Lots has been going on at the project house; most of it not very photogenic or interesting. But things are starting to get more interesting. We’ll take a look at the owner’s choice of exterior paint color and peek inside the ongoing work in the kitchen…
The side porch as the project began…
The side porch after some effort by Brad the painter. The amount of prep work and priming was somewhat staggering.
The kitchen as it appeared a few months ago.
The same view but with wood paneling and 1970’s casings removed. The ghosts of the original woodwork are clearly visible and will be replicated in a newly reconfigured doorway which will have a colonnade-like aspect to it.
This wall needed to be removed to accommodate the owner’s plan for a larger kitchen.
An interesting variety of diagonal bracing (along with a diagonal wire which appears to be tightening the wall) were revealed beneath the plaster.
Because the original builders chose to run 20 foot joists in the ceiling running East and West rather than shorter joists running North and South, a new header is called for to replace the load-bearing wall. Old lumber will be used for the new header due to its superior strength when compared to currently available new lumber.
The ceiling is temporarily braced on each side of the wall to be removed.
Once the floor above is supported on each end, Jim removes the wall and cuts the joist ends to receive a new beam. One end of the beam will rest on a newly shortened bathroom wall while the other end will rest on a new post inserted into the remaining plastered wall.
The new beam made of salvaged lumber was dropped in from a hole cut into the bathroom floor above.
Here the new beam coexists with the temporary supports.
Jim attaches joist hangers to the new beam.
The wall between the bathroom and newly-widened kitchen has moved over about 18 inches. The new bathtub is in place. The kitchen window will soon be replaced with a modern 30 degree bay window. The ceiling will later be furred and sheetrocked to conceal scars. Soon: wiring and plumbing!
Jim lives dangerously with those flip flops! Nice work! A concealed beam even!
LOL! He hates shoes, and never wears them in the summer; he prefers to go barefoot. For him, flip flops are safety gear. My prediction: he’ll take a nail in the foot before this is all over! The concealed beam was a necessity as the wall cabinets had already been made and go all the way to the ceiling. We have a ton of finish work to do over the winter.
Nice to see an update and more progress here!
The diagonal bracing is interesting. Seems to be kind of ad-hoc, influenced perhaps by some of the earlier timber-frame techniques, or let-in diagonal bracing sometimes used with balloon framing. It’s interesting to see how local carpenters did what they thought was “best” (often to varying success). The wire is something I have never seen before in a house. It’s a common for bracing fences (that’s how we did it on the farm growing up). There are various configurations, but here’s one: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AOg8FJvYfyI/hqdefault.jpg
I like the re-use of old lumber, and also support the use of new joist hangers. Structural wood connectors and fasteners are one thing that really is far better now than 100 years ago. I love Spax screws for structural work, especially the wafer head (both small, and large lag-sized variety). If you haven’t tried them, you should. They are a bit spendy, but are so easy, and can’t really be beat for strength.
Thanks for the Spax recommendation! I’ve never used them, but will give them a try. Jim used #10 spiral shank nails for the joist hangers… they would be tough to remove at this point! Glad you approved of the old lumber… we use a lot of it at I’m always annoyed when I am reduced to having to work with new stuff. It feels so lightweight and flimsy compared to the recycled wood.
Thanks for the photo of the diagonal brace! They still do this with fencing in this area; probably elsewhere, too. The tried and true methods just keep on going.