My cabin project has been on hold for about 6 months, for a variety of reasons; one of which is this ranch rehab.
To make a long story short, my wife died 3 months ago, the condo is on the market, and I just closed on a fixer-upper about 2 1/2 miles from my farm. I'm moving back to the country.
Here are some pics. of the new compound which consists of a 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 7 room ranch house; a 24x32 pole barn; a 12x16 barn; all on 3/4 acre with city water and septic.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-25.jpg)
View from the west.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/014-7.jpg)
The front looking from the paved road.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-14.jpg)
View from the south east.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-18.jpg)
View from the south.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/029.jpg)
The rear view.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/032.jpg)
The view from the end porch looking to the east.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/033.jpg)
The southern view from the porch.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/030.jpg)
And the abandoned house next door (more on that later).
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-25.jpg)
The 24x32 pole barn with concrete floor and electric and the 12x16 red barn to the left.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-20.jpg)
View from the edge of the "back 40" with the nice hickory tree on the right.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-29.jpg)
Standing in the driveway looking northwest to the horse farm across the road.
The next set of pics. will be inside the house with some potential plans for upgrades.
So sorry to hear about your wife. In reading your posts, it sounds like the country is where life soots you best. Please keep us posted!
Hey poppy. I'm sorry to hear about your wife's passing.
That looks like a nice piece of country.
Poppy sorry to hear about your wife. I wish you the best.
Blessings
Rick Russell
So very sorry for your loss. Looks really beautiful, and green:)
Thanks guys and gal. I married a city girl who didn't want to live in the country. Her father tried to warn her when he said that "you can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy." ::)
Hopefully I didn't bite off more than I can chew. This was a foreclosed on property that was appraised at $80,000. I bought it from the bank for $22,500. The market is a little depressed around here. :P
Here are some interior pics. The original 1957 house was a 4 room 26' x 30' one bath house with a porch with hip roof off the end. At some point a 12' extension was put on the rear which added another bedroom, bath, and new kitchen. The old kitchen became the dining room complete with an electric furnace in the corner. ???
Another modification changed the porch into a family room and laundry and added another porch and deck in the rear. So the original house was basically doubled in size.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/014-8.jpg)
The original living room and the front bedroom.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/019-7.jpg)
Looking back towards the original bathroom with the 2 original same sized bedrooms on the left.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/020-6.jpg)
The original bath showing the closed up window when the back additional was added.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/018-7.jpg)
The front bedroom.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-19.jpg)
The current dining room that was the original kitchen. There is a covered up flue to the right of the furnace. It appears that there was a stove in the living room originally.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-22.jpg)
The current kitchen with cheap cabinets.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/021-5.jpg)
The old back bedroom and the new bedroom leading to the new bathroom.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/023-4.jpg)
The new bathroom.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/024-2.jpg)
New bath garden tub.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/011-11.jpg)
The new family room (original porch).
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/027-1.jpg)
Most of the original flooring is 3/4" T&G pine, I think.
I have a number of ideas for improving the floor plan.
1. Tear out wall between living and dining rooms; tear out original bath; remove furnace and old flue making a 17.5' x 25' great room with wood stove.
2. Turn family room into master bedroom suite. One challenge here is that the old porch ceiling was about a foot below the main house ceiling, so the new family room has a 7' ceiling.
3. Reduce size of new bath making a hallway behind where the original bath was to access new back bedroom. Close up door between back bedrooms.
4. Rehab the kitchen perhaps into a retro 50's style.
This would turn the house into a 6 room open plan keeping 2 full baths and making 4 bedrooms.
My son and I will be starting initial demolition in early July and see what we uncover.
I may put together the original and proposed floorplans and get some input from you guys and gals. I'm looking to do most of the demo. myself and hire out most of the real work. Will keep you posted.
so sorry to hear about your wife, poppy. i'm glad to see you finding a positive outlet for your grief in this house project. it sure looks like a screaming deal for $22k.
as for the flooring, i think you have oak. one of the easiest ways to identify oak, is those small lines parallel to the grain.
this is pine flooring:
http://countyfloors.net/store/listing_image.php?productid=17542
this is oak:
http://www.stoneagearchitectural.com/images/products/small/new%20oak%20flooring.jpg
will you rehab this house before working anymore on your farm?
Sorry to hear about your wife, Poppy. Looks like you'll be pretty occupied w/the remodel of the house, though. Wish you the best.
Poppy, I am sorry.
Yes the floor is red oak, small medullary rays, white has larger ones. The cj's in the low ceiling may be able to be raised one by one, it will become clear when you get it opened up.
My condolences Poppy. I've very much enjoyed your posts and cabin topic and had no idea. I hope your new project will provide a great deal of renovation for the home in need as well as the soul.
Thanks for all your replies.
It's funny, when I first looked at the flooring I told my son that it was oak, but for some reason thought it looked more like the pine in my old house on the farm. In any case it is in pretty good shape and will take to a refinish quite well.
The plan is to get the house rehab going with contractors so that I can get back to the cabin build on the farm. I've got too much invested in time and design to abandon that project. Besides it has always been a dream to self-build my own new house/cabin.
Don, when the old porch was closed in to make the new family room the old hip roof was left in place and a new roof built over it to match the original house. I'm thinking that there is quite a bit of structure above the ceiling to contend with.
I'll certainly give it a good look see though, to determine if there is any practical way to raise the ceiling and thanks for the suggestion.
Poppy, I echo the sentiments expressed on here by so many others in regards to the passing of your wife. I am truly sorry and can only hope that time will ease your pain to a bearable level. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your surviving family members.
Great looking piece of property Poppy and a great price I believe. That shop and barn alone have so much potential it gets me all excited. The house should be a relatively straight forward remodel. (OK, I know there is no such thing) I am looking forward to keeping up with your progress and hope you will keep us up to date.
Here are the original and proposed floorplans. The dark red walls are from the original 4 room house and the lighter red walls represent the later additions.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/origranchfloorplan.jpg)
The rear addition didn't make much sense to me.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/proposedranchfloorplan.jpg)
The blue wall sections are filled in doorways or new walls.
The existing wall between the dining and living rooms is load bearing, so there will need to be a header or braced timber placed to support the ceiling. The roof is supported at the outer walls by the rafters.
The kitchen will be all new.
The biggest challenge will be the new master suite, but if I can pull it off, it will turn this vintage ranch into a 4 bedroom (actually 3 BR's and an office), 2 bath, 1500 sf pad.
Any suggestions are welcome. :D
Been doing some traveling, but have pulled off some wall coverings to assess the walls.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-23.jpg)
Under the wallpaper in the living room is a closed up flue pipe opening, which leads me to believe that there was some kind of stove in the LR before they put the furnance in the dining room.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-27.jpg)
Under the paneling in the family room on the previous outside wall of the original porch is some pine sheathing. Once I get all of the paneling stripped, I may consider making the sheathing the finished wall in the new bedroom suite. For those who may be wondering as I did; there is no insulation in this 1957 outside wall.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-22.jpg)
The other walls in the FR had the paneling nailed directly on the studs. Notice that they used foil faced insulation with no air gap. I wonder if it would be worth the effort to strap the walls to provide a gap? ???
