Philly Row Home Reno

Week 9 Progress Pics

Posted on October 3, 2010 by D

So it’s been 9 weeks since the renovation began and 6 weeks since my last update. (I know… I’m slacking.) There’s been a great deal of progress on the house. Also, the architect plans are complete, the contractor got to take a vacation, and some decisions have been made on materials… at least in our minds.

Load-bearing wall removal: COMPLETE!
New floor framed in to cover old staircase location: COMPLETE!
Second floor bathroom floor/kitchen ceiling: COMPLETE!
New floor opening for staircase location: STARTED!

Here’s what it looks like walking in through the front door. The new staircase will begin about 10 feet after the end of the vestibule. There’s still no staircase to the other floors, so no easy way up or down for additional pictures.

Week 9: The studs holding up the ceiling are temporary support. Week3: Midway through the load-bearing wall removal.

Week 1: Left side drywall was removed.

At the base of the stairs on the first floor, looking up to the second and third floors. Left: That opening at the top is the deck door on the third floor. Right: Remnants of the old second to third floor staircase on the wall.

In the Dining Room, looking up to the front of the house.

At the base of the stairs on the first floor, looking up to the second and third floors. Again, access door to roof deck and 2 windows that will be part of the master bathroom on the third floor.

This week will entail a good deal of trash removal and a relatively accessible house for a walk-through with the contractor. It’s starting to shape into the vision!

Posted in "Before", Architect, Demolition, Framing, Pictures, Staircase | Leave a comment

Rubble, Rubble Everywhere

Posted on August 22, 2010 by D

This week’s visit to the house was a quick one and I was accompanied by my contractor—a good thing as he helped me understand what was happening. Remember the red brick wall that I saw when visiting last week? The process to remove it has begun. The structure that houses the kitchen, breakfast area, 2nd floor back bedroom and bathroom was added onto the original house. The brick wall inside the house was the old exterior of the original house and rather than remove it when the addition was done, they left it in place and now it’s my issue. But a necessary issue to open up the first floor to the kitchen/breakfast area space. Removing the wall means more than just that wall. It holds the weight of the roof above. But my contractor is on it and feels great about what needs to happen and the work so far.

Other than rubble everywhere, these look the same. But what you can barely see is that the brick wall of the back bedroom (green and red box) has come down. Then the first floor portion can come down, followed by the wall running perpendicular to it—the one you see in these shots. Support beams will be put in place and everything will be just like new.

With the staircase removed, there really isn’t an easy way to get up. So I relied on my contractor to provide an update on the 3rd floor: all floor boards have been removed, walls are down to the studs and the ceiling is fully off exposing the roof trusses. I really wanted to take a look so the ladder went up and I climbed to the lower portion of the second floor, but once it came to going to the upper portion of the second floor I was done. I don’t know about you, but I’m not keen on waking across the edges of ladder rungs. I’ll have to wait to see the third floor once stairs are roughed in.

Left: Looking down from the back bedroom after climbing up. That’s the ladder that went to the upper portion of the second floor that I opted not to use. Center: Inside the back bedroom. Right: First floor. This brick wall is next to come down and there will be a walkway into the kitchen/breakfast area.

We’re going to save the good bricks to build some planters in the back patio area. Looks like there will be enough.

Posted in "Before", Demolition, General Contractor, Pictures | Leave a comment

When Your Yellow Brick Road Hits a Red Brick Wall

Posted on August 15, 2010 by D

I’ve loved seeing the progress of the demolition over the last few weeks. There wasn’t a ton that was in the way of picturing the final vision of each room, but when some walls came down it helped visualize the new space. Earlier in the week, the GC let me know that most of the big demolition was done – what was left depended on our final plans with the architect and that’s about a week or two away. So, armed with a camera and full of excitement, we went to the house this weekend to take it all in. I was looking forward to the demolition of the staircase from the first floor to the second floor as that would open up the connection from the living room to the kitchen.

The stairs are planned to move into the dining room – who really needs a dining room that’s 17’ x 15’? That would leave an ample dining room and would create a corridor with coat closet, access to basement and powder room before walking into the kitchen. There’s a ceiling height change and with some interesting entrance design that would push you into the kitchen. Here’s a quick before and after of the plans… followed by the conundrum.

This is the current floor plan. You can see that the L-shaped kitchen and breakfast area (and bathroom above) were were added onto the house at a later date (hence the shorter ceiling). The stairs made sense when the house was first constructed over 100 years ago. But once the addition was built, the stairs were a weird occlusion.

In the new plans, the stairs will move and a coat closet and powder room will be added. This will open up the kitchen and will allow a connected eating area.

But here’s what we saw when we walked into the house this weekend. A red brick wall. Smack in the middle of the proposed new walkway. This red brick wall is an old exterior wall supporting the house – a load-bearing wall. Uh-oh. That sounds expensive. We sat there staring at the space with 2 friends to envision alternate layouts where the wall wouldn’t need to move, but be exposed and celebrated. We measured, we envisioned, we speculated. I sent a text to the GC. And then we decided that it was something best left to the professionals. Moving load-bearing walls isn’t impossible, it just requires structural beams to support the load above and that just sounds more expensive – but in this case, it’s something necessary. Off to RESTORE for shopping inspiration. If you live in the Philly area, check it out.

More pics of the first floor – no staircase up means no pics of the second and third floor. I’m sure my GC is happy that I didn’t have another reason to bother him on a weekend. Pretty cool wallpaper find under all that drywall.

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Posted in "Before", Demolition, Floor Layout, General Contractor, Pictures | Leave a comment

And behind this door… another house.

Posted on August 8, 2010 by D

With all the focus on the settlement, architect scheduling and general contractor discussion since closing, I hadn’t had a chance to write about this yet. When we first went to see the house, the MLS listing stated: This home features a separate in-law suite (with its own address) which is currently rented out. Intriguing, right? It was. Adorable, charming, cute, were other words to describe it. It was another house on the lot! She’s now been named “The Carriage House”. It’s a one bedroom, one bathroom roughly 550 sq. ft. home over the garage. The tenant is gone and the plan is to spruce it up with some paint, furniture and accessories and invite friends and family over for long weekends! Reservations accepted starting January 2011. Breakfast included.

The outside of the rear guest house + Fig Tree (imported from Sicily)

“Legally imported from Sicily.” Those were the seller’s words at settlement.

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Posted in "Before", Carriage House, Exterior, Figs, Guests, Pictures | 3 Comments

More Demolition Progress Pics

Posted on August 8, 2010 by D

We dropped by the house today and it’s impressive to see all the progress completed in such a short time. It’s easier to tear things down than it is to put them up! Walls are down. The kitchen is gone. Stairs and hallways have no carpet. The odd puppet show structure in the front bedroom on the second floor is gone! The bathrooms are shells. The deck has no floor or railings. Yet, the front windows still have those terrible banquet-tablecloth curtains! Some things take time…

First Floor – Living Room