Making it level

So perhaps its the case with any older house but there's much that isn't level. Verticals seem to stay vertical much better than the horizontal surfaces stay level. Places with water seem to suffer more than those without and sadly any place that was remodeled seems to have been a place for a shortcut. While I was redoing the electric in the upstairs I noticed flex in the bathroom floor. Judiaann and I had gone to pick out tile last week and miraculously we found something we agreed on - I nice light natural limestone. Since I want to put in the tile myself I knew my life would be easier if the base was bombproof and level and I wasn't interested in taking a shortcut like self leveling compound.

So it starts with a laser level to get the gist of the situation and then you start pulling things until you find the problem(s) and all along the way you check it with the bubble level. I spent a lot of time running up and down the stairs to the chop saw to cut bridges between joists and so I didn't shoot too many photos but this will give you an idea.

This is after pulling the underlayment - the layer of plywood that the goes on top of the base or subfloor. The original remodel used two different widths of plywood and then strips of laminate to shim it. 

The laser level is great for trying to get an overall feel for where your problems are. Interestingly the middle joists were level but the bedroom side was pretty low and the original remodel compounded it by raising the new subfloor too high on the plumbing side.

My trick to get the laser low enough to skim the floor is to drop it into the heating vent and use the magnet to hold it to a pry bar. 

Much like restoring a bike it's better and easier to pull it down to the frame. This also allowed me to lay the level all over to find the problem areas and then address them.

This floor is bombproof. All the edges have sistered joists (a second one next to the original) and the new 3/4 plywood is now glued down with construction adhesive to eliminate any chance of squeaks or movement. 

This is what we're looking for. Next is a new underlayment and then the tub and Hardibacker cement board, thin-set and tile. We're practically done! 

Power and Light

So last week my friend Vince came over to help with the kitchen electrical and to sort the things that aren't up to code. There was plenty to sort. There was a sub panel in the bathroom (not code) that we took out and then we just started pulling wrong and non functional wires and anything that looked remotely suspect. Vince spent a lot of time going, "Wow, just wow. I can't even imagine how someone thought this was okay." I spent a lot of time thinking, "If I could just be satisfied with mediocrity this would all go so much smoother..."

It starts with just taking stock of what goes where.

Then you open things up and remove the stuff that doesn't make sense.

And that stuff starts to add up...

...and up and up. There was some crazy wiring done but we're fixing it all.

Having a headlamp is necessary when you cut the black wire and it all goes dark.

Meanwhile I decide to open a wall so that we can run power down to where it makes sense and to also get rid of the dropped ceiling as we're going to rerun some of the vents. I'm always amazed at the things I find when I tear into things. Mostly their bad things but sometimes, times like today, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Or in this case behind the wall. 

Ripping out sheet rock is fun - cleaning it up isn't. 

Hmm, no insulation in this exterior wall - that's smart.

Besides the cobwebs I see cracks of lights - and plants.

So I vacuum the walls and as I clean I see more light.

A window! Who covers over a window? Just amazing. Needless to say this will be uncovered and exposed and be a welcome source of light in the kitchen. 

All framed up and ready to wire

So today was spent framing up the last of the upstairs and meeting with the HVAC guy. We're installing a gas furnace mostly because we want a gas range and running the gas lines to the house are free if you install a furnace. We have a heat pump so the furnace will only see use in the cold months of the winter which there aren't many.

Anyway, today was framing up the bathroom wall.

The cedar tongue and groove that was pulled off this wall was all saved to be used elsewhere. 

In order to bury the beam in the bathroom (it would be over the tub and so there's nothing to be gained in trying to expose it) we framed that wall with 2x4's but for the bedroom I framed that in 2x3's so that the wall would be flush with the bottom of the beam on both sides.

Through the now exposed original doorway on the right you can see where the chimney used to be. That space will now be a linen closet. 

For some reason (and let's be honest, I've already given up trying to understand the logic of many of the changes I find) the original bedroom door was walled off and two doors were added - one in the middle of the bathroom and one into the third bedroom which also had a very strange closet taking over almost half of it. It was odd as it kept the bed from being in the most natural place which is against the wall and looking out the window. 

