Head Room and Entrances

So, I think we can say the renovation has officially started.  One of the things that has been really bothering us about the family room is an attached addition that we've been calling "the sun room", since it probably has more windows than anything else.  The room also has two exterior doors and a low ceiling.  The two doors won't be addressed for awhile, but the ceiling really needs to be changed.  This area is meant to really be the main back entrance to the house, and it feels very tight and stuffy when you walk in the door.  So, to make the room feel bigger and more dramatic, the ceiling will get raised or vaulted.  But first, we had to see what was up there...

Getting started, I realized pretty quickly that the ceiling was plywood.  What a pain!  And somehow they managed to get it between the top plate of the wall and the ceiling joists.  I don't even want to know how they did that, or why.

With all the plywood, crappy and gross insulation down, a real inspection could be done.  Turns out it's definitely something that was constructed in the last few decades, with fairly modern materials, or at least material sizes (2x6's and 2x4's instead of actual rough cut lumber).

The tongue and groove planks for the roof appeared to be in great repair.  A big relief!

But, I was still seeing some things that didn't seem quite right.  Not necessarily wrong, but just strange and not your typical "framing by the book", but pretty sturdy.  The wire routing was what really caught my eye.  Not supported well and will need to be addressed.

Oh yeah, and about 20 mud dobber nests!  Thankfully all old and evacuated.  But, they still give me the heebee-geebees, for some reason.

With all that, it was pretty much necessary to pull the rest down.  The walls were easy, but revealed a few more things.  Mostly I wanted to make sure the wiring was correct as well as insulation and of course structure.  Basically it's a clean slate now!

Time to start planning the next step.  Raising the ceiling!  It just may get a cathedral ceiling with raised double collar ties, boxed and stained.  I'll have to do the math on the structure, though.  The look is worthless if it won't hold the roof up.  I already know that the windows don't have the proper framing.  So now is the time to fix it.

Floors - Phase 1

Okay.  The best part of the house, is the floors.  Well...  Most of them.  Some of them need a complete overhaul.  First up, is the intended family room.  The wood floors were covered with vinyl flooring, of some kind.  Really big pain in the rear!

So let's begin!  I did a little research, found a few ideas on removing this stuff.  Everything from toxic chemicals to WD40.  Even boiling hot water.  I was thinking, YEAH RIGHT!  This stuff is stuck good. Water would never work for this...

First, the vinyl had to be scraped up off the floor.  Inch by inch.  And of course the glue wouldn't come up with it.  That would be far too easy...

Some disappointment by one of the doors.  The threshold seal was toast, and leaked pretty good.  Floors were water logged, dried up, and splitting.  Not good!  I'll have to start looking for some narrow oak planks.

Well.  As it turns out, boiling water WORKS GREAT!  Several people said to boil water and lay out a towel on the areas where the glue was left behind.  That would take forever, so I went to Home Depot and bought a nice little wallpaper steamer for cheap.  30 to 45 seconds, one section at a time, a putty knife, and it slides right off the wood.

And now I can get a better look at the hidden surprise.  A fireplace hearth, and sure enough, some patch work in the wall and trim.  A sure sign that there's a fireplace, in some condition, behind that wall.  Tile is in poor shape.  Several with cracks.  Probably cannot be salvaged, but we're starting to find places with salvaged tiles and reproduction tiles.  Maybe we can find what we're looking for.

And finally, after weeks of picking at this flooring glue, the end result.  Still a ton of glue residue, but anymore water will surely ruin the floor, so the rest will be left for the rough pass of the floor sander.

Awful job with the ductwork.  Appears it was put in with the carpet padding in mind.  Sits up really high.  They'll get repaired and lowered, and/or moved to another location.

And now we can see the floor rot.  Oofa!  BAD!

A circular saw, wood chisel, and some careful work, and the rotten oak tongue and groove flooring is chipped out.  Had to be careful not to damage the surrounding pieces that were still good.

Unfortunately, the subfloor is rotten as well.  So, more planks will have to be pulled to do a proper subfloor repair.

That's it for now on the floors.  Great start!