Demolition Day

Today was a big day on 50th Street...

I met my handyman Angel and his father over at the house at 9:00 this morning to get things started. Knowing that the floor men are starting tomorrow, we had to prep everything so they would be ready to roll when they arrived tomorrow. So that meant ripping out the old kitchen cabinets, tearing the wall back between the kitchen & dining room, and tearing out the bathroom vanity in the kids' bathroom. A lot of demolition for one measly day's work!

I also knew that I wanted to order my Ikea kitchen today, so I had to be sure we could have our cabinets go all the way to the ceiling as planned. So early this morning, Angel's dad hammered a hole into the wall to be sure there was nothing back there (see photo above). They gave me the green light - there's nothing back there - so in addition to all the demolition, the IKEA ORDER HAS BEEN PLACED! My new kitchen will be installed on November 28th!!!

Today was also the day that the water was being turned back on. The water company said they'd be there sometime in the morning, but didn't specify when...

I came back at lunchtime to talk a few things over with Angel and check out the progress.  It was pretty unbelievable! Bye Bye Cabinets!

However, the wall separating the kitchen & dining room was still up at noon. I knew it was coming down today, so I took one last picture. Bye Bye Wall...

By lunchtime the bathroom vanity had been pulled out too, but I forgot to take a picture in there. I'll try to get one when I'm over there tomorrow.

Angel wasn't there when I pulled in at lunchtime so I figured he was out to lunch. I walked around, took these pics and checked things out. I realized there was water on some of the floors but thought nothing of it. As I was leaving, Angel pulled up with a big bag from Home Depot. Apparently, he wasn't on a lunch break - he was out on a shopping spree! While he and his dad were ripping out the cabinets in the kitchen, the water man stopped by and turned the water on in the house without telling anyone. Sinks had already been unplugged and thrown in the garage, so you can imagine the surprise they had when water started spewing out of the walls all over the place! And because the kitchen is so old, there wasn't a water turn-off valve in the kitchen or in the bathroom. So they raced around to get the water shut back off outside and clean up the mess inside. Needless to say, they installed water valves everywhere this afternoon and we are back in action...

I stopped by the house tonight to see the finished product. WOW - WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MAKES WITHOUT THE DINING ROOM WALL!!! Our house is going to be so open and cool! And no...we aren't keeping that lovely white refrigerator...they just haven't removed it yet! We're getting a pretty new stainless steel fridge to go in that same spot...

(above) View of the kitchen looking in from the dining room. The door at the back on the left leads to the garage. The door at the back to its right is our pantry (which I'm MOST excited about!).

(above) View from the dining room looking into the kitchen. Random wires are hanging out of the ceiling in the middle of the picture. That looks a little frightening!

 (above) View from the kitchen looking out to the dining room. Playroom is the doorway beyond the dining room. The sliding doors on the left take you out to the screened in patio.

(above) View from the dining room looking in to the kitchen.

 (above) The cabinet carcasses are currently being stored in the garage. A huge garbage bin is being delivered tomorrow so we can get rid of this junk...

I can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store!!!