My condolences to you and your family.
The air gap to remove and prevent moister build up.Isn't that supposed to be between the insulation and outside sheathing with a moister barrier on the inside between the studs and wall covering(drywall)?You are in a northern climate where I am in a southern climate.I dunno if this will make a difference.
By the way,nice score on the property.
Hope things come out good for you to finish the cabin.
ben, I'm not sure how to answer your question about the insulation, etc. I need to research some more and will also welcome more comments from others.
Here's some pics. of the demo. work so far. First I brought enough stuff to set up one room to "live" in during the de-construct/construct phases, plus ladders and tools.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-28.jpg)
While I was in my friends car heading up to the White Mountains of NH my son called to tell me that he found, not one, but 2 free room AC units near his home in St. Charles, IL and did I want them. Since I was planning on buying an AC unit for $120 at Costco, I jumped at the offer and picked them up when I visited him over the 4th. ;D
The AC units are under all the other stuff that I had at the condo that was needed to set up a room for one.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-18.jpg)
As soon as my son came down to help with the demo., he suggested we start on the big stuff and stage it on the porch before the dumpster showed up.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-30.jpg)
It didn't take long to strip the kitchen.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-26.jpg)
Some of the staging on the porch.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-23.jpg)
The sink/counter from the newer bathroom is good enough to reuse with new fixtures.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-21.jpg)
Then we moved to the older bath which will be completely removed to help make the new great room.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/011-12.jpg)
The 20' dumpster arrived at about 1:30 p.m. which was pretty good timing since we had staged the kit. and both baths as well as the old furnace.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/012-8.jpg)
My son did some dumpster diving a couple of times to reduce the volume.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/014-9.jpg)
One surprise was that there was an outside wall at the end of the current family room/original porch. Another surprise was that the concrete floor of the laundry room on the other side of that wall is the roof of the original cistern.
I was planning on removing that wall to make a larger space for the new master suite, but my son suggested that I redesign the suite and leave that wall where it is. I will strip the old clapboard siding so that it can be sheetrocked.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/015-5.jpg)
The view after we got the old bath stripped.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/016-10.jpg)
One goal while I had the help and the dumpster was to remove the old flue.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/017-6.jpg)Things are starting to open up as we stripped the load bearing wall between the LR and DR. Note the lack of basic carpendry skills on the header. :(
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/018-8.jpg)
We left the airhandler intact for now, but got rid of the old electric furnace. I think I need an HVAC guy to do a system check on the airhandler and outside compressor, before going any farther.
Note the snow shovel. It makes a great dust pan for drywall.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/020-7.jpg)
People do some dumb things when "moderizing." This carpet was installed before the toilet. Carpet in a bath is bad enough, but don't put it under the can. ???
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/021-6.jpg)
After getting the newer bath stripped we could see the old fake brick siding.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/022-4.jpg)
The son agreed to beat up on the flue from the attic on down. He got dirtier than me that day. ;)
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/024-3.jpg)
I kind of hated to do it, but we decided to take down all of the LR & DR ceilings as well as the FR ceiling which needs to be raised a foot.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/026-1.jpg)
The flue is gone.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/028-1.jpg)
And the dumpster is about full after a day and a half of effort by an old man and his son. :)
WOW! :o Moving right along. [cool]
Poppy, I'm really sorry to hear about your loss as well. My condolances.
You're really moving along fast on the rehab. I was down in Shawnee State Forest backpacking a couple weeks ago, after the backpacking trip I wen't looking at some land for sale in Otway. After that I kind of drove randomly on some country roads and passed over into Adams County. I was thinking, hmm I wonder if Poppy is around here working away...
Wow! is there going to be anything left when you're done deconstructing? ;)
Are you "flipping" this, or will this be where you will live?
When my mom passed, Dad just stopped doing things. He sees only the bad in his life. I'm glad to see you putting yourself into this project.
I enjoy watching your progress
Mike, I was not at the house on the 12th, but was from the 13th until the 16th. Shoot me a PM the next time you plan on being down this way and I'll give you directions to the Chateau.
Tom, I'm not a flipper even though I might flip out from time to time. ;) This will be my home once the condo sells. I could have saved more of the existing structure except that the original builders did some dumb things and my kids want me to do it right.
Here is the latest update. I hired a local 18 yr. old boy to help out before he goes off to college.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-22.jpg)
Before the help showed up, I took out some walls to prepare for the new hallway at the corner of the new great room.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/013-7.jpg)
Here he is scrapping tile off the hardwood flooring in the old hallway.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/019-8.jpg)
He suggested a bigger hammer when the rotten kitchen subflooring wouldn't pry up.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-15.jpg)
We wondered why the dinning room ceiling was sagging until we saw what the dumba__s did when putting in the electric furnace and ducting.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/012-9.jpg)
This helps explain why the old porch/FR had a less than 8' ceiling. This pic. shows how the new ceiling joists were put in below the rafters. They could have easily picked up another 5 1/2" if the bottom of the joists had been aligned with the bottom of the rafter ends, but wait there's more....
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/022-5.jpg)
They would have had to move the roof braces up and would also have had to move the existing porch rafter ties up as well. If you look closely you can see the old ties at the edge of these two pics. (darker wood with bird poop). They took the easy way out.
After raising the floor 2" to match the main house, I will need to raise the joists 14" which should be doable. The current plan is to make a 14" 45 deg. chamfer on the two outside walls. It would be easier to make a square box, but I think the chamfer will look better.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/025.jpg)
We broke out the sledge after finding a serious water problem in the kitchen floor by the back door. We had to take it down to the joist strapping. When the kitchen addition was put on they used 2x8 joists on the old sill plates and since the old kitchen/current dining room floor had 2x10's (I think), they needed to build up to the floor level. 2x6's were used as strapping under the first subfloor which is 3/4" plywood with some kind of vinyl cladding on both sides. On top of that was 5/8" ply with vinyl tile for the finished floor.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/020-8.jpg)
It's not obvious from the pic. but there is one big piece of the vinyl clad ply that is over 9' square. ??? Does anyone have any idea what that stuff is? They used it for subflooring on the whole back addition.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/024-4.jpg)
We knocked off for the week before getting all of the rotten kitchen subflooring up as well as the plywood that was under the dining room carpet. Unfortunately hardwood was not used everywhere in the original 4-room house. Even so, the dumpster is full. :o
Making good progress.I never seen vinyl clad wood. ???
Seeing some of the building techniques makes me feel better about my lack of talent in this area. I can tell myself, "At least I wouldn't have done THAT :)
All I can say is that anyone sneeking through that door in the dark will either have a long step down, or they'll end up straddling a floor joist which will have them screaming at a very high pitch :P
Enjoying your progress Poppy
We hit it fresh again this morning and got all of the rotted subflooring up in the kitchen, the tile in the laundry room, and the plywood in the dining room.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-25.jpg)
Before the help came, I took out the archway between the two back bedrooms. That is the old outside wall (so load bearing); they didn't seem to be too concerned about taking out several studs.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-15.jpg)
This is a repeat of a pic. from the previous post above the old furnace. My help wondered why the floor was springy near the old furnace. Well of course they just cut a couple of the floor joists and let them dangle. d*
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-20.jpg)
Speaking of load bearing walls. This image is in the kitchen where they cut into the outside wall to make an archway and pass through. Depending on the kitchen cabinet arangement I will need to do something to shore this wall up.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-31.jpg)
I let the kid do most of the heavy lifting today. ;D
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-25.jpg)
We got all of the plywood up from the dining room. Except for the sagging floor by the furnace, the subfloor is in pretty good shape. Now I just need to find a good deal on some 3/4" red oak T&G flooring to match the living rm.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-27.jpg)
We stagged the 5/8" plywood in the kitchen for later reuse; probably for kitchen underlayment for linoleum.
