Monday Night Break-Wall

I was trying to come up with something that rhymed with "football" and means "smashing up the kitchen wall". Because that's pretty much how things ended up tonight.

I had called Bri and Rob to see if they wanted to come over for dinner. I had some hamburgers left over from the D0n-0-hoe-down that were going to go to waste, and I suspected they had leftover pasta salad from Sunday night's dinner so it was kewl, Stone-Soup-style. I secretly wanted them to come over so that Rob could look at the wall and tell me what to do next, but I couldn't tell him that, or he'd think I was tricking them into coming over to do work. Heh.

After I talked to the guys, Heidi called and asked what I was doing. When I told her that Bri and Rob were coming over for dinner, her response was "Didn't you guys just have dinner yesterday?" Why yes, we did, but we are all hungry again. Hee! Heidi joined us for dinner, and we got to enjoy Brian's excellent command of the grill against the backdrop of my neighbors' screaming and other unsavory antics in the pool and the blanket of hungry mosquitos swarming around us. In short, I need to figure out a few more logistical issues before the backyard becomes the best hangout spot in Norwood.

After dinner, Rob gave me the go-ahead to just start smashing up the wall with a hammer (I don't know why I am so anxious about doing things the "right way," but it helps me to have somebody say that they approve), and so I did. And here are the results so far:

You can see to the left of the stepladder that I started pulling off the lath as well as the plaster, but then I decided to do the 2 layers separately. Brian, Rob, and Heidi will note that not much progress was made after their departure. That is because A) I decided to get my dust mask and goggles for my own safety and had to really search to find them, B) I decided to drag in some trash cans to hold the debris, and C) CNKelly called and during that work stoppage, I noticed that the plaster dust was getting EVERYWHERE. By which, I mean, all the way into my bedroom, which is really quite a lot of twists and turns. I decided I'd better stop and hang some plastic to try to at least contain the bulk of the dust, and when I got finished with that, I couldn't find my mask. I took that as a sign that it was a good time to knock off for the evening.

From this shot, you can see the remaining cabinet, and the last bit of that dirt ring I mentioned yesterday:

And here, you can see that I've revealed the reason for the drop ceiling, which is that the lath is exposed on the ceiling in about half of the kitchen. So, there's that little bonus project to incorporate into the kitchen re-do.I started ripping out the drop ceiling panels and honestly, that alone made me really happy.

I don't know when I'll be able to pick up work again, because I'm pretty much booked for the rest of the week and since tomorrow is Joe D's birthday, I'm sure I'll be up in Urbana this weekend. So, perhaps my timing wasn't great, but hey - no time like the present to start on a little demo project!

I'll keep posting updates until you all beg me to stop. Hee!