Friday, March 14, 2008

The Belly of the Beast

After all the fun I was having upstairs tearing things apart it was time to head into the basement, the one part of this job I was least looking forward to. I new we had a lot of work to do but it was not till after we cleaned it all out could I see just how much we really had to do.

This is what we had to deal with.


Most of the floor joist had rotted where they went into the stone wall. Partly due to termites but mostly due to moisture.



We cut out the most rotten of the wood, scabbed in some new pieces and sistered in new joist along side the existing. We then put in some new support beams and posts all the while raising and leveling the floor as best we could without disturbing too much upstairs. The floors had sagged a lot over the years. As much as 3" in some areas. Had it not been for all the makeshift supports it may have been even worse.



I found this little guy who wasn't so lucky. I found him inside one of the main beams.


Looks like he has been here a while.


A closeup of some rotten wood that I thought was pretty cool.


Next came replacing the joist in front of the fireplace over the arch ways.


A little cement work was needed.


In goes the new joist. Good as new.


All this fun lasted about 3 weeks with a few breaks in between. I am a few weeks behind in my time line but I am catching up.

2 comments:

John T. Lange said...

oh man, that looks like some major (and kind of scary) work!

Sorta said...

Awesome work Ian. At the end of it all, I'm sure that your taking great pride in getting your joint (read: joist) straightened out for the long term. I wish I had the knowledge and the balls to attempt such an undertaking.


gratz to you.

On another note, I dug out some old vinyl that has your name written all over it. I pulled all sorts of oldskool D&B that I need to return to you...some day.

I can't wait for the housewarming invites.

Be well brother, be well.