Basement Fireplace Demo

*sigh*

I'm not happy about writing this post.  At this very moment, K's sub-contractor is in our basement destroying the fireplace.  :-(   It's loud and I'm sad.

Here's the thing with the fireplace....  In my opinion, it was cool-looking!  It was original, 1950s pale long brick...  I liked it.  The people who built this house built that fireplace.

But the negatives...
-  It's HUGE.  It juts out into the room way more than is comfortable, especially once you include the thick tiled hearth.
-  It has never worked since we lived here.  It probably hasn't worked as a wood-burning fireplace in 30 or 40 years.   
-  Water has been leaking into it for all that time...  Water gets in through that little chimney stub out front when it rains.  We can hear it pouring into the chimney and fireplace.  K is certain that the whole thing is full of mold.
-  It would cost thousands of dollars to get it back into working condition.  And then what?  Neither of us actually wants a wood-burning fireplace in the basement.  If it was upstairs, maybe.  But that's not how this house is structured.

So, away it goes.... K is reclaiming the space.  And I'm pouting.  Can't help it.  :-(

This is what the fireplace looks like/ looked like when we bought the house.  We took down that smokey mirror right away.  There was an electric insert inside that looks like logs that glow when you click the switch.  No heat, just a little glow.  That stayed in there, probably until just yesterday!

And here's a picture from 4 or 5 years ago.  K mounted the TV over the fireplace mantel.  About 3 years ago she got a larger TV and put it on the wall opposite of the windows.  So then the mantel became a display shelf for lots and lots of Packer memorabilia.


So down it goes.  The space will be better used with it gone, I do know that.  It will create an entire usable wall, make for a better furniture layout, we won't have to worry anymore about the kiddo tripping on it and cracking his head, etc...

They are also pulling down the ceiling tiles.  Most of them are in good shape, but some were not and some were missing, so it made the whole ceiling look kind of junky.  K is not sure what she wants to do with the exposed ceiling, yet, if anything.  Possibly she'll spray the whole thing white, but we'll see.

Sicky Elm Tree - Update

So, our lovely treehouse elm has been taken down.  We cut it down on Friday evening, and today we dealt with the branches and logs.

There are no pictures, I didn't bother.  It wasn't fun and it wasn't exciting.
It was just sad.

Sicky Elm Tree

Oh, I'm so sad!  Came home today to find this note in our mailbox:

Our treehouse elm has Dutch Elm Disease and needs to be cut down.  Soon.
We had noticed recently that it looked wilted and a couple small branches had died off.  And what we just learned about Dutch Elm is that by the time the tree starts looking sick, it's pretty much too late to save it.

And here's the bright orange paint to go along with the letter...

 






















The first time we saw the house, even though there were a dozen trees around this house, we both looked at this elm and thought it would be the best place for a tree house for our kids someday.

It's a beautiful tree.  Verrry big.  The branches extend over the sidewalk and part of the street on the side of our property.  I think this part looks so pretty.

We want to replace the fence some day, and had planned to move it to the other side of the tree, to get this tree more "in" our yard. 
The view from the back yard...

Elm canopy meeting up with the backyard ash, far overhead...

*sigh*.....