“We are saving the house from itself.” Ron Dahlke, site supervisor, Ranserve.
It’s day 3 of framing. Steven stayed out of the way while Ron wrangled the framers. Until today. Wednesday, 8 July 2015.
What we imagine for Emerald Hill is beginning to emerge as the framers replace termite-damaged lumber with new, jack in new LVLs to replace undersized beams deflecting under load, and execute the structural engineering plan by “sistering” in new beams where there’s not enough lumber. It’s not really a remodel. It is, instead, a reconstruction, a salvaging, a saving, an interjection to create new life.
Let’s take a photo tour with the framing crew — Silverio in gray shirt, Roberto in white shirt, Marco in red shirt, sometimes with Cris from Ranserve.
An annotated map of some of the new structure framed into the house. Consider how much new lumber is needed to correctly replace the undersized single beams that the framers have replaced.
The new doubled wall between the entry and what will be the library. This wall is doubled to give the plumber room inside the wall for the plumbing stack and drain pipes.
Cris shows where he framed out what will be the corner in the kitchen that holds up the second floor. He says he needs to add one more stud.
This is where termites chewed out the vertical studs and header above what was the back window and door. Now a new header carries the load from the second floor, properly supported by new studs — and the temporary support wall is removed.
Look to the triple-stacked beams in the ceiling. The two beams on the right are original. That’s a new LVL “sistered” in to help carry the second floor above.
Putting in the header for the pocket door that will separate Jadin’s bedroom from bathroom 2.
What will be the door to Steven’s office.
Marco, left, in red, and Silverio, in gray, mark the floor where the wall to the right will extend further left.
Where the door to Steven’s office will go, Silverio measures up, Marco measures down. The existing original header is too tall — there’s not enough clearance for the door — and has to come out.
Silverio on the right, Roberto in back on the left, taking out the original header.
Silverio slices out the oak flooring to get to the concrete slab.
Silverio hammers the new bottom plate to the concrete slab.
Marco builds the new header for the new doorway.
Marco cuts new studs for the doorway wall while Roberto hammers the studs into place.
The new pantry.
Marco and Silverio snap lines into place for the new pantry walls, to begin constructing the pantry.
Sliverio, left, and Marco, right, use a string line to mark the location of what will be one of the pantry walls.
Sliverio, in front, Roberto, in middle, and Marco, at rear, use the string line to mark one of the pantry walls on the floor.
Roberto hammers the bottom plate of the pantry wall into place on the concrete slab.
Silverio, left, and Roberto, right, transfer the wall location from the plans to the ceiling lumber, snaping a string line.
Before the pantry wall is built, Marco, left, pushes the original wall into place, straightening it for Silverio to nail into vertical plumb. Before this correction, the wall “floated” loose, not attached to the ceiling and bowing left and right.
Roberto, left, and Silverio frame studs into position on the new pantry wall.
