Beam Me Up!

Demolition was finished in about five days. But before things move ahead, my contractor took stock of the general condition of the structure. The building was in good shape, but I had already heard from a neighbor about a fire in the basement in the 1980’s, so I wasn’t surprised when Al discovered beams that needed to be replaced.

He ended up removing about six beams from the parlor floor and second floor levels. This resulted in completely opening up a portion of the second floor which was quite dramatic.

Preparing the new beams

Beam pockets on south wall

Beam pockets on north wall. Note the skinny little pipe spanning the beams at the top of the photo - this was the original gas line for lighting, back in the gas light days.

I checked back a couple of days later - the beams were in place and the subfloor was going in. Al had discovered more beams in the parlor floor that needed replacing. These guys are really moving along. I hope they’re having fun!

Parlor floor ceiling is closed back up, but the floor is open now with new beam damage to address.

New beams!

Second floor subfloor going in over new beams.

Damaged beams in second floor ceiling will be sistered for now since they aren’t load-bearing. One day when the roof needs to be repaired or replaced, these beams can be replaced.

Neighbors have told me that newspapers were used for insulation and fill throughout these buildings. Here is some between wall and water pipe.