planned to be much further along in my restoration, but got a reality
check on how long (and costly) this stuff is. I thought stripping the
paint off the brick fireplace would take ONE weekend and a few gallons
of paint stripper....WRONG! In the end it took me almost a year (on and
off) to complete and over $1000 worth of baking soda, compressor rental,
and other expenses. And I'm STILL cleaning baking soda from my house!
It's EVERYWHERE!
So in one year's time, here is what was accomplished:
- The attic was completely un-finished. All the wood paneling and other
wall materials were removed, along with some of the framing. All of the
carpet was removed. About 100 lbs or more of raccoon poop was removed.
And lots of treasures were discovered, including the most important, the
tin toy car. - In the basement, footers were poured to support the new column screw
jacks that are supporting the beam which is directly underneath the
load-bearing wall that goes through the center of the house, which has
fallen 2" on one side over the years. The process of jacking the beam
up is about to begin. - In the dining room, the sagging plaster ceiling was removed and the
paint has been partially stripped from the built-in cabinets. Old
newspapers were discovered under the drawers. - On the exterior, the awnings were removed from the front two upstairs
windows and across the porch. A massive mountain of crap was removed
from under the porch. Minor roof repair was done to the garage. The
missing gate was replaced on the back of the fence, along with random
fence boards that had been removed. The side screen door was replaced. - In the kitchen, at least 5 layers of flooring were removed, which had
accumulated throughout the years to about an inch and a half thickness.
The drop ceiling was removed and the remainder of the plaster ceiling
above was also removed. The sofets above the cabinets were removed.
The carpeting was removed from the back porch. The wood paneling was
removed from the back porch, as well as window trim. The drop ceiling
as well as tongue and groove wood porch ceiling beneath was removed from
the back porch area. The tongue and groove exterior wall was removed
from inside the back porch from when it used to be outdoors. - In the living room, the carpet was removed. The sagging plaster
ceiling was removed. The paint was stripped from the brick fireplace.
The baseboards have been removed for paint stripping. - The carpet was removed from the remainder of the house (upstairs
bedrooms, hallway, and staircase).
