Attic Framing

While the Polar Vortex descended upon the Midwest, the temperature here reached only 11.  Justin and Keefe worked mostly in the attic.  They also finished the new support post in the basement.

With the attic hatch open, windows cracked open to run power cords, and the interior basement door open, the furnace couldn't keep up.  The temperature hovered around 58 F.  Evelyn had a cold, so we hunkered down in the front room with the door closed and stayed warm.

Posts - Day Two

One thing this blog cannot convey is the incredible noise reciprocating saws, drills, hammers, saws and compressors make.  The kids had a two hour snow delay this morning and were trying to watch TV but couldn't hear.  The guys added a post in the living room to support the beam and a post to support Charlotte's dormer.  They tried to inset the living room post as much as possible, but there was thick plaster and mortar where the old chimney connection was that they had to put it outside the drywall.

They framed for a post in the basement to support both, but before they could install it, the plumber had to divert the main water line (and reconnect our sink).  While the plumber was here, he also kindly fixed the upstairs bathroom drain which was dripping about a table spoon of water after every shower.

Posts - Day One

On Sunday we hung up the one curtain rod that is the correct size (oops) and moved our bed and Evelyn's bed into our new master bedroom.  We woke up Monday morning looking up at the wintry trees.  We have had four bedrooms in this house. 

Justin's son hurt his shoulder in a skiing accident, so he spent yesterday morning at the hospital.  A quiet Monday for us.

Today more of our house got ripped apart in order to support the new framing and to improve the existing framing.  They put in a new, large header across the living room doorway with new posts that will be hidden behind the new casing and more posts in the future dining room.

Evelyn has been very curious about the attic.  She really wanted to climb up there, so finally Alyssa gave in and said okay.  Evelyn stepped on the bottom rung and stopped.  She noticed a cobweb.  She asked lots of questions about spiders - spiders on the ladder, spiders in the attic, etc.  It became a struggle of "Fear of Spiders" vs "Desire to see the Attic".  After much hesitation, the desire to see the attic won, and she bravely climbed the ladder to peak in the attic.

Victorian Pin Up Girls

Justin and Keif started working in the attic.  The new ridge beam, other beams and columns need to be tied into the rest of the framing.  Justin found these Victorian pin up girls and pictures up in the attic.

They also ran into a problem with the framing between the original part of the house (the living room) and the newer sections.  The balloon framing and "flat studs" (rotated at 90 degrees) are causing problems for supporting the new beams.  It will be easier to explain as they put the new posts in.  It also means a bit more work for us.

Rainy Day

January 24 - In anticipation of today's rain, the guys spent all of yesterday shoveling roofs and waterproofing other projects.  Justin also snowblowed the work site and took the trailer to the dump.

Today, Justin checked the roof and received a lumber delivery from Oaks  Brothers.  Oddly, we had a steady trickle of  water in the basement, where we have never had water before.

Demo Day

Today Alyssa kept hearing Chip Gain's (from HGTV's Fixer Upper) voice in her head, excitedly proclaiming "It's Demo Day!"  Today Justin and Keefe took down the lower playroom ceiling (which oddly was plaster on top of drywall), the lower ceiling framing, and the old plaster and lath ceiling.  In between the ceilings was a layer of insulation we had blown in.  They also took off the walls and and the hallway ceiling.  The girls didn't like the reciprocating saw.

Finishing up in the Basement

It was bitterly cold this Monday morning.  The guys worked in the basement.  They removed the redundant, old posts and added a smooth topcoat of mortar to the new footings.  Short work day today.

Ready for Snow

We're all set for the snow.  The plywood roof is on and covered in waterproof paper.

Earlier in the week, Justin, Keefe and Rory worked in the morning when it was too cold to be out side.  They put new blocking on top of the foundation to sister to the sill, which was showing signs of some rot.  The 'firewood posts' have been replaced with pressurized posts secured on concrete.  The new posts with new footings and a new laminated beam (adjacent to the basement stairs) are now in the rear section of the basement.

The Beginnings of a Roof

We are due for a Nor'Easter this weekend.  Justin said this morning that "Come hell or high water we need to get the roof on."  They framed the roof joists today and nailed plywood on one half.  When Evelyn saw Justin standing on the top of the wall, she said "That's dangerous." When he jumped down, she added "He should never do that again."

Upstairs Header

Well, the chaos has begun to move upstairs.  This morning they built a temporary supporting wall so that they could put in the new beam.  Evelyn was really concerned and confused when she saw it.

Outside today they installed the header beam upstairs and worked on the living room roof.

The Beginnings of Evelyn's Room

Progress is visually quick on framing days.  Where there were no walls yesterday, today Evelyn's bedroom has walls and openings for windows.  This afternoon, they brought the new header beam up on top of the framing, ready to install tomorrow.

After school we climbed out through the bedroom window to see Evelyn's room.  They all thought it was pretty fun.  I think Evelyn is finally understanding what all this disruptive construction is all about.  She was excited about her new room. 

We wonder how much that Evelyn will remember.  One of Colin's earliest memories is of the addition to his house when he was four.  Alyssa remembers her dad leveling and reseeding her backyard when she was about the same age.

Beginnings of a Second Floor

The temperatures this morning were below zero, so the guys started in the basement, pouring the concrete footings for the new posts.

Then, when it warmed up a bit, they went outside build the decking for the second floor.  They then stripped the siding off the second story.  Evelyn thought it was pretty funny to see the guys outside the window.  We opened it up to say hello.

Stinky

A few months ago, a structural engineer looked at our foundation and basement.  The structural joists could be better supported, and improvements need to be made for the addition.  (The weight of the upstairs is literally being supported by the sub floor by the top of the basement stairs.)  The guys cut holes in the  floor to prepare for new footings, which stank up the whole house with a horrible chemical smell.  Unfortunately, it is really cold today, so we were limited in how much we could open the windows.

The front room joist is held up by what looks like an old piece of firewood. The log on the left isn't even touching the foundation.  These will be replaced.

 

Our sink had to be disconnected to replace an old metal post.  The wall is temporary.  When they took out the metal post that used to be at the bottom of the stairs, the whole house shook violently.

Living Room Roof

January 10 - More lumber was delivered today, so Justin and Rory built the living room addition roof.  They also put a dozen bags of concrete mix and a dozen wooden posts in preparation for replacing and adding support posts in the basement.

Snow Day!

We thought the kids might have another delay because we were forecasted for a bit of a wintry mix overnight, but we ended up with several inches of wet, heavy snow.  This time, the kids slept through the 8 am reciprocating saw.

Today Justin and Rory started framing the second floor deck.  Alyssa was upstairs with Evelyn and Charlotte and was surprised to see Rory walking around just outside the second floor window.  We opened the window to say hello.

The snow sticking to the trees was beautiful, but unfortunately it did some damage to Judith's white lilac bushes on the property line.  One of the thick branches snapped in two.  Alyssa (after trying to figure out where Colin put the lobbers when we cleaned out the basement) cut away most of the damaged branch, which was also in the way of the guys trying to get up on the roof.  Between the excavator damage and now the snow damage, the shrub border is not going to look its best this spring.

Side Walls

January 8 - Due to snowy weather this morning, the kids had a school delay.  At 8:04 am all three of them woke up to the sound of a reciprocating saw cutting into the house.  Evelyn looked confused, and Alistair and Charlotte simultaneously called out from their bedrooms.  "What is that?  What time is it? Is there school?"

Work continued with framing today, with minimal additional impact inside.  They put up the side walls and are getting ready to deck the second floor.

At the end of the day, they wrapped the addition up to keep it dry overnight.  Freezing rain is in the forecast.