Raising the Floor

Yesterday was a killer.

We commenced thee most difficult demolition task thus far.

We didn't expect it to be as difficult as it is.

I say "is", because we only got about half way before stopping for the day just before 5pm.

Hopefully the other half will come off tomorrow, but we've got several other 

big things happening tomorrow as well.

Raising the floor.

Before getting started on the floor, Dean finished exposing the old basement fireplace
that had been covered by a flagstone wall many years ago.

Getting the basement fireplace completely removed this week is high on the priority list, 

because this coming Saturday we are jack-hammering the basement floor. 

We've never done anything like that before, so there's a chance it might actually be 

harder than taking off the main level floor. 

We'll see, won't we?

The main level floor was constructed with 1 x 8 boards that were nailed to the floor joists diagonally with a half inch gap between each board.
On top of that are 1/4 inch 4x8 (ft) sheets of plywood nailed down with

a bazillion nails in each sheet!

Holy Hannah!

Dean speculates that the builder 

a) got a screamin' deal on six-penny nails 

b) really, really, really liked hammering in nails 

or 

c) mistakenly thought the more nails they used the less floor squeaks they'd have.

WRONG.

Anyway,

that configuration is a bugger to pull up. 

Dean tried just prying the sheets up like we did on the roof.

No dice.

When he was actually able to work a pry bar under the edge of one the the sheets of plywood, it would just shred apart  making a mess and leaving the whole thing more difficult to deal with.

So, he came up with a new plan of attack that made it more doable, but it was still 

one tough job.

With his Sawzall he cut around each sheet and through 

the 1x8s underneath, being careful not to cut the joists.

Here's where it gets impressive...

After cutting a section he went back down into the basement and,
 lifting the 6 foot long - 25 pound pry bar,

rammed and rammed and rammed on it until it loosened.
 I'm tellin' ya folks...this man is as strong as on ox.
He really is quite extraordinary and I'm not just saying that because he happens to be
my most favorite person on the planet.
How many 54 year old men do you know that could do this for the
 better part of a hot summer day?
He must have raised that pry bar and rammed it with all his might  against the upper floor
a few hundred times to loosen each section.
Well, I'm impressed, anyway.

Back up top again and with the sections now loosened,
he and Marf  Ry pried the sections up and off the joists.

Look at all those %#&*@! nails.
This section actually had fewer than the majority of the others.

Ry cut the sections into manageable halves...

and Abigail and I hauled them to the dumpsta and shoved them in.
This is our cute Abigail with an armful of boards.
I don't have a photo of she and I carrying one of those 4x8 half sections of floor
because, as I think I've previously mentioned, I'm the only shutterbug around here.
She was such a trooper to stay and work with us as hard as she did
and for as long as she did.
She's a sweetheart.

At the end of the day, this is what we got accomplished.
We'd planned on getting the entire floor off in half a day and then
 moving on to some other important things,
but such is the life of our little demolition crew.