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Posts from the “Structural work” Category

The steel inside

Posted on 2 May 2017

Overkill is our strong suite, but in the case of the newel posts on an outside stair, I think our approach is pretty justifiable.  The connection between the post and the stair stringer is often the first point of failure on a deck.  Typically a 4×4 gets bolted (or, mercy!, nailed) to the side of the stair stringer, and as people pull on the post going up or down the stair, the short grain of the stringer starts to fail and the post gets wobbly.

 

We’ve developed a system where we fabricate a steel sub-post on a thick plate, and then we bolt the plate to the concrete pad at the bottom of the stair.  The finished newel box gets installed over the steel with big-assed tek screws.  On a recent job, the geometry of the steel post was a little more complicated because we were using 3½” thick engineered beams for the outside stringers, but the general idea is the same.  We also had intermediate newel posts on this stair because of the long run.

Rubin deck stair-8154

 

Rubin deck stair-8158

 

Rubin deck stair-8132

 

Rubin deck stair-8134

 

And some images of the finished newel posts:

Rubin deck newels-8550

 

Rubin deck newels-8551

 

Rubin deck newels-8553

 

Rubin deck newels-8558
Categories: Details, Structural work, trade secrets

Tagged: deck, engineered beam, newel post, Stair, steel, stringer, welding

2 Comments

Ain’t no window big enough

Posted on 18 March 2015

We are working on a master suite renovation, and one of the key features of the project is a large (really large) soaking tub.  About halfway through the planning for the project, someone raised the issue of actually getting the tub into the house and up to the second floor.  Tape measures came out, and we quickly determined that a tight turn on the main stair would not allow passage of the tub in any orientation.  And though the house is large, the second floor windows are rather petite.

 

When the clients confirmed that the tub was indeed very important to them, we offered that we could always cut a hole in the side of the house and hire a crane. With some clients, this would lead back to a conversation about smaller tubs, but in this case, we got the thumbs-up.

 

The morning of the move became slightly complicated when we realized that the geometry of the crane wouldn’t work, but an off-road forklift (with a very skilled operator!) came to the rescue.

 

Before we made the hole

Before we made the hole

The hole

The hole

Moving the forks into place under the tub

Moving the forks into place under the tub

Starting to lift

Starting to lift

Clearing the garage

Clearing the garage

Getting closer

Getting closer

Lined up with opening

Lined up with opening

Coming through the opening

Coming through the opening

And in (whew)

And in (whew)

And the tub's temporary home until we're ready to install it

And the tub’s temporary home until we’re ready to install it

Categories: Structural work, victorian

Tagged: bathtub, flying bathtub, forklift, Jacuzzi, Lull, victorian

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Five out of ten

Posted on 30 April 2014

It was a fairly common call.  A repeat client wanted me to look at a section of his barn where the corner board was showing signs of rot.  When we went to look at the job, it was clear that the corner board, and everything behind it, had decayed considerably.

 

Carpenter burying his pry bar into a rotten corner post

Greg’s flat bar is buried all the way into the 4×6 corner post; there was indeed a problem.

 

Concrete shed behind barn

The barn was built in about 1915 to house the limousine for the estate, and the concrete shed attached to the back of the barn held a (coal?) stove to keep the limousine warm.  The current owner’s sense is that the shed was built at the same time as the barn.

 

The shed was almost certainly the cause of the rotting corner — the intersection of the shed’s roof with the sidewall of the barn was poorly flashed, allowing water into the wall assembly from the shed down, and the concrete against the wood was keeping the barn wall from drying to the outside.  The shed was also dramatically complicating the repair, as it was covering much of the area that needed attention.  In consultation with the client, we decided that the only reasonable way forward was to remove the shed.

 

As readers of this weblog know, we are wood guys, and the demolition of a 99-year-old concrete building is well outside our competency.  In situations like this, I call Steve Sullivan of Celtic Landscaping, an uncommonly careful guy with lots of big machines.

 

The first steps were to take down the chimney and create some temporary supports.

Disassembling brick chimney

 

Temporary shoring post for a rotten corner post

 

Deck temporarily supported by ropes

 

 

Steve was a bit concerned about how to safely demolish the small shed.  The roof seemed like it was made up of 8 inches of solid concrete, and the strength of the terra-cotta block walls was uncertain.  Further complicating things, we needed to leave the stair to the second floor in place while we were taking down the shed.  He decided that the best approach was to temporarily support the roof with an off-road fork-lift while taking down the walls, to eliminate the possibility of the roof coming down unexpectedly.  This is the sort of solution that would never occur to me, and a good example of why I like to work with Steve.

 

The first step was to make access holes for the forks in the face of the shed.

