Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Tearing Down the House

The first step in starting the new house was tearing down the old one. It gave us a lot of anguish, but it had to be done.

We had struck an agreement with our contractor Joe, to reuse the original antique beams that were in the house.  This meant they couldn't come in and bulldoze the house down - they needed to take it apart carefully.  And somehow, that seemed to give it more respect.
Down to the studs
We wanted to reuse anything that we could.  But unfortunately, all the original mouldings, doors, and trim work had been replaced with 1970's style materials (blah ranch molding), so there was nothing of antique value.  We donated the kitchen and bathroom cabinets to Habitat for Humanity's ReStore.  One of our contractors took all the doors.  And the windows were in pretty bad shape, so they just went in the dumpster.








So weird to see the sunlight streaming down the old staircase



It was still hard to see it come down.  Lots of neighbors came to take pictures.  And we just felt guilty, because we couldn't save the house.

It was a sad, sad day.








We had hoped to discover something exciting during the demo.  But other than an old can of tobacco and a couple of broken bottles, there wasn't much to be found.  But we did get a surprise.  We had thought the foundation under the kitchen addition was a good one - but one of our contractors leaned against it and it came tumbling down!!  So now we have more foundation work than we expected!


And once it was gone, all we had left was a big hole in the ground.  It was time to start rebuilding.  New construction is quick, so there was something to look forward to!




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8 comments:

  1. I bet that was so hard for you. I know whatever you build will be amazing. Can't wait to follow the progress.

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  2. Just thinking, for awhile your neighbors have a "new' view.

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    1. So true! And water views as well. Of course that probably just made them upset when the house went back up!

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  3. Oh my, that must have been sad! But sometimes it has to happen. And in the end it was worth it, right?

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  4. Stay strong Laurel :) This house will turn out to be one of the loveliest houses you'll ever see :)) Sending tons of hugs your way ^_^ this is going to be a good journey :) thanks for letting us be a part of it :)

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    1. Thanks for the support! We really appreciate it!

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  5. I know it definitely must have been sad to watch. Great job for staying strong through the process. Best of luck to you! Thanks for sharing.

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