Now that the layout is back to the original plan I find it so natural to come up the stairs, turn the corner and walk right into the bedroom. Makes total sense.

And for no real reason but that I spent an hour cleaning and repairing the laser on the mitre saw this morning (all tools are bought used) I figured I'd toss in a couple of chopping the 2x4's.

The laser marks the saws kerf and makes it very easy to know you're on your line. 

The mitre saw is a new addition but it will get more and more use as we continue to do work. 

Miscellany and Sundry

Part of the restoration is also fixing things that previous owners just didn't bother with. Like the fuel oil tank that was abandoned when the house was converted to electric. It should have been decommissioned but it wasn't so that's another thing we're doing. We'll also convert the furnace to gas but that's only because we want a gas range and the lines are free if you add a furnace. Most of the houses heat and cooling is done with a heat pump so the furnace won't see much use. The gas range, however, will see plenty.

Here the mitigation company fills the old tank with perlite. Safe at last!

Another thing that I always find curious is unused space. When we removed the chimney to the furnace I climbed up the opening and found this small space in the attic. Unused, no entrance anywhere and just begging to become something interesting. Both Judiaann and I remember secret little rooms in houses when we were kids so the plan is to make a ladder in the closet of one of the kids rooms that will lead up to their own secret fort. I'll probably divide off a section in our closet to be used for winter cloths and suitcases and such. We still carry the NYC mentality of using every last little inch for storage.

Future fort of Lucas and Nadia - I can't wait to surprise them with this. 

Finally there's the garage. A thing I've dreamt of most of my adult life or at least since I've owned my first real motorcycle. It's a small two car but with judicious use of space and lots of storage I should be able to get all my machine tools and the 6 or 7 motorcycles I have in there. It's important to get that working as all of the steelwork I plan on doing myself. Railings, a floating staircase, fireplace insert and hearth in addition to select pieces of furniture. I can pretty much make anything there so I can't wait to start fabricating for the house.

Outlets galore! The garage will have seven 220 outlets and fourteen 4-gang 120 outlets - yes, that's 62 places to plug things in.

Demo Continues...

So simultaneous to the foundation correction we began demo of the kitchen and bath. The bath was just a horrible 80's thing that had grown into the bedroom with it's jacuzzi tub. We're going back to the original layout but updating it to take advantage of modern materials. Our tub will have more capacity than the jacuzzi but occupy the same foot print as the original tub and be clean, sleek and 24" deep but within the narrow 60" width of the original layout.

Removing the jacuzzi tub, balcony and modified doorways. Sort of all of it.

There on the far right we uncovered the original laundry shoot which we will reinstate. 

At the same time Ben suggested removing the wall that separates the kitchen from the main room. Originally this was a full wall with a door to the main room but it was, at some point, opened halfway. We wanted to completely get rid of it but plumbing in the wall prevented that so we're going to leave one three foot section, remove the entire wall facing the main room and span that with a 4x12 beam that mimics the ceiling beams. This is a place where we will depart from the letter of mid-century to embrace the spirit of it to make the layout more open. 

The balcony on the right was an addition we're keeping. The kids love it and it's fun space to have but we're trimming it down are replacing the turned wood rail with metal cable. The light the place gets is just great.

We're getting closer. The balcony has been stripped and already it's thinner, leaner and less clunky so that's an improvement.  Next to come out is the wall in the kitchen. 

Stripping it down and getting to the good stuff.

Jacob Flory of B.D. Mack is doing a lot of the demo and some of the (critical) framing such as the removal of the kitchen wall and setting the beam. He also has a dump truck about the same year as our house so it looks like a very period renovation. 

It's a mid 50's Chevy dump truck which looks just about perfect with the house. Hmm...

Beam is set and we're ready to frame out the upstairs.

Ben is prepping the floor for our first wall. 

It might not be too easy to see here but the kitchen is now fully open to the main room in the house which effectively makes both rooms larger - win, win. 

Here's the story of our house in one beam cross section. The beams were black, then green, then white then purple. The ceilings at the top are the unmolested cedar. I will be sanding them all back to that and the beams will be painted black again.