House Deconstruction

I previously mentioned my ‘need’ to figure out the plan for the new house before doing too much. So, while attempting to figure that out, I started poking around to learn what I could learn.

I turned on the water to see how things worked. Inspections during the purchase process revealed that the well needs to be “shocked” and some plumbing replaced where it enters the house. Shocking is basically just pouring some bleach into it to kill bacteria. The plumbing change is necessary due to the wrong type of pipe being in place.

The first thing I noticed was one outside faucet (freeze proof sillcock) pouring water and it could not be turned off. Away I went to get a replacement. I had to cut a hole in an indoor wall wall to gain access and enlist the aid of a friend since holding a wrench on both sides of the exterior wall is difficult for someone like me with short arms.  It got replaced and no more water leak!

I then checked all the other water faucets and – of course – managed to flood both bathrooms.

After cleaning up the mess, I found that the sink p-traps in two of the three bathrooms were completely rusted thru. So… away I went again – to get more parts. I’m not sure how the previous owner lived like this??

During this time, I noted that the gas forced air furnace would light and burn ‘normally’ but the fan was cycling. This appears to be the original furnace (30+ years) so the fact that it was working at all was probably a win. I opened it up to see what I could see. What I saw was that several of the burner tubes were completely caked with scale. After scraping and vacuuming out all of this junk, I noticed that the flame was not set correctly so a little pressure tuning was needed. Additionally, the temperature set points were incorrect. Once all that was corrected, the furnace began running normally.

A bit of snow fell recently and then melted. Imagine my surprise (NOT) when I walked into the house to find water dripping thru the ceiling in two places.

Remember my mention of a wrecking ball?! 🙂

A big chunk of sheet rock now needs to come down off the ceiling.

In spite of all that… including the a big hole in the living room ceiling, I started to think that it might be livable – after the well and septic work is done.

During all of this time I was feeling not so great – like I was fighting allergies. When I got away from the house for a few days, I felt better. It took a while – and several iterations – for that to sink in. When it finally did, I decided that there was something in the house that did not like me. So, the deconstruction part of the remodel needed to start sooner rather than later.

I figured the old carpet was the most likely source of whatever was bothering me so it had to come out. Trust me – it HAD to come out. Very old, very dirty.

So… out it came – along with the old padding.

I left the carpet in the two smaller bedrooms as the previous owner has some items remaining in them and I didn’t feel like moving it. Under the carpet and padding was a layer of dirt and sand. I completely filled that large shop vac with the stuff.

I plan to install some sort of laminate or tile flooring everywhere except the bedrooms so the tack strips were also pulled out.

The trim was in very bad condition and had several layers of paint on it. A bunch of it came out and went directly into the wood stove since it was a cold winter day and I needed some heat!! 🙂

Then the wall separating the front entrance from the living area was calling my name. It is odd how engaging destruction can be!!

A sledge hammer also helps to make the work feel more like fun!

A few minutes later, that wall was gone – and I no longer heard my name being called.

Clearly, the deconstruction was in progress.

Interestingly, after 30+ years, nobody had labeled the circuit breakers in the electrical panel. So, before removing the wiring from that wall, I got to play the ‘is that wall powered from this circuit breaker’ game. Always entertaining by oneself. However; I am older and wiser now!! I grabbed a noisy hair dryer, plugged it into the wall, turned it on and then starting flipping circuit breakers. When the noise stopped – I had it nailed!!

The concrete slab floor in this house is terribly out of level. Removing the carpet/padding showed me just how bad it is. Clearly, the builder attempted to fix it but it is nowhere near close. Before new flooring is installed, a significant leveling project is necessary. Due to that, I suspect everything needs to come out.  So, the notion that the place was ‘livable’ has been squashed!!

I would also like to remove the wall between the living room and kitchen. However; it may be weight bearing so I have a structural engineer scheduled to give me an opinion. If it is, my plan is to open it up with and use a couple of columns for support.  I realize that open-concept has some livability issues but I like the look. Maybe I like it so much since I’ve lived in a 300 square foot tiny home for the last four years??  Regardless, I am going for it!