Dancing on Air

The first half flight to the second floor is done. So is the landing midway between the first and second floors. The stairs to the basement are in, although you really can't see it in this photo. For now, we've got temporary railings. We haven't quite figured out what we're going to do for permanents.

Last of the Vermin?

We're still pulling the house apart. The East wall studs are out completely, the South wall siding is off and a temporary load-bearing stud wall and post have been placed to hold up the second story (heard this before?). The crew is going to make an attempt at finishing the framing and sheathing before the week is out, but they might be slowed down if they find any more termite damage. The heavy timber sill plate on the east wall was chewed through so badly that it made a hollow thud and exhaled a cloud of wood dust when tapped.

In case you're worrying, the termites are long gone (thank goodness).

Ripping Deeper (Reverse Angle)

Reverse angle of the last post. This view is from the Southeast corner of the lot, facing Northwest, looking into the living room.

Ripping Deeper

After comprehensive consideration, we've decided to reframe the two walls on the East and South sides. Today the siding came off the east side. All this reframing is due to the skinny outside wall studs, which make effective insulation somewhat difficult (among other challenges). We'll reuse the siding, but it'll be reattached to 2x4 studs instead of 2x3s. This process also makes electrical rough-in a little easier and we'll be able to properly sheathe and wrap the house before the siding goes back on.

More of a New Wall

Same wall as yesterday, more studs today. And one lonely kitty.

Half Flight

1st floor looking down into the basement. The first half flight of stairs is in.

Back Fill

The excavator was in today. The foundation trench is back filled with gravel and is capped with a layer of top soil.

The Springwater Corridor

The Springwater Corridor is a 17-mile long recreational path that cuts through Sellwood not ten blocks from our house. The inspiration is Olmsted-ian in nature. It serves as a connection between many of the city's larger, less tamed greenspaces. It also serves as a primary biking artery for those heading from Gresham, outer southeast or Sellwood into downtown. From our house it takes about 20 minutes (Rachael speed) to get to downtown Portland.

Greenspaces, Pt. 2: Sellwood Park and Environs

Photo taken at Sellwood Park at Sunset.

Sellwood Park located on a large overlook above Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, Oaks Amusment Park and Sellwood Waterfront Park.

Oaks Bottom is a sizable wilderness area that can, at times, resemble a giant bog. The great blue heron is one of the many species native to the refuge, and a pair of bald eagles frequent the area (but live on nearby Ross Island.) Rachael's middle school students have spent time volunteering here, focusing on native species restoration and invasive species removal.

Perhaps better known than the refuge is the amusement park located between the Springwater Corridor (see next post) and the river. The year-round carnival, called Oaks Park, includes a cheesy roller coaster and other staples (bumper cars, tilt-a-whirl etc.) as well as a roller skating rink. The rink features a floor that is built on floats. This is less of a novelty; the close proximity to the river has resulted in the rink's frequent flooding. There's also an enormous working organ hanging from the ceiling above the center of the rink. Thursday nights still feature live organ music. This place is all the rage for middle school dates....or at least it was when I was 13. Not that I dated then, Dad.

Sellwood Riverfront Park is a smaller park right on the Willamette river. It features live music on Mondays in the summertime. Last summer's highlight was a band called The Stolen Sweets, headed by local legend Pete Krebs.

As for Sellwood Park, it's one of the nicest in Portland. It's expansive and diverse with a public pool, grove of Douglis Fir Trees, myriad baseball diamonds, basketball and tennis courts, a playground and some great viewpoints. The Northwest edge is also a great place to sneak a view of the fireworks on the 4th of July.

The Eagle Has Landing

The landing midway between the basement and first floor is emerging. The small spaces below the landing and stairs will be used as a wine cellar. The water on the floor isn't a leak; it's some rain that found its way in through the upper story windows over the weekend.

A New Wall

The wall that will separate the living room from the stairwell is getting roughed in. This photo is facing west, standing where the kitchen island will be.

Insulating Foam

This 2" thick insulating foam panel wraps the foundation on the stair tower. We put it on the outside so that we didn't chew up precious stairwell space.

• 3/27 :: Michael adds : There is also a "dry-lock" vapor barier painted on the outside of the foundation behind the blue rigid 2" insulation.

