Spiders, Bats, and Owls...Oh my!

Saturday was the first day in the past week that we were able to work on the house.  The weather has been unusually cold for this time of year.  Some say winters are becoming like they were 30 years ago.  It may be true, but it does seem a little more fun to make a big deal of it all and have snowstorms with names, and titles for cold weather like "Polar Vortex".   Through it all, the old brick house is standing strong.  Those bricks can resist the wind easily, but once everything is cold, it's like a freezer in there.

We had lots of projects to choose from, but we decided to start cleaning out the basement.  The previous owners did a great job of clearing things out of the house, but the basement had a few "treasures" left within.  I'm not one for collecting stuff, but it is a lot of fun weeding through and finding things that were household items long ago.  We didn't find anything of much value, but fun to look at nonetheless. We found usable canning jars (including many 2 quart size!), old furniture hardware, a marble bathroom sink, vintage hockey sticks, and a washboard that I plan on hanging in our future laundry room.  

Before you get fuzzy feelings of nostalgia, I must tell you that we found some half frozen hibernating bats (they likely came downstairs when the weather got too cold to stay in the attic), moldy white spiders, and an owl (I actually found him in the attic when I went to get the broom).  The spiders and owl were dead, so they really didn't cause me any grief.  But the bats squeaked and wiggled when we turned the work light on, and I almost lost my lunch.  Thankfully, Jack came to my rescue and cleared them out for me.  I cannot wait until he is able to seal this house up tight, and they will be history.  We worked on until dusk and then called it a day.

Even though the dirty work can be rough, it's still an adventure for us.  It won't be without it's ups and downs, but the end result will be worth it.

Demolition 101

Even though it's been frigid and our house has no heat or electric, we have been busy working on it when we can.  Jack's dad graciously let us use his dump truck, and we are putting it to good use.  While there, we've been taking down plaster walls and ceilings, and removing old flooring.  It's crazy messy, and probably toxic, so it requires that we gear up with gloves and respirators.  In the attic this was especially necessary; we cleaned up an unprecedented amount of bat poop (yuck!).
 Thankfully, we won't have to remove all of the plaster in the house, just the walls or ceilings that are severely cracked, or in places that we need to get to when we rewire the house.  Last week I removed the plaster around the chimney in the Master Bedroom.  It's beautiful, and we will leave it exposed.  I love the old style look, and the story old houses seem to tell.  We want the house to have modern conveniences, but we also want to maintain the charm and original beauty that it possesses.  As I was chipping away at the plaster, the layers of wallpaper surfaced, and I saved a piece of each pattern.  Per our friend's suggestion, we will save them and put them in a frame to hang somewhere in the house.

It amazes us how much work was put into building that house.  At the Potter County Historical Society we learned that the original owners hired all the skilled carpenters and masons that they could to build the house quickly.  As I work, sometimes I think about those people, and wonder about their life.  Were they immigrants?  Did they have a family?  Did they live to serve in World War I?   Did they live through the flu pandemic of 1918?  Life was very different back then, yet in many ways the same.  We face different trials and peaks in our time, and life can be hard and full of pain and joy.  I must say that in many ways I'm glad to be living in this place in time.

Aside from building, we have been thinking and dreaming of what we would like our new home to be like.  There is currently no real kitchen or laundry room, and only one full bath.   The garage will need torn down, and we will have to build one eventually.  We want to be good stewards of the resources we have, so some things may have to wait.  Even though this house is a huge undertaking, we feel so blessed to be the owners of it.

Cleaning up plaster & lathe in the soon-to-be kitchen

Drywall that we removed from the attic

It's a bit dark, but see all of that black stuff on the floor?  That was bat guano that was caked behind the drywall.  It was incredible.  We removed over 200 lbs. of that.  Unreal!  Thankfully there were no bats to be found.  We think most of them moved out when the weather got cold.  When we replace windows and redo the roof, there will be no place for them to come in anymore.  Sayonara!

Chimney exposed in our bedroom.  I love it.  We can hang a picture or clock on it, or even a wall mounted fireplace. 

A bedroom with the plaster removed.  There were loads of old newspapers from the 1950's under the flooring in this room.  They are so interesting!  

Plaster removed in the hallway

Jack in the bedroom.  We had just cleaned up a lot of plaster.  This room has mildew/mold from the leaky window and roof.  Thankfully it's only surface deep.

We completely gutted the bathroom, so this claw foot beauty sits in our future laundry room.  The wood floors upstairs are painted, most of them a dark mustard color.  I kind of like them, but we will cover the bedrooms up with carpet.