And the walls come....

tumbling down......   Well, maybe it isn't that dramatic, but each day another wall or two, or at least the drywall,  disappears.  The loft just grew another 7 feet as the bathroom disappeared.  The tub/shower insert has proven to be a bit of a challenge - how do you get that thing lowered in one piece to the first floor so it can join its friends who are waiting outside to be picked up by a local recycling business?  And the walkway is now open!  What a difference!  More light!!  Yay!!!!!  Now to get the railing design wrapped up. The foundation is ready for the framing to begin!  Yahoo! 

Going, going......

Gone!  There goes the current upstairs bath - don't worry, there will be another down the hall.

And there goes the enclosure on the walkway.
It will soon be replaced with an "up-to-code" railing.

Getting ready for insulation and drywall.  We were going to try to keep
the existing drywall and retexture it, but all kinds of issues came up,
so bye-bye!

Now, how do you get this thing down the stairs in one piece?
Still to be determined!  (Four of us got it down through the opening
that came to be when we removed the fireplace.  I was downstairs helping -
man, that thing seemed big when it was overhead!)

It's "friends" are waiting outside in the rain to be picked up
by a local recycling business.

We decided Peter enjoys driving this way too much!  He's
always got a big smile on his face when he's at the controls!

Almost ready for the framing!  Yahoo!

Each night the site gets covered with hay and blue tarps!  Bellingham
has a strong anti-erosion program.

Only in the rainy northwest......

Okay, so that is a little bit of an exaggeration, but they started pouring the foundation at the crack of dawn (8:00 a.m. this time of year) in the rain!  Bill and I arrived just before 8 and everything was in place - the concrete truck, the concrete pump truck, the forms and our contractor.  He was a trooper - the rain came down and the temperature was in the upper 30s.  The trucks were gone by 9:30 and things were wrapped up at the site early today.  Great week!

This is what greeted us as we arrived at the site just before 8:00.
It was still dark, but everyone was set up and ready to go.

The pump truck is a great thing!  With a narrow access to the back of
the lot this allowed them to pump the concrete  from the truck up
over the roof and into the hole.

Peter in the hole getting ready to start the pour.  Brrrrrrrr!

Daylight!  And they are almost done!  That's Peter walking the hose
around the forms, getting close to the end.  

These things are huge!  Sure makes it easier to move all that concrete!  

There goes the fireplace!

There were a few issues with the chimney, the fireplace took up a lot of real estate in the living room and bedrooms, and we aren't huge wood fireplace fans - so out it goes.  We were very lucky in that one of Peter's crew was available and he took on the project. Not only is he stronger and more agile than we are, he's been a roofer, so he was able to patch the resulting hole in the roof. Luckily it just happened to be the one day in the last week it wasn't raining!!! He started at the roof and just kept pounding on those concrete blocks until there were all down.  He did a great job! It looks soooo different!  

Starting at the top.  Glad he was there, not Bill!

A smart way to get those blocks down to the dumpster!

And the inside destruction begins!

The concrete blocks used for the chimney in the upstairs
bedroom.  The pile downstairs was huge!

Hey Bill, there's a hole in the wall!  We thought this might be a good
place for a "Romeo" balcony!  Then again, our guests would
probably like their privacy!

This is the biggest metal firebox I have ever seen!  

Hey, there's a big hole in our yard!

Yep, they started our addition on Tuesday by digging a hole for the foundation!  In order to move the washer and dryer into the house from the garage (the garage is a clean one, but......) and have windows in the bedroom (other than that interesting one in the closet?!??!) we decided to add on 12 feet to the end of the house.  Our framing contractor, Peter Harrison of PM Construction, started the work and it was another one of those "there's no turning back now" moments. He's been a great help all around.  We had our first inspection and it went well!  Yay!  They built the forms for the footing and foundation yesterday and are really moving along.  We passed the second inspection today so we are ready for the pour at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow!!

The first forms are ready to go.

Protecting the top, and not so top, soil from the rain!  What rain!?!?  Oh yeah, we live in the NW, there's a lot of it here!

Well, there were a few sun breaks earlier in the day!  Brrrr.  These guys are troopers!

Ready for inspection!

Now we are an official construction site!  A real 20 yd dumpster! Bet our neighbors will be glad when it leaves.
Actually, they are all really understanding and supportive.  Nice!

