What about upstairs?

Now that the first floor has been opened up, it’s time to clear out the second floor. Turns out it wasn’t such a great idea to remove the stairs. While the floor joists up here span the full width of the structure, they gain a great deal of stability from the floor boards which we’re now removing.

Although one of the rooms is lined with lath, it has no trim or plaster to slow down progress so it all comes apart quickly. The house is taller than it looks. There’s enough space to stand beneath the peak of the roof on the collar ties above the second floor. Most of the floor boards are not nailed down, but those that are present challenges because we’re trying to save the wood.

The most laborious part of opening up this section is getting the floor boards down and out. Although there’s less debris and dust, it still takes time.

Once everything is cleared out over head, it’s time to open up the flooring on the first floor and deal with the stone-lined cellar.