Week 11: Blowing Our Top



At long last, this is the week that the roof comes off.  The first two holes in the roof are made by the removal of two skylights, which we will recycle and install in the new second story.  These inaugural holes are visible in the top center of this photo.

The decision was made to remove the roof starting from the south face, then removing the north face, and finishing by removing the eave sections on the west and east sides of the house.  This is the initial cut into the south face of the roof.  Removal of the roof is officially underway.  The green ropes on either side of the cut are safety lines anchored to the ridge of the roof and worn by the crew during the early stages of demolition when they are walking on the roof.



This close-up of the first cut on the south face shows the mound of debris inside the attic.  Originally the attic was finished space that we used as our bedroom.  Prior to roof removal, all of the drywall insulation and floor covering in the finished attic space had been removed and stockpiled in the attic.  Now, as we cut into the south face, this debris can be easily removed from the opening in the roof and deposited in the waiting dumpster.



The Brilliant Physicist climbs up to the top of the addition to have a look.



The Brilliant Blogger climbs up to get a look herself.



Looking down the elevator shaft from the second story floor.  The boards in the photo are not part of the shaft; they are temporary fences to prevent the BB (and anyone else) from falling down the shaft.

Bird's eye view of the elevator shaft.



Continuing work on the south face of the roof.  The process involves cutting the roof out by sections, each weighing somewhere between 100 and 200 lbs.



Dylan making the finishing cut on one of the sections



Dylan, assisted by Casey, breaking loose a section from the south face



This is Daniel and Casey heaving a section of roof off of the sub floor of the addition into the dumpster, while the BB looks on.



a view of the mammoth dumpster near the beginning of the roof removal



The south face of the roof has now been fully removed.  This photo provides a good look at the space that used to be our attic bedroom.  The two holes in the norh face used to be occupied by the removed skylights.



As roof removal proceeds, our daughter Susan and her daughters Maya and Zoe, arrive.  Susan's purpose is to view the fascinating demolition process; While they find the demolition interesting up to a point, Maya's and Zoe's primary purpose is to pick raspberries.



Maya and Zoe waving to the construction crew; they have learned the names of all the workers involved in the project.



Susan climbs up to the top of the addition for a close-up view.



Meanwhile, the BB assists Maya and Zoe in the raspberry-picking project.



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Daniel and Casey throw another roof section off the addition into the dumpster.



Susan, Maya, and the BB view from below.  Zoe, unmoved by the roof sections being thrown off of high places, continues to focus on picking raspberries.



Dylan muscles a particularly heavy section of roof--



--and heaves it into the dumpster



Not to be outdone, Daniel and Casey muscle an even larger section of roof--



--and, on the count of three, heave it into the dumpster.



A view of the north and west sides of the house from South Park Drive after removal of most of the roof, except a small remaining section of the north face and the west and east eaves.



Looking north after removal of all of the roof except the east and west eaves.  Note the roof over the front porch is not being removed because city setback requirements require that we leave that roof intact.  The only change we will be making is converting the current "bullnose" to a peak that is consistent with the architecture of the new roof.



Our designer, Luther Allen, visits, and the BB shows him the current progress of the roof demolition.



The time has come to remove the east eave.  Because the eave overhangs the east end of the house, it would be very dangerous to attempt to remove the eave from ladders or scaffolding on the east side of the house.  The solution that Dylan has come up with is to tether the eave to three winches, cut the bottom of the eave away from the house, then, using the winches, pull the eave down onto the existing sub floor.  I have no idea how much the entire eave weighs, but judging from the weight of each section, a reasonable guess is that it weighs a ton or more.



The winches are in place, and the center winch attached to the top of the eave, is beginning to pull it down.

All three winches are at work now, and the eave is starting to fall.



Far too late to do anything about it, it occurs to the BP that, while provision has been made for pulling the eave forward, there is no particular strategy for cushioning the crash of a ton or more of material onto the sub floor of the house. 



And crash it did!  The house shook, but it withstood the impact with no discernible harm.



Taking a close look at the east eave to decide how best to dismantle it.

Cutting the east eave into sections for removal



Now it's time for the west eave.  After some analysis, it was decided to use essentially the same process for this eave as was used for the east eave.  This photo shows the three winches beginning to apply tension to the tethers. 



