Oh Sandy, the sky is falling!

October 29, 2012. The day "Frankenstorm" or hurricane Sandy hit. Ghon had off work today, and I took most of the day off. I wasn't keen on the commute, I worked a ton of hours over the weekend and I wasn't expecting power to stay around for ever.  Ghon headed to the farm early to work while I finished a few work tasks.

We had two contractors come out today. The first was the same roofer that I saw on Saturday. He took advantage of the rain to check for leaks in the attic, and we were in the clear. He gave Ghon a rough estimate for some repair work and was out the door.

Before I arrived, Ghon rolled up the carpet from the dining room. The house has an odor of old stale pet and old stale house. Removing carpets has been a big help - and have been revealing some awesome hardwood floors.



We moved on to the living room where we each tackled a small section of remaining carpet. Carpet that's been in place for over 25 years and nailed in place. Huge nails. Whose heads often break when you yank them out. Not fun.  After removing the carpet and the disgusting smelling padding, it was on to the plywood on the floor. Or wooden planks as one section was finished in. Fingers crossed for some exciting wood under there.

Master Demolition Man prying out floor boards.



Several layers on top - and we think we see hardwood!

This is the view from the living room to the dining room. The French doors separate the rooms and also are the dividing line between original house (circa late 1700's) and the 'newer' section (circa late 1800's). See that white stuff in the ceiling?

And there it is - original hardwood!

It's the original wall - log cabin logs! Crazy. See the vertical lines? Ax marks. Someone that we haven't figured out yet cut trees and assembled this house - and here is the handiwork and proof nearly 200 years later.

So much dirt, dust, and who knows what else flying around during demo work - must breathe clean air!

Dining room floor under all the carpet. 4 Shades. Natural in the middle, covered with burgundy/brown, orange trim, and oh, look. There was hexagon curio in the corner at one point - floor was purple back then.

The second contractor we had out gave us some advice on fixing the sagging ceiling. Our sky really is falling!

The living room ceiling was very low in the middle - about 6' 3-1/4". In the far left, it was 6' 8" diagonally to the right, the height measured 6' 6". The floor in one of the upstairs bedrooms also dipped significantly. The contractor found one of the support beams cracked and recommended a fix to reinforce the ceiling as well as raise it. We are waiting on the estimate for the repair. He also gave us information for a reasonable dumpster service - we are going to need it for all the carpet, drywall and other stuff we are trashing.

Destruction of the ceiling and some of the floor. See the orbs? What do you think - dust or ghosts? More on that later.