Priming, Cleanup and a Little Gardening

Paul priming the ceiling June 28th. The next day they

cleaned the whole room out and replaced the plastic

drop cloth. Then a finish coat was put on the ceiling. The

walls were primed as well.

Bill's looking a little happier about the whole project.

This is what I did all day Saturday - a garden restoration project.

After years of mowing the lawn with no edging the whole

thing needed to be dug up. Now I have to move some

bulbs and plant some new things (always my favorite part).

Another view.

These are my tomatoes and peppers - not bad for an impromptu

spot. They like it there and it's pretty well protected

from the hail storms we've been getting.

This is the resting spot this year. We love Dad's adirondack

chairs and the garden is pretty nice as well.

Electricity and Alcohol

Bill and Paul decided it would be a great idea to

wire in a switch and light (at 11:30 pm) even though

we didn't have a light to put in the box.

They also tell me not to worry about turning off the

breaker because the switch is off.

Yeah, right.

Takes two of them to figure it out though.


Bill likes the look of the hanging switch - he thinks we
should leave it like this - easier to find in the dark.

Paul seems to like the idea as well.

I'm not so sure about the switch.

But I'm equally unimpressed with the fixture.
But it works.

I did go home the next day and order fixtures

for the room, that way I wouldn't have to look at this.

Taping Finished

Paul and Mike finished taping and mudding the room on June 14th,

now onto sanding.

Paul needed a little toast to finish this phase of the job -

of course Bill couldn't let him drink alone!

A Full Week of Work

This will be a long blog this week because of the amount of

work that was done and the pictures not being anywhere

near a computer. Above is the room gutted and cleaned.

The chimney revealed an old stove pipe that had been

patched up and covered.

This is a HUGE critter nest of some kind - what you are looking at

is corn cobs. We're thinking they have to be pre 1920.

New materials being delivered. Bill really liked them loading

everything into the room. (Thanks Russ)

Everything in.

Bill demolishing a wall after talking with me on the phone -

so all of the walls finally came down.

Mike came over to give the guys a hand with the ceiling.

Paul drywalling the ceiling (there will even be lights on the

ceiling with switches!). We're coming out of the Dark Ages.

Starting the walls.

The window is out - and Paul is KP-ing the area.

After a few attempts they finally get the window

in the way they want it.

The next three shots all the drywall is up. Russ is building
a raised panel section to put over the mantel, should look
good - he does nice work.

My friend Dawn told me to make sure the workers
marked everything as they were putting it back together
for the next demo crew - they thought putting their empties in
the wall would be appropriate. Bill made sure it was a Summer Ale
so they would know what season it was.

Demolition Day

We enlisted the help of Paul and began the day by taping all of the doors in

hopesof keeping most of the debris in the room. The house has a lot

of exterior doors so we have to use the front door to get upstairs and stay

out of the rest of the downstairs rooms.

Keeping the dust at bay was the plan.

Trying to protect what we can - even though the floor is a mess already.

Paul covering the only open doorway.

Bill looking a little more Middle Eastern than he really is.

He's learned from experience that this is the only way to dress

for this sort of thing.

Cait was volunteered to help. She's home from school and jobless

and she can be a great help if she puts her mind to it.

Moving the plaster out of the house.

Cait taking out the lath.

Paul removing the lath from above the fireplace exposing some interesting masonry

done when the stoves were in the house. Another job discovered.

The ceiling is down and Cait's cleaning up.

Then we discovered that the beam on the second floor on the outside

wall had a lot of rot and decided to call in the big guns

for an opinion.

Russ came over with a promise of food and brought his tools

with him (I don't think he leaves home without them).

So once again he's the hero because he's the only one who really

knows what's going on in this type of job and what

you have to fix and what you can repair.

More to come.