Ripping Out Drywall and Insulation in Tiny Fixer Upper

Ripping out the drywall and insulation in our tiny fixer upper was quite a big and dirty job! Yet it was very satisfying to refresh this old historic home.

We purchased this tiny fixer upper on February 10, 2020. About a month later on Monday, March 9, 2020, Nate continued with his DIY demo projects around the house. Now he was going to start gutting the kitchen. Removing all the stuff in there like the cabinets, ceiling, and walls. 

Hosea 10:12

Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.

RIPPING OUT DRYWALL AND INSULATION FROM THE KITCHEN

Now Nate is in our kitchen ripping out the drywall and insulation in our tiny fixer upper. We got to this point in our fixer upper journey about a month after we purchased the house. Making a lot of progress in a short amount of time actually! 

He starts on the back wall using a sledge hammer to break up the drywall and then a pry bar to pull out the old insulation. He also removed some old electrical wires that were in the walls. They appear to be from the lights and appliances that used to be in the kitchen at one time. 

What is also interesting is that you can see an old window frame in the middle of that back wall. Perhaps that was the window that looked out to the backyard before the addition was built behind it, which is now the laundry room. 

There can’t be nothing more satisfying than breaking up the walls in the house you just bought! Anyone with me on that one? Oh, and let’s not forget the ceiling he also busted up! Talk about destroying your house!

You can see the different types of insulation that was used in the kitchen – the pink kind and blown in newspaper kind, which is known as cellulose insulation. That’s my really layman’s way of explaining that as I’m not an insulation expert or anything. That’s just what we found behind our walls. 

The whole house is almost all open now! You can see mostly the framing now that the drywall and insulation has been removed. 

RIPPING OUT THE BEDROOM CEILING

Nate continues ripping out the drywall and insulation in our tiny fixer upper by working on the ceiling in our bedroom next.

We keep making the house worse to make it better. Believe it or not, it does get better! But, it has definitely been a slow process. Mostly a one man show learning as he goes. Week by week we make more and more progress though. 

RIPPING OUT DRYWALL FROM THE LIVING ROOM

He has pretty much gutted the house now and will be finishing up the living room next. Then he will have to finish ripping through the laundry room area.

He starts to remove the walls and ceiling from the living room using that trusty ole sledge hammer still. That’s a tough job and there were times where you could tell his arms were getting tired from holding them up so long and busting out the ceiling. Not to mention all the dust and crap falling down on him. 

He’s still using his safety goggles and mask, which are necessary tools for such a job as this. There are bits of drywall and insulation all over the floor again. More Dirty Jobs action going on here. And you can see the framing of the house even more now. 

REFLECTIONS OF OUR PROGRESS

Nate pulled down all the drywall during week four, which was about a month after we purchased the house. Another new project of ripping all the drywall off, pulling out all the old insulation, putting up new insulation, and then rebuilding the drywall. 

I reflect on how we were at the end of week four and we’ll also share what happened at the end of week five. I think we will have to redo the insulation in the walls and then also maybe hopefully get some plumbing started. 

ANOTHER WALKTHROUGH TO CHECK OUT THE PROGRESS!

At the end of week five, we have no walls! And no ceilings either! We have floors at least. And, our house is finally breathing. She’s like.. ahh, breathe breathe!

We are thinking of knocking that wall down separating the kitchen and living room to create an open concept feel in this tiny fixer upper.

Here is the progress in the office. Nate debated about finishing that room because there was no plumbing in there. He could probably insulate the one room, hang the ceiling and walls with drywall, and then we could move in there temporarily while we finished the rest of the house. So, I was wondering if we’d end up living in one room then.

When I look up toward the ceiling, I can actually see right through the attic now. It’s above the office and our bedroom. Nate walked into the connecting bedroom through the actual door still mounted, although all the walls around it were removed. It was just a funny site to see. Well, we don’t have walls, but at least we still have a door!

Nate would still have to remove all the nails from the wooden frame. There were nails everywhere. And there was also some leftover insulation that he still needed to remove more thoroughly, which he later tackled by vacuuming it out. He wants to use the same kind of newspaper insulation as it appears there would be less chemicals in it than some of the other insulation.

As we look at the framing, we can see how the whole thing slopes down – all the boards. Even in the walls you can see it. Looks like the floor is all sinking! Nate thought our foundation guy was going to fix that and he wasn’t sure why he didn’t or if there was a reason. He wondered if the cement border foundation thing has sunk down, so they don’t want to go much more above that as there would be like a gap. We would eventually have to address that as well.

As I stand in the last part of the house, the laundry room, I’m thinking that we could possibly use some old beadboard on the walls to maintain the historical character of the home. Nate agrees and we begin our research on how we can find some!

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS

Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic home mostly on our own. Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead!

You can also watch a video about this here.

To see more adventures on our tiny fixer upper journey, click on the links below.

TEARING DOWN DRYWALL AND REMOVING INSULATION ALONE IN FIXER UPPER

IS THE FLOORING LEVEL AFTER FOUNDATION REPAIRS AND NEW BEAMS?! | TINY FIXER UPPER