Demolition Barbie: Sledgehammer and Crowbar Included!

Remember how I mentioned a few days ago that we were going to redo the bathroom? Well, it's underway. Here's a little video of what it looked like before (that's right, there's a....um...next step. Not an after. Yet.)



Sorry that it's sideways. I couldn't really get the right angle landscape...It's totally good for you to bend your neck like that. Ask any chiropractor....

Later that afternoon, my hands were throbbing from holding a hammer for so long and kept pinching together like crabs with muscle spasms. And this is what I'd accomplished:

Basically, I eat 2x4s and plaster for lunch. Cat, be sure to mention to your chauvinist friend that I am rather handy with a sledge hammer.

While I was at work smashing the bathroom to bits and throwing it out the window, Trevor the Great was in the next room over, ripping out the old sliding glass door that closed crooked and was so dirty it wouldn't get clean. (That's a special kind of dirty, for those who don't know. Specifically, this kind of dirty doesn't respond to any cleaning efforts, regardless of the quantity or variety of chemicals used.)

Before:




Again, sorry for the rotation. I kind of suck at this. Be sure to notice Trevor making a war-face as he attacks the frame of the door. We discovered flashing on the door (and by "we" I mean "he," because my understanding of flashing has little to do with siding and whatnot) and he had to use his Sawzall (excellent tool, by the way) to saw around the frame of the door. He was less than pleased about the situation. But nevertheless, the door was gone before lunchtime. And before dinner, this is how it looked:

I put the deadbolt and the knob on today, and it's not trimmed out in the picture either.  I'll take another shot tomorrow.  It's kind of dark out now.  I'm not wildly in love with how it looks, but it's definitely an improvement over the semi-translucent door that was there.  This has actual light shining through.

While I was installing the deadbolt (tricky thing, and the directions were just pictures.  Not helpful, Kwikset!) Todd and Adam worked on cleaning the gutters and getting rid of the satellite dishes (two...who needs two?) on the roof.  We took the plastic covering off the fireplace (which was up while Gary was banging around in the chimney.  We didn't really want a bunch of ash in the living room) and I vacuumed out the firebox, opened the little door on the outside of the chimney, and shoveled out another four gallons or so of ash.

Fast forward to a few hours later, and you find me, sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace.  Now, I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, but it kind of is.  This is the first time I've sat around and done something other than scheme for the next project or make a list of stuff to get from Home Depot.  It's starting to become home!

I'll sign off tonight with one more video.  This is a definitely outdated tour of the inside of the house, before the floors were even done.  I'll post a more current one soon, but here's a "before":