Demo Day
June 2018:
We started the remodel process over 2 years ago. At times it felt like it would never happen. Finally, the ball is rolling!
If you've ever seen the show "Fixer Upper", you know how excited Chip Gaines gets over Demo Day. I can honestly say I felt the same way. The day we got to rip out cabinets, carpet, and drywall was a GREAT day. It's fantastic to take out all your frustrations on an inanimate object while saving money doing it ourselves!
Babe Vila was a beast. There was no stopping him. He rounded up some good buddies (thanks, Dave, Chris, Max, Rich, and Larry!!) and over a couple weekends and we all got busy, even our girls got involved.
Underneath the drywall was...surprise!...wood paneling. Yep, they just slapped drywall on top of paneling. Ok not a huge deal, just more work taking out yet another layer.
And then there were the vast amounts of mouse droppings ringing the entire area where the floor meets the walls. We are in the mountains, there are critters - these dropping could have been over 20 years old. I promptly googled Hantavirus symptoms and made note to talk to contractor about sealing holes/gaps. I stopped taking pictures at this point
Oh, and I can't forget the electrical nightmare. There was electrical wire spliced together - in and of itself, not a problem. Except when it's outside of a junction box AND connected via good old duct tape. Just an electrical fire waiting to happen. I'm not a fan of working with electricity but even as uneducated as I am on the topic, I do know there's a thing called "electrical tape". It's so bad we won't be able to salvage any of it - full rewire of the entire house. As our friend Dave pointed out, it was definitely a DIY job (a bad DIY, I might add). Take a deep breath and move on.
Lest I forget the basement. Oh the basement.
It started with removing the ceiling light. Oh goody! Mouse poop in the fixture. Now I know why the lights didn't work down there.
Remove drywall on the walls and discover the double framing - fun. So they framed, put insulation in, put paneling in, framed AGAIN, more insulation, then drywall. Who did this and WHY?!?!? But on the flip side, we just gained like 5" of floor space.
Remove drywall on ceiling and here's where it becomes a house of horrors.
There are ceiling tiles under the drywall. Immediately call the asbestos inspector to come back out and test. There's another $300 I didn't want to spend.
After results come back, the contractor takes over on demo work. He recommends to remove all insulation as he suspects "mouse infestation" - yep take it. Not even up for debate.
He takes down the ceiling tiles. Along with at least 7 carcasses of decayed mice, squirrels, chipmunks, and maybe even a Demogorgon. We're talking old turn to dust when it falls kind of remains.
And then there's the amount of droppings in the ceiling, behind the insulation, along the top of the foundation walls...the contractor said it was bad, really bad. So bad, he decided to just hose the entire basement down.
Maybe I should rename the cabin from Valley View A-Frame to Mouse Motel. Think it'd be popular on Airbnb?
Fast forward the demo work from the contractor, and we're left with a shell of a house.
Can't wait to see it start being put together properly.
We started the remodel process over 2 years ago. At times it felt like it would never happen. Finally, the ball is rolling!
If you've ever seen the show "Fixer Upper", you know how excited Chip Gaines gets over Demo Day. I can honestly say I felt the same way. The day we got to rip out cabinets, carpet, and drywall was a GREAT day. It's fantastic to take out all your frustrations on an inanimate object while saving money doing it ourselves!
Babe Vila was a beast. There was no stopping him. He rounded up some good buddies (thanks, Dave, Chris, Max, Rich, and Larry!!) and over a couple weekends and we all got busy, even our girls got involved.
And then...we discovered the under-layer. Sounds like something out of "Stranger Things", right? Well it was just about as scary with several "What the..." statements coming out of our mouths.
Underneath the drywall was...surprise!...wood paneling. Yep, they just slapped drywall on top of paneling. Ok not a huge deal, just more work taking out yet another layer.
And then there were the vast amounts of mouse droppings ringing the entire area where the floor meets the walls. We are in the mountains, there are critters - these dropping could have been over 20 years old. I promptly googled Hantavirus symptoms and made note to talk to contractor about sealing holes/gaps. I stopped taking pictures at this point
Oh, and I can't forget the electrical nightmare. There was electrical wire spliced together - in and of itself, not a problem. Except when it's outside of a junction box AND connected via good old duct tape. Just an electrical fire waiting to happen. I'm not a fan of working with electricity but even as uneducated as I am on the topic, I do know there's a thing called "electrical tape". It's so bad we won't be able to salvage any of it - full rewire of the entire house. As our friend Dave pointed out, it was definitely a DIY job (a bad DIY, I might add). Take a deep breath and move on.
It started with removing the ceiling light. Oh goody! Mouse poop in the fixture. Now I know why the lights didn't work down there.
Remove drywall on the walls and discover the double framing - fun. So they framed, put insulation in, put paneling in, framed AGAIN, more insulation, then drywall. Who did this and WHY?!?!? But on the flip side, we just gained like 5" of floor space.
Remove drywall on ceiling and here's where it becomes a house of horrors.
There are ceiling tiles under the drywall. Immediately call the asbestos inspector to come back out and test. There's another $300 I didn't want to spend.
After results come back, the contractor takes over on demo work. He recommends to remove all insulation as he suspects "mouse infestation" - yep take it. Not even up for debate.
He takes down the ceiling tiles. Along with at least 7 carcasses of decayed mice, squirrels, chipmunks, and maybe even a Demogorgon. We're talking old turn to dust when it falls kind of remains.
And then there's the amount of droppings in the ceiling, behind the insulation, along the top of the foundation walls...the contractor said it was bad, really bad. So bad, he decided to just hose the entire basement down.
Maybe I should rename the cabin from Valley View A-Frame to Mouse Motel. Think it'd be popular on Airbnb?
Fast forward the demo work from the contractor, and we're left with a shell of a house.
Can't wait to see it start being put together properly.
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