Demolition Day - July 5, 2011

When we arrived at the house at about 8:30, there were four trucks and one trailer parked there.  The demolition team of four had already removed the old avocado green shag carpet and were hacking away at the particle board underneath.  Our contractor, Jeff, and his helper, Ben, were also there.  Ben was on the roof installing an exhaust fan and Jeff had removed the second door in the master bath in preparation for replacing it with a wall.  The noise was awful, so we spent most of our time outside pulling weeds. The nicest part of all this is that without the carpet the house smells so much better!

David ran errands while I stayed to meet a couple who were coming to look at our old stove, which we had listed on Craigslist.  It dated back to 1996, but it was in excellent condition.  Unfortunately, it was electric, which I am unable and unwilling to cook on.  The couple, Don and Mary, who appeared to be around 80, arrived in a pickup truck.  They liked the stove and agreed to take it.  I asked them how they planned to move it, assuming they had a couple of strong young guys lined up to help.  But no, they had a dolly and planned to put it in the back of the truck.  So we strapped the stove on the dolly and moved it down the driveway, up the street, and into the parking lot next door.  Once we had it on the dolly it became apparent that both tires of the dolly were flat.  I offered them the use of our dolly, so we transferred the stove to ours.  My next question was how were they planning to get it on the truck.  Don had two 2x4s, which he positioned on the back of the truck.  They were not quite as wide as the tires on the dolly!  We lined up the stove with the boards and started up, with Don pulling and Mary and I pushing.  It immediately became apparent to me that this was the makings of a major disaster.  The stove was unstable on the dolly, never mind on the boards.  Just then I noticed that Jeff had returned, so I asked him if he could possibly lend a hand.  He got Ben and the two of them lifted the stove (as if it weighed nothing) up onto the truck.  I took my dolly and wished Don and Mary good luck getting the stove off at their end.  When David returned he enjoyed the story and was sorry he missed seeing the whole fiasco.  I've decided that when we sell the refrigerator, which we will do as soon as our new one arrives, I will make sure ahead of time that the buyer is prepared to move it without our help.

This photo shows where the refrigerator and stove will be and the new microwave shelf that Jeff built for us.  It had been a cabinet with two doors.