Materials are here and framing is underway. Big things are happening at The Newton Nest…stay tuned!
Things are getting REAL
Excuse me, your studs are showing…
That’s right! Our studs are on full display, so try not to stare.
After our permit was approved, we slapped that baby up in the window and went to town with hammers, crowbars, and a lot of elbow grease. And, thankfully, we had a couple of volunteers, too! Matthew’s sisters, April and Rebecca rolled up their sleeves, donned dust masks and spent the entire day working with us on Saturday. Hours of hammering and one huge dust cloud later, we had exposed the bones of our little Nest!
Here’s a recap of our Demo Day:
Demo time!
Goodbye kitchen cabinets…
The nastiest job of all… old carpet removal.
Then linoleum floor tiles had to be scraped up!
Saving the cabinet hardware before the hammers begin.
Watch out! It’s hammer time.
Making some progress.
Real women swing sledgehammers (while kicking their leg up in an awkward demo dance move).
Taking a break in the bathtub.
Clean up in bedroom three!
Dining room demo. April is meticulous!
Removing ceiling tiles and faux wood paneling in the family room.
Attic gold! Matthew found a beautiful vaulted ceiling after removing the old, yucky acoustic tiles in the family room. Jackpot!
Peek-a-boo!
Cleanup continues.
Bin load #1,978. These ladies were troopers!
Big Red is full again!
Mid-demo Kitchen.
Whoa! No more plaster in the dining room.
Lots of studs showing!
The dust cloud…a.k.a. the reason we wore masks!
The Newtons — happy after a hard day of work!
Demo by the Digits:
- 3 ladies and 1 dude
- 6 hours of hard work
- 2 sledgehammers
- 2 crowbars
- 1 rubber mallet
- 4 sets of gloves
- 8 earplugs
- 4 respirator masks
- Approximately 1 million (we stopped counting) bin loads full of plaster and insulation taken to the dumpster
- 1 giant red dumpster – FULL
- 1 big ol’ cloud of dust
- ZERO injuries!
All in all, it adds up to a greatly productive day.
Houston, our permit is a GO!
Yep! Cue the sledgehammers. The Newtons have permission from the City of Greenville to demo some stuff.
The Great Clean Out
Okay, brace yourselves. You’re about to get the grand tour of the interior of our house…
Not only does our nest need to be updated, but the house was never completely cleaned out before it was abandoned. So we had our work cut out for us to muddle through the clutter and separate anything of value from the trash. Luckily, we had many helpers! Matthew’s Mom, Dad and youngest sister Rebecca, plus my parents, The Harpers, and our good friend RJ showed up to lend a hand with the remaining yard clean up and relocate everything inside the house deemed “throw away” to Big Red, our giant dumpster.
Before we venture inside let’s talk about taming the jungle that’s grown up around the house. Saturday, with the help of our family and friends, we implemented Phase II of the exterior make over. We like to call it a “close shave” of the landscaping…don’t worry, we plan to let a lot of it grow back, but to make room to repair the cedar shakes, we had to really give the chainsaw a work out!
Yard Clean-up:
Pretty big difference, huh?
Are you ready for the inside tour? Here goes:
Okay, so at this point, you’re probably thinking “WHOA—they have lost their cotton-pickin’ minds!” but don’t doubt us yet… it’s really hard to see the forest for the trees with all the “stuff” everywhere. We promise, there’s a really special house under there.
There were even a few “Keepers” found among the mess and we’re excited to eventually incorporate these items into the finished product.
“Keeper” Pile
We are counting our blessings after an extremely productive day and owe a huge thank you to our families and friends who came to get their hands dirty! With all we accomplished and all the hazards involved, we made it through the day with very little excitement…but there were a few little hiccups!
A Newton who shall not be named was enthusiastically sweeping and put the broom handle right through the window!
Gotta watch those broom handles!
Chainsaw Scare! My dad (who is a very experienced chainsaw operator!) accidentally touched the slowing chainsaw blade to his leg and it ripped through his jeans leaving what was basically a deep scratch in his thigh. Amazingly lucky!
Too close for comfort! Yikes!
…and since that made three Hurt Harpers, we had to document!
The Three Hurt Harpers.
Lauren had hand surgery, Richard cut his leg, and Jennifer has a broken wrist! It might be safe to say that the Newtons carried most of the weight this time.
Eggs of Wisdom:
- No matter what you get yourself into, family will jump right in – without question – to help you succeed (and we have two of the very best!).
- Construction Dumpsters are not really as big as they look…we overflowed that bad boy.
- You can never have too many pairs of gloves. (Work gloves, rubber gloves, garden gloves…do I sound like Bubba Gump, yet?)
Two Newtons and a Chainsaw.
Before: Front Yard/Exterior
Okay, so maybe we have a little pent-up excitement? Just as fast as we could get our clothes changed after closing, Matthew and I were in the yard taming the jungle that has grown up around the house in the 4+ years it stood vacant. It’s amazing what you can do in a couple of hours with a chainsaw, weed eater and clippers, but we still have a ways to go.
Gas cans at the ready! We have our work cut out for us.
P.S. I had minor hand surgery on Monday (which made signing the closing papers fun!), so Matthew is pretty much a one-man-band at the moment. Thankfully, I can pick up a few sticks and small branches with “the good hand”. The good news is that we have reinforcements coming to help us this weekend!
Closing Day!
No turning back now, y’all!
Wednesday, September 24th will forever be a day of victory for the Newtons. Seriously, if you’ve ever dealt with a short sale situation, distressed mortgage holding companies, delaying an Order of Demolition, and a complicated family estate, then you understand.
It took so long to get to the closing table and we have so many people to thank, but she’s finally ours…ain’t she a beaut?
The Newton Nest 