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Parallel Paraplegic posted:I think it was just "someone realized that a bunch of tiny compartmentalized rooms was a hell of a lot less convenient than more open spaces, built a few houses like that, then everyone else wanted one." Someone == Frank Lloyd Wright I rented a condo in Surrey that had a stacked washer/dryer, a full bathroom, full kitchen, a living room big enough for an entertainment-center/coffee-table/couch and a queen sized bed. Whoever designed it used internal walls very sparingly so at no time did this 450sq/ft bachelor suite ever feel crowded. My current apartment is the exact opposite, with internal walls everywhere and god-for-dammed hallways connecting the rooms. It's over twice the square footage, but has a smaller kitchen and only one extra room. With an open design this place could have been a two bedroom.
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Feb 7, 2014 05:38
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I'm no architectural historian, but here's my guess on why the older generation likes their internal walls, and why "open" plans are a new thing. I've been living in a new england farmhouse this winter - built around 1815 with lots of 10'x10' rooms and so forth - and there's a door in between all of the rooms, and there's three wood stoves keeping us warm when it's -15 outside. It's annoying as hell when it comes to setting up furniture, but it means we can really manage how many of the stoves we have to keep lit and how much wood we have to burn to keep certain areas of the house warm, while letting others be cold. We don't really go into the dining room or library, so they're cold. The stove in the living room keeps it nice and toasty, while the bedrooms upstairs stay unheated save for some convection heat we let up through an open door into the stairwell. So my guess is that for the older generation, their love of highly compartmentalized homes has something to do with houses having lovely heating systems up until the latter half of the 1900's.
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Feb 7, 2014 06:42
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It's not even lovely heating systems, it's a matter of economy. The past 50 years have seen energy prices at historically cheap levels, and for most people it's all a matter of paying their local gas company to keep the chemicals pumping to their homes. That just wasn't the case for most of history, and it certainly wont be the case in the future once fossil fuels run out unless alternative heating sources become much more cost effective. It's been -30 in Minnesota for large portions of the winter and you can bet your butt I'm glad I have walls all over the place so I only have to heat the living room when I'm in the living room, and my bedroom when I'm in my bedroom.
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Feb 7, 2014 12:43
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I have radiators so I can't even control the heat room to room. It's always kinda hot so we leave the windows open even in the -10 winter.
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Feb 7, 2014 16:57
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You can, but it's going to require adding some zone valves, more thermostats, and maybe a more intelligent furnace controller. Forced hot water or steam?
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Feb 7, 2014 16:59
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I think just hot water. But hey it's free, or at least included. There's little valves but after turning some all the way one way and all the way the other they don't seem to have much effect and the heat only comes on or off every few hours so it's just something you live with. I'd still take this system over electric any day. But I do miss being able to adjust the temp on the fly. I'm never too cold but often too hot, but that's just a matter of opening up the windows and letting the landlord's money go out.
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Feb 7, 2014 17:01
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I had a similar situation when I was living in Boston, on the 4th floor of an old apartment building. Even if I shut down my radiators, the people living below me had theirs cranking so hard I just got residual heat from them.
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Feb 7, 2014 20:37
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Our old apartment was the same way. Upper Wisconsin and during the winter barely ever had the radiators on because the heat from downstairs warmed us up so much. Great during the winters being in the top floor but god the summers were horrific because the heat stuck up there. We averaged about ten to fifteen degrees hotter in our apartment then it was outside. And the windows couldn't fit regular ac units either so we had to use lovely portable ones that worked barely. Loved that apartment and the rent was great but god I hated summers.
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Feb 7, 2014 20:48
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Weltlich posted:I had a similar situation when I was living in Boston, on the 4th floor of an old apartment building. Even if I shut down my radiators, the people living below me had theirs cranking so hard I just got residual heat from them. That's what I have now (and since I moved into this building 15 years back). For a while there was a little old lady downstairs that ran her heat up over 85-90 degrees all winter long.  Below-zero all winter long, and I didn't need to turn on *my* heat at all except for overheating the bathroom for my 6 AM shower.Of course, it's not just heat... the previous two downstairs tenants were shitheads with subwoofers and plain LOUD VOLUME PREFERENCES that didn't seem to understand that maybe midnight-to-4 AM wasn't the time for that poo poo*. Currently downstairs, I dunno what the gently caress is going on - severe hammering-on-the-walls sounds running for 10 minutes on up over an hour, but only during daytime hours so meh. (Pretty sure it's not sex, unless they're railing the door into the wall or something.) Also: current downstairs *looooooves* curry. Previous downstairs originally burned incense to cover weed smell, eventually stopped buying incense.  * - meanwhile, my volume not only low, but the only sub I have is the distribution block for the surround sound on the computer, has a seperate volume control (turned all the way down), and lives on top of my desktop tower anyway. Content: same building - they "refurbed" the balcony a couple years back, by stripping off all the astroturf-type carpet and repainting. Nothing was done about the fact that the balcony is ever-so-non-level, with the slope *towards* the building. At least any leaks from standing/collecting water will end up in the downstairs walls... sucks if it freezes on the non-textured surface, however.
