Demolition!

Getting tile installed has been interesting so far. 

There's been the striking of the floor with sledgehammers...

The exposure of cracks in the foundation (cracks that require chipping and leveling so that the tile will not crack later to match the foundation)...

 The signs of previous work (note the parallel lines--where the builder stained the baseboards, the works "RAISED HEARTH" near the fireplace, where we have never had a raised hearth)..

 The vast open spaces formed by the removal of all our junk, and the echo in our family room...

I love vast open spaces. If you come visit and there's no furniture, you will know why.

AND it's been noisy and messy!!

I find I must borrow yet another parable from George MacDonald. Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that HE is building quite a different house from the one you thought of-throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself. ~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

I will add that sometimes, even when you can see what He's building, the work is more than you anticipated. Bigger cracks.

But one of the installer guys explained to me what is wrong with the pump on the fish tank as well. Getting more than you paid for is nice. Oscar is especially thankful. :)

More photos here