The dumpster is more than full and will be gone tomarrow. Now it gets serious and time for HVAC, electrician, plumber, and carpender.
I'll be hitting craigslist on a daily basis to find kitchen cabinets and appliances; bathroom fixtures; a wood stove; replacement windows; flooring; and anything else that will save a buck. ;)
Here's the latest rehab update. I brought the boy back again to help put in the cribbing to support the ceiling in order to remove the load bearing wall.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-30.jpg)
We got the first temporary support in which took too long, but I had never done it before. d*
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-26.jpg)
We moved to the other side and was able to make one 14' 2x6 do the job.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-21.jpg)
I sent the kid home so I could have all the fun taking out the wall. Here is one of the studs; kind of unusual to use that low of quality for a load bearing wall in a 1957 house. ???
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-26.jpg)
The wall is gone and it's begining to look like a great room. This is the view from the front door.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-32.jpg)
And the view from the kitchen.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-28.jpg)
This is a mock up for a 6"x6" post to support the beam that replaces the load bearing wall. The end studs stick out about 1", so if I leave them in place and put the 6x6's against them, there will be a recess that is 1" wide by 3/4" deep. The next pic. shows the interface between the end stud and the top plate.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-25.jpg)
I'm thinking of leaving the top plate in place also and placing a 6" wide beam up against it leaving a recess like on the ends.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-16.jpg)
It seems to me that it will be much easier to leave the end studs and top plate where they are. What you can seen here is one of two roof braces that meet up with the top plate. What do you all think? ??? (the ceiling is not bowed down, I forgot to adjust the camera)
Been hitting craigslist about every day to see if I can find things that will work on the rehab. Here's my latest finds.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/011-14.jpg)
Got about 50 sf of red oak for $40 which may somewhat match the existing floor. Here's a repeat of a previous closeup of the old flooring.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/027-1.jpg)
I mentioned that I may do a retro kitchen and have been searching for 50's cabinets and appliances.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/012-10.jpg)
This is a cook top from a 1956 house. Note the color coded knobs and burners, and yes, it's pink.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/013-8.jpg)
And the matching wall oven that had barely been used.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/014-10.jpg)
The wiring for the cook top appears to be too small for 220 volt and I haven't found the wires for the oven yet. But here's the wiring diagram pasted to the side of the oven (at least part of it) I'm assuming the oven at least is 220.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/015-7.jpg)
I only paid $50 for the set, so I'm not out all that much if they don't work out.
I have a line on a full set of metal cabinets (8 wall, 7 base, and a pantry) from a 1954 house, but am still haggling on the price. The guy has had 4 different ads on craigslist since May with these prices in order: $800, $500, $1000, and $950. He has Emailed me two counter offers just this week. If they were a GE set, I would have them by now, but they are a little less quality than GE's and I don't want to pay too much. d*
Great finds.
Latest update on pink cook top/oven and more deconstruction.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-22.jpg)
This is the control wiring for the cook top.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-29.jpg)
The wiring under the cook top. Sorry for the dark pic.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-26.jpg)
The oven wiring. All of the wiring looks to be about 14 ga., so I guess that means it all runs on 115 volts. I was hoping for 220.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-27.jpg)
When I moved the cook top around, I could hear something sliding around inside. These aluminum pans were all loose. They must have been glued in originally.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-23.jpg)
The staging area for materials in my liveable room.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-17.jpg)
I put the help on the expandable walk board (auction find) to pull nails.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/012-11.jpg)
Got another wall stripped and layed out the proposed master bath and closet.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/014-11.jpg)
Took out the 3 shorten ceiling joists in the old flue and furnace area and discovered that the roof rafters are on 24" cts. Didn't know they were doing that in '57.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/017-8.jpg)
Headed out to the farm to peel a log for a timber. The new spud bar (auction find) worked great. I know what you're thinking; Poppy is working on the cabin build again. But no, actually I'm strongly considering making this red oak log into the beam that will replace the load bearing wall for the Chateau great room.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/020-9.jpg)
For those not familiar with my cabin build and chain saw milling operation; Here's how I get a log onto the horses by myself with a swing frame (free off craigslist) and ratchet cable hoist (auction find).
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/023-7.jpg)
It was really hot today so didn't get much work done. Managed to tear into the floor of the new master bath and closet. It turns out that the floor is 2" out of level across the 12' width, so some of it will have to come out. d* They used particle/press board over 1x12 pine subflooring and it just breaks apart when trying to take it up. They also had a layer of poly under the press board.
Another quick update.
This pic. attempts to visualize the sloping floor in the new M BR. The 2x6 is level and sitting on the subfloor at the outside wall; the other end is sitting on a 2x4 with a little shim making the floor out of level by more than 1 1/2".
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-31.jpg)
I decided to take out a 4' strip of the particle board and that should provide enough room for a new 3/4" plywood subfloor and 3/4" finish floor which will be even with the great room floor. Now the trick is to figure out a good way to level the new subfloor. ???
The next image is a repeat from a previous post showing the M BR ceiling joists that need to be raised about 14". After noticing that the main house rafters were on 2' cts. +/-, I took another look at the rafter spacing on the old porch and of course they are spaced greater than 16" also.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/012-9.jpg)
I originally thought it would be pretty easy to cut out a joist, taper the end to match the roof pitch, and nail it to a rafter, but they don't match up, so I need another plan. d*
Any suggestions would be welcomed on the floor leveling or the joist raising. :P
Your place reminds me a lot of one that a friend of mine is rehabilitating near me. He had similar problems with floors being out of level, interior doors that wouldn't close, etc.
They found found areas under the floor joists that were either way under supported or not supported at all, underneath load bearing walls. They used bottle jacks and raised the joists where necessary. When they got it right they installed supporting beams.
Some of their floors looked about as bad as the one you have and I was amazed at how much better they got it. I was around for awhile when they were working on it and heard a few scary noises when they were really cranking on those jacks though! [shocked]
So here's the update and current plan for the old porch/FR new MBR suite. The original plan was to raise the ceiling about 14", but since the rafters and joists don't match up I'm thinking a different direction.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-34.jpg)
Here's another example of indiscriminate cutting of structual members. I think they planned to put a wood stove under this hole since the floor has some extra support there, but it looks like it was never done.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-34.jpg)
There's a couple of places like this on the perimeter foundation, but what do you expect for a 50 yr. old house?
