We got an amazing amount of work done today. Nic, Dusty, and I started by taking down the loft. It came apart in three sections which we moved elsewhere. We removed the remaining columns and finally the dummy walls. That allowed us to get to the interior sheathing which came down without too much fuss.

After lunch, Nic and I used a scissor lift to take down the gables on the west side. Mike finished that work as we were reassigned to the south wall. The two of us plus Chris and Nick started by taking down the enormous header piece we had jacked together weeks ago. Then we turned to the cripples which turned into quite a job. They had been nailed in place (some with eight or more nails) so removal was tough. Luckily Nic is an animal with a pry bar – he unleashed all sorts of hell and made short work of it.

It took Brittany, Luke and I a few hours to build the top part of the southwest column; I took it apart in about five minutes. By that time, others had removed all the sheathing and the window headers on the south and west sides. We then began unfastening the columns and setting them aside.

It was getting late, but we decided to keep working and take it down to the floor. Lyle had already cross-braced the four remaining wall sections so we started unscrewing it. It went really well despite a few screwheads breaking or being hidden under cripples. The former issue resulted in Nic actually busting a sill plate with his pry bar; a ‘slow clap’ followed.

The forklift was a lifesaver since our goal was to keep the walls in big pieces. The biggest piece was also the last; we took out the north wall in its entirety. We temporarily attached 2×12 extensions which we set on top of two scissor lifts. Johnny and Nick were able to lift and drive the wall outside where it was passed to the forklift and set behind the building.

It was dark when we finished, but there was only the floor remaining. A few of us went out for food afterwards to celebrate.