Termite repairs at 2100 E Broad St- the accidental renovation

What once was a siding job has now turned into major structural repairs.

The studs are 'floating'- supported by the jacking beam bolted to them.

We had to remove a hall wall, the front door, and all the flooring on the first floor.

Hickman's Termite and Pest Control treated the building twice yesterday (we kept  finding more active bugs) .

The bug man estimates they've been chewing on this building for approximately 5 years.

This is called backwards building; suspending a building in air and building from top down, not bottom up.

We bolted 2x4s between the front wall and the floor so the wall didn't  swing out into the street when we lifted it.

Faked out beam using antique pine

Quite difficult to glue up warped antique pine, but the goal is to hide a steel lintel in an 1815 home. Once installed, no one will know this isn't a solid 3" by 16" hunk of tree, just like the old lintels in the rest of the house.

Beautiful second floor restoration

  

Building porches in the Fan

Replacing a bad deck and framing but leaving the antique handrails in place.

405 n 23rd street is starting to look habitable!

A few close up shots of the trim before the clear finish goes on

More old trim carefully going back into 405

405 n 23 st

The latest house we're bringing back from the dead. We'll remove all trim to reinstall when we're done fixing the holes in the structure.

Staircase restoration

Window to door conversion

A new frame for a door in an 1820s kitchen. Old style construction, including a mortise and tenon for strength.