Kitchen Reno, Day 1

Take me to your leader!

So, we started today.  HomoDommi flew in from Boise; we stopped at the Big Box Hardware Store on the way home and bought demolition kits (bunny suits, respirators, plastic, a new ripsaw blade). And we started mid-afternoon. (The Texan and I had emptied the room last night.)

Before and After

Taking down the ceiling -- the hanging drywall, not the structural support, yet -- took only 2 or so hours after we decided to do it.  We vacillated: upon closer examination, the original ceiling, and the airspace between the original and the dropped ceiling, are in very bad condition (for instance, much of the original lathe and plaster is long gone due to -- we take it -- flooding and repair of the bathroom above the kitchen many years ago).  But, we reckon, tearing out the ceiling all the way will make life easier (= cheaper) for the electrician, and for HomoDommi, who will have to do some plumbing work to move a couple of pipes upwards about 6 inches.  And the room will look much nicer with the original 108" ceiling than the dropped thing we've been living with.

The job was dusty. We believe the paint on the original ceiling was lead paint, and it is mostly flaking off. So, bunny suits and respirators for the workers (us).  They were great, actually. It is so nice to be doing a nasty job -- in my case, standing below HomoDommi as he rips down a square meter of ceiling tile that dumps a pound of dust and plaster bits and lathe bits and flakes of paint down on my face -- and be able to breathe and see through it.  Rather a surprise, like the first time wearing scuba equipment under water -- you mean, I can breathe down here?!

We've only half done the ceiling, however. More tomorrow, and then -- for the remaining two days that HomoDommi is in town, seeing what else we can move forward.