Let's Demo This

Phase 2 

October came and went, now all the outside projects for phase 1 are complete.

Let's recap what our goals are over the winter months for this space

1. Raise the Ceilings and expose floor stringers in all 3 rooms
2. Open up the wall between Kitchen, and Dining Room, redesign the new hearth / feature wall behind wood stove
3. Replace kitchen cabinets, rearrange appliances, add a kitchen island
4. Sand and stain wood floors and paint walls

This is what our open space looked like when we moved in.  Not to our taste, but not terrible...Ahhh, not really the kitchen was terrible.

Aspects of these rooms that we liked...

1. The open space 
2. The really old & weathered barn boards
3. Wood floors
4. The huge pantry in the kitchen 

The many things we didn't...#1 by far was the ceiling height that just barely reached 7 feet, and everything about the kitchen.

I was all excited about ripping things up at first, until I realized that the mess is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. 

Starting to get buried by debris.

We are just beginning. Man! Did they use a ton of nails. 
This stuff does not want to come down.

See this... She's coming DOWN

(((BOOM!!)))

Our main goal is to get the ceilings down by December, and by ceilings, I mean there are two in each room.  The old one was covered by newer sheetrock making for very low ceiling height.

In this picture you can see the 2 layers.  Don and I would get the 1st layer off then go back for round 2.  Yeah!  
Not to mention the awesome blown in cellulose insulation.  

OMG!  Demo Sucks the big one.  It's gross and dirty!!!
We did find some interesting things though (show you those later)

All I can say is Thank God for a mild November.  As you can see this is not a job for a germaphobe, long sleeves, boots, gloves, dust masks, and vented air are a MUST, along with a big monster dumpster.  
*Be sure to do your research, asbestos is nasty stuff and was used in many building materials.  
Yes! I did have a panic obsession about it when we started.

Look at the space we gained and beautiful beams too.
I could easily touch the ceiling before. 

A good 10.5 inches of ceiling height added.  
We are planning to use ship lap boards above the beams for the new ceiling.

Keeping the space clear has been a challenge.  We finish up one project, clear the space and clean up.  Only to dig in and make a new pile of debris and  boards we want to salvage.

December has been busy with the holidays and winter storms.  We haven't had a lot of time, but we have been getting the house winterized and ready for sub-zero weather. (If you live in Maine, you know I'm not kidding)

Unfortunately, we didn't get the living room ceiling down yet.  Storage space was needed.  For now we'll be working on the Kitchen and Dining Room, and demo the living room in a couple of months.

Next up...

I'm working on salvaging the barn board, I have a new plan for them.  Don just got the wood stove up and running and has framed out the new woodbox. 

Stay tuned.