Concrete progress

I got started on removing the concrete shell on the foundation. I picked a spot where the concrete was cracking. I used the hammer mode of an impact drill. It basically vibrates a bit, and you have to use force to push the chisel down into the concrete. 

The work was heavy, but not impossibly so. Sitting down made it easier, also because I could brace the hammer drill against my leg and use my body weight. I was worried in advance that the vibrations might break the window glass, but they didn't seem to travel that far. This drill is still fairly low-powered and small, in terms of hammering concrete. But if it was any bigger, it would be too heavy for me to operate. I've always had to find workarounds because I have smol hands and I'm not very strong either. Work smarter, and all that!

At first it was really hard to know how deep you could go. The concrete was really hard in some places, soft in others. But once I hit rock I knew that I would not accidentally break the rock as it was significantly harder than the concrete. The left corner was really challenging, because the concrete was much thicker there.

I'm puzzled why they have covered up these nice and flat foundation stones. 

This is how far I got in a day, I'm partially done with one side. There are still many days of work before this is finished. I'll have to do it in smaller chunks, because my hands got pretty tired and it took several days for them to stop aching. 

I'm working towards the timber repairs I mentioned in the previous post, but it's quite the rabbit hole of tasks. Not only do I have to finish breaking the concrete, I'll also have to empty the house. I've been trying to find new homes for some of the furnishings, so I don't have to take them all to the recycling yard. On this day, someone picked up a 1950s' armchair that needed refurbishing. Most of the furniture I will keep for now, but I will have to find places to store them in the other buildings. Which in turn means, I have to go through the things in those buildings and discard trash and rearrange to make space. Every little thing becomes a long chain of work, so it takes a long time to do anything. 

Only after I get the house emptied will I be able to do some careful demolition (and documentation) so that the rotten timbers can be replaced. I need to take a look behind the ceiling panelling, and the wall fibreboard. The floor will need to be stripped of masonite and the floor boards removed. And those need to be stored somewhere. It's fun to have things to do! But it can get stressful, too, when it feels you have an endless string of tasks to get to your end goal.