from the ground up

Even though Thomas, Walker, and Brite worked hard all day today, it pretty much looks the exact same at Hobbs except for a giant pile of debris near the crawl space door.

Thomas wanted to get the crawl space cleared out before moving on to other structural improvements. All of the plumbing and air ducts were under the house, as well as an entire HVAC unit. We will eventually re-plumb the house, so more space to work will be important. And we will re-install air venting in the ceiling, so it is no longer necessary underneath.

To start, they cleared out the old HVAC unit, which left a big hole in the hallway inside about 3'x4'.

They drug out all of the old air ducts.

And then it was time to clear out other debris. Underneath the house the dirt is very clumpy and rocky. There were tons of old bricks and some old cement. In several parts of the house the dirt touched the support beams under the floor. (There were also bones from several dead cats, but that's all I have to say about that). In order to have space for new pipes, all of this junk needed to come out. Thomas also wants to insulate the floor and lay down a plastic vapor barrier, which requires a more even surface as well.

So these boys invented a system. They used the bucket of a wheelbarrow with a rope tied to it to load and drag the debris. I thought they looked like they were trying to dig out of prison :)

Meanwhile, above ground, my dad was visiting and helped pull nails out of air vents and lots of baseboards.

My sweet babe spent the day recovering from an ear infection, fever, and upset stomach. His Granna came to play with him and cheer him up. It was nice to have a visit from Granddaddy White as well. His career in architecture and his eye for the aesthetics of buildings always prove helpful.

Progress at this stage seems much slower. We have to keep chipping away at these tasks before it's time for the big demo of the front porch and back room in a few weeks!