June 30

Finally some news. We met with the contractor yesterday to discuss what changes we'd like to see made. The plans are now waiting for city approval. We may still be weeks away from doing anything new, but it feels like we're moving ahead.

We no longer need a light for the basement since we can see through the ceiling. Sandblasting will be the next step for the basement and then some sort of sealer.

The steam shower looks like it won't work, but we decided to move rooms around. the second bedroom changed roles with the TV room. And the fact I want a poured concrete floor in the kitchen is a possibility.

Yard work has gotten away from us. The front yard, as well as the back, is a jungle.

You can't believe how overwhelming it all feels. Once the rebuilding starts I'm sure it will be rewarding to see improvements every day. That is if we can still get from the street to the house without a machete.

June 19, 2010

For two weeks nothing has happened. At least it seems to us like nothing is happening.

The contractors have removed the hardwood floors in the hallway, living and dining room, so we are walking on subfloor. Keeping in mind that the ceiling below the subfloor is the truly damaged area, not every plank feels firm under your feet.

It's not as bad as an Indiana Jones movie where we are forced to cross a rickety bridge high above a canyon with a trickle of water in the bottom. Plunging through would equate to certain death. But when a board groans and bends under your weight you can visualize a broken leg without any problem.

As I have mentioned before, we have asbestos. Not just asbestoes-taped ducts like everyone predicts. No...0. Whoever installed the ductwork loved the tape. Really loved the tape. Our contractors have never seen anything like it. From top to bottom we have asbestos tape over every square inch of ductwork.

And because it is a house that has had a lot of 'helping hands at home' remodeling work done to it. We have found lights in walls with light fixtures still attached - including bulbs.

Two owners back, as near as I can figure, the guy must have had a serious audio fixation. He wired the house for speakers so we also have a variety of wiring that run to dead boxes. But in the original walls when you see the wiring that has been there forever, it sort of amazing that the fire only started in the basement.

Needless to say we have not been burdened with insulation either. At least not in the outside walls. The second floor was an attic remodel, so insulation was added upstairs whenever that happened.

When you take a house down to the studs, you learn more than you ever wanted to know. Particularly in a house, you bought for the character. I guess houses are more like people than I thought. The sterling exterior some times masks a rotten core.

6/2/10

Good news.

The first floor is in better shape than we imagined. Despite all the smoke on the plaster walls, there is very little damage behind it.

We do not have balloon construction. Balloon construction is an open shell from the basement to the ceiling.

So the second floor will be repaired, but not gutted.

The lack of smoke may mean we are able to save more of the first floor that we originally believed possible. Our first floor bathroom has a lot of wood. (see photo). This wood surrounds the tub, encases a piece of stain glass up above and provides wainscoating for the rest of the room.

There is also a possibility that some of the hardwood floors (everywhere on the first floor) may not required replacement. If that's the case, we could save a bunch of money, but what we don't want to end up with is a hot summer day where the smell of smoke leaches out of the floors. This will be a tricky decision.

With the removal of the kitchen cabinets and all the walls, a lot of the smoke smell is diminished. But I noticed yesterday when the house had been closed up for the rain, it wasn't completely gone.

For the first time in a week or so, the house and our circumstances don't depress me. Fellow workers have laughed off last week's melt down, so I'm good there.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel and if it is an oncoming train, it has me fooled.