Week 7 - November 14th to November 20th
It's gonna get a whole lot worse before it gets better!
That's what I said 6 weeks ago. Now we are beginning to see the 'worse'. Actually I think it looks better, but some may beg to differ!
Despite our intentions to 'spend more time' at the crackhouse, we did not return until Friday night.
Friday November 17th, 2006
We had planned on a garbage run, however that did not quite work out so instead we set to work back upstairs in kitchen & hall. I had left the hall on the previous Monday fairly intact because of all the papers in the wall. This time I was prepared with the camera and started taking them out and getting some pictures at the same time. Mostly I sit and read, so little demo and even less pictures get taken!
Andreas' nemisis for the evening was that darn radiator. Cast iron radiator. He had the sawzall - no home should be without one of these (but we actually borrowed it) - and the nemisis is reduced to a mere annoyance. That weighs 400 tonnes. A just motored through it in no time!
So now that upstairs kitchen is almost completely stripped...and almost full again with reno debris.
Sarah and Foreman Al showed up to give us a hand and we sent them into the middle bedroom. With all of 4 nails holding up each 8 foot x 4 foot sheet of drywall, they made quick work of the first layer in that room!
By this time, I had been working a bit on the bathroom and Andreas had detached the sink and moved the vanity. Surprise, no needles! However there was instead 9 bars of soap, a couple of razors, some miscellaenous debris and a very classy porn magazine.
Al & Sarah broke through from the middle room and after a photo op, we decided it was high time for dinner. Thank Erin for her open door and full stomach policy, she fed us like kings. And some glasses of wine later...it was past midnight by the time my head hit the pillow.
Saturday November 18th, 2006Needless to say, we slept in. Jordan, Andreas' cousin was booked to come beat down some walls and we all convened about 1:00pm...ten minutes later Sarah and Al walked in, yay! Go Team.
Andreas and Jordan moved the carpet from the Stolen Goods room upstairs to the front bedroom to protect the floor. It is still debateable if it will be salvagable but in the mean time we'll try to not make it worse. I removed the last baseboard in the upstairs kitchen, Al needed to sawzall it in two, but behind I found some picture postcards, I think the people are former inhabitants of the house. The clothes look like the 20's - one woman standing in front of a fake waterfall with the postcard description of "Souvenier Post Card from Niagara Falls"; there is one of the same woman with another woman posed on a sliver of moon; I presume it may be a sister. The last is of a wee baby and on the back someone has written '7 months'.
Jordan muscled the radiator down stairs to the porch. I can't believe it. I also can't believe the porch hasn't collapsed, but that's another story.
Next it was time for the real work. Go Jordan the Destroyer! Mere minutes after he started swinging, it looks like a bomb went off and we have a nice view from front bay window to back yard.
We all got in on the act...well I took pictures and stayed out of the way of the flying debris...
by the end of the day just about all drywall, plaster & lath is gone from the middle room and front room upstairs. What a difference a day can make.
We stopped about 6pm and went off for showers - then reconvened at our house for beer and chinese food. Our lame attempt at repayment, but we were able to put the pictures from the day on the television and get a good laugh.
Sunday November 19th, 2006
Off to Home Depot for more dust masks (and to Timmy's of course) and I met up with Erin at the ch. We went to work back upstairs on the ceiling and a couple of areas that need a little bit here and there pulled off. Erin fed us again with yummy taco salad before she headed off to work. Andreas and I were left deciding what to do next, really I was sort of sick of the upstairs rooms so I suggested taking off the north stair wall. It was once more open and was dry walled over, it's a fire code thing when you have multiple residences in one building. We got rid of the drywall on both sides but left the handrail attached to the studs for safety. It's a ridiculously steep set of stairs. The fun discovery was that on one side the wallpaper of days gone by is still somewhat intact so we carefully uncovered it. The wallpaper is over a very thin piece of pressboard and that's all that constitutes that part of the wall. The other side of that is the basement stairs which, at the moment, still have a 'lovely' sheet of wood paneling over the drywall.
While tearing off the stairs drywall (going up the stairs) I noticed a liner of newspaper along the edge of the hall ceiling, and although sort of stuck to stucco, I managed to pull a piece off dated May of 1940. Well, that dates that ceiling re-do!
Once done that I went home for a hot bath. Andreas stayed while there was still daylight to clean out some more eaves troughs.
Monday November 20th
Andreas and Al organized themselves to take a load to the dump. The City allows one tonne per house per year, so we applied and got the paperwork, known as a 'garbage exemption'. Essentially you load up your vehicle, go to the nearest "transfer station' known as The Dump, get weighed in and out and the dump load weight is deducted from your one tonne limit.
They loaded up about 80 boxes of plaster (no easy feat) and took it to the dump. On the way out the man askes Andreas for $13 and tells him he's gone over the one tonne limit! So much for the multiple loads. You can actually dump more, and it's $95 a tonne. Since we intend on getting a dumpster, hauling our own is pointless once you use up the one tonne.
Next Al and Andreas picked up all the drywall, because it is actually free to take to the dump as it is recyclable. Again on the way out, Andreas is asked for more money, $28.00 this time and when asked why the man explains that recycle loads can only be dumped in 150 kg loads. <eye roll>
And before you say, why didn't he dump half, drive around the block and come back with the rest - they weigh you in, you empty the load, then they weigh you on the way out. You only know you are over the limit on the way out and who's going to go back and pick up what they just dropped off?!
So another IOWEU (big time!) to Foreman Al for the assistance and truck. Thank goodness for good friends!
The story of how we bought the crack house
Common references in my scrapbook:
Andreas: god love him for putting up with me and my big ideas
Me: the other half of the loony toones who decided to buy the house.
dodgy: means sketchy, bad, worse, 'imagine that' and 'can you believe it?'
ch: crackhouse
front room: main floor a.k.a living room
middle room: main floor a.k.a dining room and Command Central
stolen goods room: this is at the front of the house in the basement - the police told us that is where the previous tenants stored their stuff