Behind Every Wall (...27)

Is beadboard!  Today I chiseled away the tile behind my stove.  It was a big rectangle shape made of square white tiles.  Halfway through, at about waist height, my chisel started to punch through the wallboard easily, into a gap behind the wall.  It was falling into a pocket between the wallboard and beadboard.  Very old, unpainted beadboard!

It's always surprising, during a renovation to find what past owners have done to fix or cover up aging walls.  In this 100 plus year old house, there are layers of others' repair work.  If I could, meaning if I had the budget and time, and if it made sense, I would tear everything down to the first layer and start my renovation there.  But I remind myself that I can't spend the time or money on this.  I focus on what I can do with my budget.  I make changes I would like but also keep in mind what will sell well or what a renter would like because I'm not going to be living here forever.

Discovering this beadboard behind the stove made me consider what a tough job it could be for a drywall contractor to repair my walls after I remove half inch wallboard and then half inch beadboard.  Skilled contractors can do anything but wallboard comes in only so many depths.  Discovering the beadboard also made me consider how much space I may be able to find on the wall behind my sink.  As is, it's going to be a tight squeeze to fit in a fridge there.  The area is too shallow for my 29, 7/8" fridge to sit and not jut out way past the counter.  But I think removing an inch of material will give me the space I need!

Tomorrow, the real fun starts.  As my friend put it, "Tomorrow we're gonna kick your kitchen's ass."