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-28.jpg)
So now I'm thinking that I will put 5 1/2" batt insulation on the old hip roof and sheetrock it for a 7' to 10' sloping ceiling. Furthermore, I'm thinking of putting 1 1/2" insulation board over the old siding above the 8' level and sheetrock over it and leaving the old sheathing exposed below that.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-33.jpg)
I also tore into the old porch header at the laundry room wall and found not 2 but 3 roof systems over the old cistern. :o I can now get a full 8' ceiling in the new master bath.
Now on to the kitchen. I got tired of looking at the lousy job they did on the original outside wall so I tore it out.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-18.jpg)
First, I put in a temporary support stud.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-33.jpg)
Now I can put in a proper divider wall.
And speaking of kitchens, here is my latest craigslist find.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/017-9.jpg)
Yes it's Formica in a labador granite pattern. I got two 10' slabs that a couple didn't use on a remodel.
Then I made the mistake of taking my design guru granddaughter to IKEA. Yea, I know, probably not what the average countryplans person would do, but....
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-28.jpg)
She talked me into buying this 2' x 4' roller front brushed aluminum wall cabinet. It was $100 off because the newer model has wider slats.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-32.jpg)
Now I'm considering buying these frosted glass/brushed aluminum wall cabinets to match the roller front.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-23.jpg)
And trying to stay somewhat with the retro theme, these glosy red base cabinets are under consideration. I'm thinking black appliances, so the pink cook top and oven may have to go in the cabin. d*
Latest destruction update and craigslist finds.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-35.jpg)
Continuing the deconstruction of the old FR for new MBR suite. We've ripped out all of the old subflooring and now the old siding and sheathing as well. The 32" door leaning on the wall is about where I'm moving the door to. The old door was only 28" wide and not in the right location anyway.
The ceiling will slope up from about 7' to about 10'.
Most of the 1x12 subflooring is good enough to use on my cabin build. ;D
As mentioned in my latest post, I'm going with black appliances and plenty are available on craigslist because the sheeple (including my daughter) are all going with stainless.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-30.jpg)
The Whirlpool dish washer is no older than 5 yrs. and I don't know how old the Jenn-Air Grill-Range Oven is but it is in nearly perfect condition. $55 for the DW and $150 for the range.
When we remodeled a kitchen back in 1984 I talked my wife into getting a Jenn-Air Grill-Range Oven which I loved because I could grill all year long. She hated it because she didn't like cleaning it. I seem to recall that it cost in the $1000 range; my memory could be wrong but I know they are expensive.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-27.jpg)
The oven is a convection type and includes the broiler pan.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-24.jpg)
It came with these accessories; second set of burners, optional backsplash, and of course the exhaust fan.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-19.jpg)
For those of you unfamiliar with the Jenn-Air, here's the closeup. There's a grease collection slide out container there on the left. The '84 model used a mason jar. The grill unit simply unplugs and the second set of burners can be plugged in. I may replace the stainless vent cover with a black one.
Cool the stove is a self cleaning one as well 8)
Another update. My 18 yr. old helper has now gone off to college, so I need to find another local hand who works cheap. :D
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-33.jpg)
I mentioned before that the salvaged 1x12 subflooring will be saved for the cabin build. Here it is stacked in the barn along with 2 mowers that I got by listening to "Trash &Treasure" on the local radio station. Craftsman 16HP auto trans. 42" cut like new $750 and John Deere 22" cut 2 speed self propelled $60.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-29.jpg)
Pretty close to beginning reconstruction on the new MBR suite.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-36.jpg)
I've pretty much decided to do all new flooring in the GR so did a trial run on removing the old red oak flooring. It came up easier than I expected so I will be able to salvage most of it. The plan is to use #3 common unfinished white oak flooring for the GR and MBR. I can get it for 88 cents a sf if I buy an 800 sf pallet. That should give me enough to do both rooms allowing for about 15% scrap. :P
Current planning is to use all hardwood or tile in the whole house, no carpet anywhere.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-35.jpg)
Finally went to the new local Harbor Freight store and picked up this tool. It works great for flush trimming. [cool]
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-31.jpg)
The weather has been so nice lately that I hated to work inside so went over to the farm to make the first cut on the timber that will support the GR ceiling.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-28.jpg)
I've been trying to pick up bathroom stuff off craigslist so that I can show a plumber where to run lines.
Also been trying to find a good wood stove. The goal is to have heat, a working kitchen, and at least one working bathroom by Thanksgiving.
Not much work on the house, but I have been hitting craigslist pretty hard.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-34.jpg)
I picked up some replacement windows and fiberglass board insulation at one stop and 4 interior doors at another location on my way to a dinner meeting, then it was out to the house to unload.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-32.jpg)
The windows are slightly used, but in good shape and are the exact correct size for the ones needing replacement. Now I just need 3 more.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-29.jpg)
This is the 18" door for the pantry that is the same style as the existing doors. I also got two 28" and one 30" slabs for the new room arrangement. They all came with hinges and knobs at $10 per.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-30.jpg)
A family in my neighborhood didn't like the basement bath in their new house, so they tore it out and sold it to me. It's nice to have 10' doors on the barn.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-24.jpg)
The cherry vanity with cultured marble top and single handle fixture is better than I would have purchased new. The wife said she paid $300 for the light fixture alone. I got about $1500 worth of stuff for $350. ;D
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-37.jpg)
The 4' Kohler shower had only been used a couple of times.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-30.jpg)
It came complete with a frosted swinging door with magnetic closer. It's too big to fit thru any of the house doors, but I'm removing the patio doors anyway so will have a nice big hole to move it in.
Looks like you got some nice buys! Always very satisfying when you can find good deals like that. :)
I gotta say it.
SCORE!
[cool] [cool] [cool]
Poppy, I had no idea you had lost your wife until I opened up this thread. I see many have given their condolences and I too would like to say that I grieve for your loss. I noticed someone said that time is needed and it does indeed take time my friend. My best to you and I wish you luck on your newest project.
Thanks for all the kind words. I try to visit this site every day and enjoy keeping up with all your projects, but don't have the energy right now to actively respond to what you all are doing.
Anyway, my activity lately has been mostly finding things on craigslist.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-33.jpg)
Picked up this Hearthstone wood stove. It has a little age on it and a couple broken parts, but appears to be sound. Hearthstone is sending me information to help identify what I have. They think it's a model II but the nameplate says IH.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-31.jpg)
Rather than put it in the barn, I decided to unload it into the living room.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-30.jpg)
You see here the broken door handle and a better view of the stone inserts. Not sure if they are soapstone or granite.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/018-10.jpg)
The guy also threw in some wrap insulation and tape on the stove deal, which was $125.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/014-12.jpg)
Also had two lots of ceramic tile on this load. 32sf of the quarry tile and about 70 sf of the white onix stuff. There's enough for both bathroom floors and for under the wood stove.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-25.jpg)
And on the same load a couple more windows.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/017-10.jpg)
Plus on the same load were 5 baseboard heaters to be used as backup heat to the wood stove. In the foreground of this pic. is an impulse buy at a big barn sale where I picked up another load of stuff. More on that later.
So if I haven't mentioned it before, I really like craigslist. Here's some more finds.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-35.jpg)
I picked up a retro 50's pantry at this location. I complimented the lady on her house and she told me what it was.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-31.jpg)
A Sears house.
