Summer Projects: Major DIY Demolition around Our House & a Little Remodeling Fun

Okay, friends… Sometimes there is a penalty assessed if you feed wild animals, like birds and squirrels in your backyard… That isn’t only who you feed… Sometimes it is rats, mice, possums and other friendly creatures. Well, when we moved into our Texas home, rats and mice had already been living there up in our attic. Now, it is time to evict them…

A man smiling in a black t-shirt and a cap with the word 'Vikings' in a wooded area with a dirt path.

Here is the hero of this story: “Mr. Ethereal,” my sweet husband Charles. He suffers through long walks with me once in a while, bless his heart!, after being on his feet all day at work as a warehouse manager (at various jobs over the years). He is one heck of a handyman and after almost 40 years of marriage, we are TEAM, Baby! He does the heavy lifting and I do clean up.

Did I ever tell you that I worked construction clean up the summer I was 17? I had two friends and the one’s father built houses for a living, so he hired us all for the summer. My main tool was a razor blade and I would scrape oversprayed paint off windows and bathtubs, clean windows and such before the house went up for sale. I did do some light building and cut some wood on a tablesaw but mostly I was scraping and cleaning.

Funny, I rarely think of that job but it was fun! I can now hammer or use an electric screwdriver with either hand, which is a really useful skill, especially as we work on these soffits around the house. 🙂

View of an attic with exposed wooden beams, pink fiberglass insulation scattered on the floor, and a large metal duct located on the right. — This is a space near our bedroom, I think.

Seriously though, Hubby is tackling his biggest project to date as a carpenter, demolition man, and jack-of-all-trades: the HELL that is our attic with a *&%#-ton of rodent poop up in our 2100 sq. ft. attic space…

All that fluffy, blown-in insulation? Trails of rats and mice tunnels and poo…

Interior view of a wooden shed with exposed walls, featuring a window with wooden framing and wire mesh, along with a hammer resting against the wall.

Blue duct fan mounted in an attic, with insulation and ductwork visible in the background.

A person working in an attic, holding a piece of plywood while looking towards an opening, with wooden framing and tools visible in the background. — Here Charles is starting to build a platform for the Quiet Cool fan to sit on.

Mr. Ethereal began this clean up in early June, taking a quick break during Weekend #2 as the summer started heating up by adding a Quiet Cool fan to the attic. It is positioned facing out through the front yard vent. It looks great now and really helps pull air up and through the house.

He also installed a new electric roof fan on the roof to replace the one which died. It had had no help moving air as there were no other fans installed in the attic by the just-previous owner (after high winds tore off the roof). The vents were installed but the extra fans to sit under them never were… We found all this mess out after we moved in.

Word to the wise: ALWAYS INSPECT YOUR ATTIC YOURSELF before you buy a house. Don’t listen to the “inspector” who may not give you the full picture. The major poopy problem was already there and we would not have bought this mess, or would have asked for $15,000 off the price of the house so we didn’t have to now clean it up and fix all the entry points ourselves…

Interior view of an attic showing wooden beams, insulation materials, and ductwork.

The previous owner was trying to fix some of the issues and had a number of rolls of insulation brought in, but those crafty critters were too much… They also laid all of this silver foil over the insulation where instead it is supposed to go up on the rafters. Charles has been studying better insulation techniques for years. Everything you can dream of to watchi is on YouTube, so he is watching how to install it correctly up on the rafters. Me? I think it’s a gimmick but if he’s happy, I’m happy. 🙂

Another thought, they may have laid the silver foil down trying to keep the critters from burrowing underneath, too, but they just chew through it…

view of an attic space featuring wooden beams, silver ductwork, and rolled insulation labeled 'R-30 Unfaced EcoTouch'.

Hanging air conditioning ductwork

Mr. Ethereal has also lifted and strapped most of the ductwork for our a/c system to the rafters. Getting around up in the attic before was really difficult with all of the ductwork on the floor, so this really helps with the clean up and future walking around needs.

Close-up view of a duct wrapped in insulation material, surrounded by pink fiberglass insulation and wooden framing, with visible electrical wires.

After two months of cleaning every weekend, most of the insulation is up and then both of us (ewwwwww!) will be going up and cleaning off wires and surfaces with bleach spray and water.

An attic space with insulation rolls labeled R-30 and tangled electrical wires along wooden beams.

