Project underway

[pipoman]

we own a 100 year old farmstead with a 2 story farm house which we purchased as a 20 year project. One of the biggest factors in the relatively low price we paid was the crumbling basement. The house is very well built by Mennonite craftsmen. It needs insulation, windows, and plaster and lath removed...All of these things could not be done prior to putting the house on the new foundation. After 8 years of rewiring the entire property, building a sewage system (lagoon), replumbing, new well, etc. We are finally ready to move the house onto a new basement. I had a 12 x 16 addition added onto the basement. Framing is somewhat new to me, thus a little intimidating. Building a staircase is new to me..It is all a little overwhelming.

I received estimates for both pouring the basement under the house on the existing spot, and moving the house onto a new basement 50 yards away (which we preferred). It was actually less expensive to move the house where we wanted it on the lot. It will actually be a little more expensive because this required moving of some utilities. Any helpful sites or information would be appreciated.



This is the only photo we have of the house in the early 20th century, this is the finished look we are after. The front porch is long gone, so that reconstruction is in the near future.



Again thanks for any suggestions of helpful sites.

[Warpy]

1. I don't know why they insisted on removing those old wraparound porches

back in the 60s and 70s unless they were sick of painting the floors every few years or they wanted more light in the living room, but the buyers did the same to my granny's house. The place looks awfully bare without it, both yours and hers.

[pipoman]

3. Yeah, the porch will make this house look like

a house again. I am likely going to use composite decking and vinyl railings. I have been studying hip roofs, as they are the type most used at the time of original construction for porches and additions.

[Adsos Letter]

2. That looks like nice property, and some real potential in that house.

Staircases can be tricky.

[pipoman]

4. Thanks, it is quiet here and our property has a cool history.

Aside from the area being inhabited by plains Indians and buffalo for thousands of years before European settlement. In the 1870's German/Russian immigrants fleeing religious persecution, homesteaded this property. They settled right here on this exact location and formed the First Mennonite Church on this property. Around 1900 the church built a building in town which is still in use. While by east coast standards, this isn't that old, by plains state standards, this is a very early European settlement. We found a the remnants of a hand dug well when we dug the basement, along with a variety of bottles and metal pieces.

I have found a couple of good stair calculators on the web which helps dramatically over doing the math.

[trud]

5. why are you getting rid of the lath and plaster? n/t

[pipoman]

6. There are several areas

which is damaged, cracked, and has 20 layers of wallpaper and paint on it. Also, we really need to insulate and I am a believer in fiberglass insulation. I will be completely changing parts of the house so trying to match drywall to plaster is difficult.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

8. Have you looked in to blown-in cellulose?

You will get better coverage around pipes and electrical etc.

I just did it on my friend's kitchen and in our entire condo building crawl space. On the new kitchen, we mostly dry-walled the walls leaving a "strip" in the middle. The insulators went around and covered the strip with heavy duty land-scape fabric. From there they were able to poke holes in the fabric and blow the cellulose in.

When I build, that's definitely what I will do.

I will probably go with a "Double wall system" for maximum R value - two walls a couple inches apart with plenty of room for cellulose behind all mechanicals providing a complete thermal break. This option probably wouldn't work for you as you will lose floor space. But think of the energy savings.

Also, blown in cellulose can be a DIY project. Home Depot will loan you the machine if you buy 20 bags of cellulose.

Look for rebates from your gas company. We were getting 20% or max 800 bucks.

[Kolesar]

10. I bought 20 bags of cellulose, returned 17 bags and still got the "free" blower rental

The clerk at the rental counter set it up for me. It was his idea. Nice guy

I didn't even have to take the 20 bags, I took five and left 15 "on call". I never touched them.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. I'm glad you mentioned that because I've been wondering if that scheme will work.

I might need to hit a spot or two I think the insulator missed (so much for the lowest bidder) so I may be borrowing an HD machine.

[Kolesar]

13. I cut into my kitchen walls and found that the contractor "missed" those wall cavities

I was exploring how to fish wires and found that at least two wall cavities were empty.
$1400.00 for insulation

[Hassin Bin Sober]

14. Yeah, you have to watch those f*ckers.

We did our whole crawl space in our condo association. I live on the top (3rd) floor so access was gained through mine and the other 3rd floor owner.

My place was more difficult because I raised the ceilings in a few spots and I also added a skylight. So I pre-cut several access points for the installer.

Anyway, I ran to the store to get staples and when I get back he tells me, in broken english, "all finished, 100%, you can cut hole anywhere and check" - so I did. Fortunately we hadn't paid him yet as he needed to come back to do the other side.

The owner had the nerve to tell me "we've done a thousand homes and never had any complaints" - well, who else, but me, is crazy enough to cut holes and check?

A different crew came back and finished my side and did the other side so I'm MOSTLY happy. There is just one spot I worry about above my new bathroom and I don't have the heart to cut the new drywall. I may go in through the roof and have a roofer patch the roof.

Either way, the air conditioning bills were cut in half this summer. We couldn't keep this place below 80 degrees on 100 plus days. Now we can cool it down AND have the A/C stop running once in a while.

[Kolesar]

15. I have patched up walls with paper tape & joint compound--they looked ok after painting

So don't be afraid of cutting into drywall to finish your insulation project. Wet plaster is fun. You get to work it like a school paper mache craft project. It was fun smearing plaster into the corners with my fingers.

