Day 14

Tasks: More drywall, more nails, kitchen removal
Hours: 8
Who: Dan and Ilana
Well, I have the dream kitchen I wanted back when I was 24 and eating out all the time...NONE. Dan ripped out all of the appliances. Everything, including the kitchen sink. He also took out all of the ceilings downstairs, while I stuck to tearing out drywall and nails. I am getting quite good at it.

One thing that made our tasks this weekend tougher is that there was no dumpster available. We have a tree guy coming in this week, so could not have the driveway blocked. We now have piles of rubble throughout the house.

Day 13

Tasks: Drywall removal, nail removal, bathroom destruction, gutter fixing
Hours: 8
Who: Dan and Ilana
I spent the day pulling nails and ripping out more drywall, while Dan smashed in bathroom tile, removed toilets and sinks, and changed the gutter system to move water away from the house.

Week of Oct 12-Oct 17

Tasks: Get quotes from contractors
Hours: Varying
Who: Dan
Dan got quotes from many contractors on things like tree removal, radon mitigation, concrete pouring.

Day 12

Tasks: Drywall tear-out, nail removal, painting basement
Hours: 8
Who: Ilana and Dan
Tore out more dry wall, put second coat of paint in basement.

Day 11

Tasks: Debris clear-out and alarm re-install
Hours: 6
Who: Ilana
Spent the day clearing out the debris and installing a new alarm

Day 10

Tasks: Clean up and alarm installation
Hours: 4
Who: Ilana

I went to the house today and spent some time running up and down the stairs with insulation and drywall.

I also installed a new alarm system in our basement in addition to the existing Brinks system, complete with door and window sensors and motion detectors. I was quite pleased with my handiwork, and the system should help provide extra coverage during construction.

Day 9

Tasks: Tear out drywall, ceilings, insulation from second floor
Hours: 6
Who: Tara, Goober, Sulli, Lionell, Ilana

On the way to the house, I bought a mini-fridge and some accompanying libations. I figure that Dan and I can reuse the fridge for a game room or guest room in the new house, but for now, it was fun to stock. And after stepping back and realizing it looked like college, we were ready to go!

Thank you to Tara, Goober, Sulli, and Lionell for incredible work! We finished off all bedrooms and ceilings on the second floor. The guys did the tearing (i.e. mess-making), and Tara and I carried stuff down to the dumpster (i.e. clean up). It was amazing how fast they worked, and things were looking completely different in no time.

Knocking out the ceilings is a messy business, as there is loose insulation directly on top of the drywall. The past owners also had some animals making nests in it, so it was extremely yucky work for the guys. The guys also took down all the doors upstairs, and carried them downstairs to the garage.

We took a break for some beer and pizza, then the crew left, and I stayed behind for a while to do some more clean up work. Let me tell you...that fiberglass stuff is ITCHY.