walnuts? Yes walnuts, I guess there had been a little critter storing them up in the drop ceiling of the basement and they all came crashing down on me as I pulled some ceiling tiles down.  Like a walnut waterfall!... Except not beautiful at all. And very very dirty.

So demoing the basement was a big deal and when Michael FINALLY came home I was so glad to see him, I made him clean up all the scrap wood that I had knocked down.  :-) What a welcome home party huh? He was a good sport about it but he was anxious to get his own hand in the drywall.

We moved upstairs and this is what we accomplished this week.  Boom:

Looking through the kitchen into dining room

Opposite side of kitchen

Looking into living room from front door 

From living room toward kitchen and dining room

It's already starting to feel more open! There are more walls to be torn down so stay tuned! We also met with a bunch of people to get quotes on windows, siding, hardwood refinishing, geothermal units, kitchen cabinets.  So also stay tuned for more details on those items as well. 

In summery, here is are few things I have learned this week

1. Demolition is fun

2. Demolition is a good workout

3. My new favorite tool is called the "Wonder Bar"

4. I have a favorite tool

5. Carpet burns 

6. I appreciate having my husband around (I kinda already knew that though... it was just a good reminder)

7. The rule that, in renovating, things are ALWAYS more expensive than you think they are going to be, is only true half of the time.  But when it's true, it is too true. :-(

8. Wear a mask. It makes your face crazy hot but it's better than getting the black lung. 

9. Demolishing part of your house is no way to show off your new haircut! 

10. There's no good way to keep plaster from falling down your shirt

Happy Weekend! Michael and I are off to Chicago to celebrate our anniversary!