Work Slows

Penny had to go back to work last Monday so work has slowed considerably with only me working all by my lonesome.

I continued the never-ending wallpaper removal process. I got most of it down in the center foyer. I still need to get it off the angled ceiling under the stairs. My arms gave out.


The big news for the week is that I took out the wall between the two bedrooms to make the big master bedroom. That was big fun, the cleanup however, really sucks. Plaster is heavy crap and I have to haul it down in five gallon buckets. It took about 15-18 trips to get all the plaster out. It's going to be a really cool room though.
The wall before

Me in full demo regalia

Plaster down on one side
Plaster and lath coming down on the other







I still have to demo the goofy closets that are 18 inches wide and 8 feet deep. That should be fun.


We went ahead and bought a mattress and boxspring for what will eventually become the guest room. We have a bed, but not the mattress, and this way, as soon as the hvac goes in, we can start sleeping there. As I start school in three weeks, we will be sleeping here sooner than later.


I also had a guy come out to give me an estimate to get a fence built. We need to have a fence and doggy door for all the puppies and kitties once I go back to work.

Monday, a demo guy is coming to take out the white bathroom. Penny and I demo'd one bathroom in our old place and it took us two weeks, a hammer drill, and a huge toll on our bodies. (Check it out here.) We both swore never again! So, we're hiring it out this time. Money well spent.


Also on Monday, we're having the SECOND dumpster emptied. Hopefully, we will only have the third and final dumpster as those get pretty pricey!

Wednesday, the HVAC guys get here and will start working on that project. They say it should only take them a week or two.

Week three already?

Wow, time is flying!. Demo continues. All the carpeting is gone, hurrah! The smell is slowly starting to get better.

1. living room wallpaper is nearly all removed. I missed behind the mirror, but now that I have that down, I can remove the paper.


2. All carpeting has been removed to the dumpster. This includes the miles and miles of tack strips and most of the staples used for the padding. I spent hours on the stairs alone.


3. kitchen floor has been removed, all four disgusting layers of it. Of course it was tacked down with about a bajillion inch long staples.




4. UPstairs hallway has been de-papered. I still haven't figured out how to get it down in the stairwell. It's too tall.



5. Took down lots of plaster in the vestibule where the leaking issue was most damaging.



6. Homeowners Insurance cancelled my policy due to the poor condition of the house. Had to scramble to get a new policy and am now paying through the nose of a policy. Hopefully we can get the roof, electrical, and stucco addressed and finished quickly so that we can go back to the cheaper insurance.

7. Went up into the attic and cleaned out a half a century's worth of trash. Found a few treasures including a cool 50s desk, some paintings, and some other odds and ends.



8. The cedar closet in the tiny bedroom was demo'd by our demo guy revealing a badly damaged wall. Took down most of that plaster.


9. Electrical work continues apace. The HVAC guys are going to start NEXT Monday.

10. Purchased a queen sized mattress which will be delivered on Tuesday. Penny swears she will be sleeping here, but without AC, not sure I will be.

11. I got all the transom windows open, so that was quite an accomplishment.

12. Penny smelled gas one day and called the city. They came and tried to light the stove pilot light, but condemned it instead. Sears is coming Tuesday to take a look at it.


13. I took pictures of the scary maid's toilet in the basement. Realize these pictures were taken after it had been cleaned up and far less scary that it started out.





So, that's where we are for now. I honestly don't know when we will be moving in for sure. I had said (optimistically) September 1. Now, I'm hoping for November 1 or at least before Christmas. We'll see.

Demo Continues

Good Monday Morning.

The demolition continued throughout the weekend and I'm quite proud of our progress. Penny and I got most of the paneling throughout the house down and out. We also got the dining room and foyer carpeting out. Penny pulled up the flooring in the vestibule to reveal rotted/termite damaged floor boards. With some help from my friend Jamie, I got all the wall paper down in the dining room, all four layers of it. I still need to wash off the glue, but overall, the plaster in that room is in very good condition.

Some discoveries we have made:

1. Found the original kitchen doorway.
2. Discovered the reason why the previous owner would not allow us to do an invasive inspection in the foyer/vestibule. There's no plaster left in that wall at all. It also looks like a combination of water and termite damage. Some of the vertical beams will have to be replaced. But the good news is that the horizontal beam seems to be quite sound.
3. Despite the torrential rain last night, no leaks have been found in the house this morning.
4. Other than the vestibule, the floors seems to be in pretty good condition. We just have thousands of staples to pull.
5. Moldings in the foyer are plaster, as are the corbels under the arch. Neato!

Vestibule Demo


Vestibule floor


Dining Room Sans Wallpaper


Original Kitchen Doorway


Hot and Sweaty Penny


Hardwood Floors

Progress in the first week

This week we've just spent trying to clean, get organized and figure out what comes first. We did get some of the windows open. I got some paneling down, and started taking off wall paper in the dining room. There were four layers of wall paper in the living room. Given this house is 90 years old, I didn't think that was too bad. Here are pics of the progress so far.

The front bedroom (The Green Room) - I started taking off the paneling to reveal pepto bismo pink paint over lilac wallpaper.




The living room


Removing wallpaper in the dining room


After one afternoon


Uncovering history, it reads: H.A. Pollard, June 25, 1945. Pollard is a common name in Richmond.

The Before Pictures

Here are a few of the "before" pictures. Most of these were taken during our initial walk through of the house. The house is currently listed as a four bedroom, 2.5 bath house that has roughly 1800 square feet. The reality as you will see is that the fourth bedroom is mostly a closet and there isn't room for a crib, let alone a bed. The "half bath" we discovered was actually a "maid's bath" that can only be accessed from outside. It's not even a real "bathroom" as it only has a commode and no sink. Very scary place. I will get some pics tomorrow and post those for you as well.

On to the pics!

The Golden Living Room


The Golden Dining Room



The Golden Kitchen


The Sun Porch


The Golden Stairwell


The Golden Hallway


The Front Bedroom aka "the green room"


The Back Bedroom(?) - apparently they turned a tiny bedroom into a cedar closet. Note the groovy red vinyl flooring.


Another Back Bedroom


The Blue Room


The Golden Bath