The 1940s Fixer Upper: What Demo Day Looks Like in Real Life
It’s always fun to watch Demo Day on renovation shows, like when those charming Property Brothers, or the ever-hilarious Chip Gaines, use sledgehammers to punch holes in walls and tear down outdated cabinets. But what don’t you see on TV?
Quite a bit. In reality, these TV personalities have big crews behind the scenes who help keep the demo area a clean, safe place — because it isn’t pretty.
Usually, I don’t participate in the actual demo of our projects. I’m usually on-site to check out what the space looks like after we take out the cabinets and fixtures. But when it came time to demolish our own 1940s fixer-upper, I was helping, and let me just say… it has been a learning experience!
Wondering what Demo Day looks like in real life? Grab your safety goggles, and come take a look...
What is the real process for demolition?
Looks fairly harmless, doesn’t it? Not so fast...
A real-life demo is dirty and messy. In fact, we wore full-on dust masks to filter out all the dust in the air. Plus, you never know what hazards you may find in the walls of a home. When we demoed our fixer-upper, we discovered that not one, not two, but many critters had made their homes in the walls of the house! Everything from lizard eggs shells to mountains of bug waste (yes, mountains), along with chewed-up paper insulation from rats.
Are you grimacing just hearing about all this? Me, too.
A demo isn’t just about knocking down walls. The process is more like peeling an onion. You have to go through all the layers in the house to get to the bones. It is only then that a full assessment can be made for the renovation.
It can also be extremely tedious—my job on our fixer-upper project was to remove all the nails in the studs so new material could be applied. One by one. We also took down the chimney, as the heating system had taken its place. This meant lots of trips with the wheelbarrow to the dumpster. I got my 10,000 steps in before lunch that day.
Last but not least, different projects require different demo processes. For example, in a kitchen renovation, only the cabinets, and countertops would be removed during the demo, then repairs and system improvements can be made for the new kitchen. The rest of the house isn’t touched and everything is covered up to keep dust out of the rest of the house. A full-home remodel? Different story.
No matter the home or space you’re working with, we’ll be sure to discuss the process when mapping out the scope and phases of your project.
Everything has been wheelbarrowed out and the space is finally clear. (If these walls could talk!)
What parts do you demo?
When working on a client’s house, we always make demo plans based on the client’s design wishes, and that determines how far we go in the demo process. Although we don’t want to tear down walls unnecessarily, we often work on older homes that have compartmentalized rooms. Many clients want to open the space up, and that means the walls must come down.
Of course, the most common question we get when our client wants to open up their space is... “Is this a load-bearing wall?”
Even if the answer is yes, there are ways to work with load-bearing walls to make the whole design work, like removing only part of the wall or working with a structural engineer to insert a beam into the ceiling for additional support.
Don’t be afraid of a load-bearing wall, it just takes some creativity and flexibility to make it work with the overall design. We’ll be sure to talk about your options during our initial consultation and design process.
Should the wall stay or should it go?
Should you DIY your demo or hire a team?
A demo area is a construction zone! A full-on demo for a complete renovation means going down to the studs (bones) of the house. This isn’t an amateur’s task. It may look fun and easy on TV, but a demo can be downright dangerous.
From removing heavy granite, pulling heavy cabinets off walls, to managing electrical and plumbing, this should be managed by a licensed and insured professional in that trade. Attempting it on your own just to save a few bucks could cost you far more long-term.
Recently, we visited a couple who had decided that they were going to DIY their master bathroom renovation. During the demo, they ripped out the shower, the jet tub, and the flooring. Midway through, they stopped and left the vanity in place and the toilet in the water closet. Then, life happened and they hit the pause button.
For almost 2 years, they lived with a partial bathroom and doubled up in the kids’ hall bath for bathing. Even worse, the paused renovation left an unsafe construction zone in their family home, with exposed pipes and electrical outlets. Yikes!
They realized the renovation was too much for them to handle, and they called us in. Unfortunately, our proposal was higher than if they had left the space alone, because we had to repair areas that they had damaged in the process. In other words, hiring a professional keeps your family safe and goes a long way toward saving your time and money.
Are you looking for a team to renovate your home? Whether you’re planning to make it your forever home or list it for profit, give us a call. We’d love to get to know your story and see how we can help.
Warmly,
Sarah