More House Renovations; new pics #5 almost done; #9 DONE

This is a project which slipped past everyone -- including OUR housing inspection company -- when I bought the house 10 years back. Within 4 days, we discovered the issues ourselves. The original owners put a large addition on the back, which includes the Family Room, and the Master Suite - Dad's bedroom and bathroom. They did not extend the basement, so there is only a 4 foot crawl space under this huge addition. As with everything else they did, they did this on the cheap. The support boards under the flooring are the wrong size, and the addition sags.

Well, back then, Dad bought hydraulic jacks, and face masks with oxygen capsules, and crawled under to put the jacks in. He raised the addition slowly, a bit at a time, over 5 weeks, and got it all level. Within 3 years though, those sank and we were back to a bellied floor. We just coped and did other work. But always talked about having this fixed properly. I had forgotten until we moved furniture out on Tuesday, I had 2 shims under the aquarium to hold it level! With Dad out of the house for a few weeks for physical therapy, I decided this is the time to do the work.

Here is a picture from the family room, looking at the doorway to Dad's bedroom.
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You can see the lovely new ceiling we had put in the Family Room 3 years back. I've been told to expect many cracks in the celiling. Sigh.

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The door frame on the left is 1.5 INCHES higher than the door frame on the right corner! That is a BIG drop in a short space. Here is the wall where we normally have our recliners. On the other side is the bedroom closet (center) and the bathroom (far right). The bathroom is quite heavy, it has a tiled walk in shower stall along with all the other fixtures, and this is what is pulling everything down.
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They have started in the Family Room, hoping PERHAPS they can work underneath and not have to work in Dad's bedroom. First they had to pull up all the hardwood floor - we had that put in when we bought the house so it is only 10 years old. Out it went. Then they ripped out the plywood subfloor. Now they have access to work on the joists / beams. Just the weight of the floor and subfloor are such that in removing them, the door frame shifted back UP some. The green plastic is along the kitchen and dining area, to keep insulation, dust, debris etc. from going all through the house.

One of the things we did over the years was have insulation put in all around where the foundation meets the uprights. For the Family Room, this made a huge improvement in keeping that space warm in winter. We also had a vapor barrier put in on top of the dirt floor, to hold down odor, moisture, and so on. Not clear how much of that will be disturbed and need to re done.
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Here you see some of the levels, including a foundation level, in place. Looking at the measuring bubble, the floor is level. But the problem is, looking under the level there are huge gaps between it and the beams.
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There are SPOT issues, as well. Here is a lamp sitting on the FOUNDATION sill, this is the corner where I had the aquarium!
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The plan is to jack it all up, then "sister up" the beams in there with the proper beams, set at the right heights. At first we thought the beams were 1 x 6's, and we were going to put in 1 by 10's. Once the flooring came up, the boards in there are 1 by 8's and are not all at the same height. So the new boards will also be 1 x 8's.

As with each and every project to date on this house (and there have been many!), we have hit a new issue. All the plumbing lines to the bathroom have been pulled off kilter, and are leaking. The plumber comes in tomorrow afternoon; he will likely tell the general contractor to get the beams raised and level, then before the new floor is put in he will repair -- or more likely replace! -- all the plumbing. I had him coming as we knew of a small leak in Dad's shower, ONLY when the water was turned ON, and he was coming in to address that. Gosh won't he be surprised when he arrives to find he has a big project!

The cats, well 7 of them are down cellar for the duration; and I put Cuddles in with Mandy in the bedroom. The dogs are with me, and it is a bit awkward as we have to go out the front and walk around through the gate to the back yard. I can manage it for a temporary situation, though. Tasha is quite nerved up by this whole process. Willy thinks most of the crew are great and here just to pet HIM! He also keeps poking his nose under the plastic to check job progress -- I do have baby gates in place, but Willy has never let those stop him getting where he wants to go! Lacey is in a slump, just too much chaos and change all at once - Dad gone and now his area all off limits. So I baby her quite a bit.

Dad of course is upset he is missing all the fun!

BTW I did NOT buy this house as a fixer upper! With all the issues, it sure would have qualifies as one, though!!!

