Tag: cleanup

Second Floor Demo Floor Demo

November 28, 2016 / Matt / 2 Comments

Our demo party filled the first dumpster, so we swapped it for another one the same size and we filled it up too. In addition to all of the remaining plaster and lath debris, of which there was plenty, we took up the flooring down to the subfloor. This was an involved process, mostly because there wasn’t anywhere that had only one layer of flooring. The living room and dining room had a floated Pergo-style laminted pressboard floor that looked like hardwood. It, like most of the work done to the house shortly before we bought it, was cheap and installed badly. Despite being less than ten years old, it was in bad shape and we pitched it. Under that was peel-and-stick tiles, under that was a thin veneer hardwood, under that was the original hardwood floors, and under that was an inch-thick layer of plaster, mud, and general crud from when the house was built.

Under-floor Crud

As with the first floor, we didn’t save the hardwood floors. For one, there wasn’t enough of it. We’re completely changing the floor plan which would complicate any effort to save it, we’re installing radiant heated floors, and they were in really rough shape from all of the nails.

Bathroom floor removal in progress

Living room done, dining room in progress

Because our subfloor is planks that are spaced apart by a quarter inch or more, we couldn’t use a broom to sweep up all the debris without pushing cascades of crud through the cracks and down into the first floor where all of our stuff is in storage. Now granted, we covered everything with tarps and it’s all pretty dirty already anyway from the dust of the demo party and unavoidable debris that comes down anyway, including through various holes in the floors and walls. Even so, we wanted to do what we could to prevent it from being any worse than it had to be. Sarah spent several hours a day over the better part of two weeks sucking up all the crap with the shopvac. We hauled out about eight contractor bags of the stuff and filled our toters a few times, since the dumpster was gone.

Of course, then I went around de-nailing studs and joists and leaving nails and random other bits of crud all over the floors she had just vacuumed, but this is kind of how it goes. I’ll get it cleaned up again after we’ve pulled out the rest of the interior walls and the plumbing and are ready to start putting things back together. It’s already starting to look like the kind of space we can start building things in, but it will really start looking promising once we get the whole floor completely cleared out.

Back Yard Cleanup and Ramp

April 24, 2015 / Matt / 3 Comments

Starting to fill

Following our back porch and garage demo, Sarah cleared a path in the back yard and last Friday the dumpster was delivered for all the debris. Unfortunately, even with careful loading and help from Dean we couldn’t fit everything in. Tuesday they swapped the full 30 yard dumpster for an empty 15 yard so we could get the rest of the debris cleared out.

Filled to the top and getting picked up

Before loading the second dumpster, I harvested some of the materials to build a ramp. Our previous experience with heavy debris dumpsters has made it clear that we need a better way to dump full wheelbarrows of concrete and dirt. For the first half of loading, the door of the dumpster is open and it’s pretty straightforward, but after the dumpster starts to fill and the door is closed, it’s not so simple. Previously we wound up using buckets or in the case of concrete, unloading by hand. But building a ramp makes the whole process much easier, and since we’re going to have at least three full dumpsters of heavy clay, it’s worth doing.

Ramp design

After a bit of brainstorming the simplest way to make a ramp that would stand up to load after load of heavy wheelbarrows, I settled on a design and drew it in Sketchup, using the measurements of all the pieces from my drawing to make a part list. I picked out 2x6s of the appropriate size from the garage pile and cut them per plan and then assembled the thing. It actually worked out really well and I got the whole thing done in a couple hours.

Completed Ramp (also Derek)

The second half of the ramp is a level platform to make it easier to turn the wheel barrow and dump it in. I didn’t bother with Sketchup because it was all right angles. I just cut a stack of boards and then screwed it together. The tops of the ramp and platform are sections of roof from the garage. The idea is that the shingles will make it easier to get traction with the wheel barrow, especially since it will probably get pretty muddy. We also kept a couple of roof sections for the dirt ramp we’ll have into the basement once I remove the back steps.

Ramp and platform

We got the second dumpster filled and even had enough room left for Dean and Siobhan to bring over a couple of carloads of junk that’s been accumulating in their garage. I didn’t get a picture of it full, but imagine a full dumpster and there you go.

First dirt dumpster

The new dirt dumpster was just dropped off and we’ve got some work ahead of us. You can see how the ramp will help with the loading once the door is closed. Things are about to get busy!

Basement Clean-up

January 21, 2015 / Matt / 0 Comments

I haven’t posted since before the holidays, but we haven’t been idle in that time. Unfortunately our work just hasn’t been very interesting. Fortunately that’s finally about to change. Let me just cover what we’ve been up to, or rather down to since it’s all been in the basement.

Basement before

Over the last couple years, ever since we finished the basement apartment demo, things have been collecting in the basement. What started with the washer and dryer, some shelving with bins, and a neatly packed pallet of furniture gradually spread to take up half the basement, while the other half filled with reclaimed lumber and scrap metal. Now that we’re planning to redo the basement floor sooner rather than later, everything needs to be cleared out. We’ve been working on this project for a while now, and we’re finally done.

