|
Remodel Project Update
2 |
|
|
Demolition |
|
| August 30, 2002
Ah, let the games begin! We had ownership of the house two months
before the tenants moved out, which we utilized digging in a new water
main and pulling out the ugly cactus and bushes in the front yard. I
also was able to set up scaffolding and knock down the chimney. As
is typical for chimneys this old, it was constructed of soft brick and
lime mortar, and wiggled back and forth when pushed on from on top (not a
good thing in earthquake country). There was no flue liner or rebar,
and the framing was charred where it was alongside the chimney.
This was the first sign to the neighborhood that something major was
about to happen.
The next day Jim's tree service pulled out the three humongous Washingtonia
Robusta palm trees that hadn't been trimmed in years.
|
 |
| Aug. 4, 2002
Bill's Crane Service showed up bright and early to lift the package
air-conditioner off the roof. Took all of 5 minutes. An
air-conditioning company hauled it off free for the salvage value (I'm
glad, as it weighed around 400 pounds!).
After Bill drove off, Tom's insulation pulled up and proceeded to
vacuum out all of the blown-in fiberglass insulation from the attic (way
better than having to scoop it out ourselves!). |
|
| Bart showing excellent form demonstrating the
fine art of plaster demolition. We would all become experts by the
time we were finished.
About this time the roofers showed up to tear off the tin roof and the
shingles below it. I was happy to pay them to do it, as they did the
hot, dangerous job in about three hours and hauled it all off.
|
|
| Most of the plaster demo (80 cubic yards worth)
was done by kids under 13 or women over 45. People quickly learned
that if they stopped by to say hi or see the new place, I put them to
work. |
|
| After removing door casings and other trim, I
would go around with the sledgehammer and whack the plaster all over the
wall to crack and loosen it. Then the kids would get a crowbar
behind it and scrape the plaster off the lath onto the ground. The
ladies would shovel it into wheelbarrows, and then one of the guys would
push it to the dumpster. |
 |
| Things seem to move rather quickly at this
stage, as it only takes a few hours to gut a room. I was
thinking that we should have the whole place complete by Christmas at the
latest. Ha! Was I wrong. |
 |
| August 10, 2003
The evening shift shows up to tear down lath from the day's plaster
demo. I'm running out of ways to lure people over here.... |
 |
| For the kids it was kind of fun, as they got to
destroy something. Instead of being told to be careful and not break
anything, I'm telling them "Whack it! Really hard! That's
it, now pull it down!" |
 |
| At $274.75, the dumpsters were a pretty good
deal considering all they held (40 cubic yards). We would fill up
four of them by the time we were done, as well as a 20-yard "heavy
box" that would be filled with brick. |
|
| To knock the ceilings down, I waited until after
the roof was stripped so it would be a little cooler in the attic, then
whacked them with a sledgehammer from on top. It took about 4 hours
to do the whole house, and another four hours for all the dust to settle. |
 |
| Little by little we put more of the house that
we had paid good money for into the dumpster. And little by little
the places of rot, termite damage, substandard construction and years of
bad repairs and remodels started to show themselves. |
|
| At night after a hard day's work, it was weird
to shut the lights off and see the stars through the open roof. It
would be months (and several rainstorms) before we would have a roof
again. |
 |
| People would say "Oh, I hear you're
remodeling a house". I then show them this picture, and they
say "That's not a remodel, that's tearing the whole thing
down!" |
 |
