Taking ownership of the house was a challenge to say the least. I have chosen not to dwell on unpleasant things, instead we all decided to have some family therapy and tear some stuff apart.

Our new place had several “features” including a faux rock wall in the entry and 10 foot tall floor to ceiling mirrors in the living room. Now I know what you are thinking, with such architectural details as these why would I make a change?

 

Now my Father in Law, had an amazing idea and without him we would have taken a sledge-hammer to this all day. He came up with a great idea at 4 in the morning. I present an Air Chisel. It is an attachment to the massive air compressor he owns and it worked liked a charm. Masks, glasses and respirators at the ready!

 

The wall consisted of lava rocks, concrete and chicken wire. It sprayed a fine layer of dust EVERYWHERE in the house. I will be cleaning that up until December but it felt good to get it down.

 

It will now be sheet rocked and brought back to paint ready. Stand by for next week.

 

The mirror walls were a bit more play it by ear. I did what any person who knows nothing about removing large sheets of glass from a dining room, I watched a you tube video on it. The video said that we duct tape the mirror so when it shatters it breaks into manageable pieces.  I would get eh mirror off by taking a crowbar and then separating the adhesive from the wall a piece at a time. Sounds easy enough.

The first mirror took my husband and I an hour to detach. When the final piece of adhesive broke free, the problem presented itself. What the hell do you do with a 10 foot tall mirror being held up by me on a ladder? Panic ever so slightly at first and then have the remaining family members rush into the room to help us tip it back and then gently take it to the floor and it didn’t break! Mark that into the win category.

After all the panels were removed we found some fun markings from the original design of the house. Little window to the 1960’s. 

 

We all celebrated the day by putting our feet into the cold cold pool. Next step demo for the kitchen.