Project Updates | IT STARTED ON SAWYER

May 26, 2015
by blazarczyk22 Leave a comment

Progress Week 22 – Basement footings + Drain Tiles

Another week, another challenge. Once we finished demo on the basement, we learned that our building was built using a rubble foundation. After 100 years of season changes, moisture, and ground movement the foundation has many cracks and fissures. The best option to stabilize and reinforce the building is to build new footings along the entire perimeter of basement.

Our crew dug a trench down along the existing foundation, about 12 inches wide and 24 – 30 inches down. They then set up the formwork and poured the concrete footings, ending about 12 inches above the original basement floor (to ensure that we tie into the existing foundation).

Once the footings were in place, we trenched the perimeter along the new footings in order to install the drain tiles. (This is one of several lines of defense that we are planning on to address water and moisture issues that can be very common in basements.) Water naturally creeps horizontally in dirt and will be drawn towards the concrete footings. Concrete, being porous, will soak up this moisture and cause the basement to be humid and damp, something we are working hard to avoid (we’ll have bedrooms down here!). The drain tile system consists of a perforated pipe that is run along the perimeter of the foundation and this pipe is sloped towards the center of the south wall of our building. At this location we will install our sump pump which will pump away all of this collected moisture.

: Trenching the perimeter

: Prepping the form work

: Our new concrete footings!

: Drain tile being installed along the perimeter

: Drain tile is backfilled with gravel

May 25, 2015
by Andrea L Leave a comment

Progress Week 21- The Back Roof

We’ve been working on finalizing our full building permit with the City and coordinating new water service and underground plumbing. Our recent progress has kept us busy, but unfortunately we’ve been a little behind in our blog posts.

So to catch up, check out our rebuilt back roof. Our back roof is a low slope roof, meaning it has a rise to run ratio of less than 1:12. We installed a bitumen roof with two layers of polyisocyanurate insulation. We installed Johns Manville Energy 3.E insulation board. JM 3.E is unique in that it maintains the same R-Value (insulating factor), but is free of Halogenated Flame Retardants (HFRs). HFRs have been linked to many health and environmental problems- including respiratory issues and cancer. Johns Manville has developed a product that performs to the same level as competing products, without the dangerous HFRs, which aligns perfectly with our goal of prioritizing healthy and environmentally conscious products.

Sourcing an insulation board without HFRs was not an easy task. We worked directly with Johns Manville, but finding a supplier to deliver the product was difficult. We had to correct the wrong product being delivered, the wrong dimension of insulation delivered, and paying almost a 100% markup to finally source the correct product.

: After roof demo with the roof joists repaired.

: Plywood sheathing down first…

: Sheathing in progress

: Materials staged and ready to go in the front of the house- JM Energy 3.e.

: Rolls of tar paper, this is the glue that adheres our insulation to the roof and creates a water tight barrier.

: Workers busy installing our roof.

April 5, 2015
by Andrea L Leave a comment

Progress Week 19, Rebuilding the Back Addition

Another week of progress. Our team has successfully rebuilt the back addition with sun rooms, replacing the dilapidated wood structure that once stood in its place. The mason opened up the back masonry wall to provide better sight lines from the kitchen, through the sun rooms and onto the back deck and yard. Built entirely from FSC Certified dimensional lumber and FSC plywood with no added urea formaldehyde, we are striving to prioritize sustainable, healthy materials from local distributors.

: Carpenter frames and builds out each wall before raising them into place.

: First floor exterior walls with wood framing, exterior sheathing, and house wrap.

: Panel with future french door before being lifted in place.

: Interior view of back addition construction. Second floor exterior panel being secured to masonry wall.

: First floor complete, starting framing on the second floor.

: Rough carpentry complete!

March 29, 2015
by Andrea L Leave a comment

Back in Action, Progress Week 18

We were lucky enough to have a mild January in Chicago, but February and early March were not as kind. We’ve been held up for a few weeks with freezing temperatures and snow, but as spring slowly crawls back we are making progress. Our mason spent two weekends sand blasting the exterior and the results are mind-blowing; who knew the building was made of red brick!!

Below are a handful of photos during and after sandblasting. Of all the work we have done to date, this has to be the most noticeable change. Good bye to the last 120 years of soot and grime!

: No more blackened dirty brick. The front facade was the first to get a face lift.

: Possibly the best before and after shot we have, the south wall after just a few square feet of sand blasting.

: South wall after the entire south wall had been sandblasted

: We did our best to schedule sandblasting over the weekend to minimize dust on the neighbors property during the week.

: North wall before and after. Its amazing how much grime had collected over 120 years.

February 2, 2015
by Andrea L Leave a comment

Progress Week 10

We are officially finished with interior demo!

