Thursday's Look

Thursday August 30th, 2007

Thursday brought more removal of the roof - I tried a panorama...here is the attempt, imagine standing in the corner of the living room facing back to front door on furthest left, then kitchen on left, dining room and offices on right. The chimney in the background is actually the next door house!






The mountain of garbage



The back

The 2nd Wednesday Demolition

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007

We managed to see the place before dusk. More roofing gone and a big old mess on the front porch. Not that we mind. I also added the picture of the house, over there on the right, so we can see what it looked like at the start.


This is funny - the contractor that built the front porch left up the old eavestrough, so it was covered for 20 years by the roofing.



The exposed rafters


The big ole mess on the porch


It's a bit drafty now

Chicken Little, the Sky is Falling!

Tuesday August 28, 2007

We knew the basement floor was to be smashed up today, but imagine my surprise when I could see the sky from the living room!


Here is the original front facade that was hidden under the porch roof; and the view to the skies.



The basement floor all smashed up, and Andreas showing the very thin floor, only about 2 inches thick



Here is Andreas rescuing some copper pipe



The floor under the front porch is much thicker, it is only 20 years old instead of 60 years like the rest of the house.



The back of the house with no windows and part of the roof missing

Don't go in the side door

Monday August 27th, 2007

Our next door neighbour, Bob, came out when we arrived to let us know not to go in the side door!

No Stairs!

Looking down the stairs from the front hall.



Looking in from the side door you can see both the hall upstairs and the basement floor



This one is funny - you can see the paint where the stairs went up and around the corner!




And a shot from the back ~ there is Andreas on the phone with a customer!



We unfortunately can't often get to the house until later in the evening, so often these pictures are at dusk. I am hoping on occasion to at least get some shots when it is still strong daylight, but for now there has not been an opportunity to do so.

They even work weekends

The 'lads' were working on Saturday and were just sweeping up the remnants of the fallen debris in the basement.

They had pretty much stomped down the whole ceiling on the main floor - they actually go up into the attic and use their feet. Needless to say it causes a lot of dust and another huge pile of garbage bags and neatly stacked drywall had grown in the living room again!

We didn't go on Sunday as we were hard at work on the porch at the crackhouse - plus nothing was happening. Someone's resting on this day!

Demo: Day 5

The demo crew are working away steadily. I am amazed at what 2 young guys can accomplish in a day and still be friendly to us when we show up at the end of the day!

Friday I took pictures as well as went through the house with a video camera. I had originally filmed before we left so I hope to have some good comparison footage.

With so many walls gone in the basement, it's beginning to be hard to remember where to take the pictures from. I also realized that once the new framing is up, I may not be able to take shots from exactly the same place. So today I stood around trying to figure out where, approximately, the new walls would be and took some pictures from that point of view. We'll see if it works! In the mean time, here are more pics.

View from my office, out towards the kitchen: First one is Before Demo, then 5 days later!




Here are some other random pictures.
Basement looking from our bedroom at the back of the house towards the 'pntry' under the porch. Woah, no walls!



The wall in the bedroom that used to have a mantle on it (and my dresser)


Where the basement kitchen used to be


What's left of the main bathroom


Here is what it looks like as you walk in the front door

By Thursday the Basement was (Mostly) Gone

Here we have the basement bathroom (what's left of it!), the wasp nest that was built INSIDE the walls of our bedroom. and the third picture is the view from the bedroom to the bottom of the stairs near the front of the house. The guys are working through the house bit by bit.

Wednesday Demolition

We have been over to visit Elmsdale every day. Wednesday evening I went by with Erin and Thursday late afternoon Andreas and I checked in on the progress.

Here are the living and dining room views from Wednesday night. The basement had a lot of demo done to it as well. The dumpster was also delivered, filled and removed in one day on Wednesday.








Thanks to Tay and Steve, the hard-working demolition guys, by the time we got back on Thursday the porch was filled up again and a lot of the basement is gone!

