Man that place is looking nice! *Thumbs up!*

 

thanks

Almost forgot, the wife wants to build our own shoji screens on tracks so that we can slide them all out to cover all the windows up front for privacy while letting light in or push them all to the side to open up and let all the light in and see what's going on outside.

Got a book on building them in the classic manner. That should be a fun project

 

JC and da boyz... You have gotten into it BIG TIME!

Good luck with everything, Chris.

Glad to hear that the Condo folk are going to be paying for the subfloor. Your "due dollars" at work!

 

What is the latest on the load bearing wall??? I am guessing a long laminated beam?

Good thing you are on the top floor!

 

two architects have looked at it and deemed it load-bearing. unless the builder says otherwise... I don't know...

and due to how poorly it's built, they said it's way too expensive to transfer loads and too high of a liability... we're considering other options.

 

I would not go so far as to say that it is "poorly" built. It is in line with the standards of the day. This particular style is called Balloon Framing. This is where the walls are built before the floor system is put in. The modern method is referred to as Stacked Framing. Here, the floors are put in before the walls. Kinda like a sandwich. Each has its ups and downs.

As for that being a load bearing wall... I would agree that it is. I noted the double top plate as well as the blocking between the studs. Both signs that this is here to hold something up. It would be VERY tricky to install a beam (even more so with the balloon framing).

Sorry to hear that you are going to have to leave that wall there... The space behind it is small and oddly shaped. It is going to be difficult to work with.

Good luck and keep the pics comming!

 

More info on Balloon Framing.

Good stuff...

 

Yep it sucks. We're considering putting the kitchen in that space or my office... If we leave the kitchen where it is, it significantly reduces the size of the living room area. If we put the kitchen back there, we end up with a HUGE living/dining area but the kitchen ends up being significantly separated from the rest of the unit - the architects are recommending against cutting ANY of the studs (to make a window to the living room, for example).

The designer's first drawings are less than attractive - basically drywalling the studs so that there are slats between the studs as the pass-through to the living room. We've gotta rethink this a lot...

 

Ok, so we achieved a major milestone today... Subfloor replaced. Not throughout, just in the areas we intend to refloor. Even then, it's a HUGE HUGE difference. The condo association was kind enough to cover about 1/3 of the replacement cost. We had to pay the additional for leveling and I purchased the insulation myself.

We also installed R-19 fiberglass insulation between the joists to alleviate sound transfer to and from the unit below us.

First, they took it all out...





Then, they started to stuff insulation and level the floors in a rather ingenious way... By nailing 2x4's to the sides of the existing joists (some 2x12's running as much as 20ft!) so that the top edge of the 2x4's provided a new level surface on which to attach the new subflooring. At the same time, they reattached most of the cross-bracing between the joists, as it had come loose over time.






The old subflooring was in really bad shape, poorly installed and only 1/2" thick. The new stuff is 3/4" tongue-and-groove plywood, installed to much tighter tolerances. I intend to go back over the whole thing and seal any joints with Liquid Nails. We'll also probably end up putting a few boxes of screws into the subfloor to eliminate any possibility of squeaks.

So we have a firmer, stronger, considerably more level floor now:






To get an idea of just how much of a slope we had when you first walked in the front door, I think the paint/baseboard line at the back of the closet shows that pretty well:


It was quite uncomfortable walking in and sliding downhill immediately.


SO... Flooring is ordered with premium heavy recycled rubber underlayment to provide impact and airborne sound abatement - expected install around the end of the month:


Tile was ordered tonight. Expected install in about 7-10 days.

Cabinets are in, awaiting assembly:




Appliances are scheduled for delivery, electrician is coming in the morning to replace the fuse panel with a circuit breaker, drywall/framing is still a little up in the air... But we're making progress. I'm ending up as my own GC on the job, but eh whatever I guess it's fun

So that's about that for now. More to come later, I'm sure.

 

You know you're making progress when you have pics of a lot of work in the first page of your thread.