Living Room Update

Ben's next task was to build out the stairs leading from the living room to the bonus room. But first, here are some pictures showing the living room during various stages of demolition.

The first step was to get rid of the carpet...













... and the tile. Sam tells me he had a hell of a time trying to chip the tile out manually before Ben finally let him use a power tool.





Next we started pulling off the drywall, exposing the insulation beneath. In case you're wondering, insulation is some nasty stuff. It'll make your nose bleed if you let it.

I think this was the scariest stage for me, as the house kept looking worse rather than better.

Now, after pulling out the insulation and getting all the extra bits of drywall and nails off the studs, it looks like the mess at least has a purpose.




By the way, we have Patrick to thank for ripping off a lot of the hard-to-reach drywall. I'm so glad I didn't have to get up on that ladder. Plus I'm glad I wasn't the one who had to discover all the wasps' nests hidden behind the walls (don't worry, they weren't live, but if you know me at all you know I would've freaked out and probably fallen off the ladder anyways).







And finally, the stairs, which are awesome. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we were afraid we'd lose one of our windows, depending on how the stairs fell. But as you can see, that didn't end up being an issue.

Fortunately, Ben didn't have to do any other framing to finish out the living room. So for now, that room is done (until it's time to do the electrical).