Week 2 - Demolition is Complete...

After 2 weeks of hard labor both inside and outside of the charming house, things are definitely moving along.  All the walls that can be taken down are now gone.  Check out all the before and after pictures below.. quite amazing! 

While this was a major milestone last week, the article featuring Umami on the Isthmus website (local newspaper website), tops it all.  It's the first public announcement yet and it will be one of many to come.  READ IT NOW...


AFTER:  Successful!

BEFORE: One more wall to take down

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BEFORE: New Dining Area - Beams still standing

AFTER:  Beams be gone!

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The Brick-faced Chimney that will be incorporated into the interior design

                             

The 2 doors that led to the rooms in the pics above

That is all the pictures for now til the next post.
Don't forget to vote for your favorite ramen in the poll section of side bar.

For now, here's a perfectly pan fried dumpling for you!

Day 3 & 4 - Demolition Continues and more

It's amazing how much progress the guys have made last Thursday and Friday.  The beams of the old bathroom walls are now completely gone and beams of the bar area are 80% removed.

BEFORE: Walls removed with beams 

AFTER: Beams removed

BEFORE: The very 1st wall that was removed

AFTER: All beams removed on the 1st wall

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BEFORE: To be the new dining area

AFTER: Cabinets and wall removed
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Hefty rocks dug up and removed from the
side of the driveway/parking area

Where the rocks once were

Massive rocks nicely stacked

Back view of the house

Day 2 - Demolition (9/8)

We showed up at the house a little later today so Randy, John and Dima were already there. It looks like Dima had already been working for a couple of hours.  He had broken down part of the bar area wall next to the front door then moved on to the bathroom walls.

Half broken down bar area wall

Dima working hard on the bathroom walls

Mike working hard on this wall that was built pretty tightly with wooden boards.
Meanwhile, Randy had the hard task of disassembling the metal panels that were tightly screwed.

Mike showing his crowbar skills.
This was one tough wall to remove!

Randy showing his sledgehammer skills before 
disassembling the metal piece

While everyone was busy working away, I wanted to make myself useful instead of being the paparazzi. We had a pile of wood trimmings that we were planning to reuse but they still have the original nails in them.   So I decided to remove them with a handy Nail Extractor tool we bought yesterday.  I was finally finished after which seemed like 500 nails.  

The pile after I've already removed half.

Lots of nails...

After lunch, I went ahead and assigned another job for myself.. this time removing the wood trimmings off the window.  They did not want to come off... but I wasn't giving up until they were.

BEFORE: Window with trimmings

AFTER: Yay, I did it!

After nonstop laboring away for 5 hours with only a 30 minute lunch, (yummy Thai Curry), check out the progress we made after today.

Bar Area on 9/7

Bar Area on 9/8

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Bathroom on 9/7

Bathroom on 9/8

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Cinderblocks... hmm.. this was unexpected.

Day 1 - Demolition Day (9/7)

A week after closing on the property, it's finally Demolition Day!  

Side View of the House

It felt like we were in an episode of HGTV with our goggles and masks on, looking almost like professionals.  Most of the hard work was done by my hubby Mike and his business partner and friend Randy with guidance from Architect John and Carpenter Dima. I helped here and there, like unscrewing outlet plates and removing the wood wall trimmings, but most importantly I played the role of the photographer to document this transformation.

It's amazing how much was completed in a day's work. 
- Removed 2 walls, carpet, wall trimmings, built-in shelves, 2 doors
- Large Garbage bin arrived (1/3 filled after today)

Knocking down the 1st Wall:

Randy (left) and Mike (right) taking a break to pose for a pic.

1st wall to come down

Almost done

1st wall completed (view from 2nd room)

Knocking Down the 2nd Wall:

2nd Wall Completed!

Tomorrow's Project

Remove this wall and beams to create an open space for the bar.

Remove the walls and everything in the bathroom to create an open space for the dining area.