Smashy Smashy - A Pictorial Journey of Destruction

Up to the minute updates! ...are not the case on this blog. So, it's been quite a while since the last post. I started this one on 10/11, hoping for the inspiration to make it a bit more detailed...but that hasn't happened.

Since our last update, we've demolished both of the previous owner's additions, successfully hung some curtains, and had a near disaster with our furnace. More about the latter two later. In the meantime, here is the skeleton of yon ancient post:

Two weekends ago A while ago, M's father came over from Merry Olde England to help us demolish the PO's leaktastic additions. Thanks to my back acting up, I wasn't much help, but they and A got a lot done in a short time.

Here's the back addition -- the 17x10 "family room" -- before the destruction. The thing that kills me is that the windows they installed (or, more accurately, built around) in there were the only really nice windows in the entire house.



A shot of the inside, after the wall panels came off. They painted the stucco green before they put the wall up. Only Satan knows why.



After pulling some of the insulation out of the walls, we discovered where all the ants that would occasionally invade our kitchen were coming from...



Our poor, poor roof:




Nearly there...



A little push, and the wall falls down!


Fare thee well, ye spider-ridden, below-grade, flooded, duct-taped, stinky room o' filth!

...Well. Not quite. Most of it's still in a pile in our backyard.

The Demolition Begins...

I started on the interior of the foyer. Until we can move the piano the POs left behind, and unwire the fire hazard electrics, it has to maintain a semblance of water resistance. Remarkably, some of it was reasonably well constructed. All that meant is that it was easier to take apart and some of the materials were salvageable.


Starting with the front wall, the plastic covered paperboard came off easily enough. The chipboard behind it was starting to compost however...




The door frame is glued to the brick (well, I did say some of it was well constructed, not all...)



*gasp* there was insulation in the wall.



The planks on the ceiling came off relatively easily, once the first one was out. Getting the first one out however, required some work. All the wall panels around the upper edge had to come off, as did some of their supporting struts. That wasn't difficult, everything was held together with a couple of nails and some glue.

There's even more insulation in the roof space. This space is actually better insulated than the attic... you know the bit above the interior of the house, where the heat is...




Is that roofing tile I see before me?



Indeed it is:




Behind the upper paneling you can see the original roof. The roof for the addition just rests on it:


And there you see the cause of part of the leak. If water gets under the roof of the addition, it comes down the valley... and in through the hole drilled to put the wiring through! Just out of picture to the left is one of several wiring junctions, complete with bare wires. That hasn't been taken out yet as I need to shut off the electrics for the entire house, because who knows what circuit(s) that's actually wired into!

Salvage: The main planks from the ceiling came off cleanly, as did the roof insulation, the pieces against the wall to the left are trash however - wood covered in glue, plastic coated paperboard, etc.



Whilst doing some gardening as a break from demolition, I uncovered a toad. It seems smaller than the one we had earlier in the year, so there's two of them around at least.




And the monster plant lurking behind the house, fighting it out with the rosebush to see how much of the garden they can take over, is flowering. Only one flower for half a dozen seven foot stalks, but it's pretty:

License to Smash

In case you can't be bothered to click on the picture, here's what the most important part reads:

"Owner is hereby granted permission to perform the following work: DEMOLITION OF ADDITION".

Mwahaha.

(Actually, the deed change has yet to be registered with the township, so it's really the previous owner's name on the permit. Does that mean we get free labor?)