I can’t wait… (Oh, yes I can!)

Mr. Ethereal has been moving old plywood boards around to safely walk around up there. He had one mishap early-on: He stepped onto a board but hit the end and his foot slipped off. He put his foot through the living room ceiling right by a cam light.

Thankfully, he did not fall through! The ceiling can be repaired. 🙂

A scrap yard scene featuring machinery, including a green crane and a yellow machine, surrounded by various vehicles and piles of metal debris under a cloudy sky.

Recycling & going to the local landfill

I have loved recycling and going on trips to the landfill since I was a teenager! It was a treat on a Saturday morning if I was the one who got to spend the morning with my Dad loading trash barrels and bags into our old GMC van and me getting to be the driver taking it to the dump.

We often saw nice furniture left out for people to take back home. That was a thing back then. I saw that, too, when my sister-in-love and I went to the local landfill near Sawtry, England, when they were living there. She bought a small cabinet while we were dumping off boxes or something. We then came home and cleaned it up.

You can’t do that now for safety and health reasons, but this was the 1970’s, and 2005 (England). 🙂

A pile of tangled fibers on the ground next to a red dumpster in a clearing surrounded by trees and structures.

After about a month, and only one full bag of yucky insulation getting thrown out with the trash per week, I said to Charles one day that I could just take the truck to the dump. Each trip has cost $26.50 to dump, which is the minimum charge here in Denton County, Texas.

A pickup truck bed filled with black garbage bags and various pieces of wood and metal debris, parked in an outdoor setting with trees in the background. — Load #3, I think

Anyone can dump household trash except things like batteries, oil and household appliances at the landfill. The other things, of course, go to a separate area and are recycled. I did take the cut up pieces of the broken table above to the recycle plant. 🙂

A backyard area featuring a wooden fence, a small shed, and empty space with scattered leaves and dirt. A set of chairs is leaned against the wall and a storage box is visible in the corner.

Taking all those old fence boards away have really cleaned up the backyard. This box would soon go, too, along with that rodent pee-covered hose…

Charles wanted to keep it, “It’s a good hose.” And I see his point; however…

“Buy another one,” was my response.

The man is a hoarder… (roll eyes, lol!)

View of a landfill with piles of waste and debris under a partly cloudy sky, taken from the side of a vehicle.

After my first trip to the landfill, going was easy and by then I knew what to do:

Drive up to the weigh station, give the attendant your ID, and they weigh your vehicle
Continue driving to the dump area and wait in line
There is a line for the local trash trucks and 18-wheelers who are dumping and a second line for pickups and trucks pulling trailers ~ move to the correct line. 😉
Wait as earthmover trucks move trash around until a waste management attendant tells you where to back into and next to someone’s passenger door.
Back in and start tossing!

It’s almost like a ballet as the drivers using these earthmoving vehicles around! I sent a couple of videos to my son for our grandson to watch, thinking he’d enjoy seeing these big machines at work.

View from a window showing two birds outside on a sunny day, with trees and a street in the background.

Moving onto painting

It has been around 100 degrees most of the month of July, with the exception of a hurricane somewhere out in the Atlantic or the Gulf which brought a few light rain showers and high-80’s on one or two days. Wish those temps would come back!

A silhouette of a squirrel sitting on a birdbath with a grassy background, seen through a window. — Mr. Squirrel getting a drink (and NOT chewing on the siding trying to find some moisture and relief from the heat). A good reason to keep filling the birdbaths.

I’ve been filling the two birdbaths twice a day with fresh water for the birds, squirrels and other wildlife to drink.

A selection of long wooden planks laid across a gravel surface, with a sprayer and hose nearby. There are potted plants in the background and part of a patio visible.

A green hydrangea plant in a pot, surrounded by other plants and gardening tools, with a stone path in the foreground.

A backyard scene featuring a potted plant, a garden hose coiled on the ground, and a patio area with a wicker chair and scattered plants.

We already had some leftover Hardie boards from when we rebuilt the back patio soffit, so those had to be scrubbed for pee and droppings and just general dirt. Doesn’t help that I water the two ferns hanging up above and the dirt falls through onto the boards.

Thankfully, you can’t really cause rot on cement board! No permanent damage done. 😀

Happy accident

A little damage did happen when I was trying to lay this long board down on the ground. It is heavy and unwieldly; It crashed onto this hydrangea plant.

