inspector thom

We are still in major demo mode. It has been so interesting to learn about the construction and history of a house by taking it apart. We are now down to the first panelling layer and it is amazing to stand in the house and wonder what the lives of the people were like at that time!

Every time I go to the house, Thomas has a new hypothesis. He keeps piecing things together based on what he knows from our house, Hobbs house and local sources. It is really fun to imagine how many phases the house has been through and all the additions as it was modernized.

I actually think it would make a fascinating tv show. Thomas could be the host and travel around dissecting houses to learn their stories.

This would be Thomas' press photo for his show. That is, if he doesn't get picked to be the next Chanel No. 5 model first.

I'm not exactly sure what my role can be in the show. Although it would certainly involve lugging a large baby around.

This weekend Thomas worked by himself to clear out the bathroom and the front bedroom. It's a good thing we decided to just get rid of everything. He found a mouse nest underneath the bathtub and black mold growing on the sheet rock near the chimney.

There is so much debris! We just got our third dumpster delivered.

This is the front bedroom without the built in closet and sheet rock. Thomas thinks this is the original interior panelling.

And the bathroom without all of the fixtures.

Thomas also made good progress on the back bedroom. This was the built in shelving over the bed. It was difficult to get out due to the ridiculous number of nails holding it together.

Thomas said that 4 nails would have kept this board in place because gravity was holding it down anyway. It really is uncalled for. Unless Hobbs knew something about Pineville that we don't know.

So at our current stage, here are a few interesting notes.

This is the front bedroom with some of the original panelling. It obviously goes behind most of the interior dividing walls. Because of this and the way the roof pitches are built, Thomas thinks that the original house could have been much smaller and just a box. 

In our house there was obviously a chimney where the bathroom now is. This could have been the center of the house at one point. We will never really know, but Thomas keeps gathering clues :)

This is also the front bedroom. The original window was probably much bigger since a different panelling has been patched in around the current window.

This is from the bathroom looking into the back bedroom. The panelling clearly goes behind these walls and was there long before the bathroom was built. Thomas thinks that plumbing was added sometime around the 1940's.

The back bedroom with more of the same panelling and patches.

This is also the back bedroom. At one time there was a window when this was the back wall.

This is another chimney that was in the corner of the back bedroom near the closet. There is a similar one in our house. Thomas believes this chimney is not the original as it has no opening into the house. It was added to vent the furnace when it was installed after the house got electricity.

This is looking from the hallway into the main room and kitchen. Where the hole is in the floor was once the fake fireplace in Hobbs house. However, Thomas wonders if there wasn't once another real chimney here for cooking and heating. Underneath the house was a stack of old bricks and the floor system was modified for it.

These two photos are looking back towards the hallway and bedrooms from the main room.

We still haven't found treasure, but the search for clues in the story of the house goes on. And maybe one day you will learn more on the "Inspector Thom and the History of a House" show.