the joys of diy shingle removal

this is what i had to deal with...... needless to say i would like to have some angry words with whomever decided it would be a good idea to put this many shingles on a roof.  i think my house actually got larger once i got these off there...oh, and they took up about 20 cubic yards of dumpster space.  and if you have ever removed shingles... i have nothing more to say.

master bedroom floor/ceiling rehab & alteration

here's a view of the master bedroom floor joists.  they were in pretty bad shape as there was a chimney sitting right in the middle of the floor.  it dipped about 2.5 inches in the middle and as far as i'm concerned, this was not acceptable...  instead of taking out all the old joists, i decided to simply nail the new ones to them.  this decision was made based on the fact that, since the house is ballooned framed, these were not only acting as the floor joists, they are also acting as collar ties for the second story roof.  hence, removing them is basically not a good idea, at least if you don't want your roof to fold....    

these two are of the newly finished subfloor as well as the newly added 2x8's.  (the 2x8's were added to provide more room for insulation in the master bedroom ceiling)  in addition i raised the collar ties up about 1.5' to make the room feel larger. (overall the room is about 16'x24', minus the stairwell- which you can see the railing for in both the photos of the finished floor/ceiling)

no more hole/ new floor joists

once all the joists were cut out, the new joists arrived.  these are 14 ft. 2x10's which sit on the foundation on both sides.  while this was a pretty sturdy way to put the floor together, it was anything but easy.  to level it with the previously finished floor (which you can see just past the stairwell) i got out the invaluable laser level, set it at the far end of the room and measured down the the sill plate at each new joist location.  since the floor was pretty out of whack each of the joists had to be notched three times, two on the exterior wall end (as it had to fit between the sill and toe plate) and once on the interior side as it just sat directly on the sill plate.  that was not easy.  you can also see the solid blocking that was put in- which is something that i truly dislike...

don't walk in the front door

due to the poor state of the living room floor,(basically it was really really really really warped and what not) i felt it easiest to just take the whole thing out and start from scratch.  now, this is easier said than done as each new floor joist had to be notched in three places, specific to its location on the floor.  thankfully i had a laser level, which made the job easier, but not easy...  and it is a plenty far drop from the door to the basement floor - the ultimate thief deterrent.  oh, and that little 'room' in the corner of the basement used to be a shower. not pretty. 

floor joists for an upstairs bathroom (and closet)-

when i got the place it had one bathroom, on the main floor off the kitchen.  this was not good.  since the master bedroom (which is going to be my bedroom) is upstairs i figured it would be good idea, not only for ease of night time bathroom use, but also for resale value, i figured i should add a bathroom and closet upstairs.  i was able to mount a ledger strip along the front exterior wall and nail joist hangers evenly spaced (at 16" o.c.) along the ledger strip as well as the LVL to hold the 2x10's.  truly this made the job much easier as the current wall studs are anything but even... i suppose that's what you pay for with a balloon framed, 100+ year old house built by drunk people...

beam up

this was a pretty darn big change in the house:  since the place is/was over 100 years old, the floor plan was pretty lame to say the least.  the bathroom was right off the kitchen and there was a really strange little bedroom off the previous dining room.  so,  i took out one of the main load bearing walls and put up this giant  3-ply LVL.  its about 20 feet across by 18 inches tall.  it sitting right down on the sill plate on some crazy posts called parallam's, its some sort of compress lumber thats apparently extra strong. (like i really know, the truss company did all the calculations after i sent them the specs. for the place). overall, its pretty much a beast as is supports about half my house.  thankfully its still standing. 

oh, and there's three of them glued and screwed together up there...

floor out/floor in (number one)

out comes the floor.  not only did i find some less than adequate posts holding up this floor, i also got to find a complete mouse skeleton, some nasty insulation, and some old whisky bottles (which confirms my previous assumption about the mason, and perhaps all those involved in the building of this place).

apparently they ran out of lumber...

for the rehab i braced all the joists and cut a channel down the center to drop in a new three ply 2x8.  i also poured some new concrete footers for the posts (8ft on center).  and just a quick note: buy more concrete than you think you need, i ran out twice.

here it is with the new beam and joists.  the area under the stairs isn't done in this image as i had to rent a hydraulic jack to lift them into the proper location.  now its flat. (and level)

my parents are construction workers

this is my father, he is a great nail puller.

this is my mother, she is cold.  also, please take note of the old exterior door.  i am doing my best to find one to match it.

bad taste lived here at some time

obviously this floor did not go without a fight.

i was really excited with i found this sweet floor under the first several layers of tile. i did everything i could to save it but due to age and lack of proper care, it just didn't make it.  i am sad.

absolutely wonderful.

more demolition

i think the mason was drunk.  at one time this place had 3 chimneys, but no longer.  now it has zero.

i hate lathe.  and to make matters even more unpleasant someone had the bright idea to blow insulation into the wall cavity. 

at one time this was a kitchen.  now it is not.