118 Henry Street

Tried really hard to get a lot done this weekend. Circumstances kept getting in the way.

One of many

The new kitchen wall got closed in today. We can’t help but smirk at all the home improvement shows when we reflect on what it takes to build a load bearing wall in an 89 year old house.

The new sill turned out solid, stable and immovable. In addition, we lag-bolted the addition sill to the new wall. Even a 200+ (and I emphasize the “+”) pound man jumping on one foot couldn’t shake the windows.

Not given to shakes, rattles or roll

Although it doesn’t show the fire blocking or the build-out of the existing wall section, here’s a composite photo of the basic wall framing:

Supporting the roof for another 89 years

On the existing wall to the left of the new wall, we started some plaster repairs. Using drywall screws to stabilize the existing plaster (similar to the breakfast room), and Master Of Plaster to fill in some of the holes. Here’s the closed, roughed in, wall:

Will be like this for a while longer

Far from completely done, the new wall will wait for further work until the rest of the “DeShawn Move Project” is finished.

We put in a cat door so the cats could get to the addition for now.

Ever wonder “why?” all the fuss from Terminex in their TV commercials? Never seen termite damage? This one’s for you:

Remains of a 2×10 sill plate

We removed a LOT of this kind of damage to get to good wood and solid foundation.

At the nadir of “abyss”, pier pipe peeking

Note the creative use of the car dolly jack to hold up the ceiling

The replacement sill will be 3 2×8’s (with spacers) thick, sitting on 2 original foundation piers and 1 new pier. The final wall will be framed out with 2×8’s.

Already looking better

For the first time since beginning demolition of the opening, it’s starting to look like we just might fix all the problems covered up by the P.O.’s.