DEMO

Finally we got to start doing demo on the house. We had a structural engineer come out and let us know if and how we can vault the ceiling which was necessary before we could demo so that we knew if our plans of tearing walls down and moving the kitchen was possible. I was nervous waiting to hear if we could vault the ceilings because my entire layout of our house was based on that!

I feel like demo always starts off strong. It feels good to break drywall. There is just something about demoing that releases stress. But it does get tiring after about an hour or two, HA! Its not like the HGTV or DIY shows where all the demo is done right before your eyes while you are siting on the couch eating ice cream. By the time you are done with your bowl they have moved onto painting!

"Breaking Ground" Our friend Aeron was able to come and give us a TON of help with the demo.

Mark's dad is recently retired from his job but hasn't had much time "off" as he has been at the house helping with demo almost every day Mark is out there. He has a servants heart and we are so thankful for all his hard work. In the picture below Mark's dad is standing where one of the three bedrooms were. In front of him was another bedroom. That will be the new dining room and kitchen.

Finally a shot of Mark who has been behind the camera most of demo. He got all of the insulation out of the ceiling one afternoon. It was blown in insulation and lets just say a nasty job to get rid of it all. You don't want to breathe the air without a good ventilator. When I looked in the attic it didn't seem like it would be very much. But when he continued dumping it down I felt like I was bagging it up forever.

Luke really enjoyed helping break things too! Anytime someone hands him a hammer and the okay to hit anything in sight with it, he is a very happy guy.

It was crazy and hard to look at all the mess. There was a lot of time and energy spent getting rid of,

• 4 rooms and a flight of stairs of carpet  (with lots of staples and tack)
• duct work and furnace
• 6 walls
• most of the ceiling on the main floor
• insulation from the attic (definitely the low)
• flooring
• bathtub
• kitchen cabinets
• bathroom cabinets
• huge cast iron drain pipe
• electrical wiring, outlets, fixtures

We had a large dumpster sitting outside our house for about a week. I couldn't believe how full it was. The dumpster is gone but Mark has still made even more dump runs. I am happy to say that we are pretty much done tearing things apart.

Next on the list is installing a huge beam in our basement so we can raise the ceiling and get rid of a post. Then installing the beam on the main floor so we can vault our ceilings in which will be our living room, dining room and kitchen.

playset

In order to entertain the kids while we are there working on the house we invested in a play set from Costco. It's a LOT of work getting it all set up. First we had to remove over 150 sq ft of sod and lay a weed barrier down. Thankfully my sister and a friend came over to help us remove the sod and play with the boys. Also, a Dick's cheeseburger and beer is pretty much all I need to motivate me for hard work!

 

Finally, the play set came on a big UPS Freight Truck which was fun for the boys to watch. It took a long time to put it together. Miles and Luke wanted to help. But they enjoyed riding in one of the boxes it came in more than helping I think. Mark and I got a good start while my sister watched the boys, then a friend and neighbor volunteered to watch the boys and have dinner waiting for us. How awesome is that??!! Can't beat a cold Big Sky beer and Philly Cheesesteaks with salad or just any meal you don't have to make yourself. but it was a wonderful dinner and great company. We had a great start but still didn't finish. Mark and his dad were able to get the rest of it put together the next day and the boys were thrilled when they got to come back and play on it.

I am still not even quite done. I have the bricks down but still need to attach the weatherproof wood frame around against the bricks and then get a load of woodchips. There are so many projects and to-do's right now my head is spinning.