Tearing down walls

Day 77

The Mrs. and I are refacing the fireplace in our living room. And when I tell people that we're doing it what I really mean is her dad, whose a professional at this stuff, is helping us because when it comes to my being handy at home improvement projects, well, let's just say the tool I use best is my ATM card (and if I may say so, I did a real good job at using that tool to place the order for the material we're using to replace the slate slabs).

But really, I am charged with removing the slate and repairing any drywall that had to be sacrificed, which is where today's lesson comes in.

The area of the wall needing to be repaired, and ultimately replaced, was originally nine inches wide and just under 53 inches long. But in order for the final product to be acceptable, to look clean and as though there were never a 'hole', I had to cut in to it and make the area 18 inches wide so that the added drywall could be fastened to a stud, to the support beam.

From nine to 18 - double.

While I was in the garage cutting the drywall that I would soon be hanging I got to thinking about how life sometimes requries the very demolition that I had just completed.

I have found that sometimes there are situations in life that cannot be repaired without some demolition first. That sometimes in order to make things new again we need to tear down and cut back, we need to find that foundational piece and rebuild.

In light of the funky start to my 2010, to my new year, I am beginning to suspect that over the past year or so I may have built some walls, metaphorically speaking, that might need to come down.

Today I learned that I probably need to poke some holes and take a peek.
Today I learned that if what I might see on the inside isn't as presentable as what's on the outside, then perhaps it's time to demo, and then do some rebuilding...