The attic was a half-finished storage dump — old carpet samples, rotting furniture, vintage wallpaper over plaster, and knob-and-tube wiring snaking through the joists. I pulled it all out down to the framing and roof deck. The boys hauled debris while I tore plaster off the ceiling and ripped the old fiberglass and rockwool out so I could see what I was working with before insulating.
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During Opened up a wall section to see what the original framing and sheathing looked like before committing to the gut.
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Before Previous owner had laid down carpet square samples as a finish floor. Charming, but it all came up.
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Before What I inherited: patchwork carpet squares, exposed batt insulation, and a single gable window doing all the ventilating.
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Before Stacks of carpet samples and old Kimsul batts crammed in the eaves. All of it had to come out before I could re-insulate.
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During Put the boys to work hauling out old carpet and debris. Many hands made the cleanout go fast.
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During More cleanout duty — old furniture and dusty air filters that had been sitting up here for decades.
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During Carrying the last of the carpet samples down the stairs. The attic finally started to feel empty.
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During Pulled the old drywall off to expose the rafters and the original fiberglass — most of it sagging and useless.
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During Took the ceiling plaster down and found knob-and-tube wiring running over vintage wallpaper. That all got rewired.
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During Subfloor came up between the joists so I could see the old wiring runs and plan the new electrical.
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During Mid-demo with drywall, lath strips, and debris everywhere. Worst part of any project, but you have to push through.
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During Pulled all the old fiberglass and rockwool out and piled it for haul-off before laying new insulation.
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During Me in a dust mask mid-demo. Plaster, fiberglass, and decades of attic dust — the mask was non-negotiable.
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During My son carrying out a sheet of old pegboard from the basement room I was clearing out at the same time.
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During More pegboard coming down. The basement room got stripped while I had the dumpster on site.
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During Down in the basement corner — exposed framing meeting the concrete foundation. Checked it for rot while I was at it.
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During Demo debris staged inside — lumber, drywall, bagged trash — all queued up for the haul-out.
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During Trash bags and broken-down materials piled up under a work light. End-of-day demo cleanup.
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