We were hard at work again on our renovation project in Three Rivers last weekend. First, we managed to build our first wall! Using the 2x4s we salvaged from the previous walls, we attempted and (mostly) succeeded in building a straight wall. The 2x4 that frames the corner is more twisted than we thought it was when we installed it, but we'll have to figure that out later (and count it among the joys of reusing old materials).
Next, we set about preparing to build the walls for the bathroom and the utility room. First, we removed the existing wood floor that covered the area for the bathroom. We'll be reusing this floor in the back of the apartment to fill in when we remove the interior stairs to the first floor. Then we took up the subfloor to allow the plumber access to run drainage plumbing and to eventually put down a more appropriate subfloor for the bathroom. Finally, we removed the old cast iron plumbing with a sledge hammer.
In the process, though, we ran into a pretty significant issue that kept us from beginning the walls for the bathroom and utility room: five of the floor joists had been cut almost completely through when the plumbing was last installed. The only load-bearing walls in this building are the side walls, meaning the joists that span between them hold all of the weight of the floor and the ceiling. So, when five joists in a row are cut as badly as these, the whole floor/ceiling in that area is structurally weakened. Thankfully, though, the joists have only sunk about an inch, so we may not have to jack up the entire section before sistering in new joists for strength. We need to wait for an expert opinion before moving forward ...
As per usual, you can see more photos of our progress on Flickr.
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