Greenspaces, Pt. 1

Here's a map of our neighborhood, called Sellwood. It is the southern-most neighborhood on the East side of Portland Proper. It's technically two neighborhoods merged together to form Sellwood-Moreland. The area is defined by the river (to the West), 99E (to the East), the county line (to the South) and the westerly curve of 99E (to the North.)

The major greenspaces are named from the neighborhoods, that is, Sellwood and Westmoreland. We're located within spitting distance of Westmoreland Park, and 12 blocks due East of Sellwood Park.

Bathroom Studs

The old bathroom south stud wall is out and a new one is in. The new bathroom doorway is at the center of the photo. As you walk in, the door will swing to the left against the bathtub. The toilet will remain where it is and the sink will be on the right. The wall that separates the bathroom from the expanded kitchen will come straight out from just right of the square picture window (above the toilet).

Caustic Acoustic

Until this morning, the basement ceiling was covered in acoustic tiling. We've pulled it out and as a result added another 5 inches of head height, which makes a huge difference. The room will eventually be an office, a bedroom and an entertainment room.

Insulating noise between the first floor from the basement is a significant part of this project. Upstairs, we're installing a soundproofing underlayment beneath the wood floors. The underlayment is made of 93% recycled rubber materials and is almost a half inch thick. If the underlayment doesn't block all the noise we want it to, we'll attach strips of glued double-lam sheet rock to the underside of the main floor in between the basement ceiling joists.

The finished ceiling will have exposed joists and systems (HVAC, electrical, etc.), but we'll paint everything one color to give the whole thing a unified look.

Rough Kitchen

The new kitchen floor plan is taking shape.

Yet More Front Porch Deconstruction

A view facing Northeast.

More Front Porch Deconstruction

This photo stitch faces Northwest. The roof is all that remains of the porch, which is lying collapsed on the ground by the front doors. The crew tacked plywood sheathing onto the bump-out, which now has a clear and definite form.

Front Porch Deconstruction

The front entry upper and lower steps and porch floor are out. Our plan is to replace what used to be the lower set of stairs with stone slabs so we can continue the visual horizontal continuity of the slope. The upper set of stairs, leading to the new deck (part of which will include the front porch), will be Ipe (Corteza Amarilla), which is a tropical hardwood and is about two to three times as hard as oak. It is a dense, strong wood, and is one of the most durable construction woods available. The Ipe we use in this project will be sourced from a certified sustainable forest.

The kitchen bump-out (mostly covered by a silver tarp) is visible to the right. This angle provides a better idea of the depth of the bump-out, which extends only about 18" from the main wall.

Bump-Out Framing

The rough framing for the kitchen bump-out is just about done. The large square in the center will hold two windows and there will be a window seat in front. We're putting in pantry space on either side of the windows. This photo is facing dead east. The bathroom is out of the photo to the left.

Backyard Update

Sheathing for the West side of the house is about finished. The crew is running out of yard space to store their various piles of debris, tools and building materials.

Oh, and the blue blob is receding.

Systems

The light was good this morning, so we snapped this shot of an otherwise very dark place at the center of the basement. The brick chimney used to stand right behind the hot water heater (foreground). The furnace is on the right. The ductwork, plumbing and wiring are all over the place. Maybe we should call Central Services to clean it up.

Spring!

It's been a gorgeous week, and the guys from Green Hammer have made ridiculously excellent progress.

East Wall, Opened Up

The East wall again, now with siding and studs cut out to make room for the kitchen bump-out. The tarp is obscuring some of the opening in this photo. The bit of siding peeking out from behind the tarp is a thin section which has the electric meter still attached. The electrician is visiting the site today to move wiring around so the crew can continue with the framing.

East Wall, No Plaster

The plaster has been pulled off the entire East wall which, because we are cutting half of it out to put in a bump-out for the kitchen, must be reinforced according to code.

The ceiling is also visible here. The floor joists added for the second floor now double as the ceiling joists for the first floor.

Ceiling Debris

Joists and ceiling boards ready for recycling and reuse.

Goodbye, Walls and Ceiling

Most of the the old first floor stud walls and nasty green ceiling are gone. We're elated to be rid of the original ceiling because it gives us another 4" of head height on the first floor, plus bringing it down brought with it all the dead mice, rodent feces, squirrel nests, old shingle and other construction materials camping out up there. The construction materials and most of the dirt we found up there were from the second floor addition, completed circa 1992.

