My original game plan was to demo everything down to the studs.  Someone suggested that I could drywall over the plaster on the ceilings in the process of the first demo, so I altered course and left the ceiling in the dining room, majority of living room, 1st floor hall and one of the bedrooms (future office).  On the inside walls I left the lathe from approximately 30″ and up.

Well turns out that was not a good move.  The HVAC company, who has started running ducts, needed access to more joist in the non-demoed ceilings and walls.  With the high 40s/low 50s temps of last week I completed all the demo.  Cameron and his brother-in-law brought the muscle.  Fresh from my dumpster lesson I tried Whitton Containers this time.  Still not a great experience, but at least I didn’t get over charged.  I was supposed to have a Wednesday morning delivery.  It showed about 2pm (the other company did the same thing), but they knocked $50 off the price (unlike the other company).  I think they all have a racquet to get over.  Whitton told me they only had a 15 yard available, but it allowed up to 12 tons.  Well I hoped that would be enough space, but I knew weight would not be an issue.  I took a different route to the house on Thursday and low and behold I stumbled across a lot jammed packed with Whitton dumpsters.  Many larger than the 15-yard that was my “only option”.  I went from a 40 yard with low weight allowance to a 15 yard with a high weight allowance.  Something is wrong with that picture.

My dad urged me to remove all lathe and just add it back to the vertical studs were needed for the walls with doors or windows.  I took his suggestion in most areas.  No video or action shots.  Just photos of the finished product.  The other advantage to removing everything is the access I gained to even more of the knob and tubs I need to clear out.  Amazing to see how that house was wired and even more amazing that it never burned down.

I’m so ready to start rebuilding.

1st floor hallway.

Bedbroom/Office

Dining Room

Living Room

Entry Foyer

Ok it really only equals $164.75.  That’s how much money I got for taking the cast iron pipes and radiators that once heated my house to Garden Street Iron & Metal, Inc, located in my neighborhood.  The additional $2500 is the money I won’t have to pay the HVAC company if their crew removed the pipes.  Almost all of the most valuable metals had been stripped from the house already.  The valves to almost all the rads were still in place and they were brass.  On one load I had a 160 lb radiator and 35 lbs in valves.  I got $8.40 for the rad and $41.40 for the valves.

#NicoleCurtis posted a blog showing how she turned a rad into a bedroom shelf, http://www.nicolecurtis.com/blog/2016/11/13/nicoles-tried-and-true-remodeling-tips, and I thought about doing this project with the over 6′ rad (only two rads were left) that was upstairs in the new Master bedroom.  However it was too heavy to move (in one piece) and was in the way to remove the floor trim I’m trying to save and would have been in the way of the floor refinishers.  She harps a lot about saving our landfills and i agree, but if you have access to a scrap metal yard who can shred it in preparation for a new life then to me throwing out is a viable option too.

One contractor that walked through my house early on said it’s a shame that looters don’t understand that they do $1000s in damage to a person’s home for a few hundred bucks.  I totally get that now.  The worst buckling of my floors, where I’ll spend about $5,000 restoring, was probably caused from where they cut the rads without draining the water.  For code reasons (old knob and tube) I needed to rip out electric anyway, but perhaps if more scrap was left I would have rented a UHaul for one trip versus testing the stamia of my PT Cruiser.  All is good, on to tackle the next obstacle!  BTW – I’m thoroughly enjoying this journey thus far.

Today I had more meetings with contractors at the house (HKC Roofing, EverDry (again- they seem so shady to me), and Tri-State Roofing), so to kill time between the first and last I set out to reveal the full kitchen flooring; removing the last of the debris and linoleum flooring.  Aside from a few holes from the old radiator heat pipes and an approximate 5′ x 2′ bad patch the floors will be beautiful once sanded and sealed.  That bad patch would actually end up being under the cabinets, so I could just let it go (NOT).

Yellow pine tongue and groove is the sub floor of the entire house, except for the living and dining room where they laid oak on top of the pine sub floor.  I plan to let that pine sub floor be my actual flooring and I most likely won’t stain it, allowing the natural color to come through the sealant coat that will be applied.

Only thing left to do with the floor is to remove the million staples used to put down the plywood that the old linoleum was adhered to.  I’m hoping a few friends will want to bring their pliers and help me pull them out on Saturday (hint hint).

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Today was another productive day at my house.  I met with two more contractors.  Another foundation company, Everdry, and a roofer, Deer Park Roofing, regarding the box gutters.  Not a great start to the day as both provided me with 5-digit estimates to address the problems.  Not to be deterred I went back to my sweat equity work.

I totally understand why Chip Gaines loves Demo Day #demoday.  There is something exhilarating in ripping down walls, but today I set out to my original goal of removing all the trim.  I almost stayed on task.  All trim is removed from the kitchen and dining room; none damaged, so can be reinstalled.  I also managed to completely expose the brick in the kitchen.  Less than an hour, so very glad I did it.  It is going to look awesome once cleaned up and sealed.  Hopefully the vent for the stove can utilize the hole that was filled with plaster.

I also managed to free up the built-in cabinet that was located on the wall to be removed for the open concept kitchen/dining room.  I planneds to relocate it next to the kitchen door and that became a reality today.  Amazingly only 6 nails held it in place and I only had to remove two studs from one side to gain access.  The real struggle came when I realized that the 1/4″ sub-floor that was laid down for the linoleum flooring was stopping it from freeing up.  Once I got that out the way I was able to move it relatively easily (by myself) and it is going to be fabulous once it’s all cleaned up.  I can already picture my cookbooks sitting on the shelves.  Saving that piece saves me 2′ of upper and lower cabinets, cha ching!

Built-in in original location

Rear of Built-in after it was freed

Built-in in its new location

Open Concept Coming Together

The true bright spot of the day was discovering the original pine floors were in great shape underneath the linoleum sub-floor.  COST SAVINGS!!!!!  I will have these restored and sealed vs. laying new flooring.  I think the flooring area where the sink use to be will need to be replaced along with splicing in pieces to fill the radiator hole, but that will be cheaper than a whole new floor!  Hopefully it will be in equally good shape in the hall way as the linoleum runs there also.  Amazingly they put oak flooring in the living room and dining room, but pine everywhere else.