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Feb 7, 2014 22:35
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I just adjust the valves in the rooms I'm not living in. Also yeah, if you live in an old building on the bottom floor and your landlord make you pay heat, you are paying to heat your upstairs neighbors apartment. It's complete bullshit and landlords just ignore it. I lost about 100 dollars a month heating the apartment of the guy above me.
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Feb 8, 2014 01:40
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Just when my "old house problems" start to get me down, someone posts about living in apartments (subwoofers, curry, smoke, heat) and I feel better again! Tomorrow I'm getting some 2x4's and I'm going to put some more full-length studs in the long wall because I think it's actually bowed out a little due to the lack of them (I'm not sure if they had a single full-length 2x4 when they built this addition). Also going to shore up the 2nd floor by putting in some 2x6's under the bathroom, and some 2x8's directly under where the bathtub is.
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Feb 8, 2014 03:43
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The side gate to my backyard is falling apart -- the facing boards keep popping out of the backing boards (whatever you call them), presumably due to dry rot. I need to replace that gate. Is there more to it than just getting a bunch of 1x6s, cutting them to shape, nailing them together, and applying paint? It seems like a pretty straightforward job, but if there are any gotchas to it then better to know about them now.
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Feb 8, 2014 06:01
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:The side gate to my backyard is falling apart -- the facing boards keep popping out of the backing boards (whatever you call them), presumably due to dry rot. I need to replace that gate. Is there more to it than just getting a bunch of 1x6s, cutting them to shape, nailing them together, and applying paint? It seems like a pretty straightforward job, but if there are any gotchas to it then better to know about them now. That's about it, just make sure you leave an inch or two of clearance at the bottom of the gate. Also, if you're going for a curved top, it's easier to nail the gate together first, then draw a line and cut it to shape. I suggest using a nail and a piece of string to get a consistent curve.
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Feb 8, 2014 23:53
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Agreed, also if the gate likes to sag, consider putting a diagonal board on the backside that goes from the lower outside corner to the corner with the top hinge. Lift the gate into place/shim it up at the right height that you want first, of course, or you'll just lock it in the sagging position.
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Feb 9, 2014 01:54
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Thanks. I was definitely planning to do a Z-shaped backing, if only because I like how it looks; the extra stability against sagging/slanting is just a pleasant bonus. Though really, I should wait to do this until the fence along that side of the yard gets replaced (the neighbor and I will be hiring a contractor) since the gate is currently mounted on one of the fenceposts. Bah...
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Feb 9, 2014 03:14
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kastein posted:Agreed, also if the gate likes to sag, consider putting a diagonal board on the backside that goes from the lower outside corner to the corner with the top hinge. Lift the gate into place/shim it up at the right height that you want first, of course, or you'll just lock it in the sagging position. Several old books I've read, and Roy Underhill, say to do the opposite. Go from the bottom hinge to the top outside corner. The reasoning is you can notch the diagonal into the horizontals to give it strength beyond the mechanical fasteners. I've done it both ways before I read that, so I don't know if it really makes that much difference, but then again none of my doors are two hundred years old.
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Feb 9, 2014 04:28
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That's a good point. In tension you're relying on the preload on the fasteners to hold the weight, while if you do what you said (route pockets into the horizontals that don't go all the way to the far sides, then cut the diagonal to be exactly the right length to fit into them) you have wood on wood under compression as well as the fasteners. I stand corrected! And learned something today.
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Feb 9, 2014 04:41
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I was digging around and found some more! Here are the last of my Afghan Electrical Nightmares! I actually was able to have these fixed. Too bad the power was only on a few hours a day I guess.      
