Adventures in moving cross country- Volume 8: DEMO TIME!
Afterwards James jumped up and down and squealed "I did something manly! I did something manly!"
Having just a taste of the work that went into taking down a small wall makes it even more impressive to see what kind of demo has been going on in our house in Michigan!
"Mr. Gorbechev, tear down this wall!" is an oft heard joke among those in the demolition community.
The first picture that we received about the work being started may still be my favorite. The unfortunate wall that bisected the beautiful wood beams and isolated the columns from each other in the big main room has been removed! I can't wait to see how dramatic it will feel to walk in from the mudroom into a giant room accented with all these beautiful wood pieces connected! It is sure to be better than finding myself in a long hall with a somewhat puzzling column standing by itself.
I already feel like I can already sleep better in here.
The more significant demolition that needed to be done was the removal of all of the water damaged areas from the master bedroom and 2nd floor bathroom. So pretty much removing EVERYTHING from this area. The 3rd floor horror show of a shower had created a real mess. The crew had to take out everything down to the studs and then shore up the rotten pieces to maintain the structural integrity. I guess that's cool, if you're into not waking up in the middle of the night with the 3rd floor bathroom on your bed.
With the most significant pieces taken apart, the work to put it back together has already begun.
New and improved! Now with 97% less rotten crap!
You can slap new wood on it, but it doesn't mean it's not still haunted.
Seeing solid floors where there were otherwise holes and rot definitely makes the project seem less like a terrible decision we made on a whim. It probably still is, but it's our decision and we love it!
The other big projects that were prioritized included building a kitchen from a room that had presumably been used as a bedroom and personal living space (complete with murder pantry) for the past who-knows-how-long.
Sometimes windows can be too big.
They needed to raise one of the windows in order to be able to fit counters beneath it. It's possible this part wouldn't have been necessary if the Brainses were a smaller people, but as the tall folk we are, this was a brilliant way to maintain the light in the area without causing chronic back issues as we cook.
Murder steps!
The murder pantry has also been converted to an internal staircase from the kitchen down into the basement. This was an obvious choice for entry because the basement is ultra creepy and deserves the most frightening point of entrance. If you are counting, this means that there are 9 staircases now!
Having a way to access where our laundry facility will be from the inside will certainly be a blessing come the snowy months since the external door is closest to the 2nd floor staircase, or by using the front door and walking all the way around the dang house.
Again, I would be remiss if I didn't mention how ridiculously awesome it is to have a friend on the ground in this whole operation. Of course there's the peace of mind in knowing everyone who's involved and that we're all in it to make sure everyone gets what they need. Additionally, it's been extra helpful to have someone who is happy to take the time to explain things that we have zero clue about and patient as all get out with all of our questions and concerns. We also have the benefit of someone who is sharing in our excitement of the work and is regularly sharing pictures and details.
#blest
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