Upstairs Demolition

So last weekend, we ordered a dumpster, bought some respirators and gloves, donned our grubby clothes and went to town on the upstairs of the house. It was, in a word, AWESOME.
We filled a whole five-cubic-yard dumpster (plus had a smidge of room left over for our old broken grill and a busted lawn chair. We are totally less like hicks all the time!)

After learning from previous projects that what you rip out of your house and throw out a window has a way of spreading, and not everything will end up in the dumpster, I put out a tarp. And felt really smart when it rained and made the bits of old wallpaper what would have been horrible to clean up, were it not for the tarp.

Anyway, you didn't come to see pictures of us or our dumpster. You came for the before and after pix (or before and halfway...whatever. After is still a ways down the pike.) With no further ado, the guest room!
Guest room again, facing south...
Hallway/landing. Standing in guest room doorway, facing Todd's office. CHECK OUT THAT RAD CHIMNEY!!! So excited about that.

Hallway/landing facing the guest room.
I also have a video, for your viewing pleasure.



We didn't find a whole lot surprising in the attic. Pretty standard stuff: mouse droppings, old rat bait boxes, cruddy, patchy old insulation (which we're paying someone else to deal with -- luckily NOT asbestos insulation, YAY house!) and packing peanuts, which someone evidently decided would be a workable substitute for actual insulation.

Next steps include:

• getting someone to clean out the insulation
• making a plan for the bathroom (move the wall or don't move the wall in the bathroom?)
• getting the electrical inspected while all the walls are down
• properly insulating the upstairs
• finishing (drywalling) the attic space, hallway and rooms
• adding sconces and Solatubes for more light in the landing area
• replacing the windows
• executing whatever plan we formulate for the bathroom (it will be an all-white bathroom, for which I'm kind of excited)
• refinishing the gorgeous red pine floors
• possibly adding a large dormer on the back in the guest room

So, just a few things to do. But it's going to be great when it's done. Especially with that chimney.

ALSO! I never posted a picture of this when we picked them, but the apples from our "anniversary tree" orchard are SO GOOD. They are the best apples I've ever had, and I don't even really like Red Delicious that much. Having fruit trees is going to be so much fun.