I took the main floor down to studs to get rid of the chopped-up cottage layout. Old beadboard wainscoting, painted-over plaster, undersized closets — all of it had to go before I could open the wall between the kitchen and the living room. Bagged the debris myself and hauled it out so the framing inspection could happen on a clean slate.
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Before Before shot — beadboard wainscoting and painted plaster. The whole main floor needed to come apart.
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Before Same room from another angle. Cute on paper, but the layout cut the cottage into tiny boxes.
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Before Water-damaged plaster around a window casing. Once I started pulling trim, the rot story got worse.
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During Drywall coming down. Once I got the ceiling open I could see what I was dealing with up there.
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During Stripped a built-in closet of doors and trim so I could decide whether it stayed or got framed out.
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During Hallway down to studs. Easier to plan electrical and insulation runs once everything's open.
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During Looking through to the stone fireplace from the gutted hallway. First time I could see the floor plan honestly.
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During Wall between kitchen and living area opened up. The lake view from the back wall finally made it through.
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During Lower drywall off so I could chase outlets and figure out what was code-legal versus old-house improvised.
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During Stack of broken sheets piling up. Demo always looks like a disaster before it looks like progress.
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During Pantry stripped down. I wanted to keep the footprint but redo the shelving and door.
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During Looking through the new opening into the living room. This is the view I was after from day one.
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During Permits in the window. NJ construction and septic both posted before I picked up a hammer.
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During More demo, more debris. I bagged it as I went so the floor stayed walkable.
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During Wall between kitchen and living room down to studs. Old wiring and insulation all coming out.
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During Contractor bags ready for the dumpster. I lost count somewhere around forty.
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During Old electrical box buried in the wall on knob-and-tube-era wiring. All of it got rerun.
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During Wall open showing original Johns Manville and the plank subfloor underneath. Insulation got upgraded everywhere I opened up.
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During Vapor barrier and insulation exposed. I wanted to see what was working before I closed it back up.
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During Closet wall opened to the hallway so I could rework the layout and rerun the outlet.
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During Lath and nails everywhere. Old plaster demo is the worst kind — slow, dusty, full of surprises.
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During Backside of original drywall coming off. From here I could plan where to land the new framing.
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