Our workday on Saturday focused on demolition of the living room and master bedroom floors, and the stairs.

We had six adults working in the morning; four guys worked through the afternoon. Three girls (two our daughters, one a cousin, ages 8-11) helped all day. They were given the option to quit and go home after lunch, but all chose to keep working! They helped pick up and carry out debris.

Some oddities were hiding under the drywall. Along with some random pieces of siding metal in place of wood on the side of the stairwell, an antique license plate was nailed over a hole:

We found some old scraps of newspaper. This was the most notable.

We also found two missing shoes and over a dozen missing socks…but all were so dirty that they were thrown away before dignifying them with a photograph.

After removing the stairs, the guys took the floor out in sections, finishing up by removing the old, rotten joists.

The next steps are to finish cleaning up the crawlspace, replace some structural beams, and repair the brick foundation.

We got a ton done. The guys worked till they dropped!

It’s exciting to see progress, even if it’s not the prettiest. It gets better from here!