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Demo today

7 years ago

We are starting the demo on our lot today. Very bittersweet day... It was quite difficult watching an old, dilapidated house with all it's memories go down.

Featured Answer

Russ Barnard

7 years ago

Don't let him take it all! That dark wood looks like it would make an awesome table, picture frames, all sorts of stuff. Go on a treasure hunt! Remember, good treasure is sometimes found after digging through a lot of mud and you will never lack stories of the new build when you can point to something that you made from the old one and talk all about where it came from and how you had it made or made yourself.

Those are the things people pass down from generation to generation.

My wife got a dining table and hutch from her grandmother that was made by her great great uncle from a barn they tore down years and years ago. They were over 105 years old when we got married (the table and hutch.. heh).

We had them refurbished and the kids will get them some day or their kids will, if I ever let them date ... lol

R

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Comments (8)

poolroomcomesfirst
7 years ago
Yay! Congrats!
Russ Barnard
7 years ago
There are quite a few good pieces of wood in that pile. Grab a lot of them and make something out of them... a table.. whatever. Maybe a nice table for a porch or, heck, a beautiful end table, etc.

Take a few of those memories and bring them into the new house. You will never regret that.

GL!

R
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Today was the beginning, we accomplished a lot today. Opening it up completely. https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A4532ODWw75Mt
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I can see that the LAST thing to be will be the kitchen.....but that's OK. Our house is in pretty good shape considering what went on here. I guess these were some reasonably high -class druggies(!). Susannes1- I HOPE that our neighbors will say thatabout our place in a few months!! Today, the old wire and scrubby tree fence line gets bulldosed out, which will really spiff the place up without doing another thing...... Yesterday, they took down a huge tree in the backyard that had been dead for YEARS, wonder it did not fall on the house! One of the guys working on the house got shoT by the original owner(the estate from whom we bought the house), and he says the guy was the biggest gambler and drug dealer in the state of Kentucky. We are trying to figure out what the sign on the gate should say to let people know he is not here!! Nancy
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Comments (12)
We started in earnest on Saturday, taking two walls partially down. Gutted, it already looks better with the 360 views out our windows. In addition to crawling over boxes and cloaked furniture everywhere, yesterday's tear out involved our soffits and ceiling - tons of insulation floating all over the house despite sheeting. DH fell through a part of our ceiling, popping a hole in a section we weren't expecting to resurface...actually very funny since no one got hurt. No surprises (like the reading material and refreshments found by some :), other than a dormant wasp hive. We are down to bare bones now...a nice 30 degree breeze wafted through the house last night. Electrician arrives today. Despite the mess, this part is actually fun. DH is our contractor's 'helper' ... They seem to work well together (other than the ceiling mishap!). Good luck to all the other demos going on this week. Will post pictures soon.
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Well, wouldn't you know it.....Demo Started Today
Q
Comments (12)
Well, a bit more progress to show. I was out of town for part of last week, but while I was gone they removed most of the siding from the back of the house where the kitchen addition will be and removed the screen porch. Since then they have also removed most of the siding around the upstairs slider that will be replaced with windows. Hopefully our permits will be returned this week and we'll have a foundation hole and the slab from the screen porch will be cut back to make room for the addition (the first 3' of it are in the way).
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Natalie A
Original Author
7 years ago
Russ, a neighbor was eyeing all that wood & I told him to take as much as he wanted!

Thank you!
ILoveRed
7 years ago
Congratulations! I thought the same thing when we demolished our old lake house. Bats flew out when it came down, lol. Sentiment went out the window :-)

good luck on your build.
worthy
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Scrap lumber from a 20th Century demolition. Who could resist!

The six kids who grew up in one home I demoed asked me for the door frame where their late Dad had marked their growth over the years. A different value.
Natalie A
Original Author
7 years ago
How lovely, Russ! P.S. Don't ever let them date! Our next move with the kids is to a beautiful deserted island, far away until they are 40 & 42!
missouribound
7 years ago
I agree with Russ. Grab some pieces of wood, or a few doorknobs and make something out of it. When my grandparents' old house fell down after years of neglect, I took the wood and doorknobs and covered my shed with it. Now that we are leaving this place, I just have the doorknobs, but I plan on using them in the next house.

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