A wooden serving cart featuring a silver tray, decorative plants in a jar and vase, and various metallic dishes on the lower shelf, set in a kitchen environment.

A decorative tray featuring dried hydrangea flowers in various containers, including a glass jar with a wire mesh cover and a white pitcher, set on a kitchen countertop.

Thankfully, it is mostly okay and I cut off the broken stems to dry in our kitchen. Now the new growth underneath will get more sunlight, so it will soon regrow. 🙂 A happy accident as I have beautiful blooms in the kitchen to cheer our home!

A light and airy dining room featuring a wooden table surrounded by white, intricately designed chairs with floral cushions. A chandelier hangs overhead, and there are window treatments allowing natural light to flow in. The room is adorned with a patterned area rug and a white side cabinet displaying decorative items.

Summer sales and a small flood

I am including this photograph because I after thoughtful consideration, I still love travertine marble flooring. Mr. Ethereal and our daughter Amy laid this flooring in our former Big Home in California. It was sooo lovely and really dressed up the front entryway and living/dining areas of that home.

After a small flood during the last big rainstorm (mid-June), I started looking at new flooring. Driving over to the big box stores, I checked out their tile possibilities, but I also went to A-1 Flooring down in Lewisville.

Exterior view of a commercial building with a prominent billboard that states 'Life Jackets Worn... Nobody Mourns.' A fenced area in front includes some equipment and signage for a granite and flooring business.

They have a lot more tile styles and stone available that the big box stores just don’t carry.

A large collection of stone slabs, including granite and marble, stacked along a parking lot next to a green fence, under clear blue skies.

Stacked slabs of various types of stone and marble leaning against one another in a yard.

Look at these incredible leftover and reclaimed pieces of granite and marble!!! I wish we were remodeling our bathroom now…

New gas cooktop coming

A cozy kitchen featuring dark wooden cabinets, a silver refrigerator covered with magnets, and a granite countertop with a stove. Potted plants are displayed on the windowsill, bringing a touch of nature indoors. — This is the electric cooktop currently in place. We will be without a cooktop for almost a month before the granite is cut slightly bigger on both sides to accomodate the new 36″ width.

During the 4th of July weekend sales, Mr. Ethereal mentioned that Lowe’s had a gas cooktop on sale for $799.00, so we went and looked at it. They also had other gas cooktops but Lowe’s had no downdraft ranges or cooktops from which to choose.

A modern stainless steel kitchen range hood mounted on a wooden wall, with two additional range hoods above it, showcasing a sleek design.

We thought about adding a vent above the cooktop area, but it was going to look strange with the window behind it, plus most of the above-range vents are wall mounted, which we can’t do here.

So we drove to Nebraska Furniture Mart to check out what they had in the way of cooktops…

A modern gas cooktop with six burners, featuring black grates and stainless steel knobs, set on a countertop with wooden cabinetry.

This Jenn-Air 36″ five-burner gas cooktop doesn’t show well in this photograph, but I cannot tell you how happy I am that this will be installed in August! The downdraft is the dark area just under the grates slightly off-center.

We already had Denton Electric come out and change the wiring from 220 to 110 so this cooktop can be installed.

The NFM installers came out a week ago and took measurements and made sure they could cut the granite just prior to the electric company’s visits, so that is all done.

And this week, Force Home Services came out to test the gas line (under a plumbing permit) which they didn’t have a record of doing back when we first moved in, but now we will be able to call for an inspection and hopefully all will pass. (It did!)

I linked all of these companies in case you are local and need a good A/C or plumbing company, or an electrician, or would like to check out what NFM has available on their website.

A flatbed truck parked on a residential street, with a worker unloading materials under a clear blue sky and surrounded by green trees.

Delivery!

And before we sign off for today, one of Lowe’s delivery drivers came out and brought us more Hardie board vented soffit, 5.5″ boards and 3.5″ (call 4/4) boards which we ordered over the weekend, so we can finish re-skirting the soffits around the house at our leisure.

(No leisure about this, lol!)

A metal ladder leaning against a brick wall near a roof, with a scaffolding setup and a green umbrella providing shade.

And we picked up scaffolding for a month, too… It has been a very busy few weeks around our home! Thanks for hanging in there through this process. I’ll share more of demolition and rebuilding out the soffits as we go along, but this post is getting really long and I don’t want to wear you out! 😉

Happy hugs, y’all,