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Feb 9, 2014 22:41
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:The side gate to my backyard is falling apart -- the facing boards keep popping out of the backing boards (whatever you call them), presumably due to dry rot. I need to replace that gate. Is there more to it than just getting a bunch of 1x6s, cutting them to shape, nailing them together, and applying paint? It seems like a pretty straightforward job, but if there are any gotchas to it then better to know about them now. Actually, quickly wondering, could the boards be popping off due to swelling and shrinking due to changing humidity? If the wood hasn't been properly treated and there is no gap between the boards or they're not clinkered this could be happening.
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Feb 10, 2014 00:52
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Munin posted:Actually, quickly wondering, could the boards be popping off due to swelling and shrinking due to changing humidity? If the wood hasn't been properly treated and there is no gap between the boards or they're not clinkered this could be happening. Very likely; they're just nailed to the backing boards and yeah, there's no gap. But the ease with which I can drive a nail through tells me the wood's on the way out, so the gate needs replacing regardless.
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Feb 10, 2014 01:03
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On a different note, I came across this and it definitely belongs here:Linguica posted:I randomly found this site and I am getting groverhaus vibes http://tinyhouseonblocks.wordpress.com/ Notorious b.s.d. posted:i'm the split and bark-y 2x4 behind him that he chose to use anyway
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Feb 10, 2014 01:46
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Munin posted:On a different note, I came across this and it definitely belongs here: Eh, I haven't read the whole blog but that's the gable end, those 2x4s are there so you have something to nail the siding to, they don't really carry any load.
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Feb 10, 2014 02:31
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t_violet posted:Eh, I haven't read the whole blog but that's the gable end, those 2x4s are there so you have something to nail the siding to, they don't really carry any load. It's... uh. Munin is not kidding. Here, have the top post (ie I didn't even dig for something juicy): quote:What a difference a pill makes. In spite of a cold wet day, I managed to get some work done.
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Feb 10, 2014 03:04
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/\ Given the size of the roof, weight is not going to be an issue unless they decided to use Italian clay tiles or uranium fuel rods. Now one of my walls is 16' long, weight bearing, holding 1/2 the weight of a large soaker tub and had no king-studs for the full length of it (just the corners). There is noticeable bowing out in the middle, and tomorrow night I think I might try and pull the wall in an inch or two, and install two king studs 2' on each side of the center. Also going to put in some more 2x6 and 2x8's in the ceiling to give that bathroom some more support and take the bow out of the floor. I jacked it up a little yesterday when I put some 2x8's in and cracked the drywall in the middle of the room. The floor isn't perfectly level, but it's a small bathroom and it isn't really noticeable, or not as noticeable as it once was. At least I now know the bathtub isn't going to end falling through the floor. Pics of the lack of king studs and the horrible excuses of 2x4's and 2x6's they used to support the bathroom. Here you get a good idea of what they considered "adequate support" with a bunch of lovely 2x4's toenailed to the a 2x4 on the wall. Also, the window on the left had a header that was 90% cut through, so I replaced it with 2 2x8's. These are boards I cut, so they're actually full sized. This is also the wall with no king studs, which I have partially rectified with one on the far side of the new window on the left.  The wall on the righ is the same wall that was on the left in the previous picture. The header on the new window on the right doesn't have a trimmer stud or anything under it, but it does have 6" spikes holding each end to the stud. 3 spikes per end, so 12 in total since there are two 2x8's there. The old window on the far wall didn't have a header (just a piece of 1x6 pine laying flat over top if it. I put in some 2x8s and some cripple studs and some extra studs (light coloured studs). I'm going to take this out and move the 2x4 under it down 2 inches to accommodate a window size that Home Depot has on sale. I was thinking of putting a king stud or two in this wall, but it's not really holding any weight from the feel of the studs.  You've probable notices already, but this picture really drives home the mess that was holding up the bathroom. 2x4's with 2x1.5's on top. I'm surprised I haven't fallen through the floor since the following studs (right to left) are either mostly cracked through or notched way more than they needed to be to accommodate plumbing and electrical stuff. #'s 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9.  Also, I'd like to give a big thanks to whoever invented the reciprocating saw. Once I get this bitch of a room supported and straight I have the pleasure of crawling under it (2' crawspace accessible from my basement) to try and get the floor (with it's 24" spaced joists) level with two bottle jacks, some 8" cement blocks, and two cedar 9' 5x5" beams. If I didn't have a dad with a sawmill and lots of defenseless trees I would be a poor, poor man!
