More demo, just for the fun of it

A few more photos I hate to skip:

• Here's a chunk of new and old wiring in the basement, waiting to have a wall to cling to again. This is an amusing mass of switches controlling two different rooms -- entertains me every time I grab one to flip it on (but only one of many reasons my kid isn't making many visits to the house right now!)...
  
• This is more detritus from basement demo -- pieces of chimney pipe (the whole chimney needed to be cleared of debris and relined by chimney guys), some radiator piping, et al. I think that orange machine might have played a key role in grinding up the crazy plaster/wire ceiling.
  
• Here's a victory shot of all the red carpet once it was removed from the living room floor and stairs, along with the tired green underpad. I guess I took this picture pretty early -- the radiator grille is still visible back there, where now is only a gaping hole...
  
• Speaking of holes, here's a sample of the post-radiator look. These aren't the classical windy pipe radiators of my own youth (like this), but the kind that use a dense row of metal flaps to disperse the heat (like this), all set into large metal boxes within the walls (to varying degrees).
  
• I also quite like this photo from the middle bedroom after we pulled out the offending closet.
  
  You really get a sense of the many lives of old houses, as this archaeology uncovers multiple layers of wallpaper and room layout. The oldest stuff in this house is lathe-and-plaster; other parts are drywall, and still others are just smoothed-over exterior wall material. (Nobody wants to sacrifice living space for the luxury of unnecessary framing!) Fun.