Crown Heights Reno

OK
I am severely behind with blogging
but june was devoted to planning a couple of community events
and i stopped drinking coffee
(read: i need more sleep)
so i got a bit bogged down
thankfully, renovation is going full steam ahead
(well sometimes not exactly full steam, but that’s another story)
so i have a bit of catch up to do

since we did remove walls
and since we wanted to stick as much new plumbing into existing ceilings
we needed some structural reinforcement
that’s where these guys came in handy:
LVL for supporting beams & heavy duty hangers to support the new joists

below are two views of the ceiling for what will be the kitchen/dining area.
the LVL was used to create support where a wall was taken out

the ceiling to the left (over the kitchen area) will be dropped to conceal the beam, accommodate venting, a/c etc.
the ceiling in the dining area will be go back up to original height
(that plaster work was too far gone to repair)

exploratory work was done in the ceiling of the parlor floor to see if we could run the plumbing lines from the top floor without creating a soffit in the front hall

we can:
views of the sistering and pocketing of the joists from the top and the bottom

next up: framing

the silver lining to all the anguish of the demolition phase was being able to see all the places in the house that had been destroyed by water and shoddy workmanship and watch them being fixed and secured

structural work started in the basement where we shored up the columns of the house by building cement piers at their base after the digout.
this was done first, to ensure that the pounding of the demolition wouldn’t cause any damage.

the majority of work to be done was on the 2nd & 3rd floors.
the damage to be repaired was due to 3 things:

this required augmenting and/or replacing the existing support structure
which is where these guys came in handy:

heavy duty hangers to support the new headers

the left wall in the back: details of the construction

when i saw this work being done, it really gave me the confidence that were on the right track and that exposing so much of the structure (or tearing out the walls depending on how you want to phrase that)
was a good decision.
even though i know nothing about this kind of work,
when i saw it done i had a very visceral reaction to it;
it just felt so “solid” in my body

the problem/the solution
the headers above the top floor windows and the joists on the edges of one of the skylights were completed rotted from leaks

an iron bar replaced the window header and the area was rebricked

the joists on either side of the skylight were completely reinforced from end to end: the new beams were pocketed and sistered to the existing ones that were crumbling, this helped with the sag of the roof as well

demo hell

a dozen things i’ve learned about demolition

#1
be very clear and consistent when marking what is to stay and what is to be removed
confusion resulted when the following 3 designations were used:
save
do not touch
remove and save
do
save & do not touch
mean the same thing?
or does
save & remove and save
mean the same?

so in addition to restoring missing molding, some molding will need to be reinstalled

which brings us to #1a:
label the pieces carefully so that they can be put back

#2
if you intend to keep it, protect it

#3
destruction

destruction

destruction

in a word it’s awful,
and while some might relish the fact that progress is being made,
i found it terribly disturbing.
even though i love the plans we have for the house,
i hated watching parts of it be destroyed

#4
dirt, dirt, dirt

and more dirt

don’t fool yourself,
no amount of tape
and no numbers of layers of plastic sheeting
is going to keep any part of a house under demolition even a tiny bit dust free.
the stuff is incredibly fine and i don’t believe it ever stops settling

#5
don’t let moments of relative calm fool you

the mess will be back

#6
pipes will get hit

you will have leaks

#7
your garbage cans are no longer yours
they are theirs

your house is no longer yours
it is theirs

#8
some things,
no matter how many times you move them to the top of the heap
so that they will end up in the dumpster,
get rescued and carefully set aside

other things,
that have been deliberately set aside,
keep making a beeline for the trash

#9
it’s true
there are plumbers who think nothing of removing a huge section of a supporting beam or joist

it’s so obviously wrong when you see it

#10
water rots wood

there are gaping holes where leaky bathtubs once were

#11
some things keep getting moved from place to place
as if they have deep personal significance

this is a crap medicine chest
whose journey i have actually found quite amusing

#12
and there will be endless questions;
like,
what part of the house did this come from?

or
who would have guessed that the weird tin tile on the downstairs kitchen wall could be so interesting

and
the biggest question of all

will this ever end?

ok
i know there has been a LOT about the basement so far,
but that’s what we’ve been muckin’ around with (literally) for the past week or so.

the first issue was to get some support around the columns,
once we dug out, they looked a little iffy and we called in a structural engineer to take a look.
he recommended building a surrounding form at the base that came out 2 feet in each direction.

they actually have a nice sculptural presence and provide a bit of an impromptu seating area

sidebar:
during this time period we also finalized the whole HVAC question that had been plaguing us.
we are taking out the forced air system and putting in hot water. this decision was not made lightly, we labored over it for months but since we were already adding a boiler into the mix (for the radiant floor in the build out) we decided to go all the way. we will be running new duct work from the roof to carry the a/c creating a zone for the top & for the parlor floor and a zone each for the front & back work spaces on the ground floor. this decsion allowed us to pull out the endless ductwork that covered the basement ceiling.

next came the cement pour,
this was a shocker
turning the corner and seeing this monster pulled up to the basement hatch…

the cement was poured over 2 days

here we are looking towards the back of the house, just before they poured

and from the back to the front after the 2nd pour:

we resolved the two different floor levels with a ramp.

next up: demo days

there were times when i thought it might never happen
but…
we have a contractor
and
we have approved plans
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it’s a little strange right now
on every surface there is either
an “X”
a “remove & save”
or
a “do not touch”

all those XXXs tug at my heart strings

but this is a little promise of what’s to come:

the kitchen:
all bright & airy with glass & aluminum and some really light patterny wood