Goodbye, Walls and Ceiling

Most of the the old first floor stud walls and nasty green ceiling are gone. We're elated to be rid of the original ceiling because it gives us another 4" of head height on the first floor, plus bringing it down brought with it all the dead mice, rodent feces, squirrel nests, old shingle and other construction materials camping out up there. The construction materials and most of the dirt we found up there were from the second floor addition, completed circa 1992.

The wood from this phase of demolition will go to two places: The painted wood will likely be reused as part of a paper manufacturing process here in Portland, OR. Our understanding is that the paint (lead-based or no) will not end up as part of the paper product itself. The unpainted wood will be ground up and sold as garden mulch.

The temporary structural timber at the center of the room is keeping the second floor from sagging. On the left the new outside wall is framed and sheathed, and the opening where the french doors will go is partially cut open (the actual width of the door is the width of the header, visible at the top of the wall). The piles of debris on the right are chunks of plaster that covered the east inside wall.

• 3/27 :: Michael adds : Couldn't agree more about the green ceiling. Very nasty was it. Sorry mice! And 4" of head space is a lot, even with already tall ceilings.

• 3/27 :: We add : Michael is the lead framer on the project.