Let’s talk about knocking out a few walls and framing some new ones.
After a slow couple of weeks of planning and comparing contractor bids, the laundry-area renovation suddenly picked up speed. What began as a stalled project quickly turned into visible progress over just a few days.
Early last week we decided to take a hybrid approach: do the work we’re comfortable with and hire professionals for tasks beyond our skill set. We aimed for a middle option that would let us control costs and schedule, while calling in pros for plumbing, electrical, and some framing and finishing. With that in mind, we made a realistic to-do list that outlines each step of the project.
- Move washer and dryer and remove existing cabinetry
- Demolish cased opening, side wall, back wall, part of the floor, and the attic step
- Frame new walls and doorways (contracted)
- Move laundry plumbing hookups and drains (contracted)
- Relocate laundry electrical, lights, switches, and outlets (contracted)
- Move dryer vent
- Hang drywall
- Add insulation
- Mud, tape, and sand drywall seams in the new room (contracted or partially DIY)
- Rehang laundry door and add new frosted attic door
- Prime and paint laundry room and hallway walls
- Tile and grout new laundry floor and backsplash
- Add baseboard and door casings
- Install upper cabinetry, shelving, and a lower cabinet
- Reinstall washer and dryer and reconnect utilities
- Install ceiling light fixture and other finishing touches
- Address remaining repairs (garage drywall, attic step, etc.)
We started demo on Tuesday by carefully prying off baseboards and trim to preserve what we could reuse. For the initial drywall demo around the cased opening I used simple hand tools: a rubber mallet, a crowbar, and a lot of patience. We left as much of the storage-room walls intact as possible to keep the cool air in while work progressed.
Cleanup has been ongoing: sweeping debris into bags, collecting larger items in the attic for sorting, and planning for a temporary dumpster or large waste bag. Some materials—like studs and trim—will be reused, so everything gets sorted rather than tossed indiscriminately.
The old cased opening required significant brute force to remove. Lots of hammering, prying, and pulling nails finally freed up the space. Once that framing came down we removed an upper cabinet so the area was completely cleared.
Demo included removing part of the hardwood floor where the new wall would attach to the subfloor. Because the flooring was installed with an adhesive sheet, it pulled up differently than nailed planks. I pried the planks up, sliced through the adhesive layer, and removed just the exact section needed. Then I removed the particle-board underlayment so the plywood subfloor was ready for new framing.
That floor removal led to a small but useful change in plan: moving the frosted door to the storage room forward, so it sits where the hardwood ends. This avoids extending the hardwood into the storage room (we plan to carpet that room), shortens the hallway slightly, and creates a little vestibule for the door to swing into instead of into the middle of the room—making future furniture layout easier.
Before framing started I also removed a lone attic step that was in the way; I’ll rebuild it on the other side of the platform later. That was as much demo as our framer suggested before he arrived. We kept some walls standing longer to limit heat transfer from the storage room into our conditioned space. The plan was always to do framing in two stages because plumbing and electrical needed to be relocated between those phases.
On Wednesday morning the cleared space looked promising, and within a few hours our framer had erected two new walls that defined the initial layout. Watching a professional work was instructive—this was a task I could have attempted, but the speed and precision made hiring him worthwhile. With framing in place the plumbers were able to disconnect and reconfigure the old hookups just hours later.
The plumbing work took only a few hours because much of the systems sit above our garage, giving the crew direct access and minimal disruption inside the house. They did cut a large section of garage ceiling, so garage drywall is now on our repair list and likely to be bundled into a larger garage finishing project.
Electricians arrived next and quickly relocated outlets and prepared new fixture locations. We spent time planning fixture placement ahead of their visit to avoid extra hours on the clock. The result: a light above the attic stairs, an outlet conveniently placed in the future laundry room for an iron, and a fixture box centered relative to eventual upper cabinets so the lighting will feel balanced once cabinetry is installed.
By Thursday afternoon most of the essential mechanical moves were complete. Our framer needed to return to finish the remaining framing, but he delayed a day due to illness. He came back feeling better and completed the job so we can move forward with hanging drywall.
With the plumbing and electrical relocated, I continued the second phase of demo over the weekend. Large sheets of drywall came down cleanly, leaving a growing pile of material for salvage and disposal. Taking out more of the old framing gave us the first clear sense of the laundry room’s new footprint and how it will connect with the storage room. The electricians had positioned the new outlet boxes so they’re easy to set into the freshly framed walls.
Removing the remaining walls in the old washer area opened the space up and confirmed the plan: once the final two walls are framed—the wall that closes off the laundry room and the wall for the frosted storage-room door—we’ll begin drywall. We plan to hang and finish much of the drywall ourselves, though mudding and taping may require practice or partial professional help.
- Move washer & dryer and remove cabinetry (done)
- Demo cased opening, side wall, back wall, part of the floor, and the attic step (done)
- Frame new walls & doorways (done)
- Move laundry plumbing hookups & drains (done)
- Move laundry electrical, lights, switches, and outlets (done)
- Move dryer vent (next)
- Hang drywall and add insulation
- Mud, tape, and sand drywall seams
- Rehang laundry door and add frosted attic door
- Prime & paint, tile & grout floors and backsplash
- Install baseboard, casings, cabinetry, and fixtures
- Reinstall appliances and finish final touches
I capped the weekend by hanging drop cloths to block hot attic air and enjoyed the daylight pouring into the newly opened hallway. We’ll post a cost update once we have final bills from the framer and subcontractors, but so far the combined approach of DIY plus selective hiring is shaping up to be more cost-effective than the full-contractor bids we compared.
So that’s where we are: framing nearly complete, utilities relocated, demo finished for now, and drywall ready to be scheduled. What did you accomplish this weekend—did anyone else wield a rubber mallet and conquer some drywall?