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When I see a thread titled "Tankless Water Heater", I don't expect to find that photo in the mix. Nowhere on the interwebz do you find tankless water heater instructions with "step 5...remove entire wall".

The things we'll do for unlimited hot water, right?

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Yeah ... I should have staff change the thread title to, "What happens when you pull the thread on an 80 year-old house."

Edit: I requested a thread title change to better reflect the project.

I got the walls framed in:



And sheathed:


One of my little helpers is all tuckered out after a long weekend of work.

Had a pretty good day today. I took down the load-bearing wall and was pleasantly surprised that it was mostly constructed properly.

(I realize now I did not take a "before" picture)

Unlike the previous wall, the studs went all the way from bottom plate to top plate. They were 26.5" OC, so I just added additional studs between the old ones.





Watching Bob Vila all those years actually paid off. He taught me to make headers using two 2X6s laminated together with a piece of 1/2" plywood between them.



One portion of the wall had to be completely removed to make way for the new windows. This is the new section that will have the windows.



Here you can see where the new section will go. The two studs in the middle of the open section came out and I braced the rafters to keep the roof from collapsing. Unfortunately, it was too dark to get a good picture of the new section in place. I'll get those pics when the sun comes up.

Looking great! We both must have watched the same episodes about building headers.

That carpet is going to come out at some point, right?

Looking good, and I don't know if I got it from bob villa but that's how I make all my headers, is that not universally the way its done?

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Looking great! We both must have watched the same episodes about building headers.

That carpet is going to come out at some point, right?

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Yes, the carpet will absolutely come out. I'm going to put down tile. This picture doesn't really do it justice:



It's a bluish grey porcelain tile.

Looks great Ryan, making good progress!!!

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Looking great! We both must have watched the same episodes about building headers.

That carpet is going to come out at some point, right?

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Yes, the carpet will absolutely come out. I'm going to put down tile. This picture doesn't really do it justice:



It's a bluish grey porcelain tile.

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What are your deflection numbers?

I don't know yet. I have to reverse engineer the floor. It's possible the numbers won't support tile, though. In that case. we'll figure something else out. There is a sheet vinyl version of the tile we want.

black, i'm pretty sure that's universal. i recently built a header from four 2x10's using the same method. in this case, i used three 1/2" plywood spacers so the beam had the same width as the 2x8 jack studs.

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What are your deflection numbers?

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The floor joists are 2X8 with a span of about 11'. They vary from 17" OC to 24" OC, with an average of 20".

Deflection calculates to 0.437 inches.

Vinyl it is.

Well, the word for today is ****. One of the joists is completely rotted out, but at least it's the outermost joist that runs under the door. It should be *relatively* easy to repair, but part of the floor is also going to have to come out.

Anyway, here is the pic of the last part of the wall, all framed up for the windows:


I took the liberty of adding some fasteners to strengthen the structure since everything is open. I added hurricane ties, but I had to add them on the inside due to repairs to the rafter tails on the exterior. I also added joist ties to add strength to the connection between the joists and the beam, but I will get pics when I remove the sheathing to replace that one joist.


I almost forgot to take a before picture again, so this is mostly before. I had already started some of the demo.


And here is my little nemesis for today. That void between siding and the house is where the joist was.



The rest of today will be replacing the joist and part of the floor, framing the last wall, and building the door frame.

If you keep taking out flooring you'll be able to beef up all the other joists too, then you'll get to put in that cool tile you had your eye on!

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If you keep taking out flooring you'll be able to beef up all the other joists too, then you'll get to put in that cool tile you had your eye on!

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I thought about that.


For about 5 seconds.


I hate to say this, but I just don't want to have to do that much more work and incur the additional expense. Even doing just what I'm doing, by the time I finish, I will have completely rebuilt about 80% of it in place. The money I will save not putting in tile I will use to hire someone to install a high quality vinyl floor. Finally, I will be sit back and watch someone else do the work for once. The only thing I have ever hired out was the kitchen countertops.

Thanks to the derail, I ended up finishing the day right about where I was the last time I posted, as far as the "above the floor" progress is concerned. This was the fun I got to deal with. Don't you dig that linoleum?


Yes, part of the upper outside corner of the beam was water damaged as well. There just isn't much I can do about that without doing some serious rehab I am not equipped to do. Thankfully, the inner portion of the beam was still very much intact, so I laminated two 2X8s together to form a 4X8 joist that would lap the full width of the top of the beam so it would still be supported by the full run of the beam.

I had to remove a section of the floor that was water damaged and essentially unsupported by anything. I assume the white 2X4 was a previous attempt to fix some water damage, because all the planks I cut when I removed the portion of subfloor all had butt joints on top of the 2X4.

I started off with a little Aggie engineering just in case the corner sagged a little (it's okay, you can laugh). It didn't sag, so I got my car jack and put it between the beam and bottom plate to lift the wall a little bit to allow the new joist to go in easier.


As mentioned in a previous post, I added hurricane ties to the foundation as well.


The new joist is in. Figures it would crack when I nailed it, but It worked out pretty well. The third member next to it is to add some additional support for the new subfloor inside the wall. It probably wasn't really necessary, but better than nothing. the way I see things, it can't possibly be worse than how this thing was built to begin with.


My expectations for tomorrow are to get the third wall framed and the door in. It turns out I have just barely less room than I need to put a 24" window in, so I had to order an 18" window, which will arrive in about two weeks, meaning no foam or siding on that wall for now.

Gotta love the Tine heights. Much respect RTT.

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If you keep taking out flooring you'll be able to beef up all the other joists too, then you'll get to put in that cool tile you had your eye on!

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I thought about that.


For about 5 seconds.