Man using concrete-cutting saw to make access hole in concrete wall

 

 

Man using sledgehammer to make access hole in concrete wall

 

 

And then time to set the machine.

▶

Followed by demolition of the upper portion of the walls.

Demolishing concrete and terra-cotta block wall

 

 

Demolishing concrete and terra-cotta block wall

 

 

And then, (gently) bringing down the roof.

▶

 

The rest of the walls came down easily, and the final step was to break and remove the shed’s foundation.

Using a hydraulic hammer to break apart concrete slab and foundation

 

 

Steve is typically a very cool character, desirable, I suppose, in someone operating heavy machinery.  As the shed demolition proceeded, and especially as the heavy roof was balancing on the forks, he seemed edgier than I’d noticed before.  Once the structure was down and he was more at ease, I asked him how hairy this project was compared to others he’d done.  “Oh, about a five.”

Categories: Structural work, trade secrets

Tagged: barn, Celtic Landscaping, Concrete shed, demolition, Lull, Steve Sullivan, structural repair

0 Comments

Addendum: Plumbers and carpenters find a third way

Posted on 13 July 2013

Before:

Cast iron waste line in bath floor with cut floor joists

 

After:

Complicated bathroom floor framing to accommodate plumbing

 

Closer view of complicated bathroom floor framing to accommodate plumbing

 

 

Leo Tuccinardi, our plumber, is technically proficient, but we really love him because he talks to us.  I think we spent an hour or more staring at this small bathroom and making sketches on scraps of 2×4, but we figured out how to accommodate both the pipes and the floor structure.  The final framing layout bears almost no resemblance to anything you’d find in a carpentry textbook, but I’m pretty confident that the 12×24 tile in the finished bathroom won’t crack.

Categories: Structural work, trade secrets

Tagged: bathroom, floor framing, Plumbing, structure

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Force of habit

Posted on 9 July 2013

We saw hints before we started the project that there had been a fire at some point, but we weren’t sure of the extent.  The fire predated the current owners, and they weren’t aware of any lingering issues.   When we opened up the walls, it became clear that the fire had been quite extensive.  There was charred framing, lath, and sheathing throughout one of the rooms, as well as evidence of a less-than-careful repair job.  Large areas of framing and sheathing were painted white, presumably with a shellac-based odor-blocking paint, and other sections had been crudely replaced. One inside corner, though, was particularly troubling.  It wasn’t just ugly, but seemed like it might be structurally insufficient.   The post was painted white, so…

Categories: Found, Structural work

Tagged: Fire damage, force of habit, jacks, post, structural work, why buildings stand up

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Mostly happy ending

Posted on 26 December 2010

First, an apology:  A weblog without photos is an impoverished thing.  However, the concrete truck came at 8am on the morning after Thanksgiving, and we knew that we would only be allowed 15 minutes per yard of concrete, after which we would be charged $3/min.  We (John B and I) ended up placing almost 4 yards in a bit less than 45 minutes, and picking up the camera never crossed our minds.  Nothing weird or disastrous happened, though, and by Monday morning, we had footings on which to set the remedial framing.   From there, it was just like playing with a big erector set, except that the critical beam was too long to fit into the building the normal way.  We ended up…

Categories: Structural work

Tagged: carriage house, dead bird, footing, LVL, Milton, structural work

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Unintended consequences

Posted on 24 December 2010

The chimney wasn’t so good.   It was failing structurally, and someone had made a half-hearted attempt to splint it back into soundness with a couple blocks of wood, screw hooks, and a turnbuckle.  It was also on the small side — only 16 inches square, but was supporting large hearths above — and the house was sagging around it. There was also a question of respect.  I make no claims at knowing the electrical code, but I’m pretty sure it’s not recommended to run wires down the center of a chimney.   Given all thie, the clients asked us to remove it, shore up the house around it, and replace the non-functional fireplaces with something more user-friendly. While the weather was still reasonably…

Categories: Structural work, Uncategorized

Tagged: bricks, chimney, Santa, structure

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History versus gravity

Posted on 23 November 2010

We’ve recently started work on the temporary stabilization of a lovely 1840 Greek Revival carriage house near Boston, MA.  When I was first asked to look at the project over the summer, the building was substantially out of plumb.  When we started work last week, the condition of the building was becoming alarming.   The building had been leaning considerably to the right; now it had pitched over further, and seemed to be tipping backwards as well.  We set up a plumb line as a reference mark to allay our fears that it was moving further by the hour.   Among the carriage house’s many woes, the floor framing system, sill, and foundation had all failed on the right and rear sides of the building. …

Categories: Structural work, Uncategorized

Tagged: carriage house, footings, structural work

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