A jacked up renovation report.
Say Cheese.
That’s the 100-year-old heart pine beam that was holding up the back left side of our house. These Hillary conferring with Desta renovation moments continue.
It’s hard for me not to think about it when every time I leave the garage cottage out back I see this.
Those two perpendicular beams aren’t going to be new columns. They are bracing up the house right now.
And there are bitty jacks in that empty spot that you can’t see because of the shadows in this photo.
They assure me that all is fine. Actually it’s fortuitous that we started tearing things apart and discovered this before they became apparent in a very bad way.
I do want to show you something cool.
Here is where they cut away the plaster for our new shower.
See those diagonal heart pine planks. That’s is the exterior framing of the walls. And the floors were framed the same way. Bad point is that they didn’t use any insulation back them. Good point is that the framing is so solid our house didn’t fall in.
Too bad the wood rotted. It has been there a 100 years ago. Termites and water did their destruction. But the construction methods back then were so solid the walls stayed put. Hurrah for our bed not falling through the floor in the middle of the night.
That’s my renovation report for the week. Or until something great (or bad) happens.
Any renovating going on in your world?
As an old house owner, that beam drives terror into my heart! We are always doing something or other (usually not enough) but I wish I were in the middle of a big renovation like you are, really I do! So much to look forward to! Can’t wait to keep watching!
We had a rotted beam that ran the length of our house- we had to fix it before we moved in. I sure hope we don’t have any more. I’ll just keep my eyes shut and pretend the floors slope for some other reason.
ugh.
Renovations can be hard. You always try to do your best and then something goes wrong. Renovating is not always cheaper then building a new house, even though some may think so.