Clearing the Bedrooms

March 1, 2014

Over the weekend, I worked on finishing up some remaining wall demo and cleared out the middle bedrooms in the upstairs area. Having recently sealed off the risers, we wanted to be careful about not getting too much debris into that area.

To help protect against falling plaster, Bob screwed a drywall cover over the opening in the floor. It would help block against debris, but it wasn’t strong enough to handle a lot of weight – so he wrote a reminder on the drywall.

In clearing out the rooms, there was a lot of extra “stuff” that Liz and Julie had found when they donned Tyvek suits and cleaned out the attic.

Packed up in a dirty box – two speedometers. Not sure what these might go to – an older car? I can’t tell if they’d be valuable, or if they’re just junk.

An old case with a Sears logo on it!

Actually, turned out to be an old typewriter.

The classic Sears logo.

Amazingly, the setup instructions are in decent shape (though somewhat brittle). I may try to keep this guy and see if I can get him working again – though the case is in bad shape, the typewriter itself seems ok.

In a larger box, I found a lot of paperwork. The prior tenants were teachers, and it was an assortment of teaching-related stuff. This doodle though… I’m not sure who this belongs to. One of the kids? Something taken from a student not paying attention?

In the first panel, the words on the paper towel dispenser say “Pull Down, Tear Up.”

A very old school “Trait Rating Slip.” I’ve got a whole stack of these guys, with different scores for various students, listing out their Courtesy, Dependability, Leadership, and Service scores on a scale of Above Average, Average, or Below Average.

A set of stamped postcards (3 cent stamps, mind you) from Englewood High School. Most of the postcards were blank, but a few had a pre-printed note warning the parent that their son or daughter was in danger of being expelled due to class cutting.

A view of the wall, cleared of plaster and lathe.

A view of the master bedroom from the other side, with the floor cleared of carpet and miscellaneous junk. There was a lot of miscellaneous junk piled up in this room, previously.

Used the shop vac to pick up a lot of debris. I’ve still got more walls to demo up here, but the floors are looking a little bit cleaner than before.

The pile of wood lathes has grown.

As has all these bags of plaster. In the next week or so, I’m going to have to start hauling these guys downstairs. That’s gonna be a fun day.

Liz, working on repairing some of the woodwork with stainable wood glue. The process involves mixing sawdust from sanding the wood earlier, with a few drops of wood glue, and then applying the mixture to areas where there are splinters.

It’s tedious work, and requires you to hold the pieces in place for 5+ minutes. While she was doing this, I took the chance to get up close and take some photos.

Liz was not amused.