Demolition Continues

 This home was built in a very unique manner with the wall framing resting directly on the floor framing. For those of you not familiar with modern framing practices.  The floor is usually framed as an entire assembly with sheeting (known also as the sub-floor) tying all the framing members together, and then the walls being framed on top of the sub-floor layer.  In modern homes the sub-floor consists of 4' x 8' 3/4" tongue and groove structural panels.  Older homes built around the time of this one generally consisted of 3/4" pine planking sub-flooring usually set at a 45 degree angle to the floor joists to achieve sheer strength, with solid wood (often pine as well) tongue and groove planking similar to the ones seen being torn out in the pictures below.  In the case of this home, the wall framing was nailed directly to the floor framing and then one layer of finished quarter-sawn pine tongue and groove flooring was nailed in between the walls directly to the floor joists.  This meant that we would have had to patch the sub-floor everywhere we removed and old wall.  Another major concern is that the old floor squeaked terribly all throughout the home.  To go through and patch the sub-floor and then nail off the entire floor with ring-shank nails to prevent future squeaks would have been very time-consuming. 

In addition, we were having a bigger problem deciding what type of flooring to install throughout the living area.  We all agreed that we need to use the same type of flooring in the living room, kitchen and dining room to help make the space feel bigger.  Once you start dividing an already small space into smaller boxes with different flooring products, it accentuates the square footage problem.  The issue was finding a flooring finish that would perform acceptably when exposed to moisture in the kitchen and dining area and still be comfortable enough for a living space.  Plus, the stairs tie into the living area, so whatever flooring we use would have to transition with the stair coverings in a way that flows smoothly and attractively.  Finally, whatever product we chose to use must be cost effective.  The first suggestion was laminate flooring.  However, although it is easy to clean and thus attractive for a dining room, it does not hold up well when exposed to moisture.  One leaky dishwasher or a major spill in the kitchen and the future homeowner could have a major failure on his hands.  Linoleum or tile are really ideal for a kitchen, but do not feel acceptably "homey" to anyone concerned with the current project.  We are going for a very cute, comfortable, country type of style and a tiled living room just doesn't work in our minds.  With the previously discussed issues regarding the existing pine flooring in mind, we decided to remove all the existing flooring and re-sheet the floor with OSB sheeting, which both eliminates squeaks and adds additional sheer strength to the assemble.  We will then refurbish and relay the old flooring throughout the space.  We feel like an old wood floor has as much warmth and comfort as you can expect;  because the planks are extremely old and well cured solid planking, and will be well-finished with a durable polyurethane, they will not be harmed by potential moisture exposure; and there is more than enough material available to cover all the square footage in question. We will even have enough we may choose to surface the stairs in this reused pine to avoid an awkward flooring transition at the top of the stairs.  Finally, we think this flooring solution will be very attractive and will be a great conversation piece for the new owners.  Anyone concerned with environmental sustainability in building would love the idea of a 70 year old, locally produced softwood floor that would have been headed for the landfill.

Flooring torn out of the kitchen

 As can be noted below, most of the flooring was laid in continuous pieces the entire length of the room.  Where the flooring ends in the lower left-hand corner of the screen is where the existing wall used to be. If you look carefully at the center left of the following picture, you can see a piece extending clear out of the picture.  There were a few pieces that were almost 20' long, with very few knots, if any!  Also, we realized as we tore out this flooring that this is old quarter-sawn pine, which is virtually impossible to buy today, due to the size of tree that is required to quarter-saw a log.  It would have been a shame to either dispose of this lumber, or worse yet, cover it up with cheap carpet!

 And now a quick note on proper air-sealing of a home.  It was long believed that it was bad to seal a home up too tight or the air would be unhealthy, not having a chance to be recirculated.  Therefore, old-timers never took any special care to seal windows and doors up tightly.  Look at the window we removed--which was probably less than 10 years old, I might add--and see the thick layer of dust and silt on top of the window and on the sill.  There was a similar layer of filth inside every wall cavity and up in the roof on top of every wall.  This is what happens when a home is not air-sealed properly.