EMERGENCY!!  As you can see in this photo, the west eave is beginning to fall downward, but not toward our house.  Dumping a one-ton eave on our next door neighbor's house is not part of our strategic plan.  What happened here was that the center winch  that operates the tether attached to the top of the eave broke loose from its mooring, and the other two winches were not sufficient to hold the eave upright.  In this photo, Casey and Daniel immediately grabbed the center tether and pulled on it to keep the eave from falling further, while Dylan worked quickly to fashion a new mooring for the center winch.  In this photo, the BP is contributing nothing, but that changes in the next photo.



This was, beyond question, the most dangerous moment that we've experienced to date.  Not only was the eave heavy and already tipping away from the house, but a wind had come up and was gusting, turning the west eave into a one-ton sail.  The BP, also possessing extraordinary strength, added his muscle to the center tether, while Dylan gathered materials to replace the mooring.

Dylan installs a new mooring while Daniel and Casey (and the unpictured BP) continue to hold on for dear life.

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The new mooring in place, Casey begins winching in the center tether.  To everyone's relief, the west eave inches back to an upright position and then begins to fall towards us instead of away from us.



The west eave begins its accelerated descent toward the sub flooring.  Again, there is nothing to cushion the fall, but we are so relieved that it is falling in our direction, who cares!



The west eave a split second before impact



Impact!  This one shook the house even more than the east eave, and some of the ceiling in the room below was jarred loose, but as mentioned above, who cares?!



This photo shows the dumpster at the end of the roof removal.  If someone were ever to ask us how big our old roof was, we can simply answer that it was one dumpster full.  Sounds like a nursery rhyme.



The BB looks at the view from one of our new offices.  The tripod behind her is a laser leveler that will be used to ensure that the main beams that support the second story are exactly level.



Dylan and crew prepare for the installation of the system of beams and joists that will support the second story.



The front of the house as it looked after all of the roof was removed.  The only roof structure remaining, as noted in an earlier photo, is the roof over the front porch.



Now many hundreds of pounds of beams, joists, and plywood panels need to be hauled to the sub floor of the addition that will serve as the staging area for framing the second story of the existing house.  Dylan rented this heavy duty forklift to simplify this task.



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Ditto.  The BB discusses the forklift operation with Dylan at the wheel.  One of the many perks of being the site manager is that you get to drive very cool equipment.



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In the foreground, the packages of glulam beams.  In the background, packages of joists and plywood panels.



The hauling operation having been completed, the BB views the crowded staging area.  Framing the new second story is about to begin!



This photo shows Daniel installing the 15" glulam beam that runs along the east side of the house.  You will recall in photos of earlier weeks of this project, that footings were poured and new posts installed at various strategic points along the house.  The purpose of these posts now becomes clear, as they support these enormous beams, which in turn will support the second story of the house.



Dylan, Mike, and Daniel work on installing a 12" glulam beam that runs down the center of the house.  This beam, too, rests on new posts supported by new footings that were installed earlier in the project.



The BB holds up the end of a section of the 15" glulam.  As this photo shows, a glulam is simply a collection of 2x4s laminated together.  In this case, 10 2x4s laminated together produce a total beam width of 15".  This is the size of the beams running along the east and west edges of the house.  The 12" glulam running down the center of the house consists of 8 2x4s laminated together.



The floor joists are attached to the glulam beams by these joist hangers.



Having installed the beams, the crew begins to install the floor joists.

The most thrilling moment in the project to date was this visit from our friend, neighbor, and original contractor for this project, Andy Rodrigues.  It was Andy who introduced us to our designer, Luther Allen, and who began guiding us through the early stages of planning.  Andy has been fighting a long illess and only recently has returned to Bellingham, where he continues on a long road to recovery.  We have been talking for many months about his visiting the project, and today was a great day for such a visit, as there was a lot to see. 



Andy and the BB chat with Dylan about the project.



More floor joists being installed



The front of the house as it looked mid-afternoon on Friday.  It is amusing to realize that as of now, we own the shortest house on the block.  Within a couple of weeks, we'll own the tallest house on the block (though not by much).

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At the beginning of the week, the weather predictions were for sun through the third week of July.  At the end of the week, the weather predictions were for intermittent showers through the third week of July.  Many veteran northwesterners ignore weather reports entirely because they are notoriously unreliable, but when you have taken the roof off of your house, you take no chances, so by the end of Friday, the entire house was covered by this blue tarp.

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Ditto--Next week, weather permitting (drum roll)---WALLS!