Someone done knocked out a wall

Thanks to a great friend who came over to help us today, the first two larger, stronger collars are in. Hopefully we'll get the other three in tomorrow.

And finally, the wall is out. The Missus really enjoyed this part.

A glimpse in the dark

Took out a couple joists tonight which gave a better picture of what the future vaulted ceiling will look like. The eagerness to keep working into the night is getting harder to fight. 

Small but Huge change

Oh, there used to be a chimney there? I hadn't noticed. Hello bigger kitchen.

Termites, you little bastards

Unfortunately, the news isn't always good news when you tackle a house project. We knew we had some termites based on our kitchen, we just didn't know how bad. The room that is going to be our laundry room is off the back of the house and from the looks of it, I'm going to have to tear most of it down and start from scratch. The good news is, it looks like the termites showed up sometime in the past and all the sill plates and a few of the uprights have been replaced with treated lumber. Since termites usually stick to an organic diet free from chemicals, these additions made by the previous owners saved the room from literally falling off the house. The truest sense of the word, "literally". 

All that to say, I know what I'm doing next weekend. 

Work Day in the books

We are so blessed to have friends who will stand on countertops to take out nails and crawl into attics to get rid of rotten insulation. Our skin and hair may be covered in dirt and dust, but it was a very productive day.

Stay tuned, the next couple weeks are going to be a waiting game for the big stuff like a new roof and new HVAC, but once those are complete, the magic of reconstruction can begin.

A thousand thanks to Cam, Heather, Mark, & Rick for your help today.

Tool Time

Who has two thumbs and just got new toys?

This guy. 

The man with the juice

The Missus and I haven't been able to work on the house for a couple days due to those pesky things called jobs. Thankfully, with us out of the way our electrician was able to rewire the entire house. Another day and he'll have all the outlets and switches and everything else hooked up. Not too shabby for owning the place less than a week.

Work Day at the Beacon Fixer Upper

We've had many requests to help with the new house, so we’re having a work day!!! 

Come join us this coming Saturday 1/21/17 at 1:00pm. We’ll work for about four hours and wrap it all up with pizza and beer (and other drinks if you’re underage or un-American) at 5:00pm. There will be easy jobs and hard jobs. There will be clean jobs and dirty jobs. There will be inside jobs and outside jobs. Basically, there will be something for everyone who wants to join in the fun. We have most of the tools for the jobs we’re doing, but feel free to bring your favorite hammer and tool belt. 

If you’ll be able to make it, please let us know (phone, text, email, carrier pigeon) so we can be prepared with enough water and Gatorade and dust masks. And no worries if you just show up; the more the merrier. 

One important note: We do not yet have a working bathroom. The good news though, there are multiple stores, restaurants, gas stations, and Ingles, all within a half mile, so you’re not far from relief. But if you really feel the need, you are responsible for your own adult diapers. 

Hope we see you on Saturday!

Day Three

The Missus had the day off from work so she continued where we left off last night, taking down more of the loose drywall and finishing the removal of debris from the living room and kitchen. The electrician came by to remove the old fuse box and wiring, and to add us an outside source of juice so we can still have electricity while we work on the demo.

This is a picture the Missus took after her hours of work today. Still a long ways to go but we're starting to see some peeks into where we're going.  

Day Two

Even though we got a late start to the day, a surprise dumpster showed up followed by surprise friends to help fill it. (Okay, I guilted the dumpster guy's wife into guilting him to bring us one and Alli knew about the friends coming to help, but it was still cool both actually showed up.)

My super sexy look:

The top kitchen cabinets now live in the bottom of that dumpster.

And now for the bad news...

We knew there was a little termite damage, but we were hoping it was confined to a small room on the back of the house. Unfortunately, the picture below shows what I found out after taking out the cabinets. The studs shredded like wet paper towels, and pieces of siding just fell off as the boards disintegrated. I'm fairly certain the remaining drywall is holding up that whole corner of the house. Looks like I'll be rebuilding a wall this coming weekend.

Day One.

And so it begins.