Every night after Mike and Dave — our demolition team — leave, Earl sneaks into the bathrooms to make his contribution to our remodeling effort. As I write this, he is using a crowbar to knock out old ceramic tile off the walls. He’s banging and clanging with great abandon, and I’ve teased him about his new career as a demo man.
“I like to rip and tear,” he says, showing a side of himself I’ve never seen before. Normally, he’s Mr. Neatnik. But this week he’s ripped tile, torn out insulation, pried floor boards, whacked away at drywall, and generally contributed to the dust that’s been raised on this project.
And there is dust everywhere. Our house was built when plaster was the preferred wall material; and, living in the dust this week, I am convinced of the merits of drywall. It goes up easier and it comes down easier. Except that Demo Man might not have had so much opportunity to rip and tear.
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