Tag Archives for demolition

And then you say god DAMN they roofless!

We really wanted to wait on this project until after all the glamorous stuff got done; it isn’t part of our permit and it’s money and time we could be putting to use finishing that out. However, a slowly spreading stain on our old bedroom ceiling started to drip and crumble on those heavy soaker rain days and our priorities shifted, just like that.

Exposed

So here we are, tearing the roof off in a sunny stretch and fixing the sags, the rot, the parts that got no love the last time someone did this- whenever that was.

Seattle in June is not a guaranteed sun fest, so there is urgency in the pace, long exhausting days for Morgan, who as usual decided to tackle it himself (with a little help from some friends).

This way those sags and rotten bits get properly addressed, and we save a lot of money, some of which we will spend on upgrading to metal. We fantasized about the newfangled solar shingles being sold out there but it seemed out of reach and maybe ill-advised for our particular situation. A metal roof will set us up for big solar panels when we are ready, so it is a step in the right direction. The metal has an ordering lead time that likely means this project will be two-phased: tear-off, repair and shore up, sheath and then waterproof is phase one. Phase two is metal.

Right this moment we are in the middle of it all with our top wide open to the elements, sunlight streaming in where darkness and wasps usually rule. The forecast looks good for at least a week, let’s hope they got it right!

Not a skylight

Demolition Man

Morgan has been busy working on other people’s projects since the completion of our new bathroom, but having that new bathroom done makes it possible for us to get rid of the remnants of the old bathroom (which has also been our hallway for lo, these many years) and kitchen (which has our other toilet in it, because it’s about to become a bathroom).

There was a mishap involving a cabinet falling on Morgan’s hand, which put the brakes on any extracurricular destruction for awhile. It’s very fortunate that one of the jobs he was working on at the time was for our friend Marcus, an ER doctor who helped him out with some stitches in his back yard.

Now that’s healed up and the guys got back to tearing it apart a bit more. I forgot to take photos of the mess when it was inside, so you will have to enjoy the piles in the driveway instead, along with some photos of the missing wall.

We aren’t in a big rush to move on this part, but it’s fun to have something to pick away at. I think we are ready for a big ol’ dump run now.

Porches

One of the hard truths about remodeling is that you rarely if ever have the budget or the exact conditions for your “dream” home. I feel like we’re getting most of what we want and need, but there are always things you let go of– more bedrooms, more storage, space for a pinball machine… Morgan longs for a big front porch. He wants to sit on rockers with his friends watching the neighborhood roll by, wants to be there to greet guests with a beer in his hand and a small roof over his head. I have admired many porches through his eyes.

The fact is, our site plan and layout don’t make a porch as such a viable feature. We will have a lovely patio, and a small landing area by our front door. There is some covered deck planned by the shop and new shed, but it won’t accomplish that front-of-house feeling Morgan longs for.

The house as it was originally had a tiny porch:

Our house in the 1930's

Our house in the 1930’s

Here’s Buphalo today, working on removing the enclosure that had been added somewhere along the way:

Buphalo demo's the porch

Buphalo demo’s the porch

And Morgan, shoring up the roof of the back porch so he can complete the demolition of that:

Morgan working on demolition of back porch

Morgan working on demolition of back porch

Finally, here’s Morgan, enjoying his one evening of living the porch dream before it goes altogether:

Morgan enjoys his porch.

Morgan enjoys his porch.

Hut Tub, RIP

Hut Tub circa 2010

Hut Tub circa 201

Hut Tub, RIP, 2014

Hut Tub, RIP, 2014

Our friend Buphalo purchased a fully- gutted short sale in 2010, a home that needed extensive work before it could sufficiently shelter him. In an effort to save money, and because he has always been more comfortable outside, he and Morgan decided to build a little shack over the remnants of a dead cedar hot tub we had on our deck that he could sleep in until his place was ready. We called it the Hut Tub.
The tub had been too leaky since 2004 to use as a tub, so they converted it to the tiny “sunken living room” of the hut. A tiny wood stove was found to put inside it, a bed platform was built, walls, windows, a roof… what more could you need? Never mind that you could see daylight between the siding boards, and that the temperatures got down into the teens one week, it was a perfectly cozy little home.
We have had only a few other people stay there since Buphalo moved on–it made a decent fair-weather guest house– but we have had little fires and used it to hang out in. It was a very charming little clubhouse.
No more! Making way for a new storage shed with proportions more suitable to our needs, the Hut Tub met its end last Friday. Buphalo was there for the end, as he was in the beginning.
We will remember it fondly.