By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

A recently demolished home at Cedar and Welch Sts. represents the prospect for expansion for Kelley Schafers and her family, who own the lot and house next door.

“We’re thinking about eventually building on, and the only way we can go is to the east, where that lot is,” she said.

Taking care of the remains of the demolished house has been a challenge. The Schafers don’t want people sorting through rubble for lumber or getting hurt.

“People would show up and start digging through, even with the caution signs,” she said. “They wanted wood, and they’d try to sell it down the street.”

The Schafers rented a skid steer last week to help with cleanup, which will be completed in two weeks.

A relative who moved across town originally owned the home, and the Schaferses took the opportunity to buy it.

Demolition was done using a rented excavator, but the first attempt to tear it down was with pickup trucks, Schafers said.

“They started tearing it down with their vehicles and putting chains through the window,” she said.

The family previously demolished a smaller house to make room for a shed. Trucks and chains worked fine that time but not with the larger house.

“This one didn’t go as easily like they thought,” Schafers said. “It was fun at first, but then I didn’t want him ruining his 2017 truck by tearing the back bumper off or anything.”