living room demo is underway

was your house renovated by a jackass too?

I’m thinking of holding a photo contest of the most ass backwards renovations discovered during demolition. I mean really – are all these layers necessary? I started in on the downstairs bathroom demolition so a new wall could go up to house all the upstairs plumbing. In an effort to have at least one bathroom operational, I didn’t do the whole room (thank god). Not asking for walls or a sink, just a shower and toilet.

Behind the wall that held the door, were layers of sheetrock, particle board, and paneling. No studs.

Behind the north facing wall where my toilet is and pipes to the kitchen addition, was a layer of faux beedboard, sheetrock, plastic faux tile in sheet form, sheetrock, white plastic in sheet form, plaster and lathe. I’m guessing I just gained about 3″. No insulation except in one sketchy corner and I think that was a bed for critters.

Beneath the “tile” floor was an insane amount of glue, piece of plywood with brad staples ALL OVER, nother piece of plywood, original floor. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get up 5 sq ft.

So we did manage to get a little wall up, as square as we possibly could, but not only was the floor not level, one of the beams appears to be sagging a good 3″.

if only walls could talk

Here are some treats I found behind the walls.