It’s time for a change…

Just like our 44th President, we’ve been breaking down walls.

The CWI boys spent all of Sunday and most of Monday working on the project. Simply put, a lot got done. Simply put, a lot more still needs to be done.

We started by cutting out all of the existing joists in the kitchen and dining room.

There were some pieces of the subfloor that needed to be cut back as well.

We then cut out the beam in the kitchen. This beam was 3 inches out of level over a 12 foot span. One of the major reasons for the sloping floors upstairs.

Talk about wide open spaces!

They blocked of the existing posts so the new beam will be hidden in the ceiling. Then we hung the new 2x12 joists every 16 inches (before they were 2x6 every 24 inches).

Voila! Brand spanking new framing.

The next day the CWI boys came back to put the new beam between the living room and the bar allowing us to get rid of the wall.

So they temped up the roof in the front room and Paul thought it would be a good idea to shovel it off. Good thing as there was a foot of snow up there. They don’t think the temp wall would have held it. It set them back in time, but they would have been building a new roof…

With the roof temped up they tore out the existing wall and built a new beam. It’s nearly 16ft long and if I had to guess it weighs 150-200lbs. The 3 of us hoisted it into place in 3 stages. First, onto the post in the outside wall. Second, onto a ladder. Third, flush to the ceiling. Then we put the final post in place.

Giant beam, and no more wall!

So, a lot was done, and a lot needs to be done. Next up on the list is taking down the wall that separates the bar from the bedroom closet. To do that we need to build a load bearing wall in the closet to carry the existing joists, as there is a bathroom above. After building that wall, we’ll be able to tear out the existing wall, put in a new beam, hang the new joists and start to lay the subfloor upstairs.

Good times!