We continue to work on demo, and we ordered dumpster #4 on Monday. For those of you playing along at home, that's 80 cubic yards of debris that we have already hauled, carried, tossed and dragged out of this house. Our new dumpster is a 20 yard, the same size as dumpster #1 so we're aiming for a project total of 100 yards. That does not include ripping out the wheelchair ramp, although it could happen. Who knows. The new dumpster may even be dumpster #1, except it didn't smell like spam last time. Or maybe it's urine. Hobos? Food? Who can say. What adventures are dumpsters having while they're off duty?
The mold remediation is finished except for a little clean up. The entire basement has been scrubbed, sprayed with mold killing chemicals and then sprayed with Kilz. Ceiling, walls, floors, everything. It's taking a long time to dry since we keep having thunderstorms, and the air conditioning isn't turned on because everything is wrapped in plastic. But it's nice to know that the mold is (almost entirely) gone, and it was super nice to have guys working in the house. It's like we're not doing this alone! (We're not, but it often feels that way, round about 4pm and/or 12 am). I was telling the mold guys this and they said, "makes you feel like there's someone else pulling the rope?" Which is almost exactly the case. The surveyors finished staking out the property lines today in anticipation of fence building, and our replacement bricks have come in and the mason is waiting for a dry day to climb up on the roof and rebuild our chimney. So things are happening. We are going to make some final decisions on plumbing and electrical, since that's holding up just about everything else at this point, and get something going on the door replacement and gutter fronts asap. We've had a lot of gutter quotes, but so far no one seems to think that our copper gutters can be repaired. Tragic, but not entirely implausible. I have yet to see gutters offered in a patina green shade. Phooey.
So in preparation for guys of the plumbing and electrical varieties, I took off the dining room side of the nasty wall today. I'm not going to lie, when the Mr. asked me my plans for the day and I very seriously said, "oh, I think I'll take out the wall" - I felt like a bada$$. The lath was in bad shape and the joists need to be cleaned and possibly Kilzed as well so it was a very dirty job. If a toilet drain had exploded all over you and then been left to sit for an indeterminate number of years, you would probably be in bad shape too. Even so, it was nice to see the sun shining into the dining room. The Mr. took off the kitchen side of the wall at the end of last week, and fought valiantly to remove the laundry chute. It seemed like an impossible task from that side, and he also realized once the wall was down that the plumbing was flat against the dining room side of the wall, so we would have to take it down to remove the pipes. Which sounds crappy, but we always wanted to open up this wall in the first place, and our plumbing/electrical situation is just making that a reality sooner rather than later. The laundry chute (on the right) is actually soldered to a piece of metal that we discovered underneath the middle section of remaining lath, which explains why the Mr. wasn't getting anywhere trying to rip it out from the other side of the wall. The other chute is a heating duct that runs right up to the bathroom, and opens up at the top of the tub. So every time they got out of the tub or bent over to wash their hair or whatever, water was running straight down the chute. We will take it out/move it someplace more convenient, so we should be able to push this wall back at least past the heating duct. That will bring a lot more light and communication into our kitchen/dining room, even if it takes us some time to get the cabinets and peninsula put in place according to the plan.
Communicating with the ghosts of plaster past.
In other news, the tack strips and staples are gone from the living room and the stairs. The stairs are actually really beautiful, if now completely full of holes and scratches. I hate that amber red carpet more every day.
From a few steps back, you can almost see how awesome they're going to look when they're all fixed up. Don't be scurred by the boarded up window. It's fine, we covered it up to protect it (and us) during demo.
Have I ever shown you my awesome mirrored door? It's awesome.
And most awesomely, an AMAZING housewarming gift arrived this week. It is so sweet. Recycled plastic that can be washed after every cloud of demo dust or sidewalk chalk or sticky popsicle or spilled beer and will look beautiful for as long as we live here. Our breaks are a lot more restful and relaxing, especially when we get a little afternoon rain and the windows are open. It helps - physically and mentally - to sit and swing and think about when this project will be mostly finished and we can have lazy weekend mornings or afternoons with the Kid or glasses of wine with friends on the porch. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
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