Tuesday, December 31, 2019

On The Third Day of Demo A Bat Fell Down on Me

So on my second solo day of demo I tried to tackle a myriad of things. The downstairs bathroom needed to be gutted, so did a closet of built-in drawers that I want to turn into a coat closet. I'd already removed all the tile from the living room ceiling (pictured below) and had all the strapping then to remove. I tackled the closet first, then started on the bathroom. I was sweating and tired so I thought I'd take a break and move upstairs for a bit.


Upstairs, the entire ceiling was covered in the cheap cardboard-esque tiles that had covered the living room and dining room. They are incredibly easy to pull down once you remove all the crown molding. They're just stapled into the strapping. So I chipped away at the molding and then started with the room at the top of the stairs, which might end up being a playroom or a den as it's more of a landing area between the upstairs bedrooms. The tiles came off easy and I realized quickly that there was no drywall under the tiles. Instead, it exposed the insulation and rafters. I moved on to one of the bedrooms, taking down the molding first, and then I was maybe 20 tiles in when something landed at my feet. Ironically, I had only minutes before had the thought, What if a dead mouse or squirrel falls with the tile? With each tile falling basically on top of me I grew more worried, and yet a part of me never actually thought it would happen. Then sure enough, a bat. And it wasn't dead. It slowly unfurled it's wings and I lost it and ran out of the room, making sure to grab my tools on the way, down the stairs, and firmly closed the door. Few things really freak me out, but rodents and small winged creatures give me the heebie jeebies. I think it's their tiny feet. It just made me shiver thinking about it. 


Before leaving for the night I gave myself a pep talk. Stephanie, you're alone here. You have to grow a pair, because that creature doesn't deserve to die in here. So I crept back upstairs, moving like a cat burglar, and opened a window. Then I ran back downstairs, slamming the door behind me.

When I returned the next morning I steeled myself. I wore multiple layers, a hoodie, my face mask, glasses, and with an umbrella overhead I began pulling tiles down in a different room. But only a moment later another bat (or maybe the same one, who knows) fell down and I was like NO, I AM NOT DOING THIS AGAIN. So I let myself freak out for a moment, then ran downstairs to grab a dustpan, swept the critter gingerly up and out the window. And now I'm never going back up there again until my father has removed all the tiles and put up a new ceiling.

The end. 

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1 comment

  1. I am still traumatized from your Instagram stories with the bat encounter!!!

    ReplyDelete

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