Well, we have begun the "BIG" project... And so far have only had one major disagreement. But, I'm sure there will be more to come. It's the nature of the beast. We started taking down walls on Saturday the 13th of January. Over the course of the weekend we took out the wall that surrounded the stairs and the wall between the entry and the master bedroom. We bought a big shop vac to use for clean up and it has been a lifesaver already. Well, maybe not a "lifesaver" but pretty darn handy for sure. There is a lot of dust and debris generated in destruction and construction.
Chuck has managed to either touch live wires or actually cut into live wires 4 times (at least that I know about) so far. He hit one as he was cutting through the wall with the riciprocating saw. I'm going to post a picture I took just after he hit a 220 line. His guardian angel must be working overtime, because he didn't even get shocked. I have contacted an electrician and he will be coming this week to help put everything back together.
Since that weekend, Jeff Wright came over and in a matter of hours, literally, he cut a new hole in the floor, framed in the opening and built stairs. It was amazing to watch him at work. On Friday he and Chuck built the stairs in less time than it would have taken me to cut the hole in the floor.
Jeff came back on Saturday and framed in the wall area around the new stairs ready for the wallboard. Then he, Toni and I removed the old stairs - in ONE piece!! It was pretty amazing - and at times a bit scary. We lifted them up out of the basement turned them to the side and took them right out the front door. Several times during the process I thought "What the heck are we doing here?!?" But, we just took it slow and made it out without any major injuries.
Jeff then put the floor support boards over the hole where the stairs used to be ready for the floor board. He would have put that in too but we didn't have the lumber there at the time. We are now to the point where we can start putting up sheetrock.
It is pretty amazing to see how much taking down the walls and moving things around have changed the front room. It makes me excited to think about how it's going to look once it's all done.
Jenette asked me to post some pictures - and as she is pretty much the only one to come to my site- I will make the attempt :0) I'll try to post more pictures as things progress. I have chosen the tile I think I'm going to put in the kitchen and have decided on a type of carpet, but not sure of the specific one.
Otherwise, things are off to a decent start in the second semester at school. I have full classes, but don't seem to have an overabundance of obnoxious students. And as Martha Stewart sayw "And that's a good thing". I get to go to a Photoshop seminar in Salt Lake City this Wednesday. I'm excited to see what new stuff I can learn. Hopefully it won't be way over my head or stuff I already know.
Well, this wasn't an entertaining entry - I need to learn from Jenette how to spice up what I write. But, basically it's just an excuse to post some pictures anyway.
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