Smiths finally take possession of their new home.
First Stage of Renovation: Demo chimney and two fireplaces.
Day 1…
My nephew, Dan with brother, Shenley, in the backgound
Dan’s friend, Chris, who’s now working for our roofer, but that’s another blog
Day 2 of Stage 1, 9:00 A.M…
Shelley: Shenley, (my brother) Thanks for coming over and helping us. Yesterday was crazy how fast that chimney and first floor fireplace went down. We couldn’t have accomplished so much without your help. You’re the best.
Shenley: No problem. Today should go pretty quickly as well. After we blow through the concrete floor, all that’s left are hollow cinder blocks. John and I’ll take turns using the jack hammer and the chipper.
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! (REPEAT)
9:10 AM…
Shenley: This layer of concrete might take longer than expected.
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! (REPEAT)
9:20 AM…
(Finally a chunk of concrete the size of a small man’s hand breaks off and drops to the first floor)
Shenley: There. Now that we’ve created an opening things should speed up.
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! (REPEAT)
9:30 AM….
Shenley: I knew our luck was too good to be true. That sucker’s at least 6 inches thick.
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! (REPEAT)
9:40 AM…
Shenley: Why 6 inches?
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! (REPEAT)
9:50 AM…
Shenley: 6 inches is crazy.
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! (REPEAT)
Clunk! (A second man’s hand size of concrete drops to the first floor)
10:00 AM…
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! (REPEAT)
10:10 AM…
Clunk! (And a third chunk drops)
Shenley: There. We are on our way.
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! (REPEAT)
10:20 AM…
Shenley: What the? Rebar. Rebar? You’ve got to be kidding me. John, we’re going to have to cut it with the circular saw. Rebar is definitely going to slow us down.
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! WHIRRRRRRRR OF CIRULAR SAW! (REPEAT)
10:30 AM…
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! WHIRRRRRRRR OF CIRULAR SAW! (REPEAT)
10:40 AM…
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! WHIRRRRRRRR OF CIRULAR SAW! (REPEAT)
Shenley: This is taking forever. New plan. We’ll take out the concrete that covers the rebar, yank out the rebar section by section, continue jack hammering over the fault line until we can break pieces off.
John: Or I can head up to Home Depot and rent a bigger jack hammer.
Shenley: If we do that, I’m afraid the concrete will fly everywhere and damage your house.
RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT! CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! (REPEAT)
11:00 AM…
(Exactly one quarter of the cement and rebar have been removed since 9:00)
Shelley: Hey Shenley. How’s it going?
Shenley: Going? If you asked me how it was going yesterday, I would have said, “Good” despite the fact that the fireplace was basically an 8 by 5 solid chunk of concrete. That we could knock down in no time. But today? Today is a completely different story. See this? That’s rebar.
Rebar!
They could have used mesh. Mesh would have done the same job. Did they use mesh? No. They did not use mesh. Why? Why didn’t they use mesh you may ask? I don’t know. Maybe they thought mesh wasn’t one hundred percent earthquake proof. Because if that’s what they were worried about, mission accomplished. This entire valley could collapse in an earthquake but not this chimney. Oh no. No siree. This chimney would stand tall and proud amongst all of the rubble. Not one freakin’ brick would have shifted because of this rebar.
Not.
A.
One.
What we need is C4.
Shelley: C4? What’s C4?
Shenley: A plastic explosive.
We used it in the military all of the time. It’s relatively risk free and highly malleable so we can control the direction of the explosion. Why are you looking at me like that? C4 is perfectly safe as long as you use it properly.
5:30 PM Done!
Thank you everyone who’s been reading. We’ve been insanely busy but I promise to respond to your comments as soon as I can.
Shelley and John
Honey Did you See That? 
You are constantly on the go! Congrats on the home – I look forward to seeing your renovation project.
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Whoa – that’s a pretty manly remodeling project you have going on there! If my husband tried to pick me up he’d end up in the hospital!
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Ha! Ha! Ha! We are basically waiting for the contractor to come in and tidy up what we’ve ripped open. Then it’s paint paint paint!!!
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Congrats on the house, but I sure don’t envy all the work!! I’ve gotten too old for a project that size – Best of Luck!!
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And that’s why we call in the big boys or should I say, my brother, Shenley!!!
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Holy cow, that was some destruction project.🐝
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Indeed Babs. Do you have any upcoming projects that Shenley could help you with??
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Wow! You all are hard core!
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Ha! Ha! To be honest, I was drop in hard core, kind of like the Queen. I would drop in and get my picture taken with the power tools! 🙂
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Somehow, I envision adolescent grins on John & Shenley’s faces with the C4! I hope they sought input from your parents first!
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Lynn, Lynn, Lynn, even the Smiths know C4 is over the top, not the Orrs but the Smiths. Can you freakin’ imagine???
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That’s awesome! Good thing the Smith’s were in charge!
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Right? 🙂
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You guys are crazy… but you knew that. Any fingers lost to the Chop Saw? Oh what… there would have been a blog.
Good luck… can’t wait to see the finished product.
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No fingers lost yet because we’re still demoing. Is that a word? We’re about ready for electrician to come in, then close the walls. Then comes painting and new trim. The chop saw will then come out of the box!
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Yes, ‘Demoing’ is a word and the fun part… you looked right at home, Shelley!
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We actually thought you were supposed to take a hammer to the dry wall too a la HGTV. A little over kill but soooo fun. 🙂
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Applesauce! Life is always a live and death adventure around you Shelley. Military explosives… (shakes head…) Nothing boring about a renovation now. 😀 I already thought the house was great. I’m sure it’s going to be spectacular by the time you’ve put your personal stamp on it. Hugs!
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Ha! Ha! Can you imagine if I’d have let him? Thanks for believing we can do this. Racing to finish before wedding guests get here. I need to get back to your site when I have a spare five minutes. I’m thinking all is dusted and done? Don’t tell. I’ll get there eventually.
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Lol, I echo an earlier comment, that is a manly project if I’ve ever seen one! So glad everyone made it through in one piece.
Ps, hubs is now hooked on your blog too…you know, power tools and all…
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Hi hubs! Walked into the middle bathroom today and noticed the grout is crumbling. Apparently we need a special saw to remover. Dear God!!!
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Heehee, it never ends, does it? Wait till you have to find room in the 5th wheel to take all those tools with you. Horrors!
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Never ends. Like opening Pandora’s box. Decided to take out crumbling grout in the middle bathroom while we wait for the electrician. Dear God!
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No time to waste…LOL!
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That outside shot reminded me of the bay area… sigh… no thank you to the renos:)
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Awww the Bay area is pretty spectacular. Now we have to finish this stage before guests for Matt’s wedding show up. Hopefully no delays.
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YIkes! Glad your brother had experience with C4. Too bad you didn’t start with that first thing in the morning. 🙂 Looking forward to the big reveal.
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Trust me I never let him get it. Just more rat a tat tat.
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