Just a follow-up on the ivy removing - we were able to remove a majority of the ivy by pulling on the living growth. It came off pretty well although there's still some work to be done. It's the dead stuff that's stuck like super glue. I'm think perhaps a wire brush might help get them off. We'll have to remove one of the shutters as the ivy grew behind it and is still peeking out in certain places. But overall, I'm really happy that most of it is down. In theory, it's a lovely look, but in reality, the house looks so much cleaner without.

This is a personal "war on terror": I have been removing a solid patch of ivy, 30' x 40' for 4 years now and it is 80% gone. Because I did not want to spray, the first thing was to allow myself time...this ivy has been established for nearly 20 years, so some of the mother plants were quite large. My ground is hard clay, so I would water the night before whatever section I planned to remove, so it would not be sloppy wet when I worked it. I would "cut" a workable section (say, 2' x 3') with my shovel, or edger, or even a felco hand saw, and then I would dig under the section with the shovel to loosen the roots enabling me to pull it all out. Sounds simple enough, yet as you may guess, it's a tug-o-war, and at times I needed a pick axe to break away the really old roots. But, there is a certain sense of accomplishment to see progress happen section by section. For the positives: I get lots of exercise, the time spent is for daydreaming and meditation, I don't poison my soil or the birds or any other living creatures, and none has grown back where I removed it. My landscaping plans are integrated with my removal plans, which helps to inspire getting the next section done... Good Luck, Dixie

I have news about the ivy. Two things have changed in the two years since I cut all the ivy trunks around the tree. First, I got a new tool, a vibrating multi-tool, that makes it incredibly easy to cut through the vines. I had previously used a little curved hand saw that was difficult to use on the tough trunks. Second, this venue was so focused on finding a missed bit of ivy that it made me doubt my own certainty that I had done a complete job. I went back to the tree, this time with my new tool. I went around the tree, cutting all the trunks evenly at about six feet high, near the top of my reach. To be clear, there are about 7 to 10 trunks the size of a silver dollar or larger, and there are also maybe twice as many that are smaller. To give an idea, at one point, high up in the tree, the ivy began growing downward, like the vines Tarzan used to swing around the jungle. When we bought the house, it was maybe 10 feet off the ground, and swayed widely in the wind. Over the next 30 years, it grew downward to reach the ground with a vine the thickness of a broom handle. The old tool was a curved saw and it was a difficult tool to use in the tight nooks and crannies. The new tool made it easy to make several cuts, as needed, just to completely clear out the mess. In the past two years, the vegetation on the ground has changed a little and so it was a bit easier to see what was going on. The big change, however, was the new tool. In the end, I did find one small bit of ivy, maybe the diameter of a quarter, that was snaking through the middle of two twin trunks. I really had my fingers crossed as I cut that one bit that looked to be the culprit. It worked! I wanted to wait to be sure, but the ivy is now clearly almost dead. There are very few remaining green leaves, a few more remaining brown leaves, and on the ground, it looks more like fall than springtime. What I find amazing is that the small single ivy trunk that I missed was able to supply the entire plant with it's needs for a connection with the ground. I literally took away probably 95% of it's trunk system, leaving only one small connection. I might have thought that the different entwining trunks would each supply one portion of the plant. Instead, that single point of connection to the ground seems to have found a way to share it's connection with all the other disconnected trunks arising toward the sky. Where the ivy trunks were deeply intertwined, I think that they must have somehow grown together, such that they were sharing resources. When all but that single small trunk was severed, that single small trunk was somehow able to provide enough for the entire, huge mass of airborne leaves, and was able to connect with the other trunks which had clearly been severed. These trunks were on all sides of the tree, but sort of interwoven. Still, that means that water from the single remaining trunk somehow connected with other trunks, which then went on to connect with even more trunks until the entire plant was again connected to the ground! That is one tough plant! I do recall this scenario at the time of the original cuts, two years ago. At first, the ivy began to die, a little. Some leaves turned yellow and fell off. I was expecting it to continue all the way, as I had seen many times. Yet, somehow, after a few weeks of losing leaves, the loss of leaves stopped, and then the worst thing happened: new growth was obvious! So the story ends like this: yes, there was a single, small missed piece of trunk. With my new tool, I really cleaned up the trunk of a lot more deadwood, and in the process, was able to cut that final missed piece. The loss of that final connection to the ground now has the entire ivy nearly dead. Having that success with the tree closest to my home, and easiest to explore, I geared up to re-visit the Douglas Fir. It is on a steep slope, and difficult to approach. Again, I think I may have found one, tiny missed trunk, and I severed it. I also cleaned up a lot so that the ivy trunks were easier to visualize. It has not been as long since I made the new cuts, but it does seem that the leaves are in the very beginning stages of turning brown and falling off. Fingers crossed! Time will tell, but I think I have finally finished a job I began two years ago, and I'm ultimately relieved.

The wall was up to the ceiling. I would build it just up to the countertop height. My first thought wad to remove it completely but I am installing the floor in few days and want to make a decision.