Went to a big barn sale and made an offer on some more retro stuff.
[(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-25.jpg)
He wanted $100 for the set of pink fixtures; I offered $50 and he took it at the end of the week end sale.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-38.jpg)
They need some cleaning up, but are not in too bad a shape. I will have to touch up the chrome stuff or replace it.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-36.jpg)
A better pic. of the pantry.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-20.jpg)
This load includes a stained pine corner bench/table kitchen set as well as a free toilet.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/011-16.jpg)
This was more of a challenge for a small pick up. A side by side refrigerator and a couple more doors and a window shade picked out of the trash.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/012-12.jpg)
It is a Kitchen Aid counter depth model with changeable front panels.
I have actually begun some reconstruction or better put, I am correcting some of the dumb things that the original builder did.
In the mean time, I happened to notice something strange.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-31.jpg)
This is the upper corner of an opening that I cut out for a new door location from the great room to the master BR. This is an outside wall on the original house, even so, I didn't expect a crack to show up after only about a month of pretty unchangeable weather.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-26.jpg)
The first order of business after removing some funky bracing in the attic was to put in collar ties every 4'.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/014-13.jpg)
The next thing was to replace the ceiling joists that they chopped off and left dangling. Not very exciting pics., but it felt good to actually do some construction.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/015-9.jpg)
I have lost patience with the chain saw mill for making timbers for the great room and kitchen, so I began stagging logs back on the farm in preparation for taking them to the Amish bandsaw mill.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/016-12.jpg)
While I was at it, I decided to include the maple log that has spalting, but when I got it to the stagging area something didn't look right.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/017-11.jpg)
An 8' section of the log stayed home. d* I guess it's more rotten than I thought.
Got some more craigslist stuff.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-37.jpg)
This may be my best find so far. 6 Shaker style hickory kitchen cabinets, a full truck load plus a side trip to pick up a microwave for $24. :)
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-33.jpg)
Like I said, a full truck load.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-26.jpg)
This will be the arrangement in the kitchen except the corner wall cabinet will go on the right side. About $1500 worth of cabinets for $75. ;D This design has full overlay fronts which provides a more expensive look.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-40.jpg)
These are Diamond brand still sold by Lowes. Mine have 3/8" plywood walls (an upgrade), 1/2" back walls and dovetail drawer construction with roller slides under the smalle drawers for maximum useable width.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-38.jpg)
Oh, and I picked up another window from the cabinet seller. They also threw in the counter tops, which I probably can't use except maybe in the laundry room.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-36.jpg)
Also picked up a couple more baseboard units making a total of 28' or 7000 watts of heat. This may be enough to satisfy the insurance company and provide backup for the wood stove.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-32.jpg)
And a 36" pre-hung steel door for 30 bucks to replace the patio door in the new MBR.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-39.jpg)
And for good measure, here's a pic. of the freon line that was cut so that the copper tubing could be removed. They also took all of the copper water pipe. d* Ah, the joys of buying a repo. ;)
After waiting out a day of rain which we really, really needed, I got back to the log rolling.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-37.jpg)
Taking some advice from Don_P, I used the roll-on method to load the logs. It was easier than I thought it would be. I just had to encourage the logs a little with the peavy.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-32.jpg)
A full load ready for the ride to the Amish bandsaw mill.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-32.jpg)
Here they are working on the log that I tried to do with the chainsaw mill.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-34.jpg)
One advantage of using the mill is that I could get some 1" boards along with the timbers. So with the 5 good timbers, we also got 8 boards of various widths and lengths. They sawed for about 80 minutes and only charged me for 1 hour at $65. :)
As luck would have it, this mill location is also the new local supplier of wood stoves so they are getting parts to repair my HeathStone stove. :P
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-27.jpg)
Getting ready to unload for more drying time.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-21.jpg)
Sometimes when one travels in Amish country one can only go at a trotter's pace. :D
Wow - great deal on those cabinets!
AWESOME!You are my frugal hero.Please mentor me. :) [cool]
Very impressed with the $65 at the mill. Great deal and nice work!
Ben, thanks for using the word "frugal" instead of "cheap" like my friends and family do.
I had an uncle many years ago who said that I "queaked when I walked, because I was so tight" (as in tight with money).
Anyway, I would be honored to mentor anyone on here, however you all must understand that I can be frugal because there are some unique circumstances under which I work.
1. I live alone, so there is no one to please except me.
2. There are no deadlines for getting things done. (did I mention that I live alone?)
3. I have easy access to cash.
4. I am willing to travel a pretty good distance to feed the habit. (about a 50 mile radius)
5. I have a truck and trailer.
6. I design and plan according to what materials I find.
7. I check craigslist once or twice daily.
8. I am semi-retired so I can go get something at the drop of a hat.
9. I am willing to live a spartan life during construction, like no running water, meaning no toilet and no shower.
10. I have several buildings in which to store materials.
So I realize that many of you have restrictions that prevent doing what I do; however, there are some tricks of the trade that anyone can benefit from.
Quote from: poppy on October 02, 2010, 01:14:57 PM
Ben, thanks for using the word "frugal" instead of "cheap" like my friends and family do.
You're welcome.
Quote
I had an uncle many years ago who said that I "queaked when I walked, because I was so tight" (as in tight with money).
Anyway, I would be honored to mentor anyone on here, however you all must understand that I can be frugal because there are some unique circumstances under which I work.
1. I live alone, so there is no one to please except me.
I have a wife and child to consider. d*
Quote
2. There are no deadlines for getting things done. (did I mention that I live alone?)
I have no dead lines as long as life goes on.
Quote
3. I have easy access to cash.
I can only dream of that.
Quote
4. I am willing to travel a pretty good distance to feed the habit. (about a 50 mile radius)
I am willing but rarely have the time.
Quote
5. I have a truck and trailer.
HAHA.I have the same truck as you,except mine is silver.I have access to an array of trailers.
Quote
6. I design and plan according to what materials I find.
I can do that.
Quote
7. I check craigslist once or twice daily.
On top of that already.Just ain't no deals in my area. :-\
Quote
8. I am semi-retired so I can go get something at the drop of a hat.
I am disabled,so I have that one covered,when the wife and son give me the time..
Quote
9. I am willing to live a spartan life during construction, like no running water, meaning no toilet and no shower.
I am capable,but the wife and son aren't. d* Outhouse? ;D
Quote
10. I have several buildings in which to store materials.
I got that covered,but I need to get onto cleaning them out.
Quote
So I realize that many of you have restrictions that prevent doing what I do; however, there are some tricks of the trade that anyone can benefit from.
I am learning. :)
I've hit a dry spell on craigslist lately but have made a little progress on other things.
One thing that is kind of making me take my time on the rehab is that the condo has not sold and I need to save money. Here's my latest trick to help sell the condo.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-39.jpg)
Old St. Joe is supposed to help sell a house.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-27.jpg)
I took some time off and went to a retreat/conference center in Montreat, NC. I thought some of you might appreciate the retro pics from my suite at the center. All GE appliances and plywood cabinets. The counter tops looked newer.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-34.jpg)
I assume that the toilet had been replaced, since I'm pretty sure the original would have been blue. One interesting thing is that the tub is only 4 1/2' long. :P It made for a fairly compact bathroom.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-41.jpg)
This is the "medicine" cabinet in the entry way next to the kitchen instead of the bathroom. I thought it was an ironing board until I opened the door. ???
