Long Over Due...

So we are obviously not keeping up with our blog very well...we have been pretty good at taking pictures of the process, but there appears to be a black hole into which the pictures are disappearing. 

Anyway, for those who are interested in reading about what's been going on without visual aids, here it is (as understood by Denise):

After figuring out the intricacies of his saws, Ryan used them to remove the walls from the house - that is he cut down the wood that had been used to hold up the sheetrock that makes walls. Until we started this process, I was under the impression that the sheetrock - the part that gets painted and where pictures are hung - were the actual walls. Apparently, "walls" are actually the wood framing. Who knew? 

So there are now far fewer walls, and, strangely enough, the house looks smaller. We also spent a couple weeks cutting out all the old wires that were running everywhere and pulling nails out of the wood that is left holding the house up. There are an unbelievable number of nails stuck in the wood, and some of those nails are ginormous! I had no idea that they even made nails as long as the ones that have been coming out. Wish I could find those pictures...

Finally, the last big thing that has happened is that our contractor's crew started demolishing parts of the concrete slab on the ground floor in order to reinforce the wall that is essentially holding up the upper floor. It involves putting in new posts that are bolted into the concrete, or something like that. Understanding the details of these things is clearly not my strong point. It also turns out that we are not going to be able  to drop the floors on the ground floor, so our downstairs will have 7' 6" ceilings. Very womb-like and cozy, no? But our ceilings upstairs are going to be a whopping 16 feet high! That makes a very nice average height for the ceilings in our house. 

So I realize that this is a bit rambly and un-organized, but a lot has happened in the last few weeks and it's difficult for me to tell y'all about it concisely. I know that pictures would probably help, and they will be posted as soon as I find out where Ryan hid them. 

Merry Christmas, everyone! 

Man's Helpmate

And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." Genesis 2:18

The other night Ryan was organizing his tools in preparation for our big Thanksgiving Demolition Weekend. More specifically, he was examining the two different saws that came with his drill. While he has gotten extensive use out of his drill over the last year, this was to be the maiden voyage for both of the saws.

So he's sitting on the floor, fiddling with the saws (and making me plenty nervous as he turned them on and off) and trying to figure out what all the doo-dads and buttons do. While he's doing this, he is also muttering himself, "What does this do? How the heck..." and beginning to show signs of early frustration.

At these signs, I reach down into the storage bag, remove two instruction manuals, and begin to read. Every so often I read bits aloud from the manuals and instruct Ryan to push or pull different parts of the saw. At one point, he looks up and says, "Ah...that's how you know so much," indicating the manual.

Clearly, God knew what he was doing when he created woman. It is not right for man to use power tools without reading the instruction manual.

Denise the Destroyer

Yesterday was Hauling Day! Yay! People came to take all the crud and scary stuff that fell out of the walls. At 7:45 am yesterday, a big truck pulled up in front of our house and three men came out with shovels, wheelbar

rows, and trash cans. This was the first great event of the day - they were scheduled to come at 8, but showed up 15 minutes early! How cool is that? Since people in construction have somewhat of a reputation for being flakey, I was prepared to be impressed if they showed up at all.

But show up they did and immediately set to work. These guys are fantastic - not only do they take away your stuff, they also load up all your crap into their truck. As our previous pictures have indicated, we had been throwing stuff anywhere we could, not bothering to be organized. 

We wanted to post pictures of the actual truck they used, but the battery on our camera was dead. So here's a picture of a truck that was very like theone used to haul away the martian dust.

So the way this works is that these guys load up all the crap, haul it away, and charge you by the number of truckloads and number of trips to the dump. So obviously, in order to be as efficient as possible, you want the trucks to be crammed with as much stuff as possible before taking it to the dump. Since Ryan had to work, I was designated to hang out all day with the hauling guys, and watch them clean up my mess.

Well, actually not. I felt funny standing around just watching them, so while they filled their truck, I puttered around, tearing down other walls, brushing off insulation that got stuck in the corners, pulling out nails, etc. Toward the end of the day, a second crew of guys showed to help the first group finish up. One of them passed me as I was yanking nails out of some studs, and asked, "Did you do all this?", indicating the missing walls and heap of wooden planks piled on the floor.

"Yeah, some of it," I answered. 

"Wow - so you're a destroyer." 

I think I like that: Denise the Destroyer. Unfortunately, I am probably not a terribly formidable destroyer. I think the hauling guys were actually pretty amused watching the tiny little Asian girl pulling with all her might to get a plank of wood off the wall, something any of them probably could have done with their little finger. Ryan actually thought I could use this to our advantage and ask them to haul out the old bathtubs. Apparently, in order to remove a bathtub, you have to take a sledgehammer and smash it to pieces first. This sounded overly-daunting, even to the Destroyer, so as the guys were shoveling martian dust into their trash cans, I asked, in my best I'm-just-a-small-little-girl voice, if they could take the bathtubs. "Sure, no problem."  Score! Bathtubs gone!

This is a picture of the kitchen after the debris was removed. The puddle of water is from a leaky valve where the kitchen sink used to be.

And finally, Denise the Destroyer!

