Aaaannnd, we're back at it! While a few days "off" from being surrounded by construction materials was a nice reprieve, the cleaning up was mainly so that we could have ducts run and central air installed. This was in our original budget, but anyone who has undergone home renovations knows how disruptive it is to everyday life.
The worst things about the duct work is that it isn't confined to a specific area and so there is work happening all over the house. Barkley hates it already.
Since so many of you guys love a good demolition, (Especially when it's not at your own house, I'm guessing. :P) I'll take photos of the process.
First, let's remember the basement when we moved in. We had to pile all our stuff up to the ceiling and we slept on a mattress on the floor while we tore out the old floors and had them stained.
It was especially distressing to me because the old owners had left a bed behind and I am not a huge fan of other people's beds. To add insult to injury, I am still getting accustomed to the fact that sometimes there are spiders in houses. One day, I saw two... (TWO!!) spiders and they both rand under the bed where I couldn't reach them to kill them. Our floors were being stained that day so I took my work into the backyard and spend the afternoon there.
Well, we have been working to clear out the basement so the workers have room to run ducts. We have also solved the mystery as to why that bed was left by the seller. I had been joking that it was important to the structural integrity of the house but I wasn't far off the mark: As it happens, the bed had been moved downstairs before the basement was finished and it no longer fit up the stairs.
A quick note to the other home renovators out there: Don't do this to your future buyers! Corey and I happen to be very nice people (who happen to have access to a large tool kit) but typically in real estate, unless otherwise stated and named in an agreement of purchase and sale, you are required to give your buyers "vacant possession" which means no random beds in the basement. You never want to be stuck with a bill for junk removal because you left things behind when you moved so when you finish a room, make sure you're not sealing in furniture. While we're on the subject, it's also good to plan for clearance space to replace large appliances like a furnace or washer and dryer.
Anyway, we had a saw and some wire cutters ready.
I'll throw in another picture of Corey... just because he looks cute when he's working with his hands.
It was actually pretty satisfying to get that bed out of the house!
The duct work and furnace/AC installation should take at least a week. The guys have already planned where the ducts will go and started cutting holes in our new floors. Eeek!
As you can see, Barkley's pretty interested in all the work going on so we need to cover the holes each night so he won't try to jump through.
Luckily, the guys are running most of the duct work for the second floor through the attic so the only room that will be disrupted upstairs is the second (tiny) bedroom, which will have the main duct to feed the attic.
Forgive my terrible drawing and the fact that I used a picture with the old carpet. Somehow, the holes in the floor seem less tragic when set against the background of the unattractive green carpet. Still, for us, central air was very important and it will be important for resale one day. Wish us luck!