A Whale of a Project

Time for my annual blog update.We'll take it from the top - the roof.

Oh the roof! What do you do with a beautiful slate roof that is 124 years old and has completely destroyed box gutters, rotten fascia and soffet, and approximately 20 bird nests in it?

We didn't know either. Since we bought the house, we've mostly annually hired a slate roofer to patch up the tiles and do basic maintenance. Since slate roofing is a true artisan occupation (and not artisan like the description of fast food lately, but artisan as in "requires someone with skill, expertise, and an artistic sense), that got pricey after a few years.

Additionally, our roof had box gutters that were completely rusted out, filled with tar, and not working at all. That was exacerbating our rotten fascia/soffet issue, causing drainage issues that could be damaging our foundation, and generally not working.

So we got a bid a couple of years back for the box gutters only. It was roughly what you'd pay for an entire asphalt shingle roof. And it did nothing for our fascia/soffet situation. And putting that kind of money into it assumed that the slate was worth saving for at least another 25 years, which it likely wasn't. It was a risky option.

We talked about just ripping the whole thing off and doing asphalt shingles. But we hesitated to do that for a few reasons.

1. The very best asphalt shingles last 40 years. That puts us around age 75 when it's time to replace them. Not something we want to do.
2. When you've come this far with a really special old house with a cool roof, it's a shame to replace it with the same style of materials being used on brand new construction.

We were both really intrigued by metal roofs. The new style of metal roof is EnergyStar rated, efficient, and hailproof, fireproof, and windproof. They come in cool colors. And they last 80 fricking years.

After we decided to go after this giant project, there was time spent getting bids. There was time spent looking at other metal roofs the contractors had built. We decided to throw in the siding - bite the bullet and just do the entire exterior of the house.

Then there was WAY TOO MUCH time spent negotiating with banks (Kiss off, PNC. Your customer service during this made me close my account of 20 years.)

And now? After working towards this since roughly February? Roof work is underway.

Here's the garage, with siding, fascia, and soffet:

 

Here's the garage roof and siding and dog (now we have to do something with that crap door and window).

 Here's the house with metal on the back and the last bit of slate on the side:  

Here's the side with the new siding, fascia, and soffet:

 

We're probably 75% there. We've had some weather delays lately. So cross your fingers for dry days. Maybe I'll even post all of the "after" pictures before 2015.

Brace yo'self fool!

Over the last couple of weeks, Mike and my dad and I worked to rebrace the attic stairs. Remember that project? Well today, after adding new stringers to the stairs, we removed the floor jacks. Slowly...sloooowly...and the house creaked for a moment and sat still. Success!

Here's a small sampling of the new support system for the stairs.

New stringers:

Notice that the stairs still aren't level - we'll level out the drywall to make it look square. But this is a huge improvement:

Big bolts and one of the 8 or so 2x4 pieces bracing the stairs from the side:

Proof that the attic door closes completely now:

Next up: finishing the insulation and behind the wall odds and ends. Then we get a whole bunch of drywall. Does anyone deliver?

Jacked up

Our house is crooked. I think that's pretty normal for a structure built 120 years ago. But since we are taking out the walls, we have the opportunity to try to straighten things out a little.

Remember what the attic stairs looked like back when we had walls? No? OK, here. See how the angles aren't really 90 degrees in that doorway? That's because the attic stairs are sagging over the front hallway. They're so crooked that the attic door does not close.

So we got out the floor jacks.

This one holds the first floor hallway up and braces the whole contraption from the ground (basement) up.

Then this one sits on top of that. This is the jack that does the lifting.

The next image shows exactly what we are lifting - the attic stairs.

And this last one shows how crooked they were on Day 1, when we set up the jacks.

The above pic also shows some of the dozens of rolls of insulation we've added to the house's exterior walls. It's my hope that we can turn the furnace up past "frigid" to "tepid" once we have the house insulated.

So every couple of days, we've added an inch or so to the first floor's jack. We're now to the point where we can close the attic door - it won't latch, but I don't think it ever will. But there's a definite improvement.

Next up? Bracing the stairs so that they stay in their new upright position.

Attic/third floor bedrooms