After 4 Weeks We're Still Breaking Stuff

Every weekend nears and it still amazes me that we're able to find more things to demolish. I know there will come a time when we actually start to rebuild this house, but that is still a bit away. Actually this weekend I met with the architect and interior designer that agreed to help me with this house as well as continued to tear rooms out of the house.

On Saturday the 28th I was up at 5 as is usual on work days. Not only is there the anxiety of making sure things are prepared for the work crew so they don't have to wait, but I also get caught up in thinking about what this house is going to be like in the end. It makes for restless nights, but it's the only real time I have to think. I began the work day making sure the propane heater was running to give some heat in the house and turning on lights and prepping the skid steer and putting up safety lines and the like. The crew again started around 9:30 A.M. and proceeded to tear out the kitchen and basement. Also on task today was the removal of the three story exhaust chimney from the original oil burning furnace.

Word must ha gotten out that a chimney was being torn out, because I noticed Todd D. was in early and asked what he was planning to work on from the list of to-dos. Proudly he replied, "I'm taking out the chimney. Just waiting for Ben to cut a hole in the roof." Really? Man I gotta see this. I got people making bigger holes in my house that are going to need to be repaired, just what we need. I suppose it's better than having people on a very steep and icy roof trying to tear down a brick chimney. Have at it men.

Things were moving along when I needed to break away to meet with Robyn V., the architect. Finally I can start to think about an end to all of the dust and muck of demolition, even if it's still a week or two away from being complete. We met at my existing house to get a feel for our current home and the style, color palette and decor that will greatly influence the new house. After walking her through, we went back to the new house and walked her through for the first time and tried to lay out some of the ideas Leslie and I had been discussing so she could hopefully incorporate those ideas in what she was planning. I left her to walk around, take pictures, evaluate structure concerns, etc. and went back to work.

All in all the day was pretty straight forward in more demolition of the kitchen, the back landing, temporary walls and floors in the basement and a whole bunch more pulling nails. We ended up being short about five to six people because we miscalculated how much was actually left to be completed. Consequently we have probably one more weekend of about 10 people doing "fine demolition" and cleanup. I was hoping to be done this weekend, but the details always take longer than expected. That said, we now have officially gone through 3 - 40 yard dumpsters and we maxed the latest one in both weight and volume.

The weekend ended with talking over some rough sketches with Robyn and leaving the status such that she'll hope to give the interior designer, Ashley S., more clear ideas to work with in the coming week and we'll meet via phone later in the week so we can start to plan and install the mechanicals. Until then, I have a hole in my roof that needs to be covered before the next major snow fall. With temps in the single digits all week, that'll be great fun!

Another Weekend, Another Successful Effort

January 20th brings us to the third full Saturday of working on my new house. The crew was smaller but still very successful. It was nice to work in a smaller group that had room to work without tripping over each other. On the docket to be completed was to finish the first floor demolition, demolition of the second floor, start pulling nails and start removing the chimney of the original oil burning furnace. Amazing to think how much work can be completed in three short weeks.

I worked with Greg S., Teresa N., Kevin F., and my brother to complete the removal of second floor remains. Mainly were the stairs leading up to the second floor from the first that proved to be a bit more tedious that we had originally planned for. we made quick work of that area and Sean and Kevin moved on to starting to remove the chimney on a very slick roof.

We had received 2"-3" of snow the night before and my brother and I had cleared part of the roof hoping that it would melt as the day went on. No such luck, but that wasn't going to deter him from climbing on the roof and risking peril just to demolish a chimney. Of course Kevin couldn't let Sean have all the fun and joined him. I just turned a deaf ear and made sure they both signed the hold harmless agreement.

Greg, Teresa and I moved on to the first floor dining room and entry way. It was messy and I'm just about to the end of being able to handle the filth and muck of tearing out plaster and lathe. Whatever made me think that I could do all of this BEFORE my wife died and I was thinking I could do this all myself was obviously insanity and stupidity laden. With the great amount of help I've received I have come to appreciate better just how much of an undertaking this project is and how much people care.

At the same time Steve N. was up on the second floor pulling nails from the studs. For hours, when Greg and I took a simultaneous break, you could heart the methodical thump, screech, thwack of Steve pulling nail after nail. Then the shuffle, shuffle, thud of him moving the three feet over with the ladder to the next set of studs. Quick a contrast to the complete roar of avalanche of plaster and crap that Greg and I were pulling from the ceiling.

To keep the entry short, we moved pretty well for six total people and got most of the list of the things covered on the to do list. we somehow and somewhere did something to cause the power of the 2nd floor to stop working, so going into this weekend's work of having roughly 15 people in the house will be interesting to say the least. There's going to be a lot of nail pulling and cleaning which should be a treat if we don't have power to run vacuums on the second floor.