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-33.jpg)
I continue to undo the bad work on this house. >:(
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-28.jpg)
I plan to use the salvaged 2x8's from the old porch/new MBR to reinforce the floor where all of the holes were made without proper reinforcement. d*
I don't think I mentioned in a previous post that one of the timbers from the first saw mill run was too rotten to use, so it was back to the farm for more logs.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-33.jpg)
I decided to include some logs slated for timbers for the cabin build.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/013-9.jpg)
This timber and boards are ready to be cut down so that I can take them back to the storage barn at the house. Unfortunately, the timber that was supposed to replace the rotten one ended up having some bad spots also, so it's looking like another mill run. d*
Since most of the logs were for the cabin build, I am posting more pics. on "Poppy's 16x16 timber framed cabin".
That is my kind of luck.Go to the mill and find out the wood is no good.Sorry to hear about that.Hope the retreat re-energized you.
Third time is charm as they say.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-39.jpg)
These are the maple logs that I got out of the 8" tree that the loggers topped. Two of these will yield 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" posts to replace the bad red oak timbers from the last two runs.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-35.jpg)
This just shows the log loading set up again. My little digital camera does a pretty good job even without changing the setting for a bright background.
Now that I have enough timbers for the rehab, it was back to correcting the mistakes that the builders made.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-34.jpg)
This is after taking out 6 2x8 joists from the old porch.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-29.jpg)
This is the other side where you can see a little gap that needs to be taken care of. d*
POPPY, sorry for your lose!
Keeping yourself busy is what I found helped me the most with losing someone dear. You sure have worked hard on the place. I'll be honest, I didn't think the place had much of a chance.
I was born and raised in Southern Ohio, Greenfield and I live near Central Ohio now for almost 19 years. I've hated it the entire time and wish I could get our home sold and get back to the Country. But there are no jobs in Southern Ohio.
Nows the time to buy that's for sure! :-\
Thanks for the kind words Heidi.
QuoteYou sure have worked hard on the place. I'll be honest, I didn't think the place had much of a chance.
Well, I don't mind hard work, and I figured that the place could be made liveable for an old man like me.
I don't know if it's a good thing or not, but as I told the people that sold me the nice bathroom shower and vanity, my place in the country is in a Formica neighborhood instead of a granite one.
Whatever it looks like down the road it will be head and shoulders above most houses in the area.
As far as jobs in the country; they are available, but admittedly the options are slim unless you want to work fast food or for Wally World. There's a reason that the commuter lots are full out there.
I've got to take a break from looking at craigslist almost daily, but I can't help myself. d*
The latest find.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-36.jpg)
I thought I had my stove, but the HearthStone that I bought a while back is borderline large enough and not very efficient (45%) and won't keep a fire all night. It would be a nice restore project maybe for the cabin, but I found this Vermont Castings thingy.
It's a Defiant Encore model 2190 with catalytic combustor, 72.5% efficient and a 10 hr. max. burn time.
First I needed to stop by the farm and pick up some "aids."
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-40.jpg)
A 4-swivel wheel dolly, cable hoist, straps, rope, and a big ole board; all of which came from various auctions.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-30.jpg)
This is the way an old man unloads a 350 lb. cast iron stove by himself.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-35.jpg)
And this is about where I plan to install this beast; across the great room from the 2 original bedrooms and next to the wall by the new MBR. Now the contest for today is to tell everyone what the "handle" is that's sticking out from the bottom right. ???
The stove is about 15 yrs. old and needs some parts, like a new combustor, heat shields for the bottom and back, and new glass panels for the doors, not to mention the necessary pipe and stuff to go through the attic and roof. d*
I have a Vermont castings stove
It has been a very good stove !
Mine is the next size smaller ( I think it is called a 'Reliant') great stove -- keeps a 1000 square foot old farm house warm all night during below zero Wisconsin nights when stoked with oak or maple
GOOD BUY !
The only quirky thing it does -- funny really -- the stove moves -- kind of walks a few fractions of and inch every few days ---easily pushed back though
I really like the glass doors too
Thanks Windpower for the positive remarks. I hope I made a good buy, time will tell.
I'm not sure I like the idea of the stove walking around though. ;)
Here's some more update. The more I work on the old house the more I want to reach back in time and strangle the builder. >:(
Here's one of the ceiling joists.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-36.jpg)
Just a "small" 2" crack on the tension side. d* At least it will be easy to replace.
And while working on the floor structure I found this little slip-up.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-30.jpg)
Who says you need a support under a girder joint. ???
I also spent many hours working on those big ole holes in the floor framing.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-42.jpg)
The straps and hoist were not needed to unload the stove but came in handy to raise the floor. :D
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/012-14.jpg)
Finally, the floor is just about as flat and level and solid as it's going to get. :P
Nice find on the stove poppy. My guess it would be a draft control or fresh air intake damper. I noticed what looked to be a adjustable scaffold walk board. If it is that too has some age to it. I have rehab several older homes and although the most have decent workmanship but generally all have "whats with this" character.
"Now the contest for today is to tell everyone what the "handle" is that's sticking out from the bottom right."
That is the air intake draft control. (mine is at the front )
open it up until the fire is well under way then cut back to your desired heat level
the handle on the right near the top controls where the smoke exits the fire box -- it is a really nice feature
it allows you to open the top 'door' while the fire is burning and throw another hunk of wood in, without smoking up the house
then put the handle in the other direction to return the stove to controled burn
Here is a downloadable manual for it including spare parts list
http://literature.mhsc.com/vermont_castings/manuals/30001693_Defiant_31.pdf
Thanks John for reminding me of the scaffold board. That was an auction find also. I have fond memories of house painting with my dad and a couple of his brothers. Dad had an old single axle trailer that he hauled to a job site and loaded with one or more of those scaffold boards. I have a set of ladder jacks from another auction that are used with the board.
Sorry guys, the lever in question is not for the air intake. The air intake control is on the upper right and the damper control is on the upper left. Try again. ;D
Thanks for the link Windpower.
If there are grates then it could be to shake the grates. Didn't notice if there was a ash tray &/or door
Well, while I was getting my seldom used password changed Redoverfarm beat me to it. I was going to say what he said. Darn! I'm just a day late and a dollar short. :D
Sorry guys, still wrong. There is an ash door that swings out to remove the ash pan. There is no shaker. The handle for the ash door is just to the left of the right leg and is black.
Here's a hint. Look in the area where the doors meet.
OK, I guess I'll try again since no one seems to have gotten it right yet. Is it the thermostat handle?
No, you still haven't got it. I guess I'll have to give a more direct clue.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-37.jpg)
Now can you figure it out? ???