So much fun, isn't it??? At least everything should be as it should have been when the original work was done. When we had the addition put on here 5 years ago, along with a new roof, it was supposed to be a 3 month project - and it ended being almost 6 months when all was said and done. So we lived in near chaos for that long. Quality work it was not either! :o I feel your pain...........:eek:

The leaning addition of Pisa! Wow. How great that you have professionals working on this. It certainly isn't doing it on the cheap - ow! - but it will last.

Your dad will be delighted and much more comfortable. :)

Your picture of the level reminded me of a saying my Dad had for someone who wasn't quite with it: "He's half a bubble off plumb." ;)


Looking forward to update photos.

*giggle* love that saying Candace, not heard that one ha haaa!

Dad knows they are doing this work, and he is crying that he can't be here to join in the fun! :p

Ha haa, Tues and today are days of reprieve, no workers here at ALL!!!

They have finished jacking up the addition, put in the lolly columns and other supports, and put the subflooring back in too! We are waiting for the new hardwoods to be delivered, should be Thurs, then put that in on Thurs and Fri. Also have the person coming in to regrout Dad's shower stall, and hook up his shower again. I think that is Thurs, waiting for a phone call on that. We need 2 new doors, to Dad's bedroom and to his bathroom. I've been staining those so they are all ready for cutting out the hinge areas and knob hole and hanging. I do have a photo, still in the camera, the 1.5 inch they raised the addition is now visible at the TOP of the doors! Darn first owners, they just sheared off the tops at an angle so the doors would close~!

Dad is due to come home either Fri or Sat, I find out at the next care meeting, which is Thurs afternoon.
Edit: just learned from the Insurance Case Manager, he won't be home before July 5th.

Tasha is so happy to have that plastic DOWN. She has been quite put out with all this, and had returned to an "early in her arrival" habit: go outside and refuse to come in at all costs! I had to keep her on collar and harness as we went out the front door, walked across the driveway and through the gate to the back yard. I could drop the leash while she was busy back there, but had to leave her to drag it, as that was the only way I'd get her back in. Then on Sat, as we walked across the driveway, someone across slammed a car door and she panicked, backed out of the collar and ran to the end of the driveway. There she sat, watching me, for an hour. If I tried to circle around and get behind her she'd just run out into the street (good thing we live on a quiet road). I had bits of hot dog and cheese all over, like Hansel and Gretel, but only Lacey and Willy would eat them, ha haaa. I kept taking those 2 out trying to get her to follow them in. No dice. Finally I just came in and sat quietly, pretending to read. After about 15 - 20 minutes she was in. Then tuesday evening, we went out the usual way as the plastic is down. She refused to come IN to the empty Family Room. This was at bedtime, 10:30 PM, and she didn't come in till almost midnight. Today she seems a bit calmer. Poor girl, once she is in she is fine. We must get back to normal routine, for all our sanity, lol.

Here are the pics:
Door to bedroom: now the area has been jacked up and leveled, the frame work all meets nicely in the corners as it should
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And the top of the door has been cut off
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I think it shows better with no flash
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Door to the Master Bathroom is the same now. This is what the Family Room looks like at the moment:
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The 2 doors are stained the same color, and in real life they do look the same, the flash is making them look quite different ha haa. And notice they broke my lamp; should have made them go back to their place and get their own work light. Sigh.
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All the furniture is stacked up in the front Living Room: 4 recliners, 2 sofas, the aquarium, 2 stereos with CD players, and our one TV; I really didn't think this through well in advance, just too rushed to get it moving while Dad is not here. I've had either the kitchen table or my bed and that's it. for 2 weeks. Almost done.
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Dear Tasha and Lacey, please hang in there! The project is getting closer to "done"! I'm glad Papa Nonno is doing well at the rehab center and his stay has been extended a bit longer. Maybe that will give you more time after the renovations are done and everything is back in order, to put your feet up and enjoy it, Freedom! And I do think the contractor should replace your lamp.

The elevator company has taken our elevator off line for yesterday, today through tomorrow for "extensive renovations". The management company decided to do it this way in order to avoid a huge special assessment for a new elevator.

Half a bubble off plumb-- I've never heard that and I like it! Some days that's exactly how I feel.

This is great, Sandie! What a wonderful setting this is coming along to be, for you and your Dad and all the critters! God bless.

