Remodel: The Big Rip Out

The kitchen prior to beginning.	The first cut.
Pulling up the boards.	What area he completed tonight.
A close up of the staples.

Joel started ripping out our wood floor this evening. First he had to make some cuts in the board with the circular saw. Then he was able to start prying up the boards. He was able to pry up about 3/4 of the flooring tonight. What you see above took about 2 hours to rip out.

The hardest part is definitely going to be pulling out all the staples that held the boards in place (click on the last photo for a good look at the staples). There are hundreds of staples that will need to be pulled out. And, unfortunately, no one has invented an electric staple removing device. He's going to have to do it the old fashioned way--with a pair of pliers and brute strength. Right now I am really glad that I am pregnant. Pregnancy is the perfect reason not to be down there helping him ;-)