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.

Cubist Masterpiece

Framing begins for the stair tower. The scaffolding is inside the structure. Notice the rectangular opening at the top of the South (right) side. Windows will go there. There's also a sidelight set of windows going into the West side (the side closest) along the right edge. They'll be very tall and narrow--11' tall by 14" wide.

• 2/23 :: Daniel adds : It's always fun comparing these things to NYC construction. For instance, you can't use wood studs for any construction here, only steel.

Room With a View

This is looking from the front entry way out through that giant hole in the last photo. Taken just minutes before the green staircase leaves this home forever.

The Void

The crew covers this exposed portion of the house with their giant blue tarp when they're not working, and we were lucky to get a shot of the gaping hole before the scaffolding went up. That lathe and plaster wall is 100 years old, but will be coming out over the next few weeks and will be replaced by a set of french doors. The corner window will also be pulled out and will become a shear (support) wall.

Loading the Flatbed

The longer section is loaded onto the flatbed. This section and its sister will each end up in different homes as independent staircases. We sold the stairs through Craigslist the week before they were pulled out of the house.

Crane Stitch

Jules, one of the Green Hammer guys, actually owns this crane/flatbed truck combo. I'm not sure if he was joking when he told me that his insurance policy specifically forbids bungee jumping from the crane.

Stair Extraction: Motion Picture

Here's a short video of the crew pulling out the 14' top section of the stairs. The total stair height as assembled was just over 21'. Oh, since our camera doesn't record audio, we added a ridiculously unnecessary overdub of heavy machinery.

One Last Stair Shot

Next up: The removal.

The Fate of the Green Carpet.

Even the creative minds at the rebuilding center wouldn't be able to find a reuse for this nasty old carpet. To the dumpster it goes.

Master Bedroom: Facing West

You can see the arborvitae plants through the window. None of neighbors can see into our yard and, perhaps even better, we can't see into anyone else's (with the exception of our lovely neighbors to the South.) The house is very tall and covered with windows, so the fact that both the interior and exterior are so private is notable.

Master Bedroom: Stitch Facing South

A great illustration of the room's natural light - both South and West. You can see beneath the loose batt insulation that the floor is cut up in two places. When the architects were designing last summer, they needed to look into the floor to see how the second floor structural members were installed. Keep in mind that before the second floor was put in, the only thing up here was the roof for the first floor. The stick framing wasn't anywhere near enough to hold up a second story, so an additional layer of structural joists had to be put down. The first cut (on the right) told us that the main structural beam runs N-S down the center of the room. We had to come back later to find out how wide the beam is, hence the second cut on the left.

The Systems: Exposed

Looking up from the first floor through the second and into the roof framing. We're standing in what was formerly the closet space between the West "living room" and the back pantry/stair area. The wall is gone and so is most of the floor between the first and second floors here. The duct running up the right side of the photo is for heating the second floor. One nice thing about this project is that we won't have to replace the heating furnace--it's natural gas, forced air, and very high efficiency.

All in All it's Just Another Break in the Wall

Looking from the basement bedroom North through what was once the closet space. The bedroom carpet has been peeled back to the East side of the room because the concrete cutter will be needed here to cut the old foundation wall out where the new foundation has been poured. The cutter uses water to keep the blade cool and the runoff will go right onto the floor. The nice light is provided by our friend the sun, as there is no wall to block it.