Massive Progress

This was going to innevitably be the biggest leap from old to new. The second floor rear of the house being re-worked along with the roof. As you could see from the previous post, the entire back half of the roof was taken off and replaced. Here is the finished product: A level and consistent back wall and roof!




There are really two keys to this re-work. The first key was getting the back wall of the bathroom area brought up to match the height of the back wall in the master bedroom. The second key was getting the pitch line of the roof to an appropriate angle for shingles along with setting the roof support up to allow us to have cathedral ceilings in the master bedroom and bathroom.

From the underside of the roof you can see the 2 x 12 roof supports that we put in to build a better support for the roof. Also, you can see how we have one consistent roof line on the end. We decided that this represented a more consistent look in the back, and would decrease the issues with flashing and guttering on the back. This will also keep any sort of ice damming issues in corners and make our lives easier down the road once the roof is finished.

This is the view standing inside the master bathroom looking at the north wall of the master bedroom. This gives you and idea of what the ceiling height is going to be like in the finished space in here. The ceiling height at the peak should be something like 15ft! The other benefit to this ceiling is our ability to be able to run the HVAC in the the joist spaces to allow us to have a soffit free ceiling. This is a consistent theme for me; and one that the GC is going to get sick of hearing out of me. I am trying to build a soffit free home...and its going to be the end of me and the GC arguing over ways to get it done. Clean lines are very important to the design concept.

This is the dirt that has been taken out of the basement to this point. Basically all of the dirt that is coming out will be out by today. For the most part all that is left to come out is one more 3x3 footing location at the back of the house where we will be fortifying the steel beem in the back as well as the front. This house is going to be Fort Knox with respect to its infrastructure. No stone is being left unturned in this process, and we figure if we are in there, and its not 100% structurally secure, then we might as well do it right. There most likely will be no ROI in a lot of this structural support, but we will be able to say to any potential buyer down the road that this house is as sound as they come for 100+ yr old houses.

Interior shot of the dug out basment. You can see the original floor height in the tiny little piece of concrete that is left around the post furthest to the right in the picture. Now that we have all of the dirt out and know what the bottom of the footing is; I am being told that we will be picking up somewhere between 5-7" in ceiling height. This is HUGE. Its going to allow us to not have to duck under the support beem when walking around as well as make it easier to put in the HVAC and other mechanicals that have to move below the joist space.

The roofer starts today. The carpenter hopes to be finishing his first leg, the plumber is working on the underground plumbing that will go under the gravel and concrete floor, and the electrician is out moving the service. Its a busy day.

I will post some pictures tomorrow of the framed out master bathroom as it has been re-worked from the most recent posted design.