More Demo And Finally Some Building

At the end of February, we gained control of the whole house. Out came the sledge hammer and the partition between the front entry and the stairs was torn out. Also taken out was the cheesy brass fireplace cover. Below are a couple of pictures of the before and after of that demolition.

This is the doorway that was removed.

Here is a view looking in the same general direction with the wall gone.

The full hallway from the other direction.

Here is the revealed fireplace.

This is a closeup of the cast firebox insert.

The beginning of March was very busy and I also lost a week to the flu. So, after nearly a month with almost no progress (the lifting of the sagging beam and resupporting was completed and a lot of boxes were moved), the removal of the bathroom in the living room and the partition between the living and dining rooms was the main order of business. After the effort of demo, we went to Lowe's and bought $650 worth of light fixtures. I put up three of those and started the project of running the wires, support and such for a new fixture in the front hall. I expect to have that one up in a few days. Below are some pictures of the demo and the new fixtures.

This is the bathroom, kitchenette and partition that was removed.

Here is a look in from the hallway at the destruction.

This is looking into the dining room from the living room through the reopened doorway. The fixture is new, although the rest of the drop ceiling still needs to be taken down. This fixture replaced a broken 'brass-look' chandelier. Julie picked it out and wants to change the glass shades to something smaller and colorless.

This is the new fixture in the living room. It replaces a single bulb ceiling fan that weighed a ton. So in this room we went from 60 watts to 360 watts. It is a major improvement.

This is the new fixture in the upstairs hall. It replaces a single 60 watt brass lantern fixture. The hallway is now well lit with 540 watts.

For all the fixtures we chose 'natural light' or full spectrum bulbs. They cost a little more than twice as much as the conventional bulbs, but the quality of the light is so much better. When we get the walls painted, the colors should look the same in the daytime as in the night.

The fixture that will go inside the front entry is a six light fixture and will turn that currently unlighted space into an inviting entry.