Stud Sisters

We're waiting for the plumber, electrician and HVAC people to

come and do their thing but let me show you what's been going on.

The rough framing for the back porches has passed inspection so work

can now proceed to finish those up.

 

Inside, the new subfloor is installed.

 

On the window wall--this is where the stove was--the wall has been

pumped up with 2x6s.  This is not only to get a nice plumb wall... 

...but also to get the plumbing stack to from the upstairs

bathroom to the basement without having a bumpout in the wall

along with a nice bit of foam insulation.

You can see the new sill and header for the kitchen window that is being moved

up above counter height.  The new sink will be centered over this window.

 

 

All of the other studs are getting a 2x4 sistered alongside them.

Every single one.

 

 

None of the studs are vertical or on the same plane so

these 2x4s will correct that mess which should make

cabinet and countertop installation much easier.

 

Before the electrician comes to do the rough wiring, I

need to finalize my lighting plan.  It'll be exciting to have more

than one light fixture in the middle of the room!

Kitchen and Porch Update 9.14.13

Things are moving along.  The old back door has been removed and covered up

and the new French door has been framed in.  I may leave the upstairs door

until spring.  I'm over budget and need to make cuts.

The first floor porch is framed and the forms for the piers and new stairs were made...

...and poured the next day.

I planned wood stairs but switched to cement at the last minute.

I get huge icebergs that form along the edge of the porch roof that

eventually come crashing down and I thought the concrete would

end up being a lot less maintenance.   I thought this was a concession

but I really like how they turned out.

The edges of the cement were softened with a 1/4 round edger before the

cement was totally set .  I think it makes a big difference.  They look very similar

the steps on the old townhouses in Back Bay and the South End of Boston.

Inside, the new kitchen joists and subfloor are in.  Just like brand-new.

Having a new solid, level floor made me consider doing a tile floor in the kitchen

but I really think I'm going to stick with wood.  I'll probably use the same

white oak flooring I have in the rest of the house but bleach and/or pickle it.

The new floor joists span the second (inner) foundation so blocking was put in

so foam insulation can be sprayed in the unheated space between those two foundations.

The plumbing and electrical should start next week.

The new plumbing stack has claimed a new victim:  the upstairs bathroom.

To get the plumbing stack and vents tucked back into the kitchen wall, they'll

need to pass through the upstairs bathroom.  It just seemed easier to open

up those walls to do the plumbing.

This bathroom is also going to be renovated but it

had to get cut from the budget in this phase. 

Notice the wall where the sink was mounted under the window.

It's an historical document to all the colors the bathroom has

been painted in the past.

And one small section makes a wonderful abstract painting.

I'll be busy this weekend picking my appliances and light fixtures.

It feels like such a commitment. 

Kickin' Back

Thank you for all your well wishes, chanting and candle lighting.  I was able to get

my building permit late last week which came at the perfect time to enjoy the weekend.

Blogging friend Flower Jane, hostess of the world-famous Flowers in the House party, 

was passing through town so Shelley and I gave a tour of our favorite Maine and Boston

haunts over the weekend.  Here are a few of the weekend highlights from Instagram.

Vintage boat fenders/bumpers at York Antiques in York, Maine.

When was the last time you saw mermaid boat fenders?

I'm a sucker anything with eagles too.

Great dragon chandeliers at Pier 77, Cape Porpoise, Maine.

There are so many pretty things at Snug Harbor Farm and not

wanting to  be repetitive, I'm finding it fun to find beauty in 

the things that many people wouldn't look at.

Stairs in the barn, Snug Harbor Farm.

Wall in the potting shed, Snug Harbor Farm.

Algae-covered pots, Snug Harbor Farm.

I love the variation of color in the succulents, Snug Harbor Farm.

Yellow golden pheasant, Snug Harbor Farm.

Trophies at Restoration Hardware, Boston.

Acorn Street, Beacon Hill, Boston.

George Washington, Public Garden, Boston.

I hope you all kicked back and enjoyed the holiday weekend.

What a Hole!

All the floor joists are out.

It was at this point, I considered just filling the basement with water and calling it

an indoor swimming pool.  But I thought with all the old plumbing still in place,

I shouldn't tempt fate.  This, I believe (and hope), is the worst of the worst.  

We've been called to the principal's office--summoned to the building inspector's office--

to provide more information for the building permit.  We've already provided the plans

but they've requested photos of the porches, the windows and a site survey of the property.

In such a congested urban area, almost every structure violates current zoning

setback requirements so changes to structures, including changes to windows

and doors, can require special permits.  That could delay the project by two months.

Stayed tuned.

 Thank you for all the great suggestions on the time capsule.  

You're not just a bunch of pretty faces, you're all really smart too!

I've pulled a lot of things together, and I'll compile a list of everything I put in.

Time Capsule

I've decided to replace the entire floor structure of the kitchen.

It just makes sense.  But things are kind of at a standstill waiting for the city 

to approve my building permit.  WTF?  While I'm perfectly happy

in my temporary kitchen trying to perfect my toaster oven cassoulet,

I'd love for things to keep moving along.  Hopefully soon.

In the meantime, I'm putting together a time capsule that I'll bury

between the two foundations under the kitchen.  I have a few ideas

but wanted to get some suggestions from you.  I'll, of course,

include a newspaper, a few blog posts about the house and a lot

of photographs of the house, the street and the neighborhood.

What items define this point in history that might

be of interest in 100 years?

Floored

I know I'm a little strange but I love the look of exposed lath.

If this were my summer cottage by the sea, I would keep it like this.

