Bye Bye Hallway

Okay, the posts have been on hiatus...but Grandma hasn't! We have a nice new fence, the front yard is partially torn up and has established perennials that get better every year, we've finished the tile backsplash around the stove in the kitchen, among other things.

But you don't care about those things. You want to see destruction! And before and afters! Well, hopefully there will be an after here, but we have some before and during from our current project, which is a demo of the hallway wall on the first floor.

I know what you're thinking, you're taking out a wall on the first floor, therefore the second floor will collapse without it. Not so. Its not load bearing. It was put there to frustrate me and make everyone who came over disorientated. Here is the floor layout drawing I put together so you can see what we're dealing with.




and here it is in its current state:

And here is another one. Going from the hallway to living room, there was a 30" wide door frame. For some reason, folks seemed to LOVE doors a century ago. We're opening up that another 10 inches or so, so it will be less of a doorway and more of an entryway. It's all about reducing the claustrophobia.

Before (you can only see the edge of the doorway in this pic, sorry):

And of course, now that the wall is gone, I can get a much better angle of the doorway that is now no more:

Still have lots more to do. In fact, the work has really just begun. We have to have the electrician come and wire some new lights, then insulate the exterior walls, then a little bit of framing, then hang new wallboard and trim, and paint. Also, we might strip the black paint off of the staircase. That could always be done after the walls are up (actually, should be done after that, and not a moment before).

Edit #1: We're halfway there:

New lighting, and new strapping for the wallboard:

...and with wallboard:

And here's the view from the front door. Notice that the handrail and balusters are gone (they're in the shop getting stripped). Compare this one to the pic at the top of this posting.

with wall board:

Plastering is scheduled for tomorrow, floors should be in next week. Then it's down to installing trimwork (and a new door for the basement), and picking a color.