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.

Stitch: From the SW Corner of the Downstairs

Stitch: From the NE Corner of the Downstairs

Built to Last

This is the base of a vertical structural timber at the NW corner of the stair tower. The bolts go through the lumber and tie into a right-angle brace which is anchored to the concrete. In the event of an earthquake, the walls will hopefully not walk off the foundation. On the other hand, bolting the walls to the earth like this... logic tells us that an earthquake would just shake the whole thing apart anyway.

Taking Shape

The wall framing for the stair tower nearly completed. The window rough openings are now clearly defined.

Fusion

A section of the old foundation has been cut out to open the wall into the new stair well. This view is from the existing basement looking west through the area where the spiral staircase once stood.