Note: this update was produced via Siri on my iPhone. All grammatical mistakes I blame on her. When I get back home and in front of my computer I will make the necessary edits.
Demolition is almost complete so I believe it's time for an update. We were rather disappointed that we couldn't keep as much of the plaster as we originally intended. The plaster itself is original horsehair but has sustained massive water damage over the years from neglect by previous owners. It was discovered that water was running down the exterior walls from the roof. This was caused by poor maintenance of the box gutters and a poor roof installation. This resulted in Woodroad of two corner beams that had cause the house to settle about three quarters of an inch. After an engineers report, the good news is the foundation is in excellent shape. The wood can easily be replaced and the house brought back to its original level.
Because of the extensive damage to the exterior wall plaster, most of it had to be removed. The advantage to us is we get to insulate the entire house to improve its energy efficiency. Because we have access to both the roof now and the exterior walls, we can insulate the home far above local code. We have opted to go with blown in insulation as we can fill cavities that are hidden without disturbing the original structure and interior wall plaster that remains. Blown in insulation combined with a quality vapor barrier should give us R 60 in the attic and R20- 29 in the walls. We gain extra space in the walls because the walls themselves are original 2" x 4" instead of the modern framing which shorts almost a half-inch. This is a no expense we weren't planning on but it will pay for itself easily in two years as the heating bill for the house is quite expensive due to massive heat loss.
The other expense we weren't planning on was replacing the entire roof. During the initial inspection before we closed, we were given a report that the roof had new shingles and was in good condition. unfortunately he didn't look close enough to see that the drippage was installed incorrectly and that the box gutters were not being channeled properly. Inspector came highly recommended so it just goes to show you that an inspection alone cannot identify all the potential issues with a new purchase. I normally never get an inspection but my experience with stone foundations is about zero and that was my biggest concern before the purchase. The great news is that because the foundation is in such good shape I can take the money that I set aside for those repairs and apply it to the roof. We are also going to replace most of the shingles with a particular type of siding that will restore the original look to the third floor while the composite material will give it a 30 year life.
When we opened up the third-floor ceiling we realize that it was vastly under insulated. R19 for an attic ceiling during the winter is almost worthless. It was also installed incorrectly which allowed air to pass on either side of the insulation making it only 25% effective at best. The good news is we can reuse this insulation in both the basement and in him walls throughout the first and second floor that have limited batt insulation currently.
Electrical and plumbing
Everything is getting torn out. We discovered galvanized pipe and lead pipe in the house. With children this is a major concern so we are completely re-plumbing the house all the way out to the main city line. In older homes even if you replace the interior plumbing, the line that runs to the street is usually a lead pipe. It also could be A copper line but for a period of time they use lead soldering which actually leaks into the water supply. To be safe we are just going to switch all of it out. We planned on redoing most of the plumbing so the additional expense of swapping out the mainline to the city is well worth avoiding the potential health risks.
While the plumbing is getting redone we actually set up a temporary bathroom in the garage. Most construction sites order a plastic toilet but I'm not a fan of non hygienic conditions. I even splurged on two ply toilet paper.
At this point we are waiting for the rewire and plumbing to take place over the next five days. Then there is the plumbing and electrical inspections. After those inspections we can insulate and begin closing in the walls. We have been able to get so much done quickly by running two different shifts. We have about a 12 man crew for first shift and day for man shift for second. This is enabled us to work from eight in the morning until 11 o'clock at night six days a week.
Wood floors
It appears that most of the wood flooring is salvageable. We could not save the floor in the parlor which has sustained damage from the settling of the house due to the water damage. This room and the back sunroom will need new flooring. I am keeping secret what we have planned for the parlor because I obtained some interesting multiple species wood that will hopefully bring back the grandeur of the floor that used to be one of the welcoming features of the house. We were able to save the floors in the kitchen, the back parlor, The first floor bathroom, and all of the front area of the house with the more intricate wood. Due to the damage from water leaks over time, we were unable to save the floor in the upstairs bathroom. We will however scavenge the wood that remains usable and bring it downstairs to repair slight damage to the first floor. We will also scavenge the parlor for quality pieces to repair the rest of the house. We are attempting to save and reuse as much as possible that exists in the house. Second-floor bathroom will get tile that looks like wood planks which will be both kid friendly and keep the intended style of the house in tact. We also saved the marble toilet bases and will continue to use those in the home and keeping with Mission to save everything possible.
