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.