Just hang a few paintings on the wall.

Anyway, the demo is done.  Well, I think the demo is done.

Here's why I'm not sure.

Darryl Carter

I was toying around with leaving a few of the old beams exposed

like in this Darryl Carter kitchen (which is one my favorites)

but until everything was gutted, there was just no way to know whether or not

anything would be pretty enough to leave exposed.

So I was looking forward to getting home and walking around the space

to make an assessment.  I unlocked the back door to step in and found...

No floor at all!

I guess the subfloor was just so crazy and at all different levels, it

just didn't make sense to save it.

There's nothing left but the floor joists.  Rosemary left me a comment

on the last post that the house looks so vulnerable in this state.  I think that's a great word.

 

We also discovered a second foundation, in about three feet from the outer one

just was I had suspected.  Why?  We'll get back to that.

The joists under the old bathroom don't seem too bad.  New 2x6s have been

sistered alongside the old 4x5 joists and additional pairs of 2x6s were also

added in between.

In other places joists were spaced about two feet apart.

Sixteen inches is normal and probably code.

 

 

And between the two foundations, the spacing is over 30 inches!  Many of the

joists are at different levels and the entire floor is just way out of level.

I could certainly beef up the structure with new joists and pad some of the

joists that are too low, but it just might make more sense to rip it out and

start from scratch.  There's certainly no better time to fix it properly.

From a purist point of view, I would love to leave anything original intact because

it's an historical document; on the other hand, the perfectionist in me would like

it all to be new.  I have a little bit of a stomach ache about it but I'm  not going

to shed any tears or lose any sleep over it.  Just gotta figure it out.

It is what it is, as they say.

But let's talk about the two foundations.  As I said, there are two foundations

about three feet apart but notice the center floor beam goes all the way

across to the outer foundation.  There appear to no bones, no treasure,

no stash of Paul Revere's silver although it would be fun to poke around with

a metal detector.  The inner foundation seems a little better built and made

of gray fieldstone...

...just like the foundation on the rest of the house. 

The outer foundation has a few wooden piers that have been filled in with brick.

It's much more makeshift than the inner foundation.

 The ceiling joists (and the second floor) go all the way across but notice on the back wall,

the sheathing is different on those three feet between the two foundations.

But why?

     1856 drawing                                                      2013 diagram

If you look at a few key measurements between the 1856 drawing and its current dimension,

you'll see that the house has gone from 61 feet to 42 feet on the right side and from

37 feet to 18 feet where the porches are.  Nineteen feet is missing!

I suspect there was a barn attached to the back of the house.  A place where horses and

firewood might have been.  But the double foundation?

Photo:  Our Little Big House

My guess is there was an inverted porch on that side of the house.  Perhaps just wide enough

to provide cover from the rain or snow to get firewood.   I think that explains the more

solid inner foundation of the house and a porch foundation that was most likely entirely on piers.

If I didn't lose three feet of my kitchen, I would love to recreate that.  I think it would be

really nice detail on that side of the house.

 

 

 

Up next is dealing with the plumbing and heating.

 

This plumbing stack serves the upstairs bathroom.  It would probably

make sense to renovate this bathroom at the same time but I have my limits.

Cast iron is famous for splitting open.  This is most like over 100 years old

so it's time to replace it with PVC.

 

 

The plumbing stack was boxed in just beside the old kitchen sink.  In the new plan the kitchen

sink will be placed right in front of the window.  The challenge will now be to move the plumbing stack back into the outside wall as far as possible so I can get a nice expanse of countertop.

 

Having plumbing in an outside wall can be a little troublesome in the wintertime

but I'm being told if the pipes are wrapped in foam and then foam insulation

is blown in around them, there shouldn't be any issue with freezing. 

 

Can I get a witness?

Demolition, Man

Demolition has started.  Three hours, two guys, one dumpster...

View from upstairs

...and the porches were history.

The house looks better already.  Those porches were just bringing the house down.

Under the porch were five shovels and a pitch fork.  There is no visible gap under the kitchen
but we still can't figure out why there's three feet between the outside of the foundation
and the inside of the basement.  The basement walls under the kitchen are poured concrete - so
much more modern than the rest of the basement - so it just may have been dug smaller than
the outside foundation.  I think this is where coal was shoveled in to the basement.



Inside the going is a little slower.  The kitchen tile is set in a bed on thick mortar
on a metal lath that's like a cheese grater.  Watch your fingers!

Above the tile is evidence of the stove flues that went in to the chimney.

The floor.  Ceramic tile on plywood on linoleum tile on plywood
on hardwood on subfloor.  It was a good two inches thick, maybe more.

Here's a few before-and-now photos.

One of the cats took up residence next to the sink after it was emptied out.
He seemed kind of sad about the old kitchen going away.
(Maybe that was just me.)

This is the same kitchen window that was next to the sink.

The bathroom window is in the distance.

Pretty, right?  It's so old!

Here's an old drum trap circa 1900. All lead.

The claw foot tub and sink drain to this.

The old pantry.

The back door to the porch air.

How's this for an example of bad construction technique?

A charred joist between the kitchen and bathroom that's about a foot shy of being

tied to anything.  I was told there had been a fire in the house - I saw evidence

of fire up above the ceiling where the new bathroom is - but this burned joist seems

to have been put here later.  Nothing around it or attached to it is burned.

I always find demolition both nauseating and exciting.  I always fear that something

horrible will be revealed, something will spring a leak, start a fire or fall down.

At the same time, it's the beginning of something new.