I hate to say this, but I just don't want to have to do that much more work and incur the additional expense. Even doing just what I'm doing, by the time I finish, I will have completely rebuilt about 80% of it in place. The money I will save not putting in tile I will use to hire someone to install a high quality vinyl floor. Finally, I will be sit back and watch someone else do the work for once. The only thing I have ever hired out was the kitchen countertops.

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I understand the scope creep and wanting to finish eventually. That's why we don't have surround speakers wired yet.

I'm curious how they'll make up the difference between the new wood and the awesome linoleum layer(s) when new flooring goes in, or maybe they'll pull the old stuff out instead. How big is the area? I got lucky and found a remnant the size we needed + about 2" on all sides for an old converted porch at a house we own. It was high quality stuff and between that and the glue it cost maybe $50 and about 3 hours.

I'm going to pull the linoleum and overlay with 1/2" plywood or 7/16" OSB, since OSB has one side that is sanded and sealed and costs less than plywood.

Last update for the weekend. I have to say I made less forward progress than I had hoped, but I was just worn out and worked a lot slower on my fourth consecutive day of heavy labor. I did also manage to take some time to get the mess cleaned up inside that resulted from demo and use of what seemed like everything all at one time.

The third wall got framed in:


I also had to build a custom door frame, since the door is a custom size. I built the frame out of 5/4 decking so that it was beefier and a little more secure than regular 1x stock.



The new door is in! I managed to get a smaller door from the Historic Houston Salvage Warehouse. It was exactly the size I was looking for, it was already painted, and it only cost me $65 instead of $200. The only two problems were that it was hinged for right-hand inswing and the door handle is for an old mortise handle set and is about 6 inches lower than it should be. I modified the door to switch the inswing of the hinges, and I had picked up an old mortise handle set when I bought the doorset. I will bore it for a deadbolt when it's ready for real use.


I should add that the reason I went with an 18x36 window instead of a 24x36 was because I needed to leave enough wall space for a porch light.

Nice touch with the old door and mortise lockset.

I think the lighting just needs to be the trouble/shop light.

Gives it a special "glow" in the room.

~egon

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I think the lighting just needs to be the trouble/shop light.

Gives it a special "glow" in the room.

~egon

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Don't tempt me into making part of this project real easy and inexpensive.

Had a fairly productive day. I finished the rigid foam and started putting in the Hardie trim at the corners and bottom. There might actually end up being some siding going up - I've got three more days to work. I also got the windows in, door knob, lock, and stops, and a much nicer support brace for the overhang. I got some soffit up under the overhang, but it was too dark for pictures.

One thing I learned is to never try to hand-nail Hardie products. I used the exact nails specified by Hardie, and the soffit panel is too hard for the nails to be hand-nailed. I ended up using siding nails on it so I could use the nail gun.







The support brace before it went up:


More to come over the next three days ...

Looks like you're making lots of progress. Looking good RTM.
BTW, Plygem vinyl windows is the replacement windows I'm using as well.

The rain has really been killing me. Today I just kept right on working outside in the rain doing the things that did not involve electricity.

I should have tested the special order window before installing it. It doesn't stay open.

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I should have tested the special order window before installing it. It doesn't stay open.

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Sounds like a defective Constant Force Coil Balance System (the coils attached to the bottom sides of the window) . Just contact your PlyGem window supplier and they should be able to get you a replacement set to install and resolve the issue. They're easy to replace compared to other window brand systems...no need to remove and replace the window!

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http://www.toyhalloffame.org/sites/www.toyhalloffame.org/files/toys/square/stick_0.png

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I was thinking more like a small-diameter dowel rod, but yeah.

It's picture time again, boys and girls!

Today was to some extent a "catch up on odds and ends" day. I started out by finishing a few pieces of rigid foam I forgot to get to on the blind side of the house and taping the rest of it. I got my starter strip ripped for siding as well. I started taking pics when I installed the exterior door trim:


One wall inside the pantry needs to be strong enough to hold the water heater, so instead of installing framing for it, I just recycled the shiplap. I will eventually install drywall over this.


Finally got the carpet ripped out. It wasn't so bad, but pulling the pad staples was a PITA. This also reinforced why I hate carpet - no matter how much you vacuum, there will still be dirt in it. I probably swept up about a pound of silt after we took the carpet out.


I had to re-frame the door the door between the kitchen and pantry, so I decided in the process I would install a door switch. I guess this is one way I can pretend my DIY project is somehow luxury or high-falutin'.



I took down the last of the paneling and got the cabinetry out finally. It almost has some "farmhouse charm" with the clapboard still up.


Not anymore.


But now for the real fun - The ceiling/roof always had a noticeable sag to it in one spot. I knew going into this that it would require repair. When we dropped the last piece of paneling from the ceiling, this is what I found:


To fix it, I started by jacking up the two joist pieces to get them into place where they should be and removing the splint.



I sistered a 2X4X8 up next to it and nailed the ever living hell out of it from both sides. it seems to be holding without the jacks, but it did sag maybe 1/4" when I removed them.



Next up will be putting down the plywood for the new floor and framing in the new walls.

One piece of this I haven't mentioned so far is that I have removed about ten pounds of roach droppings from the walls. That's not a joke. I've seriously removed three shop vac tanks full of roach droppings.

Where did you get the door switch from?
Thinking about installing one in my pantry.

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Where did you get the door switch from?
Thinking about installing one in my pantry.

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Home Depot. It was about $15.

My garage flooded out, which is where all the lumber was. We saved most of it dry, but the bottom row got wet. Hopefully it didn't get wet enough to warp on me. I don't need warped 2X6s.

BTW, while you're at it and it's open, I'd sister another 2x4 to the other side with long screws or lag bolts, as well. Just my opinion...that's just me, always prefer to be safe than sorry!

Simpson doesn't make a hanger for your application in the ceiling?