And now another word on proper moisture control.  The home had been resided in the past 20 years and was wrapped with house wrap for the most part.  On the back of the home, they apparently ran out of house wrap and so used black plastic instead.  Although I said that a home needs a complete air barrier, that barrier should go on the inside of a home in a dry climate.  The point of house wrap is that it prevents water from entering the wall cavity while allowing moisture vapor to escape.  Sheet plastic does not allow for this and traps the vapor inside, potentially causing mold and rot.  In this case, it severely deteriorated the siding below.  Where actual housewrap had been installed properly, the siding was not nearly as deteriorated.  Luckily for the former occupants, the dry climate prevented any mold from developing.  Had this been in a coastal climate, they would have a sever case of black mold inside this wall.

Lumber and siding we have salvaged

We almost got the roof removed before the rain started

Interior completely demolished

Demolition complete.  Not the best looking home on the street right now

Interior Demolition

I am about two weeks behind in updating the blog, so the work depicted here happened September 9. I will be getting to the most recent work soon, so stay tuned to see if the house is still standing at all... We had done some initial planning before we commenced demolition, which I was going to discuss, but since now know things not known two weeks ago, let me just tell you that what we discovered during demolition changed everything about our plan and we had to go back to the drawing board. Therefore, I won't bother with the pre-construction planning up to this point. We knew that demolition was the first step in actually useful planning, because we had to be able to see what was inside the structure to know what needed to be done; as a result we decided to go big and get it done as quickly as possible. We hired extra help and had a 30 yard dumpster set on site to be able to remove as much demolition debris as possible in one day. We had one guy who was able to start Friday morning and he demolished most of the basement that day. Then three more men joined in bright and early Saturday morning and completed the demolition of all basement and main level finishes. In about 50 man-hours we gutted all the old plaster and drywall, insulation, carpeting, plumbing, electrical, and heating systems, so that the interior was down to the bare framing; filling up a 30 yard dumpster one and a half times before we were done. We didn't get as many pictures of this phase as we would have liked, and the picture quality is poor, probably due to the thick cloud of dust that hung in the air.


View from inside the former front bedroom looking into the bathroom. The furnace flue that was exposed inside a closet is now visible. You can also see how tiny the closet was, even without having an illegal and dangerous flue taking up a quarter of the limited space. At this point we have removed all the wall plastering and have now begun to kick down the ceilings from above. We crawled up in the attic and literally kicked and stomped down through the ceiling so we didn't have to pull the ceiling plastering and all that insulation down on top of us. If you have never had the chance to kick a ceiling down, you should. It is cathartic.

View looking from the front door through the hallway and into the kitchen and bath area. Our brother Justin, seen in the back on the right, is a demolition machine. He was very thorough and flat-out destroyed everything in his path. Thanks in large part to his efforts, we surpassed what we had hoped to accomplish in one day.


As you can see, we wore protective suits and dust masks to try to keep out the harmful effects of the nasty, filthy old fiberglass insulation and dust. I went through probably a dozen masks during the day because they would quickly clog up due to the huge amount of particles in the air. It got so bad we finally borrowed the neighbor's garden hose and sprayed everything down with water to knock the dust out of the air. By the time we got it emptied and cleaned up at around 8 pm, it looked much cleaner, but it still stinks, so we know we will have to do more. One of our critical goals is to remove all undesirable odors and make the home smell like a new home when done.

Introduction to the Property

Introduction to the Property

The current property was a foreclosed home purchased from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Before purchasing the home, our first step was to inspect the home and assess whether there was enough value and potential in the home to justify the investment. We knew that prior to being foreclosed on, the previous owners gutted the kitchen and smoked heavily in the home. Upon walking through the home, we saw that it was in really rough shape and had been very poorly maintained. However, we found that the home has good “bones” and is a good candidate for renovation and resale. The major factors that helped us make this determination were as follows.

1. Structure: The home was built as an 800 sq. ft. single story home on a crawlspace in 1946 but moved to its current location on a full foundation in the early sixties. Thus, while the original framing and floor plan are very old, the current foundation is a modern, well-constructed concrete foundation that is still in excellent shape. Many older homes of this time period have deteriorating stone or brick foundations that would require very extensive repair work that could make a rehabilitation cost prohibitive, but not so with this property.

