Stripped

Mold remediation happened.

I present to you our stripped house with minimal snarkiness.  Because we're despondent.

Might need to replace those studs.

Hard to see, but there was mold underneath the butchered header.

There was no insulation.  On the bright side, you can see the ... bright side from our new vents!

Duct tape isn't always the right tape for the job!

That's a hole in our closet.  There is nothing there on the outside.

Our garage roof line in pencil!

The outside sheathing is a curious mix of foiled polyiso and plywood.  There seems to be no rhyme or reasoning behind the choices and areas they were applied.

Now for the other part of stripped... our wires :/  If only I had space for a thousand sad faces, I would put them all here to convey the extent of our spiraling despair.

Boom, right in the kisser!

Ain't nobody got time for sheathing.

Make yourself at home, little mouse!

Just a little bit of charring, not a lot!  And fusing, not a lot!

I've decided that the house is cursed JUST ENOUGH that we have to rebuild everything ourselves and pay for everything ourselves, but not cursed ENOUGH that it's burnt down or fallen down and the insurance would pay for a brand new house.

Oh house on Dequindre with the asbestos siding and outhouse in the backyard, you're looking mighty fine in my daydreams.

We ran Cat 6 and coax through the first floor.

We also caulked the windows with Great Stuff.  Funny thing about Great Stuff, it takes more than the salesperson at Home Depot thinks.  A lot more.  It also messes up the gun when left in there without a pressurized acetone cleaner.  

But at least I got a cool gun shot!

And this.  Nothing is more satisfying than OVERDOING IT TO THE MAX.  At least we're adding to the house instead of stripping.  Kinda.

To sum up Milly, I quote a friend: "I wouldn't know all the wrongs that hide underneath stuffs!"
We're going to need an electrician.

Task: Run Wires and Caulk Windows
Saturday: 9.3 hours of despair.  Utter despair!  Won't someone think of the children?
Total: 9.3 hours
Total to Date: 110.55 hours

The Out Sick Edition

I've been sick! I haven't been outside in a week!
In sum, it's good to have minions to do your bidding.

They placed chains on the tractor!

It's on!  

Aaaand it's off!  At least the driveway is plowed now.  Kinda. 

We got a delivery!  Our new subfloor, if we could just level the joists.

Here to help level and support the joists, our LVL beams!  They're big!

They creatively knocked out a window in the basement!

Okay, it actually goes right back on.

Dad carrying that bad boy all by himself.  Hurrah!

The attic mold remediation people visited.

New vents!

So many new vents!  R-60 blown-in cellulose in our attic now, eat your hearts out!

They removed the drywall around the fireplace so the house mold remediation people can work tomorrow.

Weird header cutting issues.  I don't like their creative solutions as much as ours!

They also added valves because Milly was severely lacking.  Poor Milly.

Task: Plowing, Mold Remediation, Plumbing
Friday: 3 hours plowing and moving OSB into garage
Sunday: 4 hours moved beams into basement, removed drywall, fixed plumbing
Monday: watched our money blowing in our now well ventilated attic
Total Hours: 7 hours
Total To Date: 101.25 hours

Together We Deere

We slacked last week.  Slacked a lot!  It felt good.  Then this weekend happened.  We feel tired again.  Pictures are minimal.

Taking apart a house generates a lot of trash.  We ordered a 30 cubic yard dumpster.

It was filled after only 4 hours of slave drafted volunteer bribed labor from family and friends.  Our garage is now clear!  Kinda... all the appliances and kitchen cabinets are in there until we get a new 30 cubic yard dumpster!

We pulled down the drywall from all exterior walls to remove the vapor barrier (since it's better building policy not to have a Class III Vapor barrier if you use the air conditioner frequently).

It's so bare!

There were surprises waiting for us!

Mouse droppings!

Mold!

Ahhhhhhh!!  More mold!!!!

MOLDDDDDD!!!!!

Phew, just a mouse again.

Oh gosh, mold!  At least they built the window correctly?  Yay for building correctly!

Or not...Just hang out there Mr. Outlet, we'll catch you if you fall!

Mold remediation is costing us a pretty penny.  We cried a little.  And then spent more money on a John Deere 300!

1. We borrowed a truck.  
2. Rented a trailer.  
3. Hauled the tractor to our house.  
4. Unstrapped.  
5. Ran out of gas.  
6. Restrapped.  
7. Drove to gas station.  
8. Filled her up.  
9. Drove back to house.  
10. Pushed her up the bump to the garage.  
11. SUCCESS!   
12. Returned trailer
13. Returned truck.  

It only took us boatloads of cash and 6 hours!

We also stopped in the cold to take pictures of the critter tracks.  That's a lot of critters!

Task: Drywall Removal and Dumpster!
Saturday: 6 hours drywall removal
Sunday: 16 hours dumpster filler-upper and drywall removal
Monday: Tractor shopping!   Woohoo!
Total: 22 hours
Total To Date: 94.25 hours