In the mean time here's another craigslist find.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-41.jpg)
$40 for this 3' section still in the box. It's almost $50 a ft. new. :D
I've had a thread over in General about the floor framing for the new MBR. I've decided to tear all the old stuff out.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-36.jpg)
This is the beginning of prying out the old ledger board.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/014-14.jpg)
I mentioned in the General thread that the builder used big a$$ nails for the ledger. The new nail on the right is a 12D. :o
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/013-10.jpg)
The aftermath of ripping out the ledger and sheathing. BTW, I finally was smart enough to use the ladder to get down into the crawl space after several climb/jump downs. d*
Took a walk out to the back yard and noticed some squirrel activity at the hickory tree.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-31.jpg)
I was surprised to find that I had a pretty good crop, especialy since my hickory tree on the farm was bare. That's a 3 lb. coffee can. Now if I can just find someone to make me some hickory nut fudge. [hungry]
Does the little handle lock the front doors of the wood stove?
Well mogie, the handle does indeed operate the door latch. It was kind of a trick question because the handle as shown on the lower right didn't do anything except be stored on a bracket hanging off the leg.
The handle is magnetized enough to hang onto the latch. I'm not sure why it's designed that way, but there you go.
So it can be removed when the fire is stoked and not get hot.
Don that is the same as my Hearthstone. The handle is removed with the exception of opening the door. It does get hot. Unlike the older wire handles like on a cookstove that stay relatively cooler if left on the plates.
Still doing some investigating work on the rim joist between original house and porch/new MBR. First I ran a string line along the top of the sill.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/004-43.jpg)
The level is level and the floor slopes about 3/4" in 4 ft., but what I noticed right away was that there is a hump in the floor.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-43.jpg)
The string line is at the top of the sill on both sides of this area. The hump is about 6 ft. long and over what I thought was a section of foundation wall that had sunk, but it actually had lifted in this area which just happened to be at the center of the old archway opening into the old FR/new MBR . d*
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-37.jpg)
And I pulled out the trusty water level to see just how much overall slope there is over the 18 ft. of sill from the cistern wall to the outside wall. There's about 3 3/4" of slope.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-31.jpg)
I'm probably going to have to live with the overall slope because I really don't want to raise most of the front of the house (about 30 ft.), but I decided to knock out the wall under the hump (after pounding in a 5/8" shim between the wall and sill at the house floor girder) and then, just for fun, rolled the 350# stove over the hump. :P
In my dreams, the sill/rim will settle back down. [waiting]
Then I turned to the kitchen to see what the floor structure needed plus what it would take to move the heating duct. So since I had crawed under the kitchen anyway, I decided to take a look at the back bathroom plumbing.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-24.jpg)
Who says you need continuous floor joists? >:( Looks like I've got some more mistakes to fix. d* Whose idea was it anyway to buy a forclosed house and try to rehab it. ???
My family and friends keep asking me if I'm doing any framing yet. Well, a little progress.
I'm concentrating on the load bearing stuff right now. This pic. is the new arch way opening between the great room and new back hallway. It was where a window was in the original bathroom and then became a closed wall between that BR and the newer bathroom.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-39.jpg)
Yea, I know, I know, I could have just used one or two 2x6's and been done with the header, but I like trusses. :D
Besides it's better than what the yahoos did before.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-38.jpg)
This is the door opening between the old DR and laundry room. They also cut the subfloor where the sill is for this door (for God knows what reason), so there's no support under the subfloor boards at the edge of the room by the door. d*
And then, even though I thought I could leave some of the walls alone, I keep finding so many things wrong that more wall board needs to go.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-38.jpg)
This is the corner of the kitchen where we had to tear out the pantry because the flooring was water damaged. This pic. was taken after the sheetrock, old siding and sheathing were taken down. While I was at it, I also took down the wall board at the back of the pantry.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-32.jpg)
Here you can see the old roof of the laundry room. For some reason the cistern hung out a couple of feet from the original back wall, so the laundry room overlaps the newer kitchen. I'm kind of glad I dug into this wall because....
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-25.jpg)
This is from the laundry room side. That crack is there because the stub wall end studs were not secured at the top. So the only thing keeping the wall vertical was drywall tape on each side of the corner. :o Well, they did attempt to nail it, but the nails only went into the old asphalt siding.
I told my kids last week that I almost sat down and cried, as I kept finding more and more stupid moves by the fools who should never had been allowed to pick up a hammer. >:(
In a departure from my typical craigslist buys this report is about some Habitat Restore finds.
The newest Restore in town has been advertizing on craigslist (so I guess it's still kind of a craigslist story). They had a new in box Pegasus black granite composite double bowl sink for $95. So I went to check it out on the way out to the Chateau.
I figured that if the sink was not cracked, it would be a really good deal. Of course, the sink was cracked in not one but in three places and since I don't know if gluing would fix it, I passed. :(
While I was at the store I looked around and found a best buy. I don't think I mentioned it before, but the pink toilet seat I bought with the bathroom set had a broken hinge.
So as good luck would have it, this is what I found on a shelf in the toilet section.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-42.jpg)
An almost perfect seat that matches the one with the broken hinge. And the best part was that it was only 2 bucks. :D
Then I looked in the kitchen cabinet section and found a couple with a similar style to the hickory cabinets I have.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-38.jpg)
When I told my son about this buy, he reminded me that I need to focus and quit buying stuff that I may not be able to use. I was thinking that maybe, just maybe I could figure a way to make the finishes match. d*
This past weekend was auction weekend for me. Sat. saw me at an estate auction in the Amish community building. On another thread, I told about the dowsing set that sold for $1000. I bid on a bunch of stuff, but only bought a Remington 1148 20ga. shotgun.
Then Sun. I went to a building materials auction. It's held several times a year and they have consignment stuff that includes lumber, kitchen cabinets, flooring, doors and windows, and a bunch of other stuff. It's a really big auction of both new and used items in an old tobacco warehouse.
On auctionzip.com they advertised that this auction included some hickory plank flooring, so I was interested in that as well as doors and windows.
Here's my first load from the auction.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-40.jpg)
This is 20 boxes (500 sf) of hickory plank flooring. A pretty big load for my little pickup (about 1320#). :P
The helpers loaded it for me, so I had enough energy to unload it myself.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/009-33.jpg)
It's natural pre-finished hickory T&G plank.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/010-26.jpg)
Before I tell you what I paid, here's an auction trick that I have learned over the years. One reason that I got a pretty good deal was that I did not bid on this item. :o
This auction is so big and has so much hardwood flooring (about 10,000 sf of various types) that they don't put very much of it up for bidding on any given auction day.
They had a special request for the hickory plank flooring of which they had both 5" and 4" natural finish and over 1000 sf of each. They opened the bidding with the option of choice of any of the hardwood flooring to the highest bidder which included 1000's of sf of oak along with additional varieties of hickory.
The winning bidder got whatever he wanted for $2.80 a sf. so long as he bought in complete boxes (25 sf per box). He chose 14 boxes of the 5" hickory plank, leaving 29 boxes.
And here's the trick: The auctioneer then gives any other bidders their choice at the same price. And as is usually the case the other bidder was interested in something different, so they went down the row and bought some oak flooring at $2.80. (this was the only bidding done on flooring that day)
After the bidders are satisfied, they open it up to anyone with a bidders number. So I just hung around until I could request 20 boxes of the 5" hickory blank. It may not be as much fun not bidding, but I can assure you that I would have had to go to at least $2.85 or who knows how far up to win the bid. I took the chance that they would have enough available for me and they did.