Removing Popcorn Ceiling Texture & Wallpaper - Oh Joy!

While these two may not be the most fun steps in a remodel, they have quick turn around times and almost instant results on the plus side.  The place is full, yes full, of popcorn ceilings - whoever thought they were a good idea!?!?!  I may be stepping on toes, but really!!!  And wallpaper, well - we like paint I guess - easy to change and so easy to do over.    Here are a few of hints......  (If you aren't interested in these two actions, just skip to the pictures.....)

Removing popcorn ceilings

• Take a sample to see if there is asbestos in your ceiling (likely if it was installed prior to 1978) and send it to a lab for analysis.  Check the EPA's site or the web for more info.  We were lucky - our samples came back free and clear.  
• Get a garden sprayer - these are a godsend for both of these activities.  Much easier on your hands than a hand held sprayer bottle and more effective at wetting.  A one or two gallon on is great!
• Use a little less than a 1/4 cup of liquid dish soap per gallon of water as wetting agent.  This really helps the ceiling "hold" the water.
• Cover your floors really well - from what we read or heard a plastic sheet and then a paint cloth or paper on top of that.  In our case we are replacing the sub flooring in places or at least are down to the sub floor, so it wasn't much of an issue.
• Gently, but thoroughly and methodically spray the ceiling with the water in about 3 foot wide sections.  Let it soak in - or as my mom told me "let the water do the work." (Of course, she was talking about something I burned in a pan, but the idea is the same.)  On unpainted ceilings (they look VERY similar to painted) the stuff comes down fairly easily with a wide paint scrapper.  We used 8" and 10" blades most the time and held a 13 gallon rectangular plastic waste basket underneath it to catch the majority of stuff.  It takes a bit of time to get the rhythm, but once you get the hang of it, it goes fairly easily.  It really helps to have two people - one person to spray and cleanup (empty empty the waste basket, sweep, wipe things down) and the other to scrape.
• If you are really having to work at it, it probably needs more water.  Spray it again and let it set for a bit before you go back at it. It should scrape off fairly easily. If you are dealing with PAINTED popcorn ceilings, you'll need to spray more, just don't go overboard, you don't want to ruin the drywall.
• We bought two Werner 20" high (about 42" long and a foot wide) folding platforms to work on.  A friend lent us his years ago to paint our ceilings and they are a life saver.  Bill found them on sale the day after Thanksgiving and bought two for less than the price of one at their usual price.  Keep your eyes open for them.  This allowed the scraper to just keep walking and working without having to get up an down so much. (Oh yeah, the sprayer/cleaner is also the platform mover!)
• Let the stuff that didn't make it into the waste  baskets dry a little then sweep it up and toss it in the garbage.  Look up and smile!!!  Even without the mud or paint they look great!

Here are some photos of the process.......

Here's is one of the upstairs bedrooms with the closets removed and the
popcorn ceiling still in place.

One of the greatest tools on earth - the yard sprayer!  

Half the first popcorn ceiling done!  Instant gratification!

The scrapper in action.  That waste basket is a must!
And those platforms!!!  Great all around tool for a home.

Ah, the importance of good footwear on a construction site!
Go Keen!

And then there is the wall paper!  Not that different.  Spray, pull, scrape, sponge down and clean up!  The only problem is the adhesive is nastier and the spray stinkier!  Still, with two of us remembering the mantra "Let the water do the work" it went okay.  Here are our hints for removing grass cloth wallpaper:

• Use that garden sprayer again and fill it with a 1:1 ratio (yep, 1:1) of HOT water and white vinegar.  We actually ended up only mixing one gallon (total) at a time after the first time because as the water cooled it seemed to become less effective.
• Again, cover you floor is necessary and one person on the web said keep a lot of old towels on hand and roll up them up along the base of the wall to catch run off.  Then do a lot of laundry.
• Score the wall paper with one of those handy dandy wallpaper scorers.  The grass cloth takes a lot of scoring.  I am not sure about other papers.  Don't press too hard because you don't want to harm the sheetrock underneath.
• Spray one panel well and then the next.  Apply the water slowly, but not too lightly.  When you are done spraying the second panel, start pulling the first.  
• We found the top layer came of fairly easily, then we had to go back and spray the glue/second layer again before we could really get it that off.  Again - let the water do the work - don't rush. 
• The material underneath really affected the ease of removal.  We had three types - unfinished dry wall, painted and deeply textured drywall, and drywall that was primed.  They all had their advantages and challenges, so, just be patient.....
• Clean off the last of the glue with a sponge and a couple of buckets of water.  Again, don't get things too wet, but.....
• Stinky, but rewarding!  

