5 Hours A Night: 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