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

And you'll soon be able to look back and laugh (maybe) at all the turmoil, once it's completed. I'll bet Dad will be so pleased with the end result, even if he wasn't there for all the fun and to be acting sidewalk supervisor. :p And poor little Tasha - so traumatized. :( Hope she bounces back to normal once everything is back in order.

The renovations - to jack up the addition on the back of the house - are finally done, as of about 4 PM yesterday.

This is how it looked once they had the new floor in, and the baseboards and new door to the bedroom:
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They worked both Saturday and Sunday to get it done. Sunday evening, I went over to the Rehab Center and discussed all of it with Dad. Only to learn we had a huge problem. :rolleyes: The General Contractor - someone we have used many times including for the extensive kitchen redo 4 years ago - had his younger brother as Job Super for this project. Now, this is no kid, he is over age 50! He took a short cut. He "forgot" the concrete slabs to set the jacks and lolly columns, so he used . . . my decorative landscape blocks from the back yard. Cut them in HALF! So the 20 ton jacks were sitting on a weak block that measured 4 x 8 inches! That should be 16 by 16 concrete slabs, to spread out the weight, and to ensure the columns don't shift. I had the dubious pleasure of informing the GC of this when he arrived early Tuesday morning to collect his final payment.

To his credit, he knew straight away that this was WRONG. Didn't give me any issues, said he would correct it. He had to pull 2 guys off other jobs, pick up the needed supplies. And now, since the top was all finished, they had to go in through the cellar, and work in the enclosed crawl space. It is maybe 4 foot high -- not enough that they could crawl along on their hands and knees from the entry point to the work site, they had to roll and shuffle along. Under all that newly installed insulation. NOT a nice job at all. But they did it! I took a few pics from the entry point, then one of them took my camera, rolled back, and took pics for us from close to.
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This jack is holding much of the weight:
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We now have 5 lolly columns and 2 20 ton hydraulic jacks holding up the addition. AND they sistered up the beams under the Family Room floor as well. This "should" be plenty to hold the whole thing in place for years.

I am glad it is done. What with losing 2 dogs (Sugar and Marlin on April 30), one cat ((Chestnut May 15). having Dad in ICU for 5 days then hospital and then 3 weeks in Rehab, it's been a stressful time. I really wasn't "up" to handling the chaos of a renovation, but I knew it had to be done and that having it done while Dad was out of the house was THE time to do it. I spent 3 hours last evening reconnecting my TV, dvd/vcr, stereo and home theater system. The dvd /vcr is not working, so I'll have to phone the support line for help tomorrow. I have 3 wires coming out of it but no clue where to put them in ha haaa. I marked so much, and wrote things down, but there were 24 wires in all, 48 connections to be made! Now the work is done, that is a HUGE thing off our TO DO list. Still have to get someone to repair Dad's walk in shower, raising it up has caused the 40 year old grout to loosen up too much. That will be minor compared to what this was, though.

Wow, what a horrible setback there, Sandie. So glad they didn't give you any guff about fixing it.

Congratulations on getting this huge job done! What a load off your minds this must be. Looking forward to learning about Dad moving in.

God bless you and Dad and critters!

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

Wow, I am impressed with all that you have managed to get done,considering everything else going on
with the critters & with your Dad still recovering. Good job indeed.:)

Did the guy tell you he messed up using the blocks instead of the slabs, or did you discover it yourself?
Poor Tasha. Sounds like she was almost ready to runaway from home to escape the upset in her routine.

DAD is the one who figured it out, Lizbud, and then I had to be the one to deal with it. I dreaded telling the General Contractor, I really expected this to be difficult. But he knew right off that wasn't the proper way to do it. I wouldn't want to be near when he speaks with his brother!

Tasha did find it all very upsetting. She is much calmer now the furniture is back in place, and once Dad gets home on Friday that will help her, as well.

Whew! I hope the rest of the summer is relaxing for you, Sandie!

I would think a good tiler could get the shower fixed up in less than a day.

Your dad will be thrilled with his newer digs. When does he come home?

Dad comes home Friday. We've got official word from his insurance company.

I spoke with 3 folks re his shower; it will be a 3 day job.

Sandie, I am so glad your work is done. And, I am impressed your dad figured that out while he wasn't even there to "see" it taking place. Good job, Dom! Your dad knows his stuff!