Things are progressing nicely and the architect and interior designer are both in this weekend to help plan the layout of the new house. That's an exciting prospect to think about considering all I've been able to focus on is prepping for demolition. It will be fun to think of how this house will be rebuilt and start to see some of the plans Leslie and I thought of come to be put into drawings. More exciting things are ahead, I just hope her envision and inspiration can be conveyed through my direction, assumptions and lessons that she so diligently 'taught' me.

The Demolition Crew Up Close

A few folks were worried my entries were a bit wordy so I'll keep this one short. Here are photos of the demolition day. In particular order here are the hard workers that tore my 'brand new house' to shreds and smiled the entire time. Enjoy!

Just enjoying a little hot lunch / The mask scares us Justin

A well-used shovel / Let's hope those chutes stay

Barry, did we startle you? / Hey Cathy, grey's your color

Josh needs a wipe / Jane quick, the creaure attached itself to your head!

Brit the shoveling machine / Stepping into it

Careful around the woodwork / Justin takes on the Lathe

Tearing out 2nd Floor Solarium / 3rd Floor Ceiling removal by Brad

Don't look at the camera Justin - get to work!

Sean eats, Elisha looks unamused / Justin and Brent enjoy a break

2nd floor cleanup / Chutes that saved a lot of walking

Look at it go! / Todd gets a little leverage

Meager beginnings / Elisha and Tim

Russ takes time for some hot chili / Hangning plastic over the fireplace

Brit and Sean take off the railing / Grandma Brit?

Everyone listen up please / Todd takes high, Lola takes low

Good story Steve / Taking a moment to goof off

Kevin reaches the tough spots / Go Larry, go!

Lola takin' out the heavy stuff / Teresa needs a bigger hammer

The Real Fun Begins

Whoowee how a week can make a difference! Early Saturday morning of the 13th I had 33 people standing in the screened in porch, sledge hammers in hand, dust masks and goggles in place ready to tear into a 95 year old building that needed finxin' up. They were itching to get to it and I had to be Mr. Careful and tell them not to get hurt, watch for falling ceilings, exploding walls and of course 95 year old electrical lines that are inevitably hidden in very unpredictable places in the walls. They all humored me in listening to what I had to say and then lunged forward into the day's task of tearing out three floors of plaster, lath, insulation, dust and five live bats.

It was truly amazing to see the orchestrated chaos of workers slowly but methodically destroy a house that I had just seven days prior paid good money for. Scary really, there was definitely no turning back at this point. In the previous week I had also enlarged the master plan to include ALL THREE floors in the demolition after that week's work reveled that even given the best intentions of careful demolition and not disturbing the first floor's walls and ceilings (so as to preserve as much historical environment on the floor that most visitors would see), the previously repaired cracks oped up like the Grand Canyon. So the executive decision was made to throw in the towel and just do the whole house - it's the right thing to do. I don't know if the budget can handle "the right thing to do" but we're pushing forward regardless.

The crew arrived en mass around 9:45 A.M. and was ready to conquer all. Most thing were in order due to a full week of planning and removal of smaller items such as the woodwork on the first floor and light fixtures throughout that needed to be saved. A skid Loader was rented to aid in the removal of debris from the first floor due to the window being a foot below the 8' edge of the 40-yard dumpster. Chutes from the second and third floor were constructed and installed by my brother and were precariously dangling from the side of the house, waiting to be attached to said dumpster that morning. With a little bit of early morning work completed we were ready for the crew to tear into the house. Only one detail remained that gave me worry, the port-a-potty hadn't yet been delivered. Talk a bout having a potential mutiny on my hands, and most likely led by the female populous of the crowd. Needless to say my mission for the majority of the morning was to locate and have delivered a clean and well-maintained port-a-john. As luck would have it, Bob from Bob's Reliable Port-a-Potties was on site at 1:30, just as the second 40-yard dumpster was being delivered. As many a married fellow can relate, the port-a-pottie got delivered first.

Catastrophes avoided, we pushed on 'til 4:00 that evening. After a photo-op of the entire group everyone slowly drug themselves to their cars, everyone stopping to whack their jeans and coats hoping to leave most of the dust and grime outside , all except the two guys who had spent the day in the basement pulling nails from the removed woodwork. At first glance when I handed out that job I had thought they had gotten the short end of the stick in that no one likes to stand in a cold basement and pull nails from endless piles of boards, until they went to get into their cars and they jumped right in. No sore shoulders, aching knuckles form smashing walls, just sore wrist from constant pulling. Not a bad deal at all I suppose. notice in the group photo these are the two guys that look like the kicker on the football team after the big win - just as much a huge part of the success, they just get to ride home clean. For those wondering one was my father-in-law and the other a cabinet maker from church - two smart men as it turns out.