After on the left and before on the right.  The platforms were
great for this too!

All gone!  Look at all the different wall textures!  Who knew?

I'll get to the really fun stuff tomorrow!  They started work on the foundation for the addition this week!

And so the work begins....

This should have been written a long time ago, but we're behind in every aspect of the project, so why not here.  The first challenge (other than just visualizing the whole thing) was pulling together the drawings that would be used for the project.  Realizing they are the basis for all the communications with the permitters, the contractors, the suppliers and friends, we knew they were important.  I have extensive hand drafting experience, but couldn't pass up using a computer program to do the drawings.  Mmmmmmmm, maybe not such a good idea.  If it was something I was planning on doing regularly for the rest of my life, it would have been great, but for a single project?!?!  It took a fair amount of time to learn the program we used and it is more than  little finicky.  It likes to change the location or size of items periodically, etc, etc, etc.  It was helpful in visualizing things in 3-D, but.....  I think drafting by hand in this case probably would have been better!  (If you have no drafting experience - hire a professional to help out!) Oh well, 'lesson learned' as our friend Bill Sanford says.

So, one of the primary reasons for the drawings is to get the proper permits.  The permitting process here in Bellingham wasn't nearly as bad as we had been lead to believe.  We know they have been doing a lot to streamline the process and be better communicators at the Permitting Department and I think it has helped. We went in before hand, asked for the proper paperwork to guide us through the process and visited again with questions before actually submitting the drawings and paperwork.  The staff was very helpful and while it took a while, we were pleased with the process.  Yes, there are fees for the reviews, etc., but that's to be expected.

And then started the fun part!  Demolition.....  :-)  Out with the orange carpet and the rough cedar walls, the popcorn ceilings and hundreds of screws....... What was that about?  Down with the grass-cloth wallpaper (yeah, we know it is back in style, but we'll let that be in someone else's home - who said we were stylish?), out with the orange tiled fireplace, bye-bye narrow, dark kitchen........  Here are some pictures where you can see the progress - we'll add more in the future.....

Bill and opened up the fireplace wall and found this!  We were hoping
for some metal, easy to remove setup!  NOT!

Time to remove all the nails and stack the cedar for future use.

Okay, so the cedar came down pretty easy, but the firring strips!!! Our theory
is that someone got a new pneumatic stapler and decided to go crazy with it.
These firring strips were attached with, literally, 4-6 3 1/2" to 4" staples at every stud!
We weren't saying a lot bad words!!!!

Yay!!!!  We're done with the wall!

So much for the wall between the kitchen and the living room!  Let there be light!!!!

Bye bye orange carpet!  Imagine this -while our recycling stores are interested
in the other items - lights, cabinets,  sinks, appliances -no one
wants this lovely orange carpet!!!!  

Nice oak bathroom towel racks and toilet paper dispensers - too
bad we are fans of oak!

More about things we learned and processes that worked in a future blog.  Time to take a break!
Tomorrow is the exciting day - the contractor is starting the addition!  There's no turning back now - and yes, there are moments when we are still thinking "wthwwt"!!!!!!

Hello Again!

Sorry I haven't been back since originally setting up this blog, but between the colds (yes plural and for both of us), the holidays, travel and my ignorance about blogging I just didn't get back here until now.

So, I thought some "before" pictures might be nice! A friend who is a contractor said that in it's day (1980) it was probably quite the "posh pad!"  Well, maybe so, but so little has been done since then that moniker is way out of date!

Orange carpet, orange tile around the fireplace, lots of orange toned cedar -
even cooper colored shades!

More orange carpet, 1980's lighting and grass-cloth wallpaper!
My aunt loved that stuff - us, not so much.

That rough cedar will make some great kayaks according to Bill,
but all it makes the living room is dark!

More brown and orange.......

Upstairs too!

There also seemed to be some fascination with screws - there were literally hundreds screwed
 into the walls all over the house.  Lots of things to hang we think.

Most people who have visited now say kind things like "I just can't imagine what it will look like," or "You guys must be very visionary," or.....  You get the idea.... We laugh and move on.  More pictures to come as we make more progress.