Change of plans

Alright, here goes, my first blog post of my life!

Thanks to all of you guys that made it out to the staple pulling party. Your efforts and company were both appreciated.

Once all the staples were gone, I got down to peeling away the layers of wall panels and drop ceilings. The first room, the middle room at the top of the stairs on the second floor, looked better than expected under the facade. There were lots of mails that needed to be pulled and some plaster that needed to be repaired but all in all, not bad. It was also quick to strip it all, only a few hours with the help of a friend.

The second room, the smaller bedroom on the second floor by the bathroom was also easy to strip. However, the plaster had been cut away and replaced with dry wall that was just slapped up and not finished. I decided that I'd have to take down all the walls in there because it would be easier than attempting to patch it all up.

The wall panels in the "master bed" on the second floor were glued to the walls opposed to the other two rooms which were nailed up. As the panels were taken off, the plaster crumbled and the only option is to pull it all down and put up new drywall in there as well.

With a few friends help for a few hours and just a few nights of work, I made some good stripping progress. I knew two rooms would need new drywall and one that could be salvaged.

I then moved to the stairs leading from the first to the second floor. I left the hallway alone on the second floor because it is the best section of the house. The paneling came off easily on the stairs but the walls didn't look great behind there either. As I got down to the first floor hall, I realized that all the new wiring was done below the original ceiling and above the drop ceilings that are all coming down.

It was a little discouraging because it would be a significant effort to get all those wires back above the original ceiling.

So, with all the discoveries I started to think about taking down more and more walls. After consulting with my Dad, who has lots of experience in home improvement, I decided that I'm just going to gut the entire house!

It is going to be a messy job getting all the lathe and plaster out but it will be cheap. I have a dumpster coming tomorrow that I'll fill up over the next few weeks and then have clean slate to start with.

Having the walls all opened up will allow me to rewire correctly, add outlets where I want them, run plumbing for a bathroom on the third floor, insulate correctly and get a much better sense of what walls I can open up.

I have lots more to say but I'll end this here and talk about some of the neat discoveries I've made so far in the next couple days. The rest of these will be far shorter.

I see this house purchase and fix up as my next big life adventure, similar to hiking the Appalachian Trail. While walking, before the word blog existed, I'd send weekly emails updating friends and family on my progress. I'll use this blog to do the same since people seemed to enjoy that. Feel free to pass this along to anyone or send it directly to your trash on your computer, I won't be insulted in the slightest.

Dave