Left photo has the dividing wall, the right is the demo.
Quick!! Someone give me a concrete saw, a jackhammer, and a willing nephew or two!"
(Jackson Paterno, take your bow now.)
All too often light is overlooked as part of the design. I wanted to fill this space with light. The wall separating the stairwell from the living room made the place feel smaller than it was was. It cut right down the middle of the house. Why was that wall even there? Supposedly, it was thought to be load bearing back in the day, but the layout was all wrong for that. I dont know. Anyhow, it had to go, but I wanted to do it safely. I went to some engineering experts, Silman Associates. Victor Dragonoff helped me transform my vision into reality with the calculations and permit drawings to execute my post and beam solution.
Enter Jackson Paterno...ONE OF...my favorite nephews. There are 15 of them, by the way.
Plaster is removed to expose the lath.
Removing plaster is a dirty, dirty, dusty, dusty job. Wear a respirator, eye protection, and it also helps to have a big burly nephew help you out. My big burly nephew is Jackson Paterno. He was in town visiting friends, which was a GREAT opportunity for me. We used a hammer drill on the "chisel" setting and I ratt-a-tatted down the lenghth of the walls. I felt like I was holding a shake-weight all day, for four or five days straight. Removing the plaster with the chisel allowed me to expose the lath, and I’ve got some plans for lath, so we'll save it. FYI, Lath is strips of pine that are nailed to the wall studs. Plaster is then skimmed over the lath to form the wall.
Lath is saved for surprise future use...stay tuned!
We removed the lath "carefully" and set it aside for use at a later date. After this job was done, you could already see the light filter through. Then, I used some scrap 2x4 material to build a false wall to temporarily hold up the ceiling joists.
Now for the footings...and another favorite nephew.
Now for the footings...and another favorite nephew.
RSS Feed