Basement during

Ever sine we started this project I’ve been collecting scrap metal in hopes of selling it, but the price of ferrous metal makes it barely worthwhile, so my friend Dean helped me sort out the copper and brass, which do have some value. A couple months ago, our friend Mike came by with his truck and took a big chunk of our scrap metal, using his torch to cut down the bigger pieces much faster than my tools would allow. I ripped out the old steel tub from the basement bathroom and left it in the alley with the old cast iron boiler inside (in pieces). Thanks to the scavengers it was gone within 12 hours. Aaron sorted through the BX electrical cable and we got the last few remnants cleared out. I never did find out what my 5 gallon bucket of screws and nails was worth, for all the trouble it was to fill it. At least it all got recycled, even if we didn’t make money on it.

With our three-year-old Derek’s “help” I took down the remainder of the old brick chimney. Sarah added the bricks to the pile in the back yard and I hauled out several bags of mortar. We moved all of our “stuff” up to the first floor, including the shelving. It may need to go into storage eventually, but it can stay there for the time being.

Basement after

I got the last bits of framing out, cut down and cleared out a bunch of the less useful lumber, and moved the rest up to the now quickly-filling first floor. I sold a stack of old floor boards on Craigslist, but so far that hasn’t worked for the elliptical that Sarah got from some friends and never used. We’ve got tuck pointers coming in to clean the inside of the brick walls, so we moved the elliptical, the freezer, and the washer and dryer to the center and covered them all in plastic. This was a lot of work. Sorry we haven’t been good about providing updates, but this is pretty much what we’ve done. Moving forward things should be more frequent.

First Floor Cleanup

March 28, 2013 / Matt / 2 Comments

Following the demolition and the unexpected plumbing, I got to work cleaning up the first floor in preparation the first floor framing activities, including replacing the load bearing wall, closing up the remaining window on the North wall, and adding fire blocking to close up the balloon construction walls.

The new dumpster arrived a couple of weeks ago, since the first one had been filled to the brim. I got one twice as large as the first and I’m glad I did. While it wasn’t filled to the top, it was definitely more than would fit in the smaller size.

Second dumpster

Dean had some stuff he needed to throw out, so he came over during the first weekend and helped me clear most of the leftover debris from demolition. I got the rest of it cleared out over the next couple of days, leaving the first floor clear for the first time.

Empty first floor

There was still quite a bit more cleanup to do, though. First I pitched the majority of the lumber that had originally framed the basement. Most of it was rotten and rat-eaten, and all of it was too short to be good for much. I had already sorted out the decent boards for use in the basement temporary wall, which I held onto for future use. Next I broke down the cast iron tub and move the other bits of scrap metal down to the pile in the basement.

I also took up the rest of the plywood subfloor in the kitchen and the old furring it was attached to and cleaned up the dirt underneath it. I’m still amazed by how much dirt, dust, and generic crud was buried under the floors along with the old felt paper. Another reason I’m really glad we took up the floors is so that stuff isn’t still hidden in there somewhere.

Wall cavities

The final cleanup activity was to clean out the walls. The house foundation is brick, and there is a wood sill plate that sits on top of it that the wall studs are attached to. The floor joists are pocketed into the brick and there is an additional course on the inside of the foundation wall, creating a pocket between the studs and joists that goes under the floors. The pockets filled with plaster during demolition, but a lot of them were also literal rats nests, with shredded plastic bags, chicken bones, rat turds, and the occasional rat carcass. I got proficient at emptying these with the shop vac. The biggest challenge was keeping the hose of the shop vac clear. I wound up using a length of pipe to clear out blocks. The other important thing was regularly cleaning the filter so that suction stayed strong.

Cleaned wall

While time consuming, this will make running electrical, ducting, and plumbing much easier, allow us to better insulate when we spray foam, and eliminates a source of foul odors. After this was done I spent some time moving the boxes and bins of lath we saved for burning in the fire pit down to the basement. I still need to organize my tools, but the first floor looks amazing in comparison. It’s exciting because it really feels like we can start building instead of tearing out. I’m looking forward to being past the “shovel stage” of this project.

Clean first floor

More First Floor Cleanup

September 12, 2012 / Matt / 3 Comments

This is going to be a picture-heavy post. To start with, I got the partition walls on the first floor down. That really opened things up (and made the house sway a bit in heavy winds, which is concerning). I removed the pocket door mechanism whole by taking down the long board the four pieces are mounted on. We’re going to try selling it to a restoration shop, since we don’t have a place to put it.

Walls removed

You can see our massive lath collection on the left. Progress continues removing the plaster from the wall cavities. It’s time consuming but it’s getting done bit by bit. It’s still a big dusty mess, and I come up from working on it looking like a coal miner.

Bedroom floor cleanup

Here’s a view looking toward the front in the bedrooms. Again, the partition walls separating the bedrooms and closet have been removed (except for the room full of lath that you can see at the end). With help from Matt and Will I pulled up the floor in the back bedroom. Tonight I pulled up the remaining bedroom floor. You can see the subfloor planks in the foreground and the hardwood in the back.

Debris

We carefully separated and de-nailed all of the old wall studs and put them in the basement for later use. The rest is thin pieces that were used to edge the doors and cap the wall studs, which unfortunately has a tendency to crack and split when we pull out the nails. I’m not sure it’s worth saving.

Filthy

I don’t think I can understate what a mess it is. The original floors were installed over felt paper and cross boards to float them so they wouldn’t pop with the temperature swings. This created a cavity under the floors that is basically full, both with the plaster dust from demo as well as a hundred years of regular day to day living. I’m fairly sure we’re going to need another dumpster, albeit a smaller one than before. I’m looking forward to a step in this process that doesn’t involve a shovel.

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