Skip to main content

#DEMODAY Phase 1


Everybody loves a good #DEMODAY

 Thankfully we were able to start our timeline of work while still living in the house. The longer we could stay the better. We were also extremely grateful for my parents letting us bunk up with them for the renovation, it is a HUGE blessing. Thanks Mom & Dad! October 15th was the start of this journey. The timeline had the demolition and removal of the breezeway and single car garage. Once that was removed the new foundations and footers could be poured for the footprint of the addition. The yard would be graded out and the framing of the addition would begin. 

 Technically our first demo was the removal of a tree in the front yard. We did this in the Summer. A very large, old tree that happened to be right in the middle on the front door walkway. It was old and on its way down and wasn't going to take the chance of it ever falling. And of course it completely blocked the front facade of the house. Our plans included adding in some architectural character to the front so wanted to make sure it could been showcased.


BEFORE Front Yard

AFTER Front Yard

AFTER Front Yard


So Back to the fun stuff.... we got kicked out of the house in early November. When we moved in the summer we only brought the bare minimum, our beds and clothes not even a kitchen table! The rest we took to a storage unit. So moving out was pretty painless but lets face it moving is NEVER fun! We did leave a handful of boxes in the basement and most of our garage stuff we packed in our shed in the backyard. My parents again being lifesavers, we have stuff scattered everywhere at their house too. You don't really realize how much crap you accumulate in such a short amount of time until you literally have to pack it all away. Matt and I keep saying there is no way we are moving all this back in the new house LOL. But seriously we will be having a nice yard sale towards the end of this! That honestly has been the hardest part. Living in this limbo of where everything is. Matt and I being as organized as we are ;) this for sure has been a challenge. Just keep telling ourselves "its all worth it" 


Once we were cleared out our contractor didn't waste a minute opening up the back of the house. Matt and I honestly thought some big ol wrecking ball would come in and smash the back of the house down. We were so wrong! It was a delicate process. The electrician came first and disconnected all power to the breezeway and garage. Then the demo crew came and actually removed the structure piece by piece, it really was a true art. These pictures do not do them any justice of the work they did. Nail by nail, board by board everything was taken down and gone to the first of MANY dumpsters. I don't think we kept anything from this tear down, nothing of anything was all that salvageable. 

 
BEFORE Side Yard

DEMO Side Yard
AFTER Side Yard

AFTER Side Yard





BEFORE Back Yard

AFTER Back Yard

AFTER Back Yard 




BEFORE Breezeway Entrance Road Side Yard 

BEFORE Breezeway Entrance from Road Side Yard

DEMO Road Side Yard

AFTER Breezeway Entrance from House Door

AFTER Road Side Yard


After the back of the house came off we started to realize this wasn't just a remodel. We were basically building a brand new house. Let the fun begin!!












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 12: Kitchen Dream Come True

Hello everyone and welcome to the 12th week here on Heady Avenue.  It is hard to believe we have been working on our house for just about 3 months. Technically October the 8th will be three months to the day since becoming new home owners. We have accomplished quite a bit in a short amount of time and honestly still wonder how we made it all happen. Of course with the help and support of our parents and other family members this dream became a reality.  And this week all of our wildest dreams came true. It was an emotional week which might seem a bit silly but it truly really was.  Bright and early on Thursday morning Christmas came about 3 months early for us. At the crack of dawn two large trucks pulled in our driveway and started on the most important room in the house: our kitchen.  Of course this is where the main part of the demo took place (and majority of the budget) so to be able to walk in the door and see actual parts of a finished room was breathta...
Post a Comment
Read more

All of the Blood, Sweat & Tears

Literally. Blood, Sweat and Tears. All of that and so much more went into this rather large journey of ours. And it was worth every single second. All of the late nights and early mornings, the long weekends full of work and no play, all the band aids and ibuprofen, the trips to and from & back again to Home Depot and Lowes, the laughs, the arguments the tears. It was all so worth it. The time, patience and talent we gave to this makes every inch of our new home so special. There is a story to tell about the floors and walls, plumbing pipes and vents, lighting fixtures, bath tubs and toilets. You name it we did it. And it all would not have been possible without our family. Thank you to Matt's Grandpa for lending his knowledge and expertise throughout each phase of the remodel. Thank you to our parents for their continuous support and helping hand and a place for us to live during it all. They too all endured the blood, sweat and tears and without their help there is no way Mat...
Post a Comment
Read more
Hello and welcome to our Blog! I decided to create this to document and share our journey of purchasing and remodeling our first home. Matt and I were married on October 6, 2012 and became proud owners of our forever home on July 8, 2013. Our brick ranch sits on a corner lot of a beautiful tree lined street housing 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, living, kitchen, dining, family, finished walkout basement and two car garage. This marked all of the checks on our list and has room to grow for many years to come, we still pinch ourselves. A special shout-out to our realtor Jonathan Hayes, who made this place ours. The house was built in the 1950s and hasn't seen much of any major remodels or updates since then. It has however been well cared for and loved by a great family since the 80s who had a hard time saying good bye to it. We actually had to call them on day 1 to figure out how to unlock the garage man-door :) They came no questions asked to give a helping hand and are ex...
Post a Comment
Read more