Home Improvement Today?

Just shows how over engineered most things are

 

You mean bare minimum to meet a requirement right?

 

I should have taken more pictures of the electrical , there actually was a fire in one of the hidden junction boxes in the ceiling

 

compared to this total piece of shit of a building we actually discussed tearing down because we need to pour a foundation under the existing framing and basically reframe every wall ?

 

And yet how old is it and how long has it and multiple others existed?

I'm not saying it's right just saying it's amazing how far our standards have come and yet nothing last like it used to

 

This building is about 70 years old

 

FYI , the joist and rafter spans and dimensions in this building all meet our minimum for structural under current code , where it doesn't make it is lateral restraint and it lacks a foundation

The interior services were all just ancient and most of the questionable framing was done during the haywire homeowner reno sometime in the 70's

 

Hidden junction boxes, ugh. Why why why. Reminds me of the small breaker panel we found in a building behind ugly wall panels, and found why a bunch of things didn't work.

 

Found at least 20 hidden junctions in the ceiling , live wires just clipped with old tape on them in wall cavities and for some reason about a 1/4 of the wires were not drilled through the studs or joists , whoever ran them used a handsaw and just made a 1/2" notch in the front face of the stud or top of joist , pushed the wire in and nailed the wall or floor boards over top

Also found an old door strike plate as a protection plate lol

 

I just put 5-1/4 x 9-1/2 LVLs as headers for Windows in a gable wall. With a structural ridge. And bolted collar ties. With a PSL post under ridge. Love architects...

 

We're going to be putting 36' long , 3 ply 1 3/4" x 9 1/2" LVL flush beams in the upper floor of this old house to bridge from our new work in the front to the new work in the back to carry the new 2nd floor framing / roof load

 

That at least makes sense.

 

That's a nice thermal bridge they designed

 

No kidding. Tried to talk them out of the headers completely. And alternate framing methods for headers in actual bearing walls. They looked at me like I had two heads. Honestly think that they stop learning the minute they get their license.

 

Had to google a bit, and forgive my non-construction engrish.

Rafters are sloped parallel trusses which were constructed to sit on a wedge that is attached to the low and high wall plates. Reenforced with hurricane straps, and tied together by some form of clip on bracket thingy that spaces them apart in the middle. They are designed/built to have a decorative 3' cantilever off the top wall, and 2' off the low. The low side's cantilevers end when the roof meets the existing gable where they tie into the structure of the existing home via rebuilt/reengineered end truss and stub wall ontop the existing wall's plate.

The rake walls are a bit shorter than the height of the trusses when in place (you can see they are a bit proud in the pic). To bring them to the height of the trusses, there is a small stub wall that supports a cantilevered section of the roof out the sides. Don't know the particulars, but the design ties the cantilevered section to the first three trusses, the rake wall, and the front/back wall top plates.

Does this make any sense at or am I explaining it that poorly?

 

I think I get it , you are using ladder overhangs that will project over your gable wall top plates

 

I am assuming so... it's my dad's place. I am just cheap labor

And I could tie further into the trusses, I don't remember exactly how far.

 

Shiplap sub floor boards up on front half of house




We discovered the remnants of a stone and concrete base for a masonry chimney that they poured by cutting a hole in the subfloor and pouring in rocks and concrete till it was full to the top haha

Jack hammered that out today




Tomorrow we start lowering the soil elevation under the exposed joists so we can get jacking beams in and get to our code approved minimum height

 

Obviously one hell of a change from the last job but I guess that keeps it interesting. Tuned in for the developments.

 

Pretty stark contrast to the shiny new build haha

I actually enjoy solving problems like this but this one is pushing the envelope