We turned our attention to the first floor and removed plaster and lathe. We have filled 5 Bagsters so far.
We applied for our building permit – it took over 4 weeks for approved. Many blueprint changes in the last weeks. We have removed all the tile on the wood flooring. We will have natural wood floors throughout the first floor (only exception is the bathroom). It has been dirty itchy work.
We picked up two ‘white’ plastic chairs that were fairly black. I thought I could just scrub them clean but heavy duty cleanser and scrub brush hardly did anything. I sprayed bleach on and the black washed away with a hose spray. The chair on the left was cleaned with bleach. The chair on the right was scrubbed and one spot sprayed with bleach
We are continuing to remove plaster and lathe. We have filled 5 Bagsters as well as a few garbage cans. There is still much plaster lying in the house. The lathe has been divided into burn piles and piles for the large future dumpster. The upstairs is basically gutted except for the bathtub and the wall behind it.
The town wanted us to take down this tent which was totally full of building materials and Steven’s Dad’s carving wood, plus other things. Steven went through it all – took all the carving wood home, gave away some things, and organized the building materials into a pile which we covered with a tarp and then ‘disguised it with some fencing. Hope the city is happy. We sold the tent for $40, taking it down in high winds.
Before we raise the height of the roof, we need to take out plaster, lathe, insulation and studs. We each wore Filtration Masks for protection.
We added flower boxes under the windows of the garage and many flowers to the beds in front of the house.
We had a couple of piles of metal that we wanted to get rid of. Put an ad on Craigslist as free and got someone right away. It looks so much better and I am sure our neighbors are happy.
We are taking a break for the holidays. The cold keeps us from doing too much as there is not heat in the house. We will be getting estimates on materials and labor. We will also need to remove plaster and get all headers over opening up to code. Right now it seems there are only double 2 x 4s over openings in load bearing walls. We will also need to put supports under joists in the basement for support walls above them.
We have put up a ‘pine’ tree in the dining room bay window and added lights with a timer so that motorist passing the morning and evening hours will see a lit holiday tree. We are approaching the shortest day of the year and we hope to add some light and cheer to passers by.