The wood from this phase of demolition will go to two places: The painted wood will likely be reused as part of a paper manufacturing process here in Portland, OR. Our understanding is that the paint (lead-based or no) will not end up as part of the paper product itself. The unpainted wood will be ground up and sold as garden mulch.

The temporary structural timber at the center of the room is keeping the second floor from sagging. On the left the new outside wall is framed and sheathed, and the opening where the french doors will go is partially cut open (the actual width of the door is the width of the header, visible at the top of the wall). The piles of debris on the right are chunks of plaster that covered the east inside wall.

• 3/27 :: Michael adds : Couldn't agree more about the green ceiling. Very nasty was it. Sorry mice! And 4" of head space is a lot, even with already tall ceilings.

• 3/27 :: We add : Michael is the lead framer on the project.
  

Stair Tower North Wall

Taken just before the sheathing goes on. The wide window at the top means that the structural support has to be diverted. Notice how there are several 2x6's sistered together on each side of the window rough opening.

Stair Tower Panoramic

Here's a shot taken while standing inside the stair tower on the basement floor. Starting at the top, you can see the ceiling joists for the stair tower. Sheating is installed on the right side, but not the left. You can just barely see the second floor, and in the middle of the photo is the first floor. On the right side, a small corner of the old green ceiling is visible. At the bottom of the photo, notice the basement stud walls that surround the furnace and hot water heater (which are not visible here). The washer and dryer are at the back on the left.

Inside Outside Upside Green: Slide Show

Fun, fun, and we didn't have to do any extra work! Google did a little bit of their own stitching and tied Blogger into Picasa Web Albums, so now you can view all the photos in this series as a slide show. Click this link to go to the first photo in the set:

Inside Outside Upside Green Slide Show

The slide show automatically updates as we add photos to the blog. If you want to browse the slide show in the future, just click on "Photo Slide Show" under Links to the right in the navigation bar.

If you're visiting this site for the first time and want to read from the beginning, you can view the first post here. To move forward, click the Newer Post link at the bottom of each post.

Stair Tower Update

The same shot from a few days ago, this time with a tarpless reveal.

Peter the Wolf...

...blowing the chimney down.

Chimney: After

Peter and Justin met at the Ugly Mug this morning for some coffee and then tore into the now ex-chimney with a hand sledge and pry bar. It came apart pretty easily, although the lower mortar was a little tougher than the stuff closer to the top. Dust and debris was everywhere and we were both blowing soot out our noses all afternoon.

Bathroom Wall Exposed

Here's the same wall from an earlier post. We'll use that plumbing on the right for the clawfoot tub. When we moved in, those lines were capped and unused, although we think they may have fed a laundry center at one time.

2nd Floor Subfloor Completed

This photo is taken from the first floor, looking west into the new stair tower. On the right, note the back door entry way has been reframed. Above, the subflooring and joists for the second floor landing / study area have been installed.

Chimney: Before

We were initially very excited about exposing the chimney. Brick can add lots of character to an interior, and represents some of the house's history. Unfortunately, the chimney turned out to be most unstable (it shook when leaned on!) and would have cost too much to stabilize. So what does one do with an old chimney? Make a (backyard) pizza oven, of course! Peter and Alicia, our lovely former neighbors from Liebe Street, are in the process of collecting bricks for just this reason. Peter's joining Justin for the deconstruction extravaganza later this week. Keep an eye out for forthcoming photos of the oven!

A Gable is Born

The tarp blob is growing. Now it covers half of the old second floor roof, which has been partially stripped of its shingle and tar paper. The stair tower ridge board (the main board that runs along the peak of the roof) is in and is supported by the first few rafters. We'll try to get another shot of this without the tarp if we can.

Subfloor (Reverse Angle)

Here's the almost-reverse angle of the last post. This is looking N (the toilet and tub are on the other side of that piece of sheetrock). These two vertical beams are helping keep the second floor on the second floor. You can't see the detail here, but this is well-fastened plywood. There must be a fastener (nail? screw? we forget) every two inches.

Subfloor

Another shot from the NE corner of the house (our once and future kitchen), looking SW. This is a daytime photo, so you can see a lot more in the far corners of the house. One big change this last week is that the sub flooring and internal stair well framing has seen considerable progress. The studs at the center of the photo are temporary; they're helping hold up the second floor until the real wall is built, which will several feet to the right.

We studied some of the new construction over the weekend and we're happy to say we noticed that our builder is using a lot of lumber they salvaged from the initial deconstruction.