Thursday, March 2, 2017

Getting Ready To Rock

Winter break is usually a cold week in our neck of the woods. New England in February can be depressing- especially if you are not into winter sports. But, in the sovereignty of God, the weather was unseasonably warm! Like in the mid-60's warm! We did not want to be exposing our home to freezing temperatures and the timing of the warm up was without a doubt a gift.

In a moment of genius we decided to enlist the help of two teenage boys to help us tear down the walls in the living room. There is nothing like the energy of two young men with hammers and the directive to demolish everything in the room! We did have to make clear the definition of demolish vs. destroy, as well as pointing out that electrical wires may be hiding and we would not a want to have to nick name anyone "Sparky".




My girls, who rocked the demo of the kitchen, were more than happy to hand the hammers over to others.

Three years ago.

Doorways were layered in plastic and tape to minimize the filtration of ancient plaster dust into the rest of the house. Within a very short period of time the walls were down. Just as we had suspected- there was NO insulation with the exception of some blown in stuff on the front of the house that had settled and was now only providing insulation to the first 3 feet of wall space up from the floor.

In the destruction a newspaper was found in one of the walls, kinda hanging down from the ceiling. In a previous project we had found paper in a room upstairs under the linoleum. It was acting as a sound barrier, I guess and maybe this one had just shifted or slipped.  Newspaper was often used as insulation but since we only found one paper we assume that was not the intent here. The paper was the Boston Globe from 1914. As I tried to open to see some of the stories it was disintegrating in my hand. In 1914 Woodrow Wilson was president and it was the year JFK's mom and dad got married-just for some perspective.



They found an inactive bee hive. I found it beautiful and amazing. The work those little bugs do!


And like the busy bees, the boys worked hard. Mister supervised and took care of things that needed a more delicate approach. They got everything cleaned up and in the process of clean-up an 1861 Indian Head penny laid in the dust and dirt! I washed it off and did a little internet investigation. The coin is in very good condition. The image is not rubbed at all and the edges are nice and crisp. Turns out this particular coin was minted the first year of the Civil War and was made from a combination of metals that were only used for the 4 year Civil War period. That sounds like money to me! More research on the internet revealed that it was not worth as much as I had hoped. I did contact a coin collector and they confirmed the internet's information. So, it's not going to end up paying for the work but it is a cool piece of history that someone tucked into one of our walls. Maybe it was lost-in 1861 a penny was worth something.



And that was Monday. Tuesday, Mister cleaned up the inside of the walls and put in insulation! We thought we would have to beef up the studs but it turns out they were pretty beefy already; 3x4's ranging from 12"-16" apart.


Front porch support coming through living room wall. 

Timber framing? Not sure that is the correct term for this type of construction.

Mister added a stud to the corners to handled the sheet rock. I had to leave a little note for someday... someday when we are no longer here and someone else decides to do something else to this home maybe they will see the love note.



And this is new header over the door way to what will be the dining room (once again).


Mister said no one will ever see this but that's okay. I know it's there...

We swept and mopped the floors, again. Dust takes a while to settle.


Wednesday, Mister and I worked to get the sheet rock up. It was a hard, long three days. Mister had Monday off for the holiday and Tuesday and Wednesday were days he took off. It amazes me how hard this man works and how he knows how to do so many things. I've said it before and I will say it again; don't marry a man who is not a hard worker.


Now, while we are waiting for coats of joint compound to dry I get to start thinking about wall colors and arrangements, furniture and lighting... For now there is an airiness about the room with nothing on the walls, we did move most of the furniture back in because we are living in our remodel project. Oh, the possibilities! When all is said and done I hope I can rock the design as good as Mister and helpers rocked the demo and rebuild!


Thanks for stopping by~ Jolena

Linking up to these parties:
Up To Date Interiors, The Newlywed Pilgrimage, Imparting Grace, The Charm of Home, The Vintage Nest, Joyful Homemaking, Have a Cup of Mrs. Olson, A Delightsome Life, Charm Bracelet Diva, Life With Lorelai, French Country Cottage, Chic On A Shoestring, The Cottage Market, The DIY Village , DIY Vintage Chic, Olives n Okra, Pieced Pastimes, One More Time Events, The Boondocks Blog, Finding Silver Pennies, Nifty Thrifty Things, Coastal Charm, I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Cupcakes and Crinoline, Creatively Living, Celebrate & Decorate, Ducks n'a Row, Savvy Southern Style, Imparting Grace, My Repurposed Life

12 comments:

  1. You might want to look into the pioneer customs in your area. In some areas, it was a 'good luck' custom to hide a penny in the walls of your home. Perhaps you found not a penny lost but a penny left!

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    1. What a sweet custom, Jill. Thank you for this bit of history. It makes me wonder... we believe the house is older than 1861 so now I am really intrigued! Thanks for the visit. Hope you can come back again, soon.

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  2. Darn! I was rooting for that penny to bring you luck (and lots of $$)!

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    1. Oh, me too! But I have never seen an Indian Head penny and didn't even know they'd existed so this is a pretty neat find. I will probably put together some sort of shadow box with all our finds from this house. We did feel pretty lucky to not have to sister up all the studs-so I guess that is something. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a great weekend.

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  3. We have some of those pennies but they are so worn, yours looks like new! Love the verse you chose out of Song of Songs to put over your header! Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home!

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    1. Thank you for the party and for visiting with me.

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  4. How exciting to be in the midst of such a transformation! How cool that you found the newspaper and penny? Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm! xo Kathleen | Our Hopeful Home

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    1. Thank you, Kathleen. I'm thankful for your visit and kind words.

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  5. That is quite a project and can't wait to see how it all comes together! Thank you for sharing with us this week at Celebrate Your Story, have a great weekend.

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    1. I can't wait for it to be done, Sandra. Thanks for visiting and for the party!

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  6. Jolena that was a huge project. But now that I see all the treasures you discovered in there I would say it was well worth it. Well, and for the new walls too. But that beehive!!

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    1. I'm just glad there were no active bees in the hive, Mary! Thanks for stopping by!

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