Tile Removal ain't for sissies...

Thankfully, one member of our demolition duo isn't a sissy.  The other member, well, most people just call her "Meg". 

We spent a super fun 3 hours at the new house yesterday removing tile from the kitchen floor.  This may just be the suckiest job so far.  We rented the tile removal jack-hammer thing, but it still took forever!  I was mainly on clean-up duty as power tools and I don't get along very often.  I kept thinking Mark would find his groove eventually, but with tile, I think there is no groove.  It's just a lot of work, plain and simple.  I still have to go over and finish my clean-up duties. 

The worst part of this whole scenario is that we still have more tile to remove!  We haven't started on the two bathrooms yet.  UGH!

Still waiting for our contractors to get back to us with bids.  Hopefully, that will happen this week and then we can choose one and move on to the permit process.  After that, we start construction.  Yay!!!

I think I'll close with some more photos. 





Syd's first demolition experience, bye-bye pantry!









Safety first...





Just a little dust

 

After we removed the pantry.



And the walls come tumblin' down...

Day 1 - Demo Day

     

This is the before photo

This is the after, shot from a slightly different angle.  However, I'm sure the "glorious" chandelier will give you some perspective.



We started off day one with an empty dumpster and lots of enthusiasm.  I was amazed how quickly demolition goes!  We tore out carpets, removed the baseboards and moldings, took out some walls and even had time to clean up the yard some.

I'm so very thankful for my brother-in-law Chris and nephew Tilson.  They were a huge help!  Chris and Mark having grown up on a ranch have the ability to lift more than I would ever imagine.  I would try to carry out a chunk of drywall, barely being able to drag it with two hands.  Along came Mark or Chris who would pick it up seemingly one handed and easily toss it in the dumpster.

Tilson had the job of removing all interior doors.  He asked us twice if we really wanted all of them removed.  We said yes.  After he was done, someone had to go potty.  Oops, no door.  Well, that could be a bit awkward...

Here is a picture of the dumpster at the end of day 1.  Keep in mind, this is a 20 yard dumpster.  They consider this an "industrial sized" model.  Yikes!  (If you look just beyond the dumpster, you will see our Church.  I think we will be very happy here.)  :-)

Here's your sign.

Ahhh...we can now breathe a sigh of relief as our house has officially gone on the market.  We are one step closer to only one house payment!  Yay!  Since the listing became active yesterday afternoon, we've had 3 showings.  Hopefully, this means good things.  :-)

As for the new house, we had the dumpster delivered today.  We are going to start tearing out carpets and removing the rest of the existing flooring this weekend.  I think the whole family is excited to get things moving.  I'm sure the girls enthusiasm will disappear quickly when they realize it's actual work.  It will be interesting to see how we live up to the expectations we've set.  I'm sure we both are insanely optimistic on not only our skills, but on how fast we can actually progress.

We met with the 3rd and final contractor this week.  Now, we just need to wait to get the bids back.  Depending on the permit process, we could be starting in the next 6 weeks on the construction part.  I'm hoping things go smoothly enough that we can be in the new house before the girls start school the end of August.  Anything is possible, right?

I wear my sunglasses at night...

Last year, we had our house on the market because we had a contingency offer on another home.  Once the deal fell through, we decided we would stay in our current home and quit looking.  Well, we all know how that turned out, right?

Anyway, once we decided we were staying put, I told the girls I would paint their rooms however they wanted.  Following, is what they chose.

Peyton's choice...

You can see that Peyton opted for a striking lime green.  We added the circles because she "thought they looked cool".  Okay, I could live with this.

Next, you will see what Sydney chose.  Be prepared, it's not for the feint of heart...

Syd's choice...



Truly, this photo does not do it justice.  In reality, it is much, much more obnoxious.  Think Vegas Showgirls dressing room on crack!  I cannot believe I actually spent a whole day stenciling pink zebra print on the already garish pink walls.  Ah, the things we do for our children.  And, honestly, they really, really love their rooms.  I just have no idea how they actually are able to sleep!

However, people being what they are, I can imagine that this is not to everyone's taste.  Therefore, I have taken it under advisement that I would be wise to "tone it down" to something more in line with more basic tastes.  So, goodbye bordello, hello beige.  The painting will commence tomorrow.  Right now, I think I must go lie down.  I seem to have a splitting headache...must have forgotten my sunglasses.  ;-)