demolition day!!!

DEMOLITION
DAY!!!!

This day was Kar's favorite day i believe. I guess it had to do with tearing down a wall and not getting in trouble for it! It was amazing to me how fast a wall can come down. My first advise... MAKE SURE ITS WHAT YOU WANT!!!

TOOLs and MATERIALs

MATERIALs
-Plastic Sheeting
-Masking Tape
-Dust Mask

TOOLs
-Claw Hammer
-3 LB. sledgehammer
-Crow Bar
-Reciprocating Saw
-Nail Puller
-Dust Pan and Broom
-Vaccum
-Screw Gun
-Chisel
-Utility Knife
-Safety Goggles
-Work Gloves

STEPS (to tear down a wall)
1. Before you start, you need to determine if the wall is a load-bearing wall or not. If it is a bearing wall, you need to make up for its supporting function.

2. Make sure you cover up or remove all the furniture in the rooms before you start. Cover the doors with plastic so the dust can be contained into the one room. Also open up a window if possible. This will help alot with the dust (and your wife will appreciate it when it comes time to clean up).

3. When you demolish a wall, it is almost like reversing the construction process! We removed the trim first which is usually followed by the dry wall or plaster. In our case it was plaster! To remove the molding and trim, we pried them off the wall. Be careful and do it gently. Remove the plumbing and electrical lines followed by the studs. To finish off remove the top and bottom plate. The reciprocating saw will help you cut through any metal.

4. Remove the nails from the molding and trim. You can use a nail puller for this. We also used the back of a hammer. Be careful with this, rusty old nails scare me!

5. If you have any fixtures on the wall, you want to first turn off the power. Unscrew the nuts or screws and disconnect the attached wires. Make sure you put electrical tape or wire nuts over the bare ends before turning the power back on. If there is electrical lines or boxes in the wall, make sure you turn the power off before its removed. Than remove the electrical boxes and remove and conduit to a point where it is no longer in the wall. After, reinstall the boxes so they are out of the way of the wall and reroute their electrical lines to them. Make sure you put wire nuts over the ends of the conductiors (wires) and a cover over the boxes.

6. Before you remove any plaster, cut along the corners of the wall so the plaster from the other walls and ceilings wont be pulled off with the plaster you are about to remove. If your walls are covered with lathe and plaster, (which ours were... love old houses!) first knock the plaster off the lathe with a small sledgehammer. Make sure you knock the wall only hard enough to break the plaster. After the plaster is removed, take the claw hammer or crowbar and pull the lathe off. If you have standard drywall, make a hole in the wall and from there use the crowbar to pull the drywall off.

7. To remove the studs, knock out any blockings and cut along the joing between the stud and the plate. You can do this by using the reciprocating saw. You can also knock the studs loose by hitting them at the base parallel to the wall and pulling them off the nails on the top plate.

and last but not least....

8. Pry the bottom and top plate up by using the crow bar. To make sure you don't damage the floor, you can use a piece of scarp wood to slip under the bar. TADA... you no longer have a wall!