porch demolition

Our plans for the front porch were to remove the brick planter, remove the cladding on the porch columns and re-clad them, and remove the arches (we weren’t sure what we were going to replace the arches with, but we knew we wanted the arches gone). Our plans have changed a bit based on what we found (or didn’t find) when they started removing the column cladding.

Just a view of where we left off last with the front elevation…

When the guys removed the cladding on the first column, they found that it was hollow! We expected to find structural columns inside, but instead, the columns were fake and decorative. Subsequently, the fastest way to remove them was to saw them in half…

pull on them a bit…

and snap them in half!

Removing the silly little guardrail at the side of the porch.

We expected to find beams underneath the arches, but just like the columns, they were completely fake.

Sawing an arch in half – it really was a day for the Sawzall.

More arch removal.

After the columns and arches were removed, a portion of the soffit was removed as well. This part of the soffit had water damage so it will be replaced.

The porch without columns or arches. The brick planter is also completely removed at this point. The porch feels much wider and open now.

An overall view of the house with the columns and arches removed. We’re not completely sure what we’re going to replace them with now – but knowing they were fake and not necessary frees up our design options.

stripping the front elevation

The front elevation will drastically change over the next few weeks. Renovations to the front include the master bathroom addition, a new window location for the hall bathroom, a new laundry room, a new front door (in a slightly different location), new windows at the kitchen (also in different locations), removal of the brick planter at the front of the porch, and renovations to the front porch columns and arches.

This is a view of the house three weeks ago, before any work began.

Workers begin to remove siding at the front porch in preparation for the new windows and front door. At the left, you can see where a portion of the brick planter has been stripped from the front of the concrete porch. We are very pleased with how cleanly it came off – the concrete underneath looks great!

When the siding is removed, the old building paper is exposed. At the left of the photo, you can see the original heart-shaped doorbell and mail slot.

Once the building paper is removed, the skip sheathing is exposed. At the right of the photo is the brick planter  – the guys haven’t quite stripped it from this end yet.

This photo shows a good view of the exposed side of the concrete porch once the brick planter is removed.

A view of the house after the siding and brick is removed.

 

 

 

 

kitchen demolition

Since the snow forced the guys inside, the kitchen demolition proceeded quickly. The entire kitchen was demolished by one guy. He’s not quite finished, but the plan is to have this space down to studs early next week.

The cabinet peninsula was removed first. I can already see how much better the kitchen layout will be without it.

The cooktop, stove hood, and cabinet fronts are removed.

When the sink was removed, they placed a bucket underneath it to collect any drips.

One wall of cabinets removed.

Working on the other side of cabinets.

Discovering old wallpaper is always interesting.

1954 wallpaper.

This photo was found behind a cabinet. Is it the first family who lived in the house? There is a name of McCreery on the back…

Progress is messy.

Empty and all cleaned up. Flooring, ceiling, lath and plaster removal occurs next week.

snow!

6-8″ of snow is a great way to slow progress down over here at The Pocket. All exterior work has come to a halt for now – but it just allowed the guys to move inside and start tackling indoor demolition. The only downside is that it’s FREEZING inside the house. With no insulation in the attic and holes in the exterior walls, things are a chilly 50 degrees inside. We’re making the best of it, snuggling up in front of the fireplace buried under duvets and watching the Olympics.

View from the front of the driveway. Most of the board and batten has been removed from the front of the house in preparation for the new windows (more on that in another post).

I don’t think I’d like to use that potty right now – brrr! Although it did provide a good target for snowball throwing this morning!

The skid steer waits out the snow…

The pile of beams and lumber.

The formwork for the master bathroom addition is covered with plastic sheeting to protect it from the snow. The concrete pour is scheduled for Monday – weather permitting.

A view of the rear middle and upper terraces. Concrete has not been poured back here yet – but shaping and grading has begun. Once the snow melts, Forest Landscape will be back to work back here.

A view of the new retaining wall from the lower part of the yard.

A view of the Telephone Terrace and the new retaining wall.

The barn. No livestock, but a great place to store firewood.

51 degrees in the living room. Since there is no heat in the kitchen and no insulation in the attic, we don’t seem to be able to get things above 51 in here.

