The Demo is complete

The demo is complete, almost- and it was a long day! Alaric was so ready to help with his Bob the Builder Hat, gloves, hammer, and stud finder.

By 9AM when our helpers were to arrive, Brian's dad Bob and Bri had gotten down much of the horrible dropped ceiling. Our next door neighbors, Staci, Sierra, and Katlyn arrive and saved the day!
The panelling came down fast and the demo team worked hard. Brian's mom, Chris, was on baby/kid duty which was not easy since Amara couldn't sleep with the pounding the basement was too messy for Alaric to help.
Once we got the walls opened up, our mission was confirmed and we felt so good about doing the demo...there was mold under the flooring, on the furring strips, in the drywall, and even on the cinder block walls.
The toughest part of the day proved to be the removal of the tile that had been under to carpet for year. By this time however, Katie's mom, Ann, and our dear friends, The Eckhardts, had arrived to help. Everyone grabbed a crow bar and just started working.

THANK GOD FOR KATLYN AND SIERRA SMITH!!! The kept all the kids busy and gave Chris a break. When the Eckhardts arrived, they had another toddler and another baby to deal with. The babies went for a walk in the stroller, played outside, and were rocked and jiggled while the boys played baseball and football and construction worker.
Matt, D, and Brian make a final push to get the floor done.
Katie and Brian pose on top of their dumpster
The demo is complete. Living room area.

Guest room...there is a bathroom off the guest room that will need to be demo-ed however it's a working bathroom so Brian will demo it by himself the day before the waterproofing system is installed.

What a day! We got everything done before noon and we were able to enjoy BBQ Brisket provided by our neighbors and relax knowing we didn't have to go back into the basement to work.

Thanks to Bob and Chris to came in for the weekend to celebrate Bob's Birthday on Saturday but also ended up babysitting and allowing Katie and Bri to go to the Illini Game. They worked SOOO hard to get our basement in shape.

Thanks to Heidi and Matt Eckhardt who came from church and jumped into the fury to help us get the job done. They win the coolest friend award this week!

Thanks to Katie's mom, Ann, for getting on the floor and scraping up that floor and being determined to get every last tile!

Thanks to our amazing neighbors who take the cake- The Smiths! Staci worked her butt off and proved that any woman can kick some butt doing construction and even has a lacarated eye to prove it! To D who came from church and never stopped till the job was done and to Sierra and Katlyn who did whatever was asked of them and worked so hard for nothing in return.

Now we live with our basement in shambles for a few weeks until the waterproofing system is installed and then the fun begins!