118 Henry Street

Eric and I are close to finishing the new roof. It’s supposed to rain on Thursday, Thanksgiving, so we’re trying really hard to get it all waterproof (not just water resistant) before then.

A series of “before” and “in progress” pictures:

East bedroom roof and addition before

During demolition

Same angle shot as demolition picture

The chimney and kitchen back roof before

The dreaded kitchen ceiling roof demolition

In progress, but looking much more waterproof

West bedroom roof, sagging gutter and all

Not quite the same angle, but you get the picture

Tho technically we still don’t have a roof, the kitchen skylight is gone. We never recovered from the loss of 3 days to the rain. We did get the new roof deck completely covered with WeatherLock before officially closing the weekend. In the interim, we have a “water resistant” roof.

Here are some pix of the new roof taken on Saturday at or near the completion of the roof decking.

All the framing was 2×8 using a combination of steel hangers, blocking and screws to attach new roof to the existing house.

New roof framing around the chimney

New roof framing and repairs at east bedroom

Contrast this:

New roof decking at east bedroom

With this:

East bedroom roof before

Also, compare this:

Goodbye kitchen skylight

With this:

No more flat roof to collect water

Roof line before and after:

No porch covering

New roof line

Ultimately, a straight soffit from the addition will extend across the back doorway and terminate at the window on the original house. This will form the line for the porch ceiling and a new partial wall over the red door entrance.

On the kitchen window wall (west) side of the house, the new roof line eliminates the “add on” look of the addition.

Look, a square room crashed into our house

More natural roof line

Too much going on with the roof project to write much but here are some photos from the�first half of our odessy.

WARNING: some of these images are not suitable for viewing by owners of modern houses. Only folks acquainted with the..ahem..joys of old house ownership may be able to withstand the visual impacts.

First day of demolition, looking out the east bedroom dormer

Ben, my son, helping with the demo

Along with Ben, Eric, my nephew-in-law, has been a tremendous help. Without them, we could not have even envisaged this project.

Roof deck below east bedroom dormer

The hole in the roof decking indicated by the arrow has the following view of the attic:

Rain bucket in attic since 2003

Roof deck removed, rafters exposed

Aforementioned bucket, moldy insulation and 2×4 rafters..oh joy

All of the cellulose insulation is now gone, to be soon replaced with new (non-moldy) fiberglass..thanks Deborah and Mike!

The following is a series of pictures concerning the kitchen and roof over the kitchen. First, the second biggest roof leak we had:

Kitchen roof leak not getting any smaller since 1921

Roof deck above kitchen

The slope break in the roof deck is directly over the leak. Difficult to see but most of this flat decking is rotted with water damage.

Big kitchen leak to the right of the chimney

Finally, with all the decking, insulation, and rotted wood removed, we have created….

A kitchen skylight…sorta…

During the rain last week, Eric and I tried to make the most of it. We removed all the shingles from the carport and prepared it for new metal roofing. When done, it will match what we are putting on the house.

Working while we can

Last Friday, the end of the 3 day rain spell, was definitely a low point for us. We had a huge hole in our roof and the rain just kept getting stronger. Finally, things got so soaked that the progress-o-meter began turning backward and forward progress was being negated by damage to�all the work we’ve done in the kitchen annex.

Kitchen annex leak

We will have to redo the ceiling drywall…sigh…

The last weekend brought back the sunshine and we were able to get back to work. The culmination on Sunday was the actual start of construction. Viola, says Ben.

First of the new rafters

Closeup of the first new rafters

The highlight of the weekend was Sunday lunch. Carole cooked Cuban soul food: roast pork, collard greens, rice’n'beans, and mac’n'cheese.

Cuban soul food makes a family smile