After the Rain

We have had six weeks of no rain, until last Sunday.  That was much too tempting for the mischievous Rain Gods who could see all of the framing up with no roof.  They gleefully tipped buckets of water and we got at least two inches of rain.  Our carpenter put 2x4's and plastic over the open area of the addition, to keep it out.  What he didn't know is that the gutter was full of leaf debris that worked like a dam to keep the water away from the downspout.  As a result, we had water run down into the basement ceiling and down to the floor.

Fortunately we went out to the house on Tuesday because David had an evening meeting.  It rained again Tuesday afternoon, while we were there. We were able to find the problem, and resolve it, but only after further flood waters flowed into the basement. The focus the rest of this week was getting the roof into position before the next rain. Tomorrow.

On Friday afternoon the right side sloping roof of the addition was in place, and they are putting in the joists covering the section between the old roof to the left and the new peak on the right.  This is what it looked like from the front on Friday. You can see how they are making a transitional slope to avoid a deep valley between the sections.

This is how it looked from above on Friday.  The edge of the original roof is on the right, and the new roof will overlap it so that it makes a smooth transition between the two.  It is very complicated getting the wood cut to meet all of the different angles needed to fit the puzzle pieces together.  We are quite impressed with the crew.

Two of the crew came in today to get everything done before the rain tomorrow.  As we were leaving this afternoon they were finishing up with the boards for the roof decking.  So with tar paper and a tarpaulin, we hope it all stays dry through whatever buckets of water the Rain Gods decide to pour down tomorrow.  

Framing the Addition

Now you can see how big the addition will be on the house!

On Saturday we drove down for a second day of rescuing the old blocks, bricks and rubble from the outside wall, to keep them out of the dumpster.  We are carefully throwing them down as far a possible into the ravine. Then I climbed my way down, like a mountain goat, as our neighbor describes it. I moved the pieces around to slow down the erosion.  Where you see the particle board along the two back sides is where all of the cinder block came out.

On the right side of the addition will be the Entrance Hall, with a large closet for coats.  The far end of the Entrance Hall will open into the side of the kitchen.  On the left side of the addition, from front to back, will be a walk-in closet for the master bedroom, a small half-bath, and a hallway between the kitchen and bedrooms.

This is the view looking out toward the street.

You can see the third dumpster along the street.  When they tried to haul out the second one, it had sunk down into the sandy soil, so there are now two inch boards under the rollers of this one.

This will be the view from the window to the South.  The Parrotia persica, or Persian Ironwood tree, is just beginning its show of fall color.  It was good we put up all the orange barrier fencing to protect it, though I have to say they have been very careful about what has been in the construction zone.

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down

On Monday our contractor sent this picture of the original concrete block wall being torn down in preparation for the addition next to it.  You can see the vertical wood studs of the temporary wall supporting the edge of the roof behind the blocks. 

All of that wall and the one around the corner were removed on Tuesday, but because of the rain storm that blew in this morning, they have covered the opening to keep the rain out. 

Here is the pile of blocks they have saved for me to throw down into the ravine to slow down the erosion.  I just have to figure out where to drop them down through all of the trees and bushes I have growing on the side.

I know it doesn't look like much, but at the back of this picture is the temporary wall that has replaced the concrete block on the side of the kitchen. They need to put a new beam across there to carry the weight of that edge, while also adding the dormer which will cover the new addition.  Complicated. 

Foundation set for New Addition

Our contractor sent a couple of photos showing the progress made today on the foundation of the new addition.  This makes it very concrete (pun intended!) how big the new addition will be.  The box up in the front, towards the camera, outlines the new porch.

On Tuesday, when we saw the stakes for the footings, the contractor realized that new outside wall will be coming into the wall in the middle of the existing existing window.  That was not what we expected.  A call to the architect confirmed that the window will need to be moved closer to the corner.

Off with the Old Porch

The old concrete porch has been removed.  Curiously there were small front steps which they have left in place directly in front of the door.  I was not there, so they dumped the debris into the dumpster, so it will not get tipped down into the ravine.  I am not going to climb in and throw it out.

I just got a text from the contractor that the footings have been poured for the addition!  They hope to starting building the block on top of it this week.

Continuing Demolition

The most dramatic change in the last week is the removal of the sheet rock on the ceiling. There was only about an inch of insulation, which is why the house was so hard to keep warm in the winter and got so hot in the summer. 

This first picture is a view toward the kitchen.  All that remains is the sink on the left side of the picture.  Of course, the toilet was not in the kitchen! Since it is only a few years old, and works perfectly fine, it is being reused.  The long black tube on the right is a duct for the air conditioning. The rectangular, silver object up above the ceiling is the air handler for the air conditioning.

This is the current view from the second bedroom, through the former bathroom, and into the Master Bedroom.  You can see the last of the floor tile on the floor, and the tub on the right.  While we were there, there was an exiting few minutes when a capped off water pipe broke, and water started gushing out onto the floor.  I heard Christopher yell, "S**t, turn off the water," and ran down the basement stairs to the main water shut off where it comes into the house.  As our contractor said later, whenever you have pipes as old as ours, they can easily snap off.

I took on the job of demolishing the massive brick fireplace.  It involved breaking off individual bricks, then carrying them out and throwing them down into the ravine.  I have previously used bricks from a neighbor's renovation to stabilize the bottom of the ravine and reduce the erosion. They work very well.

This is the "before" picture.  One of the crew had already done some demolition, and had stacked up the bricks on the floor.  You can see the chimney behind the fireplace, which runs up through the roof, and some top bricks removed. 

That fireplace is solid bricks, no open air space.  I spent about three hours using a sledge hammer and a crowbar, carefully taking off a few bricks at a time, so it wouldn't fall over and damage the oak floor.  Then I carried 4-6 bricks outside in a bucket with chunks of mortar. Bricks are very heavy!

Three hours or so later, this is what was left.  I still have the raised hearth to demolish, which promises to take as much time since it is solid masonry.  I don't look forward to it, but it will save us some money. 

We are still considering what to put up instead, but know we want something much smaller. The previous fireplace was 6 feet tall and 6 feet wide, much too massive for room.  David likes the idea of some kind of limestone, but hasn't found anything he likes yet.