Rebuilding Enclosed Back Porch to Appear Like an Open Porch in North Church Hill Part 2

This the next part in our series on the enclosed back porch that will have the facade of an open porch. See the first part (demo to framing) here

We left off with Chad and Cody installing an LVL on the second floor, and we pick up with second floor framing.

We are also replacing the roof. Here are the 2x8 rafters.

Roof Sheathing, 4x8 plywood panels cut to fit.

All of the sheathing is complete!

 

And wrapped with Tyvek.

Our roofers: Saunders Roofing put the drip edge and TPO roof  down.

Then came the gutters, windows, and a 200 pound door.

Syd, Ryan, and Sean put the hardboard siding on the building that they will then affix the faux columns, railing, and other porch material to.

Speaking of which... these are the Boral column bases that with give the illusion of full columns.

While Syd, Sean, and Ryan worked on the exterior cladding, Cody, Chad, and Jerrett began framing inside.

Restoring Doors at Tredegar Iron Works

 We recently completed a small job (there are small jobs, but no small clients!) for Tredegar Iron Works repairing two custom doors that had rotted from water that had gather around the bottom during heavy rains. 

The first step was getting the doors off an in the shop. They were heavy! It took 3 to 4 people to move these doors.

First, we performed surgery using a scalpel (never an ax) to remove all of the rotted portions of the doors.

Next, we did dutchman repairs on the door stiles.

then we took tongue and groove boards and cut them to fit inside the large lower panel. The fact that the boards ran diagonally required special attention to make sure that the diagonal cuts lined up with the stiles and rails frame around the panel.

Then, re-installation. Paint will be done by others.

Sean decided to get to know some of the locals.

Rebuilding Enclosed Back Porch to Appear Like an Open Porch in North Church Hill Part 1

This Project Began in Mid-January is about 33% Finished. 

A couple bought this house in North Church Hill and it had a very insensitively done enclosed porch on the back. Dana Moore, the Architect on the job, designed a beautiful enclosed porch design that would give the appearance of an open porch using Boral ; a synthetic material.

Before

We had originally intended to use a lot of the existing framing as a base. As we began to demolish the structure to figure out the extent of repairs that needed to be done we uncovered some very shoddy work done 10 or so years ago that we could not reuse.

It looks like they tried to reinforce the existing frame with some poorly placed 2x4's. 

I don't even know where to begin to describe this mess. A picture is worth a thousand words.

The ceiling joists were toe nailed to the existing siding on the house, rather than tied into the framing as should be done. It's not a very sturdy or nice looking method of doing things

We normally try to leave as much original as possible, but what was there was unusable, so we just had to start from scratch. We tore the porch down and began work on the slab.

A bathroom is being put on the first floor, so we had the plumbers come to their rough-in. Chris and Cody then made a form for the concrete slab using 2x4s and OSB.

Poured the slab.

Then the sub-sill...

To frame the wall for the porch, we used a "party wall" to attach the new framing to the historic.

We used strips of plywood to reinforce the bond of the old wall to the new.

First floor framed!

Then the sheathing...

Onto the second floor. Chad, Cody, and Jerrett set up the scaffolding.

Chad and Cody installed this LVL header to support the roof framing. As with most things on old houses, the top plate was not straight, so it took some careful maneuvering to get it in.

All the while, our Lead Carpenter, Sydney Jordan-Cooley has been in the shop using carbide blades to mill the 1x6 Boral (including some beautiful chamfers) to create faux-columns for the porch facade. 

                                               

Part 2 to come..

Various Photos of the Company

Sometimes the office folks like to get out and do some physical labor. Thomas, the Estimator, and Matthew, the Office Manager put in some pavers in the front of the shop. rather than the plywood we were walking across on rainy days.

They used stone dust underneath and in between the pavers.

Chris teaching nick about stringers at 3101 E Broad St.