Outdoors
We elected to excavate all around the foundation. Due to the continued nature of water leaking down the side of the foundation and eventually finding its way to the basement, we are going to seal up the foundation from the outside. This will also give us an opportunity to look at the exterior foundation to make sure there is not any damage that needs to be repaired. We don't anticipate anything major but if minor things are handled now they do not become major things later. In order to access the surrounding foundation we needed to get rid of most of the concrete that surrounds the house. The concrete was most likely put in around the 1940s or 50s. Most of it was poorly installed without rebar. This caused massive cracking in the concrete which was further exasperated by uncontrolled water run off. The freeze thaw cycle over the years has made most of the surfaces unrepairable. Also they are not original to the house. Due to the weather we could not finish the outdoor demolition this week but it should be completed in the next 48 hours. We will then rebuild the original porch as best as we can given the limited knowledge of what it looked like back in 1870. I've done some research based on a single historical picture of the house as it was decorated for independence day while it's still contain the original porch which actually ran the entire width of the house. We will not extend the porch to its original with but instead bring back the architectural detail in the columns, budget permitting. The concrete by the kitchen entrance will be removed and a wood landing will be built with appropriate railing. There is also several areas around the exterior that need to be replaced due to wood rot from uncontrolled water seepage and run off.
Changes
Anytime you have a renovation on a historical property you will always have changes because you never know what you find until you open the walls. In addition to the insulation we also discovered that the back wall of the first floor bathroom was actually used to bring in supplies through a barn style door. We also discovered a separate exterior door in the kitchen that was probably use that one time as a way for people to access the second floor directly from the outside. The home was originally built as an intended resort house for the rich and famous to come to the Westside at the turn-of-the-century but was never actually used for that purpose as the builder died just before was completed. It was then used as a family residence for generations. We are not sure when the door was sealed over because plaster was on the inside and the framing matches the kitchen door but is already there. It does not however contain a transom. We are going to remove the door and save it.
When we demoed underneath the stairs we noticed there was ample space for both the refrigerator and additional shelving. I despise wasted space in the house so we are going to custom build shelving that will fit into the angle of the staircase. Potentially this could be a great spot to store dry goods or pots and pans. also in the kitchen we discovered a tremendous amount of space on the wall that was covered up by a false header that ran off the last 5 feet of the wall. This will enable us to have much more cabinet space that will be appropriate to the size of an 11 foot kitchen ceiling.
For the time being we are going to leave the closet door open in our bathroom. Because of the space constraints traditional doors might not be an option. One of the possibilities could be bifold doors or even barn door style slides that we could mount some of the interior doors that we have salvaged. That way we can keep some of the interior doors and use them without buying newer cheaper hollow doors.
We were not going to originally take out many of the rooms in the basement but because of the electrical rewire and the slight leveling of the house, we are removing and opening up most of the space. This will also allow us to put insulation in the basement and ready that space for finishing later.
We are going to put a drop-down ladder access to the roof. As much as I don't want to add to the budget, having an open staircase going directly to the roof with younger children on the third floor is not advisable option.
We decided to take all of the plaster off the break in the entire house. Having the exposed brick has really added to the aesthetic value and brings out the history of the home. Katie and I are debating about which ones to paint and seal and which ones to leave exposed only. We decided not to expose the break in the parlor as the molding is both original and the highlight of the room.
We eliminated the tiny closet in The baby's room. We are going to put a standard closet that will be on the backside of the door. The skinny closet that was in the master bedroom we thought about eliminating all together We are relocating the door to the hallway and making it a linen closet. When the house was originally built there was not a need for larger modern closets as they are wardrobe
was much smaller and the amount of clothing to hang was limited. Also these rooms were built for people to temporarily stay which would've meant only a handful of hooks and storage space. We plan to stay a little longer so we will need a bit larger space. This is why we are putting a massive closet in the master bathroom for us and each bedroom on the second floor will have sizable storage space.
Now that we have more cabinet space in the kitchen, we are going to put two different sets of wall cabinets in. One set that would be used for utilitarian purposes and one set above it that will be used to display some of our favorite but fragile pieces.
Originally we had planned on taking out the tile in the fireplaces. We had a local designer stop by the house and informed us that the tile is most likely original to the house. It is not my favorite color but we are not going to tear it out.