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Feb 10, 2014 03:05
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Munin posted:On a different note, I came across this and it definitely belongs here: quote:What happens if you use untreated lumber? I don’t know. Why do you need pressure treated if it’s protected from the elements? I don’t know. I also don’t know how much it matters, but it seemed like a setback. I asked the opinion of two experienced builders who I trust, and they both agreed it was not a big deal. I was told to paint it with an outdoor paint if I wanted to be extra careful. The major concern, I was told, is bugs not weather. If this is the case, then I’m also aware that Borax soap is something you can put on wood to keep bugs out of it.
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Feb 10, 2014 03:19
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Jesus christ Blistex, that is a loving mess and whoever did it should be shot. I'll take my rotten sill plates, thanks. Holy hell. I would have torn that entire structure down to bare ground and rebuilt from scratch by now if I were you.
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Feb 10, 2014 03:45
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kastein posted:Jesus christ Blistex, that is a loving mess and whoever did it should be shot. Like I said before, my house and the addition are polar opposites when it comes to building quality. 85 year old house with a poured foundation and there isn't a single dip in any of the floors or areas that are not very well made and super stable. That (I'm guessing) 30 year old addition on the other hand. . . poo poo! Adding another two king studs will do the long wall well, and luckily the corners each have 4 full-length 2x4's in them. As for the supports in the ceiling, I still shudder to think how full that soaker tub was. All of the boards I have been adding are my own, so they're full-sized and not kiln dried, so I don't have issues with cracks around knots (not that there really are any in them). The junk that used to be the ceiling was an absolute mess with so many chunks of 2x4's and left over v-match paneling that I filled two 1/2 ton truck boxes level. The new ceiling is going to be drywall fastened directly to the bottoms of the new supports with some slight strapping (1/4" or less) in some places to make sure the drywall is perfectly flat. I haven't taken any photos of the work I have done yet with the 2x6's and 2x8's I've installed in the ceiling, but I'm going to run a nice 2x2 down the interior wall and add another toe nail to the new supports, just to be safe. I did some insulating up in a crawl space above the door to the outside so that I don't get any heat escaping from this room and melting snow on the roof. I can see frost on the inside of the boards and on the nails as well. The supports that I did install were for the most part placed right next to the existing ones, and I would jack the old ones up in the middle, then spike them to the new ones so that the new supports were holding the floor upstairs, but the old ones were also being supported by them as well. That way the old and new are all flush against the upstairs floor and there are no more dips or gaps to cause creaking. I'm guessing that I'm increasing the structural integrity of the bathroom floor by 4x by adding new beams that are in most cases 2x larger and with far fewer, and smaller notches cut into them. I'll try and post some more pics tomorrow of what has been done so far when I get some daylight in there. Blistex fucked around with this message at 05:35 on Feb 10, 2014 |
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Feb 10, 2014 05:32
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I feel obligated to ask a question, as a confused, uneducated person: shouldn't that insulation have backing, and shouldn't that backing be visible on the side facing us? I thought insulation needs a vapor barrier and that the vapor barrier needs to be on the heated side to prevent mold and suchlike.
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Feb 11, 2014 01:52
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Once I'm finished making the window opening larger and adding a few king studs I'll staple vapour barrier over it and then cover it with drywall.
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Feb 11, 2014 02:32
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Can you get a picture of the outside of your house? I would like to see what the addition looks like compared to the original structure.
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Feb 12, 2014 01:42
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It actually looks pretty seamless from the outside since it is covered in the same wood paneling as the rest of the house. Everything looks level and well fitted, but as soon as I tore the interior walls off it became apparent that they were either retarded, or they were just using leftover materials to build the walls. Here you can see the addition (two large windows are the two new ones you can see from the interior pics. The window on top is the bathroom, and the window on the far left is the kitchen which is part of the original main house. The black disc is a masonry blade they used to cover the hole when they had a wood stove in there. When I redo the outside I'm going to naturally cover it with some 1" foil lined Styrofoam and vinyl siding.  When I bought the house I noticed that the addition's floor had a bit of a dip in the middle, and the bathroom upstairs as well, but I just assumed it was an issue with the wood flooring being laid and not fully toughing the beams under them until they settled after a few years. It was much more serious than I thought, but truth be told, I've really only logged about 7 hours into rectifying the situation which has been finished tonight. All that I have to do now is take the bow out of the addition floor (another 2 hours at the most) then put two new windows in to replace the plate glass ones, put up the vapour barrier, put on the drywall, mud, trim, and then put some linoleum in there and do some painting. The drywall is probably going to be the most time consuming part of this whole ordeal. I keep meaning to take pictures of the progress, but I keep working until the natural light is gone and right now there is just temp lighting in the room. Maybe tomorrow if I remember.
