Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Let the Demo Begin

My Romantic Prairie home is turning into a skeleton. Yep, down to the bones. The trailer has been filled over and over.

This is a sure way to uncover all of the old wiring, plumbing and (lack of ) insulation. Including a few rat/squirrel nests and tons of dirt.

I showed you a "before" picture of the entry in my previous post. The wood floors in that photo were the ones on top of these original floors.
Why these were covered up is a mystery.


The room upstairs that we will make our media room has a step down which I thought gives it a little character. This room sits at the back of the house and is over the existing kitchen. The new construction add on to the house will start here and extend out beyond the current footprint.

The floor was torn out and several feet below was the kitchen ceiling. As you can see the step was only a few inches deep, so why the space? Another mystery. Maybe someone thought this would be a good place to run central heat and air. (?)

I don 't know when this kitchen was added. It has all been torn out and my new kitchen will be bigger, better and most importantly new!


All gone...

Now that the kitchen has been torn out you can look up and see where the old room was and the new media room will be. The window transoms were even lost in the black hole.
I LOVE the ship lap wall with all the different boards. I told Wayne, our contractor, I wanted this wall in my studio. (I will tell you about that project in another post.)


When the black and white checkerboard flooring was pulled up it revealed decades of history.
The floor design with the small cream and black squares was probably picked out by someone who liked simple basic dishes. Buffalo China?


I am certain this floor had a pink refrigerator sitting on top of it. My fav... by far.


Possibly Blue Willow or Flow Blue dishes?

I am seeing a Majolica oyster plate when I look at this pattern.
(The 1960's newspaper to the right was found in the wall.
)

If only the floors could talk!!

9 comments:

  1. Wowwwww that is an amazing
    thing to see it down
    to the bare bones ~ It will
    be fun to watch your journey ~

    xoxo
    Lori

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  2. Wow, you know there's lots of history to be told from this old house. Now, to find the one that can still tell it is a million dollar question, right?

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  3. How exciting! This will be like watching This Old House...but much better!

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  4. This is so exciting! We'll be checking back often to watch the progress.
    Nancy

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  5. I grew up in McKinney (still live here) and my daughter's boyfriend from high school grew up in your home. She has lots of memories and I was in there a few times. Good luck. We restore old homes in McKinney historic district, too.

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  6. What a wonderful trip through that old charming house. That is what I have wanted all my adult life is an old home.

    That old lineolum flooring reminds me of my Grandmothers house. I could use that on an altered art book somehow.

    Your pictures are wonderful, I am going to read this post again Love it

    Janice

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  7. I just came upon your blog, what an exciting adventure you have embarked on. Thank you for letting us follow along on your journey.

    Warm hug from So Cali,
    Irma

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  8. What a thrill to view history as you tear away the layers! In our old historic home, we've left those original ship lap walls in the upper half of our downstairs bathroom. They were already painted a creamy white when we arrived, and I love to look up at them and imagine the construction history behind them. It's amazing when you realize that many of the walls of these old houses were built like that throughout, so when you put in a nail, there's no hunting for studs behind sheetrock ... it's all wood!
    Keep on dreaming and building! Cindy

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  9. Are you saving pieces of all the old wallpaper and floor tiles... thought it would make a beautiful framed picture of the history of the home... wishing you and John well on your new home and selling the one in Frisco really soon! Smiles!

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