Stairway to hell

Not much (good) to say on this one.  We wanted to divert the roof drainage from the foundation to a deep pit far away from anything it can hurt.  Mission accomplished.  We had new "seamless" gutters installed and then piped directly into a drain (only in the back yard).  A few obstacles later, we ended at the back of the yard.  You can almost see China from the bottom.
 

Mitigate foundation damage- CHECK!

O for Old

Today was finishing off the tuck pointing.  O for Old.

After a lot of research, we split the hairs and tired to catch a portion of all opinions.  What's the saying; everyone has one.  Well- when it comes to 120 year old brick the saying holds true.  Some say use the same mortar mix as today, and some say use the mix containing a high lime content (Type O).  We went the safe route and followed the last experts opinion.  We could post the links to the expert opinions, but there are too many for a reasonable person to read.

Long story short; the brick made in 1890 differs from the brick made today and requires a different type of mortar.  So why do we need mortar?  Well- if you were 120 years old you may need a face lift, or tuck pointing.  Picture the process as flossing for brick.  You must clean out the joints between the brick and then fill with new mortar.  This will bring back the structural integrity of the wall.

Below is the flossed brick.  We only repaired the areas where the "parging" was loose and needed repaired.

Look at those lines!

Mix your mortar and fill the joints. Simple as that.

Step 2.  Repair the parging (the dark grey material on either side of the exposed brick).  This could go into the "lessons learned" category.  There are websites that claim a sand topping mix can be applied vertically, but not in Colorado.  Maybe where the earth spins in the opposite direction...  So- first apply galvanized mesh screen.  We also learned that you can't apply too many screws to hold the screen in place after applying the mortar.  I'm guessing we will get to perfect this technique in some of the repaired patches...  The screen must be tight to the wall in every inch.

Tough to see, but our wallet knows it's there.  The screen gives the mortar something to grab onto.  The rest is just like placing concrete, only vertically.  The whole system protects the brick from damage, and gets us back into the good graces of the new neighbors.  Curb appeal is everything!

We would have included photos of the finished product, but it was covered to protect from the cold night temps.  More later.

Drywall installed today.  He will finish Monday.  Windows also pushed to Monday.

Email if you happen to need resources on brick repair.

Day 12

 The plumbing is roughed in, the electrical is almost roughed in.  Demo is complete (I hope).  Most of the framing is done.  Our vision is taking shape.  Gutters were installed yesterday, along with a roof drain.  Brick repair on the outside north wall.  Windows and drywall next.

Living room viewed from the front door.

No change to the stairs.  The one item we are not touching.

Dining room looking into the new Kitchen. Notice the dropped ceiling for the plumbing, cabinets, and electrical (the can lights).  We have also changed the overall dimension of the rear exterior window to accommodate the counters. The rear window to nowhere is framed in and ready for drywall. 

Downstairs Bathroom. Notice the high ceiling.  

Before it was 6'- now 9'

Downstairs Bathroom. Pocket door. The toilet now sits where the closet for the downstairs bedroom once was.

Upstairs Bathroom.  The shower base is poured and the seat is in back.

The vanity will be to the right, and the toilet on the far left.

Upstairs room #1.  No more door. Carpet gone.

Week 1

The demo is done, and now the hard part- putting it all together again.

Dad, Melissa, and I hit it hard this weekend.  Lots of small items to take care of, but those small items add up to lots of time.  We made the executive decision to completely demo the upstairs bathroom.  You don't know fun until you remove 120 year old walls.  It's really amazing how much material they used back then to build a home.  Plaster, lathe, some other stuff, and lots of dust.  After hours of destroying walls we moved onto the upstairs doors.  Why not?  One door that we had planned to save was hanging on with molly bolts...  After carefully removing that door (had to lean on it), the other door didn't match.  Out it went.  Our contractor (Andy) made the decision on the one remaining door this morning.  The dumpster still had room.

We also removed the wood floors from the downstairs bathroom for patching by our flooring expert.  The wood slats are unique dimensions and would be very expensive to recreate today.  The good slats had to be carefully removed, nails pulled, and stashed away for safe keeping.  After warming up the wood working skills we moved onto to 88 degree corners.  While patching the floor in the kitchen we discovered that not all walls are created equal, or with the use of a square.  This just adds to the charm of an old home.  Basically, we did the prep work for the flooring expert to make his job faster and cheaper.

The same was done for the electrician that came today.  We couldn't do a lot for him to make the process faster, but did a couple of favors for him hoping it will be appreciated.

