Hanging Protective Plastic Meant for A Kitchen Renovation
Things are getting fairly Dexter around here in preparation for our wall opening. Because when walls come down, dust comes out, and therefore protective plastic must go up! So to set the mood I have intentionally left these photos kinda dark and eerie. I am nothing if not theme-y.
Oh and since I affectionately call myself Captain Safety (much like Sherry wishes $herdog would catch on), it bears mentioning that old homes can have lead paint, and therefore call for extra precautions (especially if you have little ones and pets around), so you can find more info on that here. We followed those directions and had our walls checked for lead (it is the thing to do before work begins so you know what you are dealing with) and ours came back negative. Which was truly surprising to us until we read that homes from 1960-1978 only have a 24% chance of having it, so the odds were in fact with us. Certainly one of those better safe than sorry things though, and the government takes it fairly seriously if you do not follow lead-safe practices. So do what you are told or Dexter Morgan might come for you…
Anyway, it was pleasant to know that we did not have lead to worry about, but we still knew from experience that there would be a heckova lot of dust all over everything if we did not seal things off. We used this method for construction dust control many a time in our first house when we were demo-ing, so we got to work sealing off the work area in both rooms with giant plastic drop cloths that are taped on all sides (while leaving a sliver of access in the existing doorways for folks to pass through while working).
We chose to line the sides of those “walk-through-here” slivers with painter’s tape so it is straightforward to see where to step through so you are not standing there flinging the curtain around for ten minutes to find the opening.
Oh and as for who will be here through the chaos, Clara, Burger, and I will stay at my sister’s house for the day, but Sherry’s staying home to answer questions, tend the journal, and stand behind the plastic sheeting with her eyes bugging out with joy as the wall comes a tumblin’ down.
Also on the dust-control subject, we plan to close all of our air vents in the demo area and then cover them with plastic (like we did here) so no nasty dust will find its way into our ventilation system only to be sprayed out the next time it is turned on (we will keep it off during the job since it should be a one-day thing and our house should maintain it is temperature fairly well during the day). But as for the vent you see below…
… that will in fact be where the peninsula meets the half-wall. So we had an hvac pro come out and ensure that losing that vent (and one on the other side) would not compromise our system. Then with his blessing I went under the crawl space and disconnected and capped ’em (so the vent you see is not connected to anything anymore). We in fact did that in our first house for our kitchen remodel as well.
Oh and do not worry, my Dexter channeling stopped at putting up the protective plastic sheeting. Well that and taking this creepy photo.
Okay and perhaps this simply happens to be my new ringtone. But I swear that is it. Nothing else Dexter-y happening around here. Promise.
I kind of feel like a bad a$$ when my phone rings now. And of course Sherry’s jealous (in case you are wondering, this is her current ring tone – and she dances like the Jersey girl that she is every time it rings). But back to the wall-opening excitement coursing through our veins. Needless to say we are doing that is-it-tomorrow-yet thing over here. Cannot wait to share pics of our progress as we go.
