Day 14

We are at the end of our first week of destruction and trying to adjust....still figuring things out and still trying to put stuff away. Just found out it is supposed to pour this next weekend, so I will really have to finish and get everything inside of the garage or the shed.

This is where we are at today. The stucco has been taken down on the back wall and they have dug up a lot of the back yard in preparation for the new foundation.

When Daisy saw this pile of dirt, she was in heaven. She was instantly on top of it and having a ball!

Dishes now are done in the front yard...kind of nice being in the sun!

Signs of Spring! My lone daffodils are flowering this week! Makes me happy! And my citrus plants are flowering :)

We got away this weekend for a Boy Scout camping trip. Had a great time!  Now back to reality and the house!

Demolition

WOW! They got here at 6:45 AM! And started to work right away!  I worked all morning to get the last of the items out of the kitchen. Here's the last look at our empty galley kitchen.

 

They first started by taking down the patio cover. We'll have a new one built at the back of the addition. 

 

Then they started jackhammering at the patio cement and pounding on the walls to see what the foundations looks like. It is raised so they will have to build it the same way so that everything matches the existing house. 

 

They got all of the cement chopped up, even half of the porch. 

 

End of first day of Demo: 

 

They came in and took our the upper cabinets, sink, and broken dishwasher. 

 

It has been a loud long day! and now tomorrow...it is back to work and we'll see what life is like without a sink or washing machine... 

Day 6

Been such a busy weekend! I got "half" of the kitchen cleaned out...the breakfast nook area which we use as our office....I took down my blue plates, emptied out the desk, and moved a pantry rack.

 This area will be a walk through area in the addition--the stairs will be where the door is. We are not quite sure where we'll set up our office...

This weekend has also been the first weekend of cookie booth sales. Daisy and I sold cookies for 3 hours last night and 3 hours tonight. Great sales! But SO TIRED!

Been moving items we'll need from the kitchen into the living room...have only 2 more days until loosing the kitchen. MUST PACK!

Day 4

Been packing all week getting ready for Monday when they start demo.  So far I have gotten the back patio cleaned off. Please look at the previous post to see how much stuff we had there!

I have been finding treasures along the way as I sorted through arts and crafts and scout stuff and a lot of misc.  I have been giving a lot of items away just by putting them out front. It's been fun watching things go!

You'll notice my washer and dryer are still hooked up on the patio. I am frantically washing every thing in the house since Monday will be our last day with them for a looong time...Hello Laundromat.

We decided to give away our 10 year old patio set and replace it next summer... or whenever we get a patio back.

About 30 minutes after I set it outside a little old lady came by and asked for it. I am hoping it blesses her family as much as it has ours as we have spent many a meal around it!
 
The rest of the week centers on moving kitchen essentials into the living room and then packing up the rest of the kitchen. Oh and tomorrow is the first day of Girl Scout Cookie Booth Sales...so doing that...and it is Valentines Day <3, so hoping for a bonanza of people wanting to buy Thin Mints and Carmel DeLites for their sweeties :)

Day 1

So, I am considering this Day 1. I set this week aside to pack up the back half of my house to get it ready to be demo-ed next week.  I took a few more before pictures.

Here's the front of the house. It will look different when we are done because there will be a second story you will be able to see from the front peaking out from the back.

Here is our back patio. This is where the new addition will be and the patio will be added back on at the end. In the winter it is a catch all place for crafts, scout stuff, school projects, laundry, etc. I am in the process of sorting and packing everything on the patio so that they can take the cover off and open up the wall of the kitchen. I got about halfway through the patio today. Tomorrow I tackle crafts and paints and scout stuff...Those windows you see are kitchen windows.

In the summer the patio is usually all cleaned up and we eat outside for dinner and hang out by our above ground pool that is only up in the summers. We plan to be able to do this again since we will have them re-add the patio back on to the addition.

Here is the drive way. It goes all the way from the street into our detached garage (this view is facing the street). We use the space for our pool in the summer and then Daisy plays on it the rest of the year and we have a basketball hoop. We also store fire wood there for camping and our fireplace. Not sure how we will use it after the addition since the area will be formatted a little different and the door to get there will be moved...We'll have to wait and see :).

The Kitchen Sink

 

Here is my before picture of my galley kitchen. This wall will be torn down and my new kitchen will be in an L shape with an island on costers. I will be keeping the sink and as much of the original cabinets as I can.