That answers that question (newspaper!)

Went by Elmsdale last night for the first time...unfortunately it was late & dark, however... WOAH. Most walls on the main floor are stripped and there is a mountain of garbage bags "contractor-hefty style" piled in the living room. Front porch is also piled up with garbage, the old furniture we left behind for trash etc.



It is interesting to see the construction differences from the crack house - they are about 40 -50 years apart. It seems as though Elmsdale's outer walls are double thick brick and block, and then 1x2 strapping followed by drywall, covered in plaster. The only 2x4s in the place are on the interior walls. They are also drywall then plaster.

There has always been a small on-going debate of the age of the house...Andreas would tell everyone post-war, however I was sure it was a bit earlier. A lady across the street had told me once that her parents bought their house in 1950 and they were the second owners, so I always figured it was built in the 40s. Yes, that still is post-war but somehow I thought not, more like during the war.

As I am walking around with the flashlight last night, I was searching for some old newspapers - we found a lot in the crack house - but it seems they were beyond newspaper-as-insulation by the time Elms was built. I was a bit disappointed, but there is always the Toronto Archives.

Just as we are leaving, don't I spot a rumple of paper in the ceiling above what was the linen/pantry closet!!

I was so excited. It looks like it was wedged in to block the blown insulation in the attic from coming down. And, it was is great condition so *drum roll please* the date on it is August 11, 1941

Demolition Has Begun!

Although I am at work during the day, Andreas has a somewhat more flexible schedule.

He went over to Elmsdale a couple of times and took pictures. I couldn't get there yesterday but I saw the pictures...the walls have been demolished down to the studs. I also got an email from a friend who did a drive by...oh my!

"ps - went by elmsdale at 12:30 today.. did not go in, but the basement and the main floor were gutted.. could see right through to the backyard from the street... :0)"

Here are 2 pics to compare...view to dining room on Sunday; one day later on Monday the view extends to Lianne's office behind! (there was also a linen/pantry closet in the middle!)



Andreas' Office:


And the living room :

Finally it's over

Saturday’s adventures are a blur now. I think we got to Elmsdale around noon – we started out by sleeping in and then chillin’ a bit at the Hotel H. One stop at Tim Horton’s (that’s the second time during this move) for a coffee and sandwiches and off we went to pick up where we left off on Friday.

There must have been some major brain freeze going on during the move because the things left in the house were so random. I think it’s because I organized it one way for movers to come, and I was veto’d by Andreas because he wanted to be in control and not spent the cash on the movers. So I said, fine, you do it. Learned THAT lesson!

We spent a good 4 hours picking through the remaining things (we forgot the bed frame. Who does that?) With me rolling my eyes and being frustrated, we ran a load of food stuffs over to the crackhouse and then stopped at another U-Haul location – one closer, who knew – to rent a van for Sunday to get the items too big for the cars. Then back to Elms to keep sorting. At about 7:30pm I called quits because a) hungry (although next door neighbour gave us yummy cake) and b) I knew we were not even set up at the crackhouse to even sleep there. It took a while to find the box marked ‘bed’ but once the frame was moved & set up, plus the sheets were on we slept like logs.

Sunday, back we go to Timmy’s, (3rd time) then to U-Haul to get the pick-up truck (only thing available). The U-Haul guy was 45 mins late because he got a speeding ticket! So we got an extra rental (9am to next day 9am instead of 9am to 4pm).

We went through more garbage & mainly took down shelves, light fixtures and what not, as well as salvaged some doors, mantles and kitchen cabinets. In the middle we went back over to the crackhouse as we had an offer of washer/dryer moving help.

We were fed a constant stream of snacks and burgers and cake from Bob next door :).

