Got an Itch?....Scratch It

I couldn't take it anymore. 5 days of not being in the house was getting to me. I had to go. And not just to look or show someone around. I needed to swing the hammer! So, that's what I did this afternoon. I only got in a half hour, but I managed to take down the open stud wall between the "library" and the neighboring bedroom. I found out a couple things:

It might have been the angle of the wall, but as per my previous post, this wall wasn't so simple to move. Yes, it had four nails (two top, two bottom) that were left a 1/4" out so I could pull them with a claw hammer (as per the last post), but one end of the wall was anchored as well. Nothing a few swings of the hammer couldn't handle!

I also figured out that the hardwood floors have been sanded and refinished at some prior point. The floor under the wall is about an 1/8" higher than the surrounding floor. Hopefully that shouldn't matter. We've asked our potential builder to quote out the cost to pull up the hardwood and lay it back down... probably in the new upstairs.

I know our flooring choices have the potential to be budget benders. I love the idea of re-using the existing hardwood. It's in good shape and it's already there and we own it! It won't be enough, so the next best thing I've found is Elm harvest from Elm trees taken down in the cities due to Dutch Elm Disease. How great is that... take wood from trees that have to be taken down, which probably would just be chipped or burned and put them in for flooring. All from the fine folks at Wood From the Hood. But, at $6.50ish a sq ft...that's not nearly as cheap as a ~$3 sq ft oak. Sigh.... Kind of depressing that's it cheaper to throw stuff away and buy new.

Guess I need to look at what it'll take to pull that hardwood up myself. Hey, at least it gives me a reason to keep demoing!