We wanted to post more pictures of the house now that the debris is cleared, but apparently, Denise is a terrible photographer. More pictures to follow. 

Demolition by Denise

Hello to all of you who have been checking out our blog (Hi Mom! Hi Dad!). Today was our third day of demolition, and I believe it was very productive. First of all, we again hired three day laborers. I am so grateful to these men; there should be a special place in heaven for these guys. But Ryan and I stuck around all day and worked alongside them. I think the only other time I have been this physically exhausted was after a 20 mile run.

We have some pictures to illustrate our day's labor. First, some 'before' pictures:

Downstairs: These holes are from our friend practicing his jump-kicks last week.

These holes are from the aforementioned friend practicing his hammer throwing.

This is the upstairs bathroom prior to demolition.

And this is Ryan, surveying the debris from last weekend's demolition. Notice that he is ankle-deep in martian sand dust. Apparently, those in the building industry call it "insulation." When we took down the ceiling last week, all this fluffy, gray crud fell down; it sneaks into your shoes and your socks, and turns your toes gray. I can't say that I am a fan.

And this is the living room after last week's work. It is a mountain of martian sand.

This is what our bathroom looks like after today's work...if you look closely, you can still sort of see the bathtub.


And this is what our downstairs looks like now...

And one more picture:
This is one of our new friends. I found him in the bathroom right before we tore it down.

That's it for now. We are both exhausted and we need to go to bed. More later.

Demolition & Hired Help

Remodeling a home is not a small task; certainly too large a task for a one man show(or one man and one woman including Denise who has been an awesome help).  So last weekend, we decided to look into getting some help.  I eventually found four options, each with their pros and cons:

1.  My friend Edwin is a contractor.  He offered his crew at cost to do the demolition since he'll probably be doing some of the framing as well as the utilities.  His cost is about $200 / man / day or $25.00/ hr.  Not too bad, considering I know many contractors that would charge several times that rate.  Edwin is also bonded and insured and has overhead costs as a general contractor.  Still, for demolition, I felt this was a bit much.

2.  Edwin uses a guy named Paul for hauling (another subject in itself).  Paul also does demo.  I called him up and he charges $21.00 / hr, which is a bit better than Edwin but not too much.  I heard he just picks up day laborers on Caesar Chavez for about $10.00 / hr.  This means over 100% profit and overhead.  I still thought I could find a better solution.

3.  A light bulb went off in my head and I realized that I could hire day laborers for myself.  This would obviously be cheaper ($10.00 / hr), but let some questions in my mind.  First off was the practicality of finding them;  Caesar Chavez is a long street.  Second off is communication as my Spanish skills are non-existent.  Third was the safety question of having strangers come into my home.  Fourth was the legal question and not being very informed of labor and employment laws in this city.  This seemed cheapest, but a bit risky.

4.  The last option was found from a quick search online.  San Francisco has a Day Laborer Program, sponsored by the City.  Their website will fill you in on more information.  It seemed like a good way to hook employers up with employees in a more safe and reliable environment for both parties.  They ensure that the laborers get paid a decent wage ($15.00 / hr) and they are a convenient source for employers to find reliable help.

I decided to go with option #4.  I called the program office, described the work I needed done, and gave them my address.  The next day, Saturday, they sent three guys out, with one fluent in English, to my house.  I was still a bit nervous, but explained the work that needed to get done and provided the necessary tools.  They quickly got to work, scraping floor finishes, removing sheetrock, and removing lath & plaster from the walls.  I paid them at the end of eight hours, after each day, and gave them a bit of extra money for lunch.  In two days, Gary, Eduardo, & Miguel finished the entire upper level of our home.

Based on prior progress, by myself, this would have taken me well over a month.  Needless to say, even with my very limited budget, it was very much worth it.  During the time they were working, we worked on other parts of the house, and left them for periods of time to run errands.  They were efficient and hard working, but needed periodic direction.  Also, a watchful eye definitely increased productivity.  I need to call them back to finish the lower level this coming weekend.  I would highly recommend the program to anyone needing temporary manual labor.

Exterior Photos

Here are some exterior shots of the house.  The front faces Gates Street.  The entrances is up an exterior brick staircase.  To the right is the living room above the garage and to the left is a bedroom.  We met the neighbors to the right, who seem very nice, and have been living there for over ten years.  To the left is the side of a building that faces Cortland.  First to get rid of:  the bars over the windows and the overhang over the front door.

Here is the back of the house.  The 'popped out' area is an addition from the 1950's.  The deck is in poor condition, the stairs are deteriorating, and the addition leaks slightly.  You get what you pay for.  There is a decent sized back yard, the previous owners were probably better gardeners than we'll ever be.  There are tomatoes, ginger, and other green things growing.

Quick Note

Exterior photos that are more telling than the interior will be posted tomorrow.  Also, as an update, demolition was well under wall as of last Saturday.  So, the blot is a bit behind reality.  Since it's easier to type than to hammer or saw, I think I'll be able to catch up quickly.  There will be more posts in the near future on the joys of demolition, sheetrock, lath & plaster, asbestos (maybe) glue, hired labor, and hauling.  Thanks for reading!