Do it Yourself: [DIY] Rehab house update

02 February 2013

[DIY] Rehab house update

Been a while since I posted anything on the house, but then not much has
been done lately, and virtually none of it DIY, since what has been done is
beyond my meager skills.

The deck on the back porch, alongside the extension, had to be completely
rebuilt. Once the warped and rotten deck boards were removed, one could see
that the joists and supports for the decking were broken or split, and not
worth saving. The only part of the deck/porch that was salvageable was the
cement block foundation. So, the porch has been rebuilt; new decking, new
joists and supports, and to bring it up to code, a railing and set of
stairs.

Vinyl siding was put on the side of the extension where the old garage used
to be. Looks a lot nicer, and works better than the house wrap I had up
there, but at least the house wrap kept the water out.

That was last summer.

Right now, they're removing all the plaster and lath, and will be putting up
drywall. Yeah, I could (can) remove the plaster and lath myself, but the
contractor can do it faster (more hands doing it) and definitely dispose of
it easier than I can. Cost effective to have him do the job. And although
I want to learn how to do the drywall, so that I'll know what I need to know
should I have to do any repairs, doing the whole house is a job better left
to younger, and more knowledgeable people. Again, more cost effective to
let the pros do it.

So that's where it's at, at the moment. I am making pictures of the
process. And it's fascinating seeing the 'bones' of the house coming to
light as the place is gutted. A number of things I hadn't expected. For
one, on the exterior walls, under the plaster and lath, is a plank
"sheathing" on the inside of the studs. Means the insulation in the walls
will have to be blown in. The "sheathing" is part of the structure, and
especially on the exterior walls, we don't mess with structure. Second, all
the studs in the exterior walls, which are the ones we can see, are rough
cut. You can get a mess of splinters running your hand down 'em. And one
of them was obviously cut from the outside edge of a tree, because the top
shows where a branch was lopped off and is wood with no bark. It's hard to
describe, but I have made pictures. I'll post the link(s) when I get them
downloaded off the camera. Third, all the interior wall studs are
set...sideways. And there are no baseplates (?) to any of the walls. The
studs are nailed right to the floor. Oh, and since it's being gutted, the
attic access 'hole' is being enlarged so that someone bigger than a 10 yr
old can get through.

Sandaidh
sandaidh@atlanticbb.net