The Chimney and The Floor: Or How Bryan and Alex Threw Their Backs Out For A Week

What an eventful last couple of days it has been. Yesterday, I met with our plumber and our heating guy. The plumber got a lot started, and he said that he will have pretty much everything finished other than the finish work (putting on the new toilet, sinks, etc.) by Tuesday night. Crazy! Then the heating guy said he could be finished with everything in the existing part of the house by Thursday or Friday. More craziness! One little catch though...we have to have the following done by Monday morning:

• Take out the tub
• Take out the tile and 1st layer of paneling on all the walls in the bathroom
• Take out the toilet
• Take out the sink in the bathroom
• Take out the tile in the bathroom and the wonderboard
• Take out the last remaining kitchen cabinet
• Oh yeah...and take out this HUGE chimney...the whole thing...like from up on the roof...in the attic, and into the basement.

That's cool. No big deal...but add 4 beautiful yet slightly needy children into the mix and it's a happy thought in the making.

So...Alex and Danelle came to our rescue and helped us get a lot done tonight. Danelle, in her delicate state, was sentenced to hanging out with Asher. That was no small task considering how pukey she feels right now, and Asher has volitile bowel movements. Alex took on the task of helping Bryan take down the chimney. They started on the roof with a methodical brick-by-brick plan of action. Then, Bryan went to work in the attic while Alex went to town on the kitchen. He probably won't be able to walk tomorrow...but he gotterdone! We'll work on the attic and the basement tomorrow. Where to put all the brick???? Hmmmm.....

Also today, Paul (our contractor) was able to saw off the top part of that wall of the foundation that tried to fall down, replace those rebar screw things, and get the floor on...all today! Incredible. It's getting easier to imagine it turning into a place we can actually live. That funky looking floor piece is actually where our future chimney will go. We were going to put it in right now, but figured we'll hang loose and maybe put it in when we do the garage in a year or two.

Here are some pics of the floor going on. It was too dark to take a pic of it totally covered...but you get the idea.