At 7:55 this morning, I took this picture:
At 8:00 the plumber showed up to disconnect the plumbing and take out the garbage disposal, check on water lines, find out how to access pipes, and of course to discover a new problem to deal with in the basement below the kitchen that will require a hole in the wall and lots of plumber stuff and a big bill. When we had the bathroom redone last fall, we got to spend extra money on a new water softener, as the old one chose that particular moment to fail, so I'm not surprised at today's discovery.
George the plumber's arrival was followed by two guys from the appliance store who took the door off the refrigerator, hauled it on a dolly downstairs into the laundry room, reattached the door, leveled the refrigerator, and then came back upstairs to disconnect the dishwasher and put it in the garage for later re-installation.
By 8:30, Jeff the carpenter had arrived and was getting his game plan together for disassembling the kitchen closet and taking out the cabinets. By lunch time he had all of that done, and by 2:00 he had put up a plastic barrier to minimize dust and was using loud equipment to saw and pound out soffits.
WE INTERRUPT OUR SCHEDULED REMODELING TO BRING YOU EMERGENCY NEWS FROM CHURCH STREET!!
Around 3:30 this afternoon while Jeff the carpenter was making racket in the kitchen, I heard the slow wail of a firetruck siren. It sounded close, so I checked outside and noticed a police car blocking off the street at the top of the curve, and another one at the Traverse Road intersection. Firetrucks began appearing from all directions. I went across the street to join our neighbor, Marilyn, who had been told to evacuate her home two doors down from us. By then our immediate neighbors to the north--Darrel, Mary, and my other brother Darrel--had come outside to check out the excitement.
So what happened, you ask? Worker-mans (as E and O would say) had been using a backhoe to clear away dirt from a neighbor's basement wall to begin doing some repairs when they snapped a gas line. Less than 30 minutes later, the gas line was temporarily capped off by a gas company worker-man, and safety was restored to Church Street. It was impressive how fast local emergency folks got here and swiftly evacuated the homes adjacent to Larry W's house. Meanwhile, back inside 823, Jeff the carpenter was working away, oblivious to the potential danger, layered in plaster dust.
Poor Jeff the carpenter! I can tell he wants to cuss loud and long when he encounters a stubborn section of plaster, but instead he mutters politely under his breath. From my vantage point watching through the window from the sun room to the kitchen, it's not so hard to demolish inch-thick plaster and wire soffits and closet walls. All it takes is a computer, a can of Diet Pepsi, and a comfy chair.
I should mention that Jeff has an assortment of tools including a crow bar, a mallet, and that wicked looking orange and black power tool with a sharp blade on the end of it. Apparently such tools are helpful for this kind of job. Who knew?
I'll be vacuuming up dust for a while, no doubt about it. Fine, white plaster dust, here, there, and everywhere! If the little kiddos were here, they could write their names in it. That would be fun!! : o )
WE INTERRUPT OUR SCHEDULED REMODELING TO BRING YOU EMERGENCY NEWS FROM CHURCH STREET!!
Around 3:30 this afternoon while Jeff the carpenter was making racket in the kitchen, I heard the slow wail of a firetruck siren. It sounded close, so I checked outside and noticed a police car blocking off the street at the top of the curve, and another one at the Traverse Road intersection. Firetrucks began appearing from all directions. I went across the street to join our neighbor, Marilyn, who had been told to evacuate her home two doors down from us. By then our immediate neighbors to the north--Darrel, Mary, and my other brother Darrel--had come outside to check out the excitement.
So what happened, you ask? Worker-mans (as E and O would say) had been using a backhoe to clear away dirt from a neighbor's basement wall to begin doing some repairs when they snapped a gas line. Less than 30 minutes later, the gas line was temporarily capped off by a gas company worker-man, and safety was restored to Church Street. It was impressive how fast local emergency folks got here and swiftly evacuated the homes adjacent to Larry W's house. Meanwhile, back inside 823, Jeff the carpenter was working away, oblivious to the potential danger, layered in plaster dust.
Poor Jeff the carpenter! I can tell he wants to cuss loud and long when he encounters a stubborn section of plaster, but instead he mutters politely under his breath. From my vantage point watching through the window from the sun room to the kitchen, it's not so hard to demolish inch-thick plaster and wire soffits and closet walls. All it takes is a computer, a can of Diet Pepsi, and a comfy chair.
My view from the sun room window into the kitchen.
I should mention that Jeff has an assortment of tools including a crow bar, a mallet, and that wicked looking orange and black power tool with a sharp blade on the end of it. Apparently such tools are helpful for this kind of job. Who knew?
What's behind the curtain?
Here's where we are now, at the end of Day 1.
I'll be vacuuming up dust for a while, no doubt about it. Fine, white plaster dust, here, there, and everywhere! If the little kiddos were here, they could write their names in it. That would be fun!! : o )
3 comments:
Whoa! Leave it like that... very rustic.
Holy crap! That was fast!!! Is that a boombox I see in the first photo?
Wow! You had an adventurous day! It looks like you're off to a great start on your kitchen re-do. I can't wait to see the final result.
In the outdoor pictures, I noticed that all of your snow is gone. I thought it would take until May for that big pile you showed in an earlier blog entry to melt!
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