Demo Days

After checking with the Deer Park permitting office, they confirmed that I do not need a permit to demo the house I bought. I am a full week into the demolition of the BRRRR house and I am progressing faster than I thought. The first few days I only worked a few hours because of things I had scheduled outside of working on the house. By the end of the week, I was in the zone and was on a mission to complete the demo portion in two weeks or less. By Friday, I was working on the house for a full work day and have out about 75% demo'ed. All I have left are the floors and the ceilings. I have learned quite a bit this week about house demolition and I thought I'd share a few things with those of you that are thinking of doing your own rehab.

You are going to rip clothing.
Protective clothing is a must. Long sleeve shirts and heavy pants protect you from scratches. But even with the protection, you will rip clothing. Once the drywall comes down, there are nails sticking out from every stud. And no matter how careful you are, you will snag a piece of clothing on a nail. I have gone through 2 shirts and a pair of work pants. So wear something you don't mind ruining.

After wearing a dust mask for a few hours, your face will smell like feet.
Wearing protective gear is a must. I have been wearing gloves, a dust mask, safety glasses, and steel toed boots. Drywall is dusty. Bathroom and kitchen have mold behind walls. Things fly in the air when you're tearing into walls and knocking down tile. Protect yourself.

Stepping on nails stops hurting after about the 5th one.
I just happened to have a doctor's appointment after the first day of demo. That day, I stepped on 3 nails. So since I was already at the doctor's, I decided to have a Tetanus shot. Have one before you rehab a house. You will get scratched or punctured at some point and probably earlier than later.

I hope insects don't freak you out.
Things live behind walls. There's almost zero chance that something won't be living behind that wall you're about to tear down. I think the record is 18 roaches in one wall. They were all huddled in a corner and just sat there the whole day. They were gone the next day, but if bugs freak you out, maybe hire someone to do the demo.

Old houses have problems.
The house I am renovating was built in 1955. I'm sure it's been owned by more than one person and I'm sure that everyone at some time had decided to make some changes. I have found windows drywalled over. Electrical lines just spliced into. Walls built in random places. Vents that go to nowhere. The list goes on and on. The first day I started feeling overwhelmed with the issues I was finding. Walls with rotted studs and old termite damage, but the more I dug into the house and the more I found, the less I found it overwhelming. The house is old. There will be problems. Things will be done correctly by me and it gives me the opportunity to make the house safe, nice and my own.

This is my Fubar, there are many like it but this is my own.
I have only used three things to do the whole demo. A Fubar, a shovel and a ladder. The Fubar is probably the best 25 dollars I have spent. You can hammer with it, pry, pull nails, and pretty much destroy anything you need to with it. The shovel is handy for clean up and the ladder is for anything above 6 feet. These 3 tools and some music and you should be good to go.