Details.  Today we walked through the home finalizing the lighting as it was being installed.  No major changes.  We did add a light over the shower.  That will be nice.  We also limited the amount of wall damage. It won't be easy to match the different textures in each room.  Andy has a drywall specialist coming at the end of this week and early next week to show off his skills.

This is going fast.  Andy (Mountain Plain Homes) and his crew are topnotch.  We are running to keep up. I'm having a blast getting to wear the construction gear again and talk shop each day at 6:30am.

Lessons Learned:
1) Melissa and I got very lucky with our contractor.  He is top notch.
2) Roll with the punches.  Trust the people you are paying.
3) It's just money.
4) Don't give me a hammer and lots of time.  Walls will come down.
5) Take the opportunity to do it right.

Notice the moved toilet location (now at code), and the now removed (broken- not by us) cast iron vent pipe.

Changes

With all remodeling you have changes.  This isn't a bad thing, as long as it doesn't cost extra.  So far we have a lot of changes.  No extra's, just changes.  It's the nature of the beast.

Change 1 was to drop the ceiling in the kitchen.  This really helps the install of the cabinets and the simplifies the lighting.  We decided to drop the ceiling around 10".  This is the perfect height for installing "can" lighting, and will also support the upper cabinets.  Installing the cabinets onto old brick is not ideal, and could cost us more in labor.  The "can" lights are the way to go for illuminating the room, and the new ceiling will allow for the electrician to easily run the new wiring.  No more soffits in the kitchen, and no more over the cabinet storage.  No big deal, and no dusting in hard to reach places.  We'll have cabinets secured to new framing and enough lighting to land a plane.  The electrical will go in smoothly/quickly.

Finally a change outside of the kitchen!  Welcome to the plumbing portion of this remodel.  So- a floor is supported with joists.  Our old home has 6" joists (unlike new homes with 10").  The upstairs plumbing is between fits between the floors, or into a space 6" wide.  We need 7.5" for the drain elbow...  Change 2.  See if you can guess it.  Dropped ceiling in the dining room to get the extra space for the plumbing.  Lots of good news for this change.  The ceiling will be the same elevation as the kitchen, so it will appear original.  Also, as in the kitchen, it will make the electrical much easier.  The damage from the changes; extra drywall and extra lumber.  The good news; easier working conditions, no need to patch existing plaster (spending extra time and $$), and consistency from the kitchen to the dining room.  Melissa and I are happy with the change, and so are the contractor's.  It's a win/win.

Change 3.  The upstairs vanity in the current location will be in the swing of the new shower door.  No problem- just move the vanity.  While we're at it, move the toilet.

The above photo shows the future shower.  If you can picture it: glass blocks in the window, a seat below, and tons of space.  More than enough room for two to shower at once.  No more elbows hitting heads, hogging the water, or dropped soap issues.

Plan C

More thoughts on the kitchen flooring.  We were really hoping to keep the wood, and keep the warmth.  The original design concept had cork flooring, and I was not into it.  After more research we found that cork has the same hardness as bamboo.  I know, I was also surprised.  There are some considerations with cork; don't set heavy objects on the floor, no wet mopping, and direct sunlight can discolor over time.

We found a great photo that matches the color scheme and will really complete the kitchen.  The checker design is that something extra that won't add too much difficulty to our install.  It also can buy us some time on the installation as the cabinets will be installed first.  The price is comparable to bamboo and other wood options, so why not take a chance.

Today the electrical is starting.  The framing for the bathrooms is underway and most of the debris from the house has made it into the dumpster.

Demo Days

We closed at 10am, and the demo started thereabouts...  By Friday night we had opened up the kitchen, demo'ed the bathrooms, and exposed the kitchen wood floors.  The pile of debris in the backyard is 3' high, and around 10' square.  Two layers of drywall in some spots, old cabinets, and a few bathroom fixtures.

So- some surprises.  The kitchen had 5 layers of linoleum and the remaining wood floor is not salvageable.  The plan was to refinish the wood floors in the kitchen along with the living room and dining room.  Onto Plan B.

Flooring in kitchen will now be Bamboo!  We went back and forth between tile and some other wood flooring, but decided the material and color contrast with the Bamboo floor will work with the design.  We can also install the floor faster than tile, and retain the "warmth" we were looking for in the kitchen.

The demo has gone a smooth as possible thanks to our contractor and his A Team.

Cabinets ordered today, and final plumbing plan this afternoon.

More later...