After dust clouds of plaster and yet another full dumpster, we are finally at the point where the house can be put back together. During week 10 we removed the remaining lath and plaster, took down all the water damaged studs, boarded up the front windows and… wait for it… got rid of the pigeons!! We can’t thank our team enough for all of their hard work. It took us ten weeks just to get to a neutral point, but all the hard work was certainly worth it. You can finally see just how expansive this home is. We are shifting our focus to restoring the unique elements, both interior and exterior, to bring back the home’s charm and character.

Huge feeling of accomplishment standing in the back, where the kitchen was, and looking all the way through out the front window!

: Last full demo dumpster

: Our demo team used the chute and the tarp to minimize the dust.

: Even with the chute, the plaster dust was carried down the block.

: Main Floor- Looking from back to front

: Main Floor- looking from front to back

: Main Floor- Dining room cleared

: Second Floor- looking from back to front

: Second Floor- looking from the “bathroom” into the dining room

January 13, 2015
by Andrea L Leave a comment

Progress Week 08- The Demo Continues

We were blessed with a break in the Chicago January weather. We are taking advantage of this January heat wave and getting as much work done as we can before the temperatures drop below freezing again. At Week 08 we have the basement fully demolished and 90% of the demo in the second floor unit complete. Why is it taking us so long to demo, you ask? Two words: selective demolition. We are carefully removing the plaster ceiling without damaging the structure; removing the lath and plaster on the walls without scratching the doors or trim; and repairing the brick work while minimizing the damage to the hardwood floors.

We have yet another full dumpster ready for sorting and processing by Ravenswood Disposal Services, Inc. RDS will pick up, sort and recycle our construction and demolition waste. They are able to divert any scrap wood, metal, paper, cardboard, gypsum, and stone products from landfill. We are working to salvage, donate, or restore as much as possible in the house, but not everything can be saved. Materials that are at the end of their useful product life are sent to RDS for processing. At the end of our project RDS will send us a formal report outlining the construction and demolition debris diverted from the landfill.

http://www.ravenswooddisposal.com/

: Demoed clear through to the front living room

: Second floor Bedroom 2 cleared to the studs

: second floor dining room cleared to the studs

: Second floor kitchen, in progress

: All the cleared lath from the second floor piled into the living room

: Exterior Week 08, still a long way to go

: Dumpster ready for pickup

: Basement week 08

January 2, 2015
by Andrea L Leave a comment

Project Progress Weeks 05, 06, 07

The last three weeks have been busy. The first four weeks of our renovation was nothing but demo work. It’s refreshing to see the house being put back together. Our masons have done a wonderful job of building the house back up to it’s former glory- arched front windows and all. We were able to reuse all original face brick, mostly from the front stairs. Reusing the face brick from the stairs allows us to match the original brick of the remaining front facade. Our masonry team was able to include all the original limestone detailing into the front wall. The team has also rebuilt the firewall/parapet walls along the roof. We have reused as many bricks as possible for both the front wall and roof line to save the materials and preserving the character of the property.

: Deconstructing the front bay

: Second floor living room, minus a wall

: Starting to rebuild the front bay

: Face brick- sturdy and smooth, more than just a pretty face!

: Solid and strong, our front wall is back and ready for action.

: Rebuilding the fire walls

Keep your fingers crossed that we continue to be spared the heavy Chicago winter snow. Just another week or two and hopefully our next post will be about our wonderful new roof!

December 15, 2014
by Andrea L Leave a comment

Project Progress- Week 04

We are a week behind in updating the blog, but in our defense interesting things have been happening. We have been issued our masonry and roofing permit. During week four of our renovation we demoed the rear wood porch, opened up the rear masonry wall, and continued demo of the basement. Check our progress photos from week 04 and check back soon for more.

: Rear Porch Week 04

: Main Floor Kitchen Week 04

: Back Entrance Week 04

: Basement Progress Week 04

: Basement Concrete Removal Week 04

November 26, 2014
by Andrea L Leave a comment

Project Progress- Week 03

Over the last two weeks we’ve been busy removing all the old furniture and boxes from the house. As we mentioned in our last post “Out with the Old” we were estimating 150 man hours to remove and haul all the old articles. I think it’s now safe to say that our estimate was a bit off and the total time spent was closer to 200 man hours. With almost everything (not attached) removed from the house we have progressed to demolition. The biggest transformation can be seen in the basement- not only have we cleared the furniture, but all the walls and plumbing are out too.

We are looking forward to completing demo and moving on to stripping the roof down to the structure and rebuilding the front masonry wall. Busy couple weeks ahead, but it’s exciting to see so much change taking place in the house.

Here are some photos from week 03. You can finally see the floors and the walls!!