Behind schedule but Okay

Well, we didn't get to wall demolition today. Removing the deck took longer than we planned and we didn't get it completely removed until lunchtime today. Then we still had to bring down the gutter on that side of the house and clean up. By that time it was later than we wanted to start putting holes in the side of the house. This is a job that we would like to finish in a single day if possible so we will start bright and early tomorrow morning. V and J15 will skip Tae Kwon Do and Kum Do tomorrow morning so we can work. Things were in worse shape than we had hoped so we made another trip to the lumber yard late this afternoon to pick up a few more items.

But here is the day in pictures:

The decking and steps are gone!

V works on the last post.

The bolts attaching them were SO rusted that it took a lot of time and effort to remove them intact. Part of the moisture problem for both the deck and the house is the fact that the deck had a solid concrete block foundation and both the dryer vent and the downstairs bathroom fan were both venting warm, humid air underneath the deck for who knows how many years!

The results of too much moisture! EEEW!!! It was like paper in some places.

V used the garden tractor and tow chain to pull the frame off the foundation.

Here it comes...

And there it goes!

The peony on the corner fared better than I expected it to and looks pretty good.

The mighty tractor. V really loves that thing- it has come in quite useful for many tasks other than just mowing!

This is what we found behind the deck frame.

Yup, that's insulation you can see.

Do you think that maybe mice could get in through that? Once we got the deck removed you could see light from inside at the top of the stairs. Definitely NOT good. We got it temporarily sealed for the night to keep critters out.

What's left of the wood under the back door.

We're going to have to replace lots of that wood. The cable sticking out is a secondary phone line that ran to the shop- we're removing it.

We're both weary to the bone and sore but we knocked off early today so we can rest up for the onslaught tomorrow.

We are definitely living in interesting times.

Thanks for the suggestions for the apple. I think it may be a good, old fashioned Jonathan- I'll have to ask my Mom. She's really good at apple types. They have 7 or 8 varieties in their orchard.