Demolition day is here! I’m so excited to tear down some walls and rip out some sheetrock with this guy!
Since the kitchen will become the central point of the MOMables Studio, we sacrificed one of the bedrooms to double the size of the existing kitchen. Unfortunately, the adjacent bedroom is not the smallest, but thankfully it’s not the master either.
We decided to do the demolition ourselves, mostly to save a lot of money and be able to work on the studio at our own pace. One of the things we learned is that the large construction dumpsters are pretty expensive $300+ for just 5 days! So planning out the large debris removal has been key for us.
Eric decided we’d put out the smallest things with the regular garbage and the large items, like the tubs and wood that can’t be repurposed, will be piled in one area until the dumpster is delivered. So, in other words, if you are planning to gut a bathroom, kitchen, or an entire house, plan out a place for your trash.
We donated most of the kitchen cabinetry to Habitat for Humanity as well as some of the appliances. The other items that they did not take, we listed them for Free in one of our local Facebook groups since a lot of areas near us are still trying to rebuild from last year’s floods.
The kids played outside for the most part, but of course, they wanted to “help dad” for a few minutes. Since we didn’t have enough protective glasses for them, we let them take a swing, pose for a picture, and moved them outside to play. So if you are planning on remodeling anything at your house; either don’t bring the kids to demolition day or plan something for them to do outside of the home because apparently, demo day is also very exciting for them!
Some of the tools you should have in advance are:
- A good crowbar
- A sturdy chisel (to remove wallpaper, floor staples and stubborn carpet pad)
- Good work gloves & goggles
- Light-weight hammer
- Utility knife and replacement blades
- Electric drill and bits (to remove cabinets)
- Drill bit for stripped screws (because I guarantee that at least one screw holding your current cabinets up will be stripped)
- Bucket (for plumbing fiascos)
- Broom, large dustpan, large garbage can
- Flat head screwdriver (to remove switch and receptacle plates)
- Demo Day T-shirts (just kidding!)
The last thing you want to do is have to stop when you have momentum because you can’t get the cabinets out or don’t have the right tool. My husband, who plans everything out in advance, made sure he had most things on hand. Granted, demo day was not a one-day event since we are working on other projects; it was more like several afternoons and a Saturday morning. Plus, even now that we are finished we’ve decided to take down the ceilings to replace them with something else. Just when you think you are done, it’s not done. Ha!
The most important thing, though, is to stay optimistic because everything takes longer (much longer) than you anticipated and it’s a lot messier than you imagined. All we need to do is wait for the framers to tell us how much it’s going to cost to move the kitchen door and close up that wall, put another door, replace the window space, and place a supporting beam up since the wall we want to remove is a weight bearing wall. And now I wait. Waiting is not my thing. Pray for me, my friend.
Have you ever had your own #demoday?