I punched a few holes with a crowbar, because it was there. FINALLY we are all packed an ready to go; it’s 9:00pm and I am about to drop ~ plus we still needed to drive the pickup truck to the crackhouse & unload it. We had decided to take advantage of the showering conditions since they aren’t up to par at the crackhouse, so I jump in. Next thing I know, Mike shows up to get the radiators! I think he also took a sink and the air conditioning unit from the dining room window - “Self-serve, cash and carry!” . I’m glad they are being re-used. However, I was all set to get going so I am dreading waiting around for the rads to be bled and dismantled. Yay for Mike, he offers to help unload later & so I get a ride home. Phew! I think they didn’t finish until 1:00 am.

Moving is stressful they say. Moving with Andreas is downright murderous! He is totally CUT from having any say in how we move back. (Everything marked “Andreas Office” will be left in storage mu-ah ha haaaaaaa)

Moving in Progress

Well, we moved Friday and it took FOREVER.

We started @ 10:00am (this is after we picked up the 26ft truck) and we had 2 friends help out. Because we had so much crap and we needed to split it between 2 places - 30% to the crackhouse & 70% to the storage locker - it took a bit of fanagaling.

Once we got the truck about 2/3 full we realized we were not going to fit everything into the one 10x10 locker, so I called the storage place looking for another. They said they had nothing but a 'premium' first floor 10x15 available. I said no.

We finished loading & drove there and we saw a family clearing out 2 lockers. Their truck was way bigger than ours! So I went to the desk to ask about getting one

Apparently that was not do-able however they had available 2 other 10x10s, an 8x10 and a 5x10. So much for ONLY having the premium 10x15! Andreas even negotiated a 10% discount for the second one.

Anyway, many hours of 'tetris' with the boxes later, we have a full 10x10 and a half full 10x10 of furniture only. One friend had to leave at 5pm and another joined us at 9:30pm for a couple of hours when we unloaded at the crackhouse.

We finished moving at midnight and we are very, very grateful for the all-day, all-night assistance.

Then we dropped of the truck (1:00am) and took up J&N on their offer of Hotel H...really they are away and offered us their apartment in exchange for feeding their cats :) It was very welcome and Saturday we went back to the Elmsdale house to finish up a few things and grab the remaining stuff that was not picked up on Friday.

So Little Time. So Many Things to Pack!

Is it possible, this many boxes and we still aren't finished! Andreas is still sleeping - I think he is starting to show signs of stress (which normally he doesn't). Poor guy does not like a lot of change in his life!

I offered dinner to a couple friends tonight for one last drink to the Estates and he thinks I am crazy. In theory we have to eat anyway so why not make it a social occasion?

Here are a few shots of the ever-growing pile of boxes.

Moving Day is tomorrow!

Surrounded by Boxes

Last week we grabbed 'just a few' boxes from our local U-Haul, and reserved a 26ft truck. I think the tally came to 85 boxes, and that's in addition to all the ones that have been collected so far.

Thank goodness for Mums and friends. We are off to a good start with all the packing, as Lianne's Mum and E made a major dent in the dining room and Lianne's office. Here is my mum, surrounded by boxes!

Or so we thought! Our builder just came by today to scope out where to put the dumpster, and he looked very worried that we would not be packed in time...hmmm. Since he knows about these things, should we be concerned?

This afternoon, the servers (yes, more than one) are being shifted to their temporary home, thank you J&N!

Elmsdale Estates - The Beginning

We have the drawings, we have the builder, we have the permits...now we must build!

Elmsdale, the bungalow we live in and love, will be demolished starting August 20th.

All that will remain are four walls of brick veneer (due to City and Building bylaws and lot size, we have to leave up the walls to be a 'renovation' and not a 'new construction').

So, we are moving out of the 770 sq. feet on the 17th of Aug. All hell has broken loose and we are being taken over by cardboard!

Here is the house, front and back, as it looks in early spring (right now the tree, a magnolia, obscures the whole house!)



In fact, it's really the beginning of the Elmsdale Estates II.