Now, I did have a backup plan. There's a local flooring store that happened to be clearing out some 5" natural hickory plank flooring for $3.00 a sf plus tax and they had 800 sf available. That's still a pretty good deal.
This trick or tactic doesn't always work. I used it successfully to buy a window for $30, but it didn't work on the door that I wanted. I figured that since they had two identical doors there would still be one available for me even if the winning bidder wanted one of them. Well I was right about the high bidder wanting only one, but another bidder got the other one for $35. So not bidding left me out that time. ::)
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/014-15.jpg)
The door (3' 15-lite) is another one that I was the high bidder on, but it was not a choice situation and I paid $120 instead of the potential $35 on the "choice" door.
Good score on those auction items.Sorry to hear and see that there is way more issues with the house than previously thought.
Well guys and gals, it's been a slow go but I've made some progress in the wood stove department.
Since I didn't like the idea of making a bottom heat shield pattern out of cardboard, I went to Carter's Lumber to browse and see if something would work. Some 1/4" wire mesh caught my eye.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/005-44.jpg)
A little cutting and bending and it looks pretty good.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-39.jpg)
So I took the pattern over to Art's Welding and he said, no problem.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/007-41.jpg)
Well, it looks like the pattern and only cost 40 bucks. :)
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/008-39.jpg)
Had to break out the angle grinder and do a little tweaking.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/014-17.jpg)
I did have to spend another 4 bucks for hardware, but it beats spending $270 for a factory shield. :D
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/013-12.jpg)
Then I figured a mock up of the set up would be a good idea.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/017-13.jpg)
Cement board, quarry tile, and some small clay pot bases is the current proposal.
And just in case anyone has wondered what a spent catalytic combustor looks like.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/016-14.jpg)
And in closing, the lastest craigslist find. ;D
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/018-11.jpg)
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/019-10.jpg)
Lowe's finest that a guy used for one day before he discovered that the flue was not safe to use. 27 tons with Honda engine and it's mine for $800. 8) I was almost ready to buy the Tractor Supply 22 ton unit for $1000 plus tax when this showed up.
The stove heat guard looks great. I have a vermont castings defiant encore that I picked up for $200. I knew it would need some work, but the stove was in great shape. I bought a rebuild kit (new fireback, damper and ceramic insert) for it for $500 and now it looks great. I have been thinking about making a heat guard for the back and bottom, so your pictures are extremely helpful. [cool]
Thanks Chuck for the kind words.
Sounds like you got a really good deal on the Encore. I'm going to have to replace the refractory assembly on mine, but all of the cast iron parts are in good shape.
For a variety of reasons, I don't need the rear heat shield, but if you start with a section of 12" pipe you should be able to build something around it for the shield. Of course one could make a shield without a pipe section as well.
Poppy thanks again for the great info. When you replace the refractory unit be careful the bolts holding my fireback broke and I had to drill them out and retap the holes. By the way Your stove is prettier than mine, mine is the standard black model.
Just a short update. Not much work on the house because of cold weather and Christmas travel.
I did find a sink on craigslist. Also got the pipe parts for the stove ordered.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/012-15.jpg)
It's a Swanstone model KSDB-3322 that was in a local judge's wife's kitchen for a year or so.
Here's what I saw on my first trip of the new year out to the country.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-43.jpg)
Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning.
It's been too cold to work on the house, so I figured it was time to start getting some firewood.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/003-33.jpg)
This is an old tree top from a previous harvesting. I think I'll use the tractor and trailer the next time to get closer to the wood. ::)
Not a very big load, but hauling wood is hard for an old man.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/006-40.jpg)
Alan Gage has a thread in General asking for suggestions on his floor plan. I mentioned over there that the kitchen layout sparked my thoughts on my own design, specifically the distance between counters.
Here's my latest design based on stuff I have already purchased.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/ranchfloorplanorig.jpg)
The only base cabinet I would need to add to this is for the sink. Then I would add 4-6 wall cabinets.
The refrigerator is a little out of scale, but it is a counter depth model.
Also for scale the tiles are 6" square.
I like it.Can't wait to see the other half of the house.
Thanks ben. The other half of the house is not as exciting as the kitchen but maybe I'll post the master BR suite.
Did I ever mention that I really like craigslist? Here's my lastest find that is from a 1960 house only 1.5 miles from my condo.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-44.jpg)
This is an attempt to show what the tile pieces look like next to the toilet top from a previous find. There's also another set of towel holders and a second soap dish like the tall one (both chipped). They didn't save the towel bars.
The total package included 300 4.25" x 4.25" wall tiles, 37 bull nose, 32 inside corner, & 23 floor tiles (hard to tell from the pic., but the floor tile on the left is textured), plus numerous chipped tiles. The floor tiles were over a concrete base and didn't come up easily.
There's not quite enough wall tiles to go around 3 sides of the tub, so I'm going to have to figure something out. ???
And the good part is that the whole package set me back $25. ;D
Looks like some usable parts there.Nother score.
Not much happening on the rehab. I did get some more logging done for firewood. And here's some more craigslist finds.
It turns out that the guy who had the pink tile also had a medicine cabinet and another guy had some blue tile.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/002-39.jpg)
The mirror is not perfect, but good enough for country rehabbing. ;) I got 200 blue tiles, so I have some options on how to do 3 walls above the tub.
For some reason, they threw out the glass shelves, d* but the brackets are still intact, so a couple pieces of glass will be easy to get.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/001-45.jpg)
The cabinet has the obligatory razor blade slot. The current owner didn't even notice the slot until he found a bunch of razor blades in the wall. :o Some of you young guys might not know what razor blades are, so here's a sample.
(https://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu224/poppy3640/urbanlegends_razorblades_03_10.jpg)
Hey Poppy.How is the house coming along?
The house is moving slowly, but I finally got the condo sold and moved into the rehab in June this year. I'm living in 2 rooms while working on the rest of the house.
I was making some progress and then the bug hit me to find another woman, so I joined an internet dating service and have been spending more time on line and dating then working on the house. [slap]
I don't like being alone.
Quote from: poppy on December 14, 2011, 11:20:27 PM
I don't like being alone.
Nope, that's no fun, especially when you had someone really special for a long time. If yours was like mine, she'd want to to find a new best friend. We've talked about it.
I'm glad to hear you are trying to do something about that. best of luck!
Quote from: poppy on December 14, 2011, 11:20:27 PM
The house is moving slowly, but I finally got the condo sold and moved into the rehab in June this year. I'm living in 2 rooms while working on the rest of the house.
I was making some progress and then the bug hit me to find another woman, so I joined an internet dating service and have been spending more time on line and dating then working on the house. [slap]
I don't like being alone.
I understand that.Good luck on your search for your new lady.I haven't been able to stay single long myself.
Hi all, I'm posting here in case anyone is interested in taking a look at the origin of much of the stuff I'm using on my newest rehab project. http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=12301.0#top