I just closed the other day on the new South Philly house. It’s got a lot of potential, but it’s a real fixer-upper for sure. Eoin, Peter, and I worked on the demolition for the past few days and got most of the awful kitchen ripped out; that includes hacking through two layers of wood paneling and one odd layer of drop ceiling tiles as insulation, destroying a bunch of crappy cabinets, and removing the filthy old range. I got to rip up carpet upstairs on my own while the guys worked on chipping away the kitchen floor tiles. We had to take Eoin to the ER today; he cut himself quite badly on a sharp tile! One more thing, I read a great tip for peeling up impossible-to-remove vinyl tiles: use a hair dryer to heat up the adhesive while peeling with a chiseling tool. Works like a dream! (Pics to come…)
I just recently saw that your site has a blog and have been enjoying learning all about your life since March 2006. It looks like you have a lot of work cut out for you in the new house, but I’m sure it is going to turn out great. Good luck! David and Joshua send their love as well… Anna