Demolition Derby!!!

Last night I tackled a new level of DIY. I tore down a wall!

After the basement flooded, we had a few contractors come by to give us options. They all started with taking down the wall of my storage unit where the water was coming in so the damage could be properly assessed. My neighbor and I decided it would be cathartic to tear down the drywall ourselves - and it saved us $300 in the process. So with the help of some Youtube videos and tools from my handy friend, we single ladies took down that wall all by ourselves!

I was really looking forward to walking into Home Depot like a badass and buying a sledgehammer. But for a small wall, it was really unnecessary. Also, I was kind of afraid that we would sledgehammer right through the wall and the house would come crashing down on us. Instead, we used some pry bars, hammers, and a utility knife.

Tools of the trade

Fran got to take the first shot, since the water and mud from the flooding actually ended up in her living space. Here's me going at the wall:

More fun than spreadsheets

It was pretty awesome! The drywall was pretty easy to take down, especially where it had gotten wet and was already disintegrating. In some places, we were just tearing chunks of it out with our hands. Clean-up was pretty easy too since we had put down a tarp to collect all the pieces. The hardest part was breathing through those masks! Altogether, it took less than an hour to demo and clean up the mess.

And here's the bare wall of our basement foundation. Notice the little pile of dirt? I imagine that is where the flood of mud came pouring through.

I'm just glad I don't have to put the wall back up! I'll leave that to the pros. But if anyone needs a wall taken down, you know who to call!