Home Renovation Part One: DEMOLITION

Exciting news in the lives of Steve and Abbey: we bought a house!!!! Yes, we will soon be moving to our new little home on the corner of Rokeby and Hazel in Chesapeake, VA. The Lord has been so good to provide such a great opportunity. We are very excited about this adventure. Leslie Crosby helped us start looking a little over a month ago and has been SUCH a huge help and blessing to us...couldn't have done it without her! We love the house we got...but there are a few little things that need to be done to it before we can move in...you know...minor things like rip down all existing dry wall, rewire all electric in the house, put in all new plumbing, insulation, new dry wall, lighting, cabinets and countertops, flooring, appliances...nothing that can't be done in a couple of months Lord willing.

No seriously, as adorable as this house is on the outside, it is pretty much gutted inside...nothing in it but the walls and they tore those down yesterday. It's pretty much down to the studs with mountains of debris covering the floors. The previous owner bought the house to renovate, but ended up needing to sell it before it was finished. He had already put up new siding, a new roof, new windows and a new heating/cooling system...so all that is left is the inside. We were able to get the house for a great price and, thanks to the assistance of Wayne and Les, will be able to finish all the renovations before we move in. So Steve, Brian, my dad, Brock, Jonathan Aumen, and Jeff Bradford worked on demolition most of yesterday morning and afternoon (Thank you guys!!!). We took pictures of the process for your enjoyment...but I'll warn you, these aren't for the faint of heart.

Here's a little video tour with Steve

Thanks for staying all day to help Dad! You're the best!

Steve, with the help and expertise of Brian (his brother) and many others I'm sure, will be working on the house over the next 2-3 months. We are sooo excited about this house. The sweet thing about it is that it will practically be a brand new house when it's all done...and we get to pick everything out just the way we want it. But there are a couple of unique things that give it that old house charm...like a tall brick chimney in the kitchen. It used to be attached to a furnace under the house, but now it's not really serving any purpose. But we love the look of it so we're going to leave it there. Also there are old hardwood floors in the living room and bedrooms that we are going to restore. They are one of my favorite parts of the house.

This house is such a blessing from the Lord and we are so thankful for it. I will be posting pictures of the renovation process as we go...should be an adventure!!