Extra! Extra!

Today has been a very fruitful demolition day!  You might think that demolition usually results in things going away…well, today demolition both removed things from my life and added things to my life.

From a removal standpoint, with a little help from my trusty new reciprocating saw, I was able to rip down that old deck/ceiling.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

As you can see, quite a bit was removed from the ceiling.  What you can’t see, is everything that was added to my life during the demolition.

First, you might be wondering why the picture above says the ceiling was covered for 40 years.  I mean, the ceiling doesn’t actually speak to me, so how did I come up with that arbitrary length of time?  Well, it’s not just my house-whispering ways…it’s in the news!

           

These useful and informative newspaper clippings were inside the ceiling when it came crashing down.  You might be thinking “wow!  what a lucrative find!”  Yes it was, but that’s not all I found.

You see, much like other large cities, San Francisco has its share of wildlife.  We have the bison in Golden Gate Park, the hawks soaring the sky, and the critters scampering playfully in the streets.  Well, sometimes those critters scamper playfully in the house.  I’ve been lucky in my time here that I’ve only found one mouse and that was after my cat joined it for a little roughhousing.  Apparently, the previous owners of our home had a bit of a larger critter problem.

I’m happy to introduce you to Ricky, Mickey’s cousin from Nor Cal.

Ricky Rat was nice enough to propel his mummified remains into the air, at an unusually high rate of speed given his current limited mobility, soaring proudly at me in quite a lifelike manner, as the ceiling came down during demolition.  Let’s just say that his zombie acrobatics have earned him a special place as a part of this project.  Therefore, he is officially the project mascot!

Welcome Ricky Rat to the “My First Renovation” extravaganza!