All of the interior walls are now removed. Both bathrooms are removed along with the kitchen. One of the water lines snapped today, so I had to cap that. Eventually the entire plumbing architecture will need to be replaced.
I’m hesitant to remove the ceilings because I will then have to replace all of them along with the insulation in the attic. I suspect it is inevitable though.
After sleeping in rather late this morning – we spent most of the day at the park. It was in the mid-70s for most of the day.
First, at the dog park where Scout and Tila continued their studies in canine socialization. Scout is a pitbull mix and could readily rip apart most of the other dogs at the park should he wish (his 5 mile sprints aka blood runs, have in part prepared him for this), yet sadly he is such a wimp when he is around other dogs. He is incredibly fast though – so we enjoy showing him off by throwing tennis balls which he can get to before any of the other dogs.
Later we sat near a nice pond and Yun and her parents played SkipBo while I finished up Riggebach’s book Why American History is not What They Say. Its not the most helpful or entertaining thing I have read recently, but it did end strong and has inspired a few other books of a similar genre.
On the way home, we stopped at Fiesta Market for the necessary items to prepare carne asada for dinner (my favorite meal). It started to get a bit cold at this time.
Dinner was awesome. We later resumed the SkipBo and then played a few rounds of Rummikub. I read nearly half of Molloy’s The Life of Saint Athanasius while playing, which appears to be a pretty decent primer on Athanasius and the events that led to the first ecumenical council at Nicaea.
Yunuen and I spent New Years Eve with Jesus and Crystal and Yun’s parents. We are now in new a decade!
I just watched Where the Wild Things Are which was based on a book from my childhood. The movie was exceptionally strange. I suspect it has a deeper meaning which I am unable to grasp. I’m not sure I would recommend it.
Last weekend Yun’s parents came up and together we continued the demolition process we started a couple weeks earlier. This time, however, we spent the entire day and nearly removed all of the drywall, the kitchen, and the bathrooms. Now the place looks like it was struck by a missle.
I have a rather lengthy list of upcoming tasks. Next on the list:
– remove all of the rubble
– remove all remaining interior walls
– remove non-load bearing framing
– pour cement to even out the floors
– frame new walls
– redo all electrical circuits/wiring/outlets
– install light fixtures
– redo all plumbing
– redo gas lines
– remove/replace hot water heater
– remove two exterior doors
– replace two other exterior doors
– move/replace windows
– install tile
– install new drywall
– texture and paint walls
– install kitchen
– install master and guest bath
– install new a/c system
There’s probably a lot more than I am missing – but this is the general plan at present.
We had Christmas dinner last night at our house. It was just Yun and I and her mom.
Yun and I went down to Nogales with Ross, Susie, and Ashley last Sunday night for a Christmas dinner with the church there. We had a great time.
We finally closed on our new house on Friday. So Saturday morning we woke early to head over and start some work. Fortunately the new house is only about 5 minutes from where we live now. I’ve mapped out a rough plan as to the steps I’d like to take to restore the house. The first steps are to cover all the windows and to begin tearing down walls in the main house – and this is what we did.
I only had time to take down one wall – the one that separates one of the bedrooms from the master bedroom. I haven’t removed any of the framing yet as I’d like some second opinions on which are the load bearing walls. I’ve found that removing the walls is much easier than I had anticipated. I suspect rebuilding them will be a different story.
I am hoping I can save the old framing wood to use in the new walls and save a bit in material costs. Most of it appears to be in good shape.
It felt really good to begin the restoration process. There is an incredible amount of it to do!
I came home the other day to a very pleasant looking package on my table from the Canary Islands. At first I thought the package was empty, but then when I learned it was my xmas gift from Matt in Ireland, I found that I had 3 of the sweetest Cuban honeys awaiting my consumption – the Partagas 3 Serie D no. 4 Tubos (robustos) from the cigar mother land (via a remote island off the coast of North Africa). These are good times indeed.
Matt – if you hurry back to Tucson, I will save one of these for you (or at least a Brocatus).