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Feb 12, 2014 02:53
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kastein posted:Jesus christ Blistex, that is a loving mess and whoever did it should be shot.
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Feb 12, 2014 04:53
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Found elsewhere but i have been in that spot. I took the fitting apart and did it right, wish i would have cut the wrench in half.
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Feb 16, 2014 04:07
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Toucan Sam posted:Found elsewhere but i have been in that spot. I took the fitting apart and did it right, wish i would have cut the wrench in half.  he cut off the box end of the wrench instead of using the other end???Also, I suppose that is to code, even if it's the hosed up way to do it. I wonder how many hacksaw blades he went through trying to cut tool steel? At least he cut it there and not at by the water line.
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Feb 16, 2014 21:48
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I'm more amazed that the paper tape is still sticky/stuck after 20+ years.
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Feb 16, 2014 22:05
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I love that he dated it so that the next owner would be able to put this particular bit of clusterfuckery into his mental timeline of the house. That might explain why some of my grandpa's old box wrenches are roughly cut in half.
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Feb 16, 2014 22:11
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Well I finally finished taking the bow out of the one wall by installing 2 2x4" king studs. Also, whenever I say I am replacing something with a 2x4, 2x6, or 2x8" it's those actual measurements since I cut them myself. The two king studs (running top to bottom) are nailed to the other mismatch of studs to keep the bow (1") out of the wall. I used a pair of "come alongs" to pull it straight, then nailed everything to the studs with 5" nails. Never use screws for this kind of a job since they can shear, while a 5" spike isn't likely to do that unless dealing with tons. Also the insulation is not the stuff that will still be there when I put on the vapour barrier.  Here is a close up of one of the 2x6's that was holding up a span under the bathtub. This was one of 2 2x6's that were supporting the bathtub. The rest being 2x4's. I forgot to take a picture before putting the 2x8 on the other side, but this crack you see is more visible from the other side and goes all the way through the beam. This was directly under the middle of the soaker tub upstairs. Now there are 3 new 2x8's under the tub now, along with the original beams which are all spiked to the new beams after some jacking.  Here you can see most of the beams in the room that I have installed. Like I said before, these are all actual size, none of this 1.75x3.5" bullshit. The first few are 2x6" because of some bullshit going on above and the fact that they're only supporting a sink and an empty beside the bathroom. The ones further back are full 2x8" spruce. At the top left you can see one of the old beams that was "supporting" the bathroom sink. That cut goes right through.  This shows the 2x8's that are in the middle of the bathroom, and under the tub. You can see that I notched out the wood on the wall and these beams are sitting right on top of the wall. After considerable alterations (adding headers, cripple studs, and a ton of other studs) I feel confident enough to say that and not cringe. All of the original beams are still there because none of them ended up being 16" center, and in most cases while jacking the floor I nailed them to the new beams so they old and the new are both sharing the weight. I'm guessing that the new 2x6's and 2x8's have made the floor at least 4 times more structurally sound and 3 times more level. In the bathroom upstairs there was a 1" dip across 8', now that dip is less than 1/8th of an inch and any more attempts to get rid of it would probably pop all the tile out around the tub.  My dog Autumn urging me to finish her room so I don't get in trouble when my wife comes home and sees this mess. 
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Feb 17, 2014 00:14
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 It was already a pigtail going into that wire nut, why not just use two wires? At least it wasn't two wires on the screw terminal, like I thought it was going to be.
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Feb 17, 2014 00:22
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Whatever happened to DoomShed? Did it just fade off into the internet?
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Feb 17, 2014 01:14
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| # ? May 14, 2024 00:21 |
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Blistex posted:structural scrap lumber I hope you kiln dried the wood you used for those new king studs, because otherwise... unless you got really lucky, the powderpost boring beetles are gonna love you!
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Feb 17, 2014 01:36
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