Demo - Part 2

If you recall, from Demo - Part 1, we were originally going to keep the existing ceiling over the kitchen, but then we decided to vault the rest of the kitchen ceiling. What the heck, right? This was going to be more work and cost, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

I took a day off from work and started pulling down the drywall from the kitchen ceiling. I had to do this a little more carefully than when Al and I did it in the living and dining rooms because, as you can see, we still had our old base cabinets installed. Rather than smashing them off the walls like you see the people do on television, I figured I would try to sell them on Craigslist. I didn't end up getting any bites for the whole set, so we ended up donating them to a local charity for a tax write-off. They were still in good shape, you know? I would have hated to smash them up and throw them in the dumpster.

Starting removal of the kitchen ceiling.

Wall cabinets removed and stored in the dining room.

Look at that mess of wires!

The only remaining ceiling drywall was the boxed-in skylight.

So much for the boxed-in skylight!

Lots of joists and strapping to be removed.

Joists, strapping, and skylight framing removed from over the kitchen.

The joists did a good job of keeping that wiring up.

A better view of the laminated ridge beam.

What a mess, huh?

Another view (cabinets have been picked up).

In case you forgot the time of year we started the renovation, it was in the fall, so we had to live with the fact that Christmas was going to be a little different this year. In fact, it was the first year since we had been together that we did not have a real Christmas tree in the living room. Instead, Maura spent some extra time decorating in the basement. I got a good Black Friday deal on a pre-lit artificial Christmas tree at Lowe's.

The stockings were hung by the bar with care...

 Christmas Morning 2015

Get Into the Groove

I have to credit House*Tweaking again for helping us to decide to do a tongue and groove ceiling. Since putting up 1"x6" pieces of wood sounded easier than putting up 4'x8' sheets of drywall, I figured that I could install it myself. (We'll see later because at the time of writing this, I still haven't put it up.)

White Tongue and Groove Vaulted Ceiling from House*Tweaking

We liked the idea of having a white ceiling since our hardwood floor was going to be pretty busy. I was worried about bleed-through staining of the knots if we used wood, so I looked into alternatives on-line. I stumbled upon ready-to-install, Dura-Groove 1x6 interior painted MDF tongue and groove paneling at Michigan PreStain. Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) is an engineered wood product made by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibers, often in a defibrator, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure. MDF is generally denser than plywood.

I ended up ordering 1,472 lineal feet of the product, which came to $2,311.64. The price included a $295 shipping charge. The nice part is that it is pre-painted, so we won't have to worry about painting it, except for minor touch-ups, perhaps, after we install it.

I took a day off from work so that I could be there when the material was delivered. The UPS driver pulled up in front of my house and opened the back of his truck. The MDF was stacked up on a 16-foot palette. I asked him what the plan was for unloading it, and he said that he would cut the straps from the load and that I would have to unload it, piece-by-piece. Ugh. I want to say that it was about 1,700 pounds of material, and I had to remove each piece from the truck and lay it in my driveway. He told me that I had to take the palette, too. Great.

MDF unloaded in my driveway, along with the 16-foot palette and plastic wrap.

Can't leave it in the driveway. Better make room in the garage.

Stacked neatly in the garage on the same cinder blocks that I used in the attic.

Time to cut up the palette.

Anyone need any wood?