My Demolition Team!

Here are some pics from the master bedroom pics from last weekend. My son and 3 of his buddy's are always looking to make a little cash. So I offered them pay for in exchange for demo. Two of the boys were all over it, but Cody and Big L were very hesitant because they were ones who took down the living room/dining room ceiling. They finally conceded and were set to come out on a Sunday morning at 6am. 

Sunday morning came and the gang was all here! I was trying to "help" them but they insisted that I was just in the way. So here is what it looked like when they started:

Here is what it looked like 6 hours later. When they dropped the ceiling, there was about a foot of insulation under the layers of lathe and plaster AND there was a bale of straw that birds have brought in over the years. It was a roll off full. See all the gray spots on the roof line???? Those are mud dobbers nest, or hornets nest.

You can see a better pic of them here:

Here are the walls all cleaned up.

And here is what is left of the electrical:

And here is more "hidden electrical" It is located in the ceiling. It is not code for many reasons and I will be moving all of it 3 feet west to my closet light junction box that I am going to be putting in. I will talking more about electrical later.

I still haven't got insulation in my room which was fine for the most part except, when it is 5 degrees outside, it is 5 degrees in my bedroom. I have an electric blanket and 5 quilts on my bed. It is nice in warm.......under the covers. Getting up in the morning is another story.But NOW I don't have electricity in my room so no more electric blankey! AND I can't put up insulation until I get the electric ran up in the celing and walls. AND I can't put in new electric until I get problems like the one pictured above, resolved. AND I can't work on putting a light and electric inthe closet until I empty it. AND I have to run to the store to get some totes to empty my closet.......It is like a never ending list of:

 "I have to do this (fill in the blank)............ Before I can do this (fill in the blank).

But I am making progress!

:)

Moving forward with frustration but no regrets....yet.

When I moved here 4 years ago, I was going to build a new house. A nice cape cod style with big porch. I would look over plans with excitement and I could picture it sitting on the hill where my old house is now. Then the reality of the price tag along with a big tax bill changed the course for me.

Now I feel like I have entered into the renovation from hell. The never ending renovation from hell. It all seemed so simple in the beginning. I mean, come on, how hard is it? It is done in 30 minutes on the DIY shows everyday. I have skills. Real skills. I can run power tools. I can build stuff. I have changed outlets, painted, replaced a faucet or two, and many other projects around the house. If you asked me before this, I would have said I was pretty handy. However, NOBODY and I mean NOBODY could have prepared me for mental and emotional ride that goes along with a major renovation.

I am getting "closer" to being finished with the dining/living room. Just the I thought of hanging 700 feet of drywall and then mudding and taping the entire room sent me into depressive state. I am getting older and I do not relish sanding above my head for hours at a time. I was telling a friend this and he simply asked why I don't get it plastered. I told him that I wanted to do it myself because I didn't want to pay someone to do something that I felt I could do. Well to make a long story short, I called a plasterer and they will be here next month. This must have been what I needed because as soon as I made the decision, I felt like a 800 pound gorilla jumped off my back.  

But there is stuff that need to be done around here before they come and the list looks like this:

1.Laundry Room:

-Finish Drywall- Finished

-Flooring (The laundry room is ready to have flooring put in and I finally decided last week on what I wanted so I am going to put it in on Sunday.) 

Painted- It needs to be painted but I am waiting on a Paint-Stick  to paint and I will be writing a review on it. (I got it FREE from fellow blogger and DIY guru Sandra Powell of Sawdust Girl because Sandra rocks!)

2. Living/Dining Room:

-Pull all the nails out of the joist and walls

-Run new electrical

-Put in recessed lights

-Insulate walls

3. My Bedroom:

-Demo the walls and ceiling- Finished

-Run new electrical

-Mount ceiling fan box

-Insulate walls and ceiling

So at the moment I am in the middle of basically re wiring my whole house. I was very apprehensive at first doing my own electric but I am cooking with gas now and making some major strides, I have actually hooked up stuff inside the electrical panel. I have to admit, it is going to be so awesome having more than one outlet per room! I really like doing electrical!!

As you can see, I have a BIG list to get done. I still have no regrets about the decision to renovate vs build new. I have made a commitment to work  hours EVERYDAY until I get the house ready for the plasterers to come.