The workers mistakenly removed the thermostat from the bedroom wing of the house yesterday. So we were completely without heat last night. Hamish (our contractor) came by last night and tried to fix it to no avail. He was back this morning and hooked up this temporary thermostat so we at least have heat in the bedrooms again.

We finally decided the best way to stay warm in a house with no insulation and very little heat was to chop up some of the firewood we harvested this summer.

Adam loading firewood into the house. The little dump cart / wagon is a new purchase – perfect for hauling everything around our property!

removing the breezeway steps

There are currently stairs inside the breezeway that lead up to the kitchen door. The stairs are steep and uncomfortable to use. The solution? Demolish them, move the door, and pour new steps!

Starting to chip away at the steps. The concrete is rock hard and only little bits break off at a time – even with the jackhammer!

Jackhammering away. The round metal thing on the left side of the second step is a built-in trashcan.

Evan hands out donuts to keep the momentum going!

The stairs are solid concrete – no fill! Concrete must have been cheap back in the day.

This represents about two days of jackhammering…

Success at last!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

foundation work for the laundry room addition

This week, the guys from Hamish Murray Construction also built the formwork for the laundry room addition. This addition is only 18″ x 8′. But combined with the removal of a closet at the interior, it will give us enough space to bring the laundry room up to the first floor (it’s currently in the basement). Actually, it will be conveniently located directly across from our son’s bedroom – there will be no more excuses that he can’t do his own laundry!

The brick and window will be removed and the wall will be pushed out to align wight he adjacent wall.

Sledging the brick into submission.

The brick is removed, exposing the wall and brick ties underneath.

The pile of bricks.

Digging and shaping the foundation. This will be a slab on grade with 2x sleepers on top. The finished floor will be framed on top of the sleepers.

All ready for the concrete pour.

 

 

 

 

 

removing the site stair

It turns out that the concrete stair connecting the upper and lower terraces was impossible to remove with a regular jackhammer, a concrete saw, and a backhoe. So today, the boys from Forest Landscape brought out the mother of all jackhammers and a mobile generator to go with it.

The mobile generator needed to run the mother off all jackhammers.

The mother of all jackhammers only managed to chip little bits of concrete off the stair.

Still jackhammering. Of course this happened on the day I had my lady friends over for lunch. Nothing like a little jackhammering while dining on quiche and salad.

The site super makes sure everything is ok from his post at the dining room door.

After hours of jackhammering, they managed to free the site stairs. They were over 4′ thick!

Excavating for the footing for the new retaining wall.

Still excavating for the footing and wall. They managed to find (but not break) the main sewer line coming out of the house – we were wondering where that was!

The excavated area filled with gravel.

Formwork is delivered and stacked against the back of the house. Notice the site super at his perch in the upper window.

Not bad for a day’s work.

terrace destruction

Today we began Renovation 2014 at The Pocket, the house we purchased last summer. Renovations began in the backyard – so we’ll start there…

The rear patios consist of three terraces connected by a stair. The upper terrace leads to the dining room; the middle terrace connects to the front yard via a breezeway; and the lower terrace leads to the day-lite basement. The terraces were in poor shape when we bought the house – the concrete was deteriorating and the retaining wall was barely standing up.

Below are a few photos of the existing rear terraces, just for reference…

The existing upper and middle terraces. The opening on the left is the breezeway that connects to the front yard. The door above the red steps leads to the dining room. The large windows adjoin the living room.

The middle terrace. The slope to the right heads down to a large crater from a former pool – more on that later…

The existing stairs between the upper and lower  terraces.

The existing lower terrace (also known as the Telephone Terace). The door and windows at this level lead to the day-lite basement (which is where our office is at the moment).

Today the guys from Forest Landscape began by demolishing the existing retaining wall, stairs, and patios…

Demolition begins…

Tear down the wall!

Starting to attack the upper patio.

Working on the upper patio.

The wall is gone.

The view from the basement door.

The view from the roof.

Not bad for a day’s work.

stump grinding

We cut down a few trees this summer and left the stumps – which proved to be in the way of the forthcoming demolition… So today, we had Doug from Portland Stump Grinding come out and get rid of them. He had a pretty fancy machine…

Remote controlled stump grinder.

All that’s left is a pile of dirt and wood chips.