Remodeling our remodeling
You might recall this week was the beginning of our downstairs remodeling project. Our contractor got his crew started bright and early Monday morning, tearing down the walls and ceiling. Let me give you a little before and after action.
Let me also show you the weird popcorn ceiling someone slapped up there in a past remodel.
Three years ago, right after we bought the house, we had a contractor come over and look around and he said he would definitely take that ceiling down and redo it. "I wonder what's hiding under there?" he mused. But of course, we weren't even close to doing anything with the downstairs at that point and we promptly forgot about it and got our renter in there and all was well for three years.
DUM DUM DUMMMMMMMMMMM... cue the scary music.
Wanna know what was hiding under that ceiling?
Massive, horrible, terrible, god-awful, our-house-is-falling-down termite damage.
Oh yes my friends, our house really and truly is falling down. The termites, which were discovered by a previous owner (we're talking about you ANDREW GREENE and TIM GREENE) and eradicated, left a swath of chewed beams and joists in their wake. But that one board looks brand-spanking-new in that photo, you might be thinking. Well that would be because they sistered the floor joists with new boards (in a halfass way, of course) and covered it back up. A carpenter told us the boards couldn't be more than four years old, based on their condition and the condition of the screws they used.
The sill timber holding the front of the house up is almost completely eaten away. The front of our entire three-story house is pretty much being held up by the 2x4s that you screw drywall into.
I will never forget the sound of Josh's voice when he delivered the news to me over the phone. I am not exaggerating when I tell you all the air left my lungs and I felt like I might be sick.
After a slight hesitation, our structural engineer friend told us it was safe to at least live in the house. It's not like this is something that happened yesterday, and we've been living with it all this time just fine. He said unless a tornado whips through, we should be OK. We have been having some mighty crazy weather lately, however.
Ideas for fixing this little problem, based on the extent of damage on the first floor, ranged from shoring up just the basement wall to taking 10 feet off the front of all three floors and rebuilding the front of the house. That would also require us to take the roof off. Remember when I joked this remodeling project wouldn't leave me with snow falling into my bedroom? Apparently, I was psychic.
However, we think we might have found a solution involving someone called the Rot Doctor and an epoxy product he created to harden and replace damaged wood. We are in contact with some people who are familiar with the process and should know more next week.
Perhaps I should check and see if snarkyconstruction is taken because this is going to be something worth documenting. Obviously, the actual basement remodeling is now on hold while we figure out how to keep the house from collapsing.
Let me also show you the weird popcorn ceiling someone slapped up there in a past remodel.
Three years ago, right after we bought the house, we had a contractor come over and look around and he said he would definitely take that ceiling down and redo it. "I wonder what's hiding under there?" he mused. But of course, we weren't even close to doing anything with the downstairs at that point and we promptly forgot about it and got our renter in there and all was well for three years.
DUM DUM DUMMMMMMMMMMM... cue the scary music.
Wanna know what was hiding under that ceiling?
Massive, horrible, terrible, god-awful, our-house-is-falling-down termite damage.
Oh yes my friends, our house really and truly is falling down. The termites, which were discovered by a previous owner (we're talking about you ANDREW GREENE and TIM GREENE) and eradicated, left a swath of chewed beams and joists in their wake. But that one board looks brand-spanking-new in that photo, you might be thinking. Well that would be because they sistered the floor joists with new boards (in a halfass way, of course) and covered it back up. A carpenter told us the boards couldn't be more than four years old, based on their condition and the condition of the screws they used.
The sill timber holding the front of the house up is almost completely eaten away. The front of our entire three-story house is pretty much being held up by the 2x4s that you screw drywall into.
I will never forget the sound of Josh's voice when he delivered the news to me over the phone. I am not exaggerating when I tell you all the air left my lungs and I felt like I might be sick.
After a slight hesitation, our structural engineer friend told us it was safe to at least live in the house. It's not like this is something that happened yesterday, and we've been living with it all this time just fine. He said unless a tornado whips through, we should be OK. We have been having some mighty crazy weather lately, however.
Ideas for fixing this little problem, based on the extent of damage on the first floor, ranged from shoring up just the basement wall to taking 10 feet off the front of all three floors and rebuilding the front of the house. That would also require us to take the roof off. Remember when I joked this remodeling project wouldn't leave me with snow falling into my bedroom? Apparently, I was psychic.
However, we think we might have found a solution involving someone called the Rot Doctor and an epoxy product he created to harden and replace damaged wood. We are in contact with some people who are familiar with the process and should know more next week.
Perhaps I should check and see if snarkyconstruction is taken because this is going to be something worth documenting. Obviously, the actual basement remodeling is now on hold while we figure out how to keep the house from collapsing.
Labels: Remodeling
posted by Amy at
12:04 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home