Stairs, Hardwood Pine Treads, Stair case,Finish Carpentry 

Staircase with hardwood pine treads

As the total gut renovation continued with new sheetrock and paint, it precipitated  reconstruction on the center staircase in this house. The new sheet rock required new moldings, though we did choose to keep the original hardwood pine stair treads which were lovely  and had great color. You don't realize it when you are not involved in construction, but a staircase is just an added element in the house and it does not automatically fit right into the interior of the house. It requires quite a bit of fitting and finish carpentry to make it look as if it had been there naturally and forever. Gaps of space exist between the wallboard and the wooden sides of the staircase. This space needs to be pleasantly eased into connecting the wall and the floors.

hardwood pine treads, white risers, transition molding on top of staircase edge

hardwood pine staircase treads

In this case we left the treads of the staircase the original golden hardwood pine. The sides were painted white.  On the top edge of the white sides of the stairs, was fitted a narrow molding, painted white. This molding was to transition one surface into the other, to cover the gap in the spacing of the two elements, and to add a decorative touch of molding to match the other fine finish work in the house. The riser on each stair is painted white, and the bright reflection of the white riser looks super contrasted to the grain of the hardwood pine. The molding edges of the sides of the staircase were also painted white. The walls of the staircase are painted "Lovely Bluff" a Valspar color we picked up at Lowes. We have been very pleased with the Valspar paints. Previously we only used Benjamin Moore paints, which are a very high quality and make the work very uncomplicated. When we moved here to the Eastern Shore of Maryland there are not many Benjamin Moore paint dealers and the price of a gallon was nearly $50...well beyond what we were used to paying for it in New York. We tried the Valspar and so far so good. After much painting it is our go to paint.

finish moldings on staircase

finish carpentry bottom of staircase

Posted 12th November 2012 by http://shoresidefarmhouse.blogspot.com/

Steel beam header

center supporting wall on the opposite side of the house

The wall between the living room and bedroom is a supporting wall. A supporting wall can not be removed at will, or the house is at risk of collapse.  The load of the structure of the house must be transferred to other means of support. The removed wall must be supported with temporary removable support in order to be replaced with an adequate header. After rebuilding the header will carry the load of the house previously supported by the supporting wall. In this case a steel beam will be put in in place of a wooden header. It had greater efficacy financially and structurally. The steel beam will required but two upright supports in addition to being carried by the outside walls of the house. 

Stripped wall between living room and former bedroom

Steel beam set in place supporting house

Saddle welded to the steel beam to secure its position

post supports the steel beam

This project was started by planning a substitute temporary support to replace the wall. It was done by propping up the wall with 2x4 studs. For a short time, an hour or so, studs were wedged in between the floor and the ceiling joists next to the existing wall as the temporary support. The wall was then removed and the steel beam was lifted into place. The steel beam is supported by posts with saddles welded onto them. The beam sits in the saddle on the posts, and the saddle is welded to the beam. This is the alternative system for replacement of the supporting wall. Do not try this yourself! There are specific load calculations that must be done by an expert to insure that the load will be carried adequately.

Gutta House, Gut job, Gutted Out, Complete House Renovation

All on the first floor has been gutted out. All electrical has been soaked and had to be removed. The main electrical box was not in that area and was preserved.


Nothing is left on the first floor, it is bare to the dirt of the ground.  The blown in insulation has been completely removed.  The fiberglass bats have been removed, all flooring in the home has been removed and discarded.  Wind roared through the space for about two months because the crawl space hatch was left open to the inside of the house by the demolition contractors. It was exposed to the elements because of the removal of the floors which went right down to the removal of the sub-floor.

All upright interior walls will be removed. This space is going to be restored by creating an open floor plan. One bedroom will be reconstructed. It will be moved to the opposite side of the downstairs floor of the home. The bedroom-livingroom wall is being moved to create clear view of the body of water behind the home. The home will have a clear wide broad water view of a cove that opens onto Tangier Sound of the Chesapeake Bay. Moving the bedroom forward will free the back walls for installation of more windows to see the beautiful view.

Burst Pipes, Disaster History

Bathroom covered with iron sediment after pipe burst emptying hot water tank contents onto bathroom 

 It is amazing how much one broken plastic nut can cause. That is the story with this mess. The plastic nut on the hot water line into the upstairs bathroom faucet caused all of this. So much for plastic nuts, and two story houses.

The pictures tell the story of the resulting damage. Hopefully as time goes on, and the goal here is six months, it will all come back together somehow. I am going to post the distaster photos in all their glory

They will progress from what we found when we returned from vacation to recovery, the photos will tell the story of the deconstruction and reconstruction of the house.

I hope that shortly it will reverse and I will post pictures of the rebuilding. The jury is out on that part. This blog is the story in pictures!
http://housedamagephotos.blogspot.com/

This mess seeped its way from the top of the house to the bottom: the house was gutted as a result of this burst plumbing. Check out my other postings at http://housedamagephotos.blogspot.com/