With our demolition permit hanging in the window, we were ready to start the dirtiest, but arguably most gratifying phase of the project: Demolition.  With a crew of four, we predicted demolition to be complete within ten days.  Ambitious? Slightly, but that was our plan.

On day one, before the first dumpster rolled in, we knocked the majority of the lathe and plaster off the walls and ceilings in two of the front rooms on the first floor.  For those unfamiliar with lathe and plaster walls, they consist of thin strips of wood (nailed to framing on walls and ceilings), coated with a finishing layer of plaster.  In this country, lathe and plaster was used on interior walls and ceilings until the late 1950’s, when drywall began to replace it.  Removing lathe and plaster is a dirty, dusty, and laborious chore, where breathing and eye protection are mandatory.  

By the middle of day four, we had removed the lathe and plaster from all the walls and ceilings on both floors, filling four industrial-sized dumpsters.  Four Brothers uses Environmental Alternatives, Inc. (EAI) for all waste disposal needs.  EAI recycles all demolition debris in accordance with the goals set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Rating System.  (To learn more about EAI visit: http://www.eairolloff.com/index.html.)

Next to go were the remaining appliances and accessories from the kitchens and bathrooms, followed closely by the old plumbing pipes, electrical wiring and interior framing throughout the house.  The obsolete furnaces, boilers, and water heaters landed in the dumpster next; all of which was light work compared to the lathe and plaster.

The respite was short lived however, since we moved next to the thickset bathroom floors and brick chimneys.  As anyone who has remodeled a kitchen or bathroom in an older home is probably aware, thickset mortar was once used when laying tile.  A thick (4-8 inch) bed of mortar was poured between floor joists or on some kind of subfloor, in which the ceramic tile was set.  There is no pretty way to remove a thickset floor – after wielding a jackhammer and chipping bar for a day, one gains a new appreciation for the thin-set mortar which is now used.  Similarly, elbow grease, cushioned gloves and a sledge hammer are the standard prescription for dismantling a chimney.

Once the heavy lifting was done, we removed the remaining subfloor on the bottom floor (upstairs heart-pine floor is staying to be re-finished), after which we cut out the rotten and termite infested floor joists. 

And then we were finished.  After nine long days, nine full dumpsters, 18 coolers of water, and 10 bags of ice, demolition was done and our crew was exhausted. 

The First Dumpster Arrives	Lathe & Plaster is Removed from Interior Walls
More Lathe & Plaster	Bottom Floor Cleared of all Interior Walls
Top Floor Cleared of all Interior Walls	Subfloor is Removed Exposing Rotten Floor Joists
Rotten Floor Joists are Removed	Materials Separated for Recycling
Old Framing Timbers Saved for Reuse