We painted this bedroom with "satin" finish paint, and the lumpy taped areas are invisible.

My project was to tape 200 lineal feet of cracks in our lathe and plaster walls. It took a long time. I got to be quite efficient for the last 100 feet.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. Here is what he drywall and land-scape fabric set-up looked like.

If you look closely, you can see how they "stitch" the fabric in tight on the sides of the wall studs. You could, if you had a mind to, stitch the entire wall and blow the whole wall BEFORE any drywall goes up. Just make sure you get heavy duty fabric. This stuff was almost like fiberglass. The stuff sold at Homer's won't do - too flimsy.




Here is a partial view of the ceiling "tray" with no drywall at all. Only fabric.

[Kolesar]

16. We stitched spun fabric to our rafters in the "side attic" and blew in cellulose

Then I drywalled the entire side attic and turned it into a closet.

The fabric and cellulose had very big bulges into the room. (The fabric was a lightweight spun cloth that looked like the dust cover under a sofa.)

I pushed the drywall up to it and then attached it with drywall screws. I presume that the drywall was in contact with the rafters when I was done. I cannot be sure. There is a possibility that when I pushed the drywall that I was crushing the plastic "baffles" that I installed to create an airspace below the plywood roof sheathing.

[pipoman]

18. I used cellulose in another house and wasn't impressed

with the results. Our final goal is to modernize the floor plan while maintaining the character of the old details. A master suite upstairs and modern kitchen design with farmhouse kitchen details, front, open staircase instead of the old narrow back staircase, etc.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

20. It's going to be really cool. I'm jealous.

Did you say you would be framing the addition piece yourself?

A website I mostly lurk on. It's supposed to be for pros only so if you post as a homeowner, or suspected homeowner, you will get treated rudely. But I like it for some insight as to how the pros are doing things. The building science forum is fascinating to me. Just don't go to "trade talk" - it's a bunch of tea bagging wanna bees. The tools and equipment forum is cool. They are always on the look out for tool deals. I picked up a few nice buys from their tips:

http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20

[Kolesar]

21. "...in the name of green and saving the ****ing planet"

what a bunch of ****ing, c***-****ing, m*therf****ing assholes.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

24. Yeah, that guy is an old crank. Everything is a communist plot and Obama's fault.

Hitler was a liberal , yada yada.


Told ya not to look at "trade talk" :)

The guys who really know their shit don't bother with those idiots.

[Gold Metal Flake]

30. Your link takes people directly to "Trade Talk".

Some kind of a goof? :rofl:

I think this is the link you intended: http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=12

[pipoman]

23. Yep, we're starting this weekend.

My dad had a fully equipped woodworking shop he left me when he died so I had most of the tools I will need. I did buy a compressor and nailers.

I'll check out the forum..thanks for the tips.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

25. When you get in to the fine woodwork and small trim like base-shoe, get yourself a pin-nailer.

No holes to fill.

[Warpy]

27. Right, patching a lath and plaster wall is really problematic

if the lath underneath is gone. You just can't do it with drywall, you're better off stripping the whole wall down and redoing it with drywall.

One thing you're going to find is some really insane construction. Our forebears were thrifty sorts who used absolutely the worst lumber for framing and they never heard of 16 inch on center stud work. I've found short studs mortised together and sistered joists that were original to the house. There's always at least one thing that will make you wonder how the house has managed to stay together all this time.

[pipoman]

7. Just a little update..

It is on, perfect fit...now the work begins..

[Warpy]

9. Cellar stairs are easy peasy

You can get steel stringers cut to length and then just put in 2x6 treads.

Are you going to turn the old foundation into a water feature?

Just askin'

[pipoman]

17. Funny you ask..

not a water feature, we are going to use it as a subterranean patio (Kansas winds and all) and industrial looking photo prop. We have other photo props around the property.

I'll check out the steel stringers, there is a local lumber yard which specializes in roof trusses who will cut them to specs. Are steel expensive?

[Warpy]

29. Steel stringers are cheaper than dirt, IMO, which is why builders like to use them

in bulkheads for exterior access to the cellar. Big lumber yards also sell wood stringers, I've seen them at Home Depot.

[pipoman]

26. I ordered my stringers yesterday..

the local lumberyard has a 60 year old guy who has cut an average of 10 staircases per week for 30 years. I sketched the plan and he did the math in his head...it was amazing. He uses yellow pine and said they will be as stout as steel.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

19. How high are those basement/foundation walls?

It looks like you went a little higher which is a GREAT idea. Also, the egress windows are a great idea. I just stayed at a friends house, in the finished basement, and they had the egress windows. You don't even feel like you are in a basement.

Can I ask, roughly, what a full foundation runs these days? I'm doing some pre-planning/budgeting and wondering if this is the route I will go. I may go trench foundation as that is something I can do myself but it sure would be nice to be able to build down or have a walk-out.

[pipoman]

22. The walls are 9'...8'10" actual

we are going to suspend the ceiling at 8'2", we will have a short soffit for hvac. The basement was $22,500. The long wall and the front are 10", the other side and back are 8". We are looking forward to the additional living space.

[DainBramaged]

28. I think you hit yourself in the head with the hammer too many times

Go back to sleep.