Renovation: week 2
Week 2 began with snow, so I expected things to slow down on site given that there was still some outdoor work to be done, but things kept moving and we stayed on-time. The shed was moved from one side of the yard to the other in order to make way for the parking pad the City is making us add when the front driveway is removed. We managed to salvage about a 100 bricks from the chimney work, so these will come in handy for some other uses, likely landscaping.
The big project this week was the removal of the char from all the wood. A crew from On Side Restoration did this work using a process called “soda blasting”. Much like sandblasting, it removes the bad material, leaving the good material behind. It’s pretty amazing to see the difference between what we started with and now. It’s really hard to tell that a fire even happened in the house. Our contractor saved a chunk of beam for us as we plan to have some of it framed to remember this fire event.
Sadly, despite there being taped off seals around all the ducts and plastic everywhere, the house was quite a mess. There will definitely be some cleanup to do from this. The good news is that there was a lot more wood left than we expected to see. With the char all gone now, the joists and subfloor have been sealed off (that’s the white you see in the photos below).
The crew has started digging up the slab and making holes (4ft x 4ft and about the same depth) for the cribs that will be used to lift the house. Next week there’s more digging to be done, we the restructuring of the main floor joists begins.
The whole process is really quite amazing. I am sure that when it is all done your relationship will be one that nothing will ever be able to break it for all that you have to go through. Keep up the faith, before you know it you will be living in the house and wondering what all the fuss was about.
Love Dad & Piera and big hugs to Noah.
Thanks Dad and Piera!