"And when you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me in"

Credit to John Lennon for that title . . . Using a 3 1/4" Makita cordless circular saw, I cut through the drywall and removed a strip approximately 13" tall around the perimeter of the room.  My goal is to preserve as much of the existing drywall as possible.

 I began by sawing through the shutters and removing the top unit, which I hope to reuse in the new upper room. I removed part of the chandelier and as much of the drywall around the window as I could reach from a 10-foot stepladder.  Once I've built the subfloor and can stand a ladder on it, I will strip off the rest of the drywall above the window – almost to the ceiling – so I can frame a new window opening.

I will bolt beams to the exposed wood framing and hang joists across the room from the beams.

The building inspector will want to see the floor structure before I top it with plywood, but I might place some temporary plywood onto it so I can set a ladder and do the upper-window framing before he comes out. (On the outside, I will build a scaffold.)




I had to tear out this nice white-wash oak bridge railing so I could strip back the carpet and part of the subfloor, along with the drywall along the edge of the bridge. I replaced it with a jury-rigged cluster of boards temporarily screwed together (below).  I know, I know, it doesn't look very safe. But we don't have any pets or children that could fall over the edge.



My jury-rigged temporary barrier (above & below).





Above & below: Upward-looking views of the bridge and temporary "railing"

The deconstructed dining room (above), and a view of the room (below) before I started.

Later this year I hope to be sipping tea (or a martini) in this new upper room!