Exploratory Demolition

So, now that we have a serious deadline to move, and thus sell our house, we've been talking a lot about what needs to be done still, what we're not going to do, what we need to pay someone else to do, and how much time each job will take. 

Inside the house, the only rooms left to do are the dining room and the lounge. We weren't going to touch them until mid July. However, one of the things we'd like to do is put a new wood burner fireplace in. In order to do that there are grants to attain, council permits to apply for, and quotes to get. 

So... 

Before.. 

 I cleaned off the wall and the mantelpiece. 

 And, Marco started ripping in!! The first thing we found is that someone had some fun before they put up the "gorgeous" wood paneling! 

"All this writing was done between the 6-7 of February 1981"

So, we had some fun of our own before ripping it down. Marco had just picked up a bit of this tape that said, "CAUTION Archaeological site". How appropriate! 

Marco's not entirely sure how to get these tiles off the front as they appear mortared on - VERY securely!

 At the end of the day, THIS is what I'm left with. Still no idea what size of fireplace we can put in (that was the whole purpose of this exercise, but whatever!). Its really exciting to see it now and imagine what it could look like when we're finished. 

Any ideas???