Playing with Masonry!

And you thought we were done with the masonry and on to finish work! (Me too)

…Yesterday, we repaired the base of the front living room window. The old rotted sill was removed and the old brick exposed.

Like we have done for all our masonry projects, we mixed our own mortar so it is appropriate for the old brick. (When buildings move you want the mortar to be the sacrifical element not the bricks. Pre mixed modern mortar is very strong like modern bricks but would crack the old softer bricks…)

We filled in a gap between the inner and outer wythes of brick, replaced some corner bricks, and made a level bed for a new sill.

And in goes a new pressure treated sill. This will be good to support the bottom of the window and our new interior trim. (And if we ever get around to replacing these windows at least this part will be set.)

While I had the mortar out & mixed I also took the opportunity to fill the holes from our old front door light since it’s now on the opposite side if the door… It was about time.
http://madisonsquare.wordpress.com/2009/10/11/testing-out-porch-light-locations/
http://madisonsquare.wordpress.com/2010/01/07/front-light-is-up/

Framed Up!

Now that the wall is patched and window is in it’s time to cover it up!

We used 2×3′s to take minimal space from the room but it can be hard to find straight studs, especially 10′ 2×3′s (Have you ever had to dig through the lumber pile at any big box store for wood straight enough to build a wall? Its tough!). Even with the 2×3′s we still had to turn one of the studs on its side to accommodate the irregularities of the existing masonry wall (Do you see it?) We braced the center of the wall to stiffen the whole thing.

All the blocking is in around the window so it will be ready for trim as soon as we drywall.

Next Up, spray foam! For most of the wall we have space for 3″ of foam which will give use R21 to keep this room nice & cozy… Stay tuned

Mason & Painter

The mason and painter finally showed up for work today. Here’s the little bedroom wall beforehand, which needed some mortar-love:

The mason at work… drinking on the job of course. (maybe that’s why the last wall was falling apart? All of this will be covered up soon so there’s no use in specialty pointing techniques:

After. Not done yet but getting there:

Meanwhile the painter (ahem, me) was priming away at the doors and stops… Before:

After:

(It was sooo tempting to paint over the hinges…)

That Living Room Side Project

Remember the masonry wall issue in the living room?

The mortar patching is done and since we’re drywalling/mudding upstairs, we might as well throw a sheet of 1/2″ back up. Before:

Drywall up:

Next step: mud & baseboard. (ps: see our front hall mosaic floor peeking out from yet another carpet sample?)

Hey, Neighbors: Homeowner Workshops

Homeowner workshops are back in our neighborhood, with a variety of new courses (including plaster repair!) for those who are interested. At this point, Rob & I could probably TEACH the masonry class, if we weren’t so busy fixing our own masonry. But I still may stop by the plaster class to pick up a few hints… here was one attempt at plaster washering:

Announcing 2011 ‘Hands On’ Homeowner Workshops from the Preservation Alliance, SOSNA and the Preservation Alliance are pleased to announce the next in an ongoing series of free workshops for owners and aspiring owners of historic homes. Attendees will have a great opportunity to learn about the best practices for the restoration and maintenance of older and historic homes.

“HANDS ON” Demostration Workshops in Southwest Center City, Location Shiloh Baptist Church, 2040 Christian Street led by staff of the Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust.

• - #1 Masonry and Pointing – Tuesday, September 13 at 6:30. Learn appropriate mortar mixes, re-pointing techniques and how to care for your historic masonry structure.
• - #2 Historic Wood Window - Tuesday, September 20 at 6:30 PM. Learn basic repair techniques and re-glazing techniques to keep your windows in good working order.
• - #3 Weatherizing Your Historic Home – Tuesday September 27 at 6:30 PM. Learn about weather-stripping, insulation and other tips for keeping your heating bill at bay.
• #4 Flat Plaster Repairs and Interior Finishes – Tuesday October 4 at 6:30 PM. Learn techniques for repairing flat plaster, appropriate interior paint options and how to hang wallpaper.

Rath Of The Hurricane

Thanks to Hurricane Irene, we are increasing our scope of work in the little bedroom. Apparently the flashing on the window was all sorts of installed wrong, causing secret major water damage for who knows how long. The amount of wind driven rain pushed more water in than usual, causing wet plaster under the window. Here’s the culprit:

The wet plaster- water went under the backwards window flashing into the rotten sill, down into the brick, new blown in insulation, and then the plaster. Right on our radiator size sketches:

How mad does Rob look?

Here’s the damage… at minimum we have to replace the rotten sill, rotten blocking under the window, patch the masonry, reinsulate, drywall, and replace baseboard:

We’re also considering replacing the whole window like we’ve done in other rooms, since we’re doing all this work now.

At least we realized this was happening before we finished the room. “Thanks” Irene…

Masonry – Check!

Rob wrapped up the masonry in the living room this afternoon. Before:

After:

Before- hole in corner:

After- all patched in with new blocking for the baseboard:

To wrap it up we’ll need to laminate with drywall and attach the baseboard.

Filling Holes in Walls

Back in May we were replacing baseboard and discovered a lot of scary brick dust at the exterior facade. It was like being at the dentist for a cleaning and finding out you have a cavity and apparently it’s really bad and you may need a root canal…

After some initial exploration, we put it in the list and haven’t touched it since. (You can bet during the earthquake I was thinking of that wall.) Tonight we timidly removed some of the laminated drywall and plaster, still not knowing the extent of the damage.

There’s 2 bricks between living room and garden… you’re not supposed to see the back of the garden brick from the living room because that means A BRICK IS MISSING!

It wasn’t as bad as it could have been but there was some major water damage here at some point. Luckily we have some experience in this area…. and bricks:

Hopefully working together, we’ll be able to wrap this up in one more evening. Ah masonry, how we’ve missed you.