2. Location: The location of the home is a secluded residential neighborhood of similar homes that have been, for the most part, very well maintained. After walking the streets we found the neighbors to be very friendly and noticed that they have pride in their neighborhood.

3. Economics: We were able to purchase the home at a price where we feel we can do everything that needs to be done to bring the home up to modern standards and still ensure a comfortable profit margin.

Here are some of the initial pictures we took of the home before.

Here are some of the initial pictures we took of the home before.

Exterior View, Front Elevation. Note the missing siding on the top, the damaged trim on the right corner, and the shingles which are at the limits of their serviceable life.

Interior view from the front door. Probably the best part of the home as is. Someone has spent some time painting and the carpet is in pretty good shape. If the rest of the home looked like this, we would not be here. The thing that cannot be seen in a picture is the smell of smoke and filth that assaults your nose when you walk in that proves that this home has not been kept clean.

Where the Kitchen used to be, one of the major problems with the home. Without the kitchen the home is considered unfinished and many popular loan programs declined to finance the home, which made it difficult for the bank to sell before we found it.

This upstairs bedroom is every little boy's dream, but unfortunately appeals very little to anyone else.

This bedroom was obviously in the process of being worked on. Notice the numerous patches on the walls and the worn, very outdated carpet. We love the style of the original solid wood doors. Unfortunately the closet shown is very small and has an exposed furnace flue inside the door to the right which is insanely against code. It is a miracle this home did not burn down at some point.

The stairs are very steep and tight. It would be impossible to get large furniture down into the basement, which has no legal Egress windows.

That oak bath hardware and medicine is soooooo 80's It must go.

The wood beadboard paneling might have worked for the guy that put this in, but not this guy. We do like the large window facing the back yard and will probably try to save it.

Kicked-in doors on the cheap vanity, old cast-iron tub with damaged finish, worn-out, outdated vinyl flooring, and that plastic crap glued to the walls for a shower. Need I say more?

Back Door. Opening onto the stair landing. Not wide enough to meet code requirements. Also just a really awkward, bad idea. Also, the exposed concrete foundation is not the most aesthetic finish possible in this situation.

Moving Downstairs now to the Family Room. Not the worst part of the home, but not anyone's dream family room either.

Downstairs shower. This is, without a doubt, the worst shower I have ever seen. Not only is it just cobbled together in the middle of the floor, it has no floor drain. Check out the next picture to see how they solved that problem...

"No shower drain? Totally not a problem. Let's just get a bag of mortar mix and form a little canal right down the center of the basement floor and hit the existing floor drain. Problem solved!" Also notice how all the existing plumbing has just been tacked up to the joists above.

Here is the poor excuse for a laundry. Tucked behind the main drain stack in a corner. Better than washing your clothes down in the stream by hand, but just barely.

Someone at some point tacked a little shed to the back of the detached garage in the back yard. I wish they hadn't. It has no foundation, the floor slopes about 3" to the left, and is framed with undersized roof rafters.

Interior view of the shed addition. Would have been a great idea if it were structurally sound, but it isn't. If you jump up and down you can feel the whole structure move. See how slim the roof rafters are in the top center of the picture? Not good. The floor is 7/16", which for those who don't know is a wall sheathing, not a subfloor. We're not sure what to do about any of this yet, just that there will be no "fixing up" anything here. If we do anything it will have to be quite drastic.

Introduction to the 122 Bellview Renovation Blog

Welcome to the 122 Bellview Renovation Blog. In this blog, we will be documenting the entire renovation process of this home for anyone who is interested. We also hope this blog can be a forum for followers to give us feedback and constructive criticism on our project to help make it better; so please feel free to leave your comments. The goal of the project is to take this run-down, distressed property and turn it into a quality, affordable housing unit. We hope that if successfully completed and sold, this project will lead to similar future projects. We are committed to a mission of providing high value, low cost housing to our communities. We will try to post an update at each phase of the process.