Day 5 - Another wall hits the dust

So, Thursday I didn’t do anything. Well, I did do things, but not related to the new room. Yesterday (Friday) I had planned to spend the day doing housework, but I worked on the room instead. That’s because Jay was home (he is currently working only Mon-Thursday) and he started working in there, so I knew I needed to seize the opportunity. He started by disconnecting more electrical lines, and I knew that was like priming a pump. He’d keep on keeping on, especially if I was working too.

After he disconnected the electricity to the outlet on the remaining wall between the two bedrooms, I knew it was time for me to get going on drywall demolition.

I covered Esther’s stuff with sheets to keep the crud off it and then got busy. First I took her door and door frame off, then had the drywall off in no time at all. Jay stayed busy contemplating and implementing his plan for how to fit the new door into the hallway. (The picture is Esther's stuff all covered up. How will she get all of this plus what you can't see in her closet into her car?)

The view from Esther's room through the hole towards Amon's room. I sort of hate to see that cloud wallpaper go, I like it. BUT, it will go. The era of wallpaper is over.

This is the other side of the same wall, looking from Amon's room into Esther's.

After the drywall was down, the bare studs were too much for Jay to resist, so he took time out from his doorway contemplation to take the studs down for me. Stuck to one of the bottom studs I found another strip of that apricot colored wallpaper that I put in that room when we first built the house. (The only other reminder of it was that little tiny square piece I had found by the window ledge on day 4.)

The door studs that used to hold up the door to Esther’s room will stay for now so that Jay can try to duplicate it when he puts in the new one. BUT it will go after he’s done studying it. The door you see in the background is the door into the walk-through closet into the master bedroom. It will stay. The little door that you only see the edge of is to the linen closet. It will stay also.

I took down a couple sheets of paneling off Esther’s back wall which revealed two other small pieces of wallpaper history… both from when the room belonged to the boys. (The wallpaper memories are fun and a little sentimental.) I put that paneling up a long time ago because that back wall was such a mess that I just didn’t want to deal with it. Under the paneling on the wall I found some vertical strips of brown packaging tape that mystified me. It seemed to have no purpose… then it hit me. I put the tape up to make sure that little white strips of wall didn’t show through the seams of the paneling. (It's painted white now, but it used to be the typical brown fake wood look. ) I’ve always been pretty good at innovative answers to little technical problems.

Jay took a chunk of carpet out of the hall as part of his door installation project. As a crud-catcher, he left the very compacted sheet of blue carpet pad … walked FLAT from 25 years of wear. We’ll be extending the tile from the living area into the part of the hall that isn’t in the room as well as putting new tile on the kids’ bathroom floor.

I stripped the little patches of wall paper, removed nails from 2 by 4’s, hauled them outside, burned paneling, carpet, drywall (well, I tried to burn it) and other remnants of the day’s activities. I spent a lot of time vacuuming up crud and organizing the ever growing tool collection, then decided to call it a day. Jay wasn’t done yet… he went to town to buy the new door and pick up a pizza. When he got home I got up long enough to eat some pizza, admire the new door, pretend to listen to some techno-speak about how he planned to install it. Then I went to bed.

This picture was taken from Esther's room looking back towards Amon's. I might keep his closet as is and use it for a TV "nook" (as is..without the doors) OR I might put the doors back on it and use it as storage. Amon left the entertainment center that you see... it has become my tool organization unit.

Jay wants to get the door up as soon as possible so we can close off that part of the house when we aren’t working in it. I will be staining the door and door frame and it will be nice not to have to worry about getting it all over the carpet or floor… since we’ll be putting new carpet in.

Today we’re taking the day off to go to a Patriot Guard “send off” for a National Guard unit in Warrenton, about an hour from here. It’s going to be warm enough to ride the motorcycle, so we can’t pass that up. I’m betting that by tomorrow night he’ll have that door up. I’m NOT betting that I’ll have it stained real soon though. All the kids are coming to town for Nathan’s wedding next weekend.

You can read about Nathan and Kimberly's wedding on my main blog, "Keeping in Touch"