As everyone left, I made sure to hug everyone and let them know how much I appreciated their time, effort and skills. Although I tried, no words can ever describe the debt I feel to these people, not because I owe them per se, but because I hope to help them someday in a way that is truly meaningful. In a way that makes them proud to be my friend, as I felt toward everyone that helped that day and every day since. A simple thank you never seems to cover my gratitude, but there's no better phrase I suppose. For those that have helped, prayed, given gifts, given words of encouragement, watched my kid, made me and Ellie (my daughter)dinner during this time of loss, know that I could not be a strong or be as successful today without your support. I thank you all for your prayers and your love.

The demolition was at about 80% complete as the last car pulled away and all of the food was stashed away for use next time. We went through 2- 40-yard dumpsters, 3,600 sq. ft. of finished house, 16.6 tons of debris, 3 cases of assorted kinds of pop, 3 crock pots of chili and soup, 12 respirator masks and refills for each, 3 small band-aids, 2 large broom handles, 6 bags of misc trash, 2 pots of hot Joe, countless napkins and 232 man hours in one day. What's even more amazing was the 34 smiles on the faces that left my house that day.

Matt the Crew Chief / Give direction

Diiiirty team members / Get ready Jane

Tear into Jane / 3rd floor haze

Ben the Bee / Love those breathers!

The First Is Always The Hardest

How much background do you give? What do people want to know? Tough questions to answer when developing in a vacuum. I guess the best start is one that starts with the most recent and most important facts that inspired me to create this blog.

On November 13, 2006 I was awakened by the knock on my door by a friend who had come over to give the most horrible news that no friend ever hopes to give. My wife of four years and the absolute love of my life had been killed in a small private airplane crash while returning from a one-day business trip. In that moment, my life forever changed in a way that I never thought possible.

One such way was the purchase, renovation and future of a historic house that we had just agreed to only days before. It's a large house that is the American Dream. It's big enough to grow into, it has a huge yard, it's on a quiet street, it's near great schools, it's near extended family and good friends, all of that and it was a fixer-upper - something that we specialize in. We had spent numerous trips to the house and discussed dreams of how we were going to change this or install that or make this room great by having this color or that. We had truly made the house ours in our hearts. So when I got the news that night, I struggled whether to move forward with the purchase of the home that was to house so many of our shared dreams. It just couldn't be the same, I thought, not after losing the one person that helped make those dreams come alive for me.













I wrestled with the decision for weeks, and thankfully, the sellers were kind enough to give me the space and time needed to make the right decision without any pressure or guarantees. I proceeded to put my wife to final rest, tried to put some schedule in place that made sense for me and my little girl of 19 months, and tried to keep in focus the distant future of what is right for me and my little girl, Ellie. I kept asking myself, all of those nights that my wife and I had stayed awake talking things through, was I supposed to make those things come true? Would Leslie want me to continue with our dreams even though she wouldn't be able to help me? Would I want her to continue on if the roles were reversed? The answer seemed more clear when I asked myself those questions because they all were easily answered with "yes". So, moving beyond all the doubts and fears of going it alone, managing limited budgets, even more limited time and the largest concern, not being able to share the moments with My Love - I knew I needed to buy the house. i called the buyers the next day and told them that I was moving forward with the purchase.

The day of closing was January 2nd, three weeks away. It was going to arrive sooner than I thought so I had better get back in the saddle and start working on getting bids from contractors, talk to banks for loans and start planning for the demolition that was needed. The holidays of Christmas and New Years came and went and it was now time to close. As life would have it, I ended up closing on the house on January 6th due to last minute inspections being needed and the holidays putting everyone into backlog that gave me a few extra days to get things into order. That's all fine and well, but I was set to start my first day of work on the 6th of January at 10:00 a.m.

A few weeks prior, unbeknownst to me while I was a way from work for Leslie's death, a fellow co-worker had sent out an e-mail to our group asking everyone that if I moved forward with the purchase of this house if they would be willing to pitch in and help with the renovations needed. When I was told about this I was completely floored. Here I had only worked in this group for just over a year and they were volunteering left and right, without any hesitation at all. Truly amazing, the Lord is truly amazing. When I least expect Him to bless me, He blesses me the greatest. In a short amount of time, we had over 40 people who had come forward to help. That number continued to grow as other heard about the need and emails going out. It continues to grow even today. I am humbled by everyone's generosity.

The Saturday of January 5th I had 13 people arriving at the new house ready to put down cardboard to cover the hardwood floors in the house and I hadn't even signed the papers of ownership yet. Needless to say I was starting to sweat it. Thankfully the banker was well prepared and was at the door at 9:45 a.m. and had me sign the papers that put me on the path to beginning a new chapter in my life.

The First Day of Work
Manhandling cardboard / Be careful with the seams

Russ WATCHING instead of working / Todd on the 2nd Floor

Don manages up the stairs / Ben watches - Jane works

Dan, lunch is at noon / Teamwork at its best

Watch the knife Brit / Fish, we only have 34 rolls of tape

The HEAP of board / Caryn & Brit enjoy lunch

Kevin takes it in / The crew on the 1st floor