And It Begins!

So a little back story on the house. We live in what is considered Goose Island/East Village, which directly borders the trendy Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village neighborhoods. The home is a 2-flat(two units) and it was built in 1890. TJ and I will be residing in the top floor unit and we will be leasing out the bottom unit as income property. Both units are small and cozy

So the house itself is in pretty good condition for being over 100 years old. Aside from some uneven floors, the house just needs some updates. Our first project is to convert the existing living room into the bedroom. TJ and I have a king size bed and we refuse to give it up. So what's the best option you ask? Build/move the house around the bed. :)

For our first funovation, we will:

• Remove the closet wall
• Reroute the entry way
• Remove living room door and jamb
  
• Apply drywall and cover the old living room door

The day we got the keys from the current tenant, we immediately got a hammer and started taking down the closet wall. We were foolish and naive to think that the wall would have been made of drywall. Instead, we were greeted with what we thought was a wooden wall. The hammer would not go through the wall. We cursed and asked ourselves what happenend to all the videos on youtube and DIY network that had taught us to just hammer out the drywall? We continued to use the hammer and finally broke through a layer of what was none other than, plaster.

Although we were disheartened at the fact that it was not going to be as easy as we had thought, we really gained a lot appreciation for the history of the home and level of craftsmanship. By the end of the day, between me, TJ, and Sara, we had taken off all the plaster and cleaned up the major mess. During the tear down, the amount of the dust that we were exposed to was unnerving. Luckily for us, we live around the corner from an ACE hardware store and we were able to get goggles and masks. I am sure we inhaled things we were not suppose to and will pay for it later....