Breezeway 9: dusty aftermath and new floor framing

After Thursday's destruction to the new floor and removal of the all that beautiful oak, I don't think we quite realized that we were only just beginning - apparently starting over is much messier than starting.

On Friday, the plywood was off and we were back to the floor frames and much of the insulation was stacked in a corner insulation. We had to be very careful not to squish the parts that were still in place when crossing the room to get to the garage. This is actually the first time we noticed that our original slate floors were covered in something - maybe a kind of sealant? We plan to ask about that just out of curiosity.

We also have some new joists, exactly 3/4'' lower than the previous previous one - the exact height difference that would make the new floor level to the dining room.

You can see here why the doors will also need lowering - they are now substantially higher than the framing for the new floors:

Because this time around we no longer have doors to block out the dust, the work crew put up plastic sheeting, which naturally is not as effective and so we are getting sawdust in the house. Also we have a cat that likes to eat plastic, so we've had to get creative on ways to keep him away from the feast that is the plastic sheeting.

Another layer, the masonite or whatever it's called that the vinyl was stuck to, came off the kitchen floor - this created an incredible layer of dust throughout the kitchen and dining room. We had been warned so at least we moved the drying rack and some small appliances.

They are planning to rip down even further, to the subfloor, and put the slats directly on that (with a vapor-lock paper layer in between. Here is a preview (you can see into the basement through those lines). They don't want to pull that out until the day we get the new floor, because you can't really walk on that easily (and food would spill into the basement):

Without the plywood, the floor in the kitchen is exactly 3/4'' lower than the dining room meaning that the 3/4'' new slats should line up EXACTLY to the old floor. Yay! After much mess and a lot of adjustments and delay.

Back in the breezeway, we have a new subfloor - this time they are planks laid between the first round of joists, resting on the newer, lower ones (see pics above).

Today in addition to a few other small changes (they jackhammered the new concrete on the thresholds and removed the frame from the garage door to start the lowering process) we got new wood! It is conditioning now and getting ready for what will hopefully be our final floor installation.