West Wing Demo

The West Wing had long outlived its glory days as a sort of secondary garage-storage room-workshop. And you know how much boys of all ages love demo work… we get them started real young in this family. Here is Will’s first attempt with a sledgehammer. Dani, please don’t blame me when Will starts hammering holes in the walls of your beautiful new home… it was Stephen’s idea!

But I digress. If you recall from the months and months ago when I first told you how much I loathed the West Wing (more on that here), and the fact that the structure is not a wing and is not on the west side of the house, you can only imagine how excited I was that demo weekend had finally arrived. I was even more excited than my mom is in this picture:

There aren’t any photos to show my excitement, but that captures it quite well. Here are some photos of the demo work, and a step-by-step guide on how to demolish the West Wing at your house. Oh, wait, you don’t have one? Consider yourself lucky!

Step 1: Remove any existing windows and doors (this is probably the least fun part). Then take your first whack at the drywall with a crowbar.

Step 2: Realize that you don’t have to remove all that drywall, only the parts concealing electrical work that you do have to remove. Then stand around and make a plan.

Step 3: Raise the roof! Actually, just remove it entirely. No photos of this step, sadly. I think my dad did this during the week without us? Or the roof removal process wasn’t very photogenic. It was a long time ago, and I don’t remember…

Step 4: Detach to-be-demolished walls from to-remain walls.

Step 5: Push walls over!!! Note: my steps may be slightly out of order. Don’t worry about it…

Step 6: Examine handiwork. Reward yourself with a beer. That’s the most fun you’re going to have today: now you have to break up all the demolition debris so it fits into the massive dump truck you borrowed.

Step 7: Drive massive dump truck to the dump. While you’re driving, you MUST grin like a little kid the whole way. This step is non-negotiable.Step 8: Thoroughly enjoy watching the dump truck do all of the remaining work for you. That’s right: no shovels, no brooms, no clean up; just push the button and watch it all slide out! (Click that link to watch the quick video)

Step 9: Share the glorious before and after photos, and revel in the sunlight now streaming through your kitchen window.

Before and After #1

Before and After #2

Before and After #3

And there you have it. That’s how to demolish the West Wing in 9 steps (give or take, I probably forgot a few in there somewhere). It’s probably also worth mentioning that we went back after demo was done and gave all of the newly exposed wood trim a thick, fresh coat of paint. To, you know, protect it from the elements. Even though there weren’t very many elements to be had this winter in California.

I am happy to report that 6ish months later we love our new, open-air, outdoor patio. The BBQs have moved up to this space now, and we eat a lot of meals out at this table. And now that the warm summer months are fast approaching, we plan to use it even more!