Frame
Posted by Chris
I picked up a few books on carpentry and framing, but the best way to learn is by watching someone who knows how. Hiring people from my former employer was the best resource for my own learning. A good carpenter will work for $25 an hour, and if you assist him, you can learn what you need to learn. When you frame, you need to be thinking about the drywall that will be hanging on your wall, as well as the plumbing, wires and ducts that will be running through them.
The first step was the new stairwell and floor. Rowhouses usually have joists that run the width of the house (13 feet in my case) and sit in pockets in the brick. My floor joists were rough-cut lumber, many of which were weak or failed due to termite and water damage over the last 100 years. I removed about 70% of them on the 2nd floor, and replaced them with new lumber that was cut down to match the original joists. (This had to be done to maintain the ceiling and floor elevations) It would have been smarter to rip them all out and replace them with new lumber rather than ripping the new ones to match the originals, but I guess I was trying to save money.
Also, before I started working on the walls I had to reinforce the roof, which was sagging quite a bit. The main beam that holds the roof up had a huge knot in it, and actually snapped during the demolition (and scared the crap out of me). I had to build temporary walls, remove the old beam, and install a new one (made of a couple of 2×12s) using a hydraulic jack. I also installed a few more beams to get the sag out of the roof in the front and the back. When I first bought the house there was standing water on the roof, but the reinforcing beams brought it back into level and it drains well now.
Once the structural elements were addressed. I started building walls. None of them are structural, which means they are simpler to build. The floorplan is open downstairs, and an entire wall is exposed brick. On the front wall, you have to match the framing up with the existing door and windows. Upstairs, the stairwell had already defined the size of the rooms and hallway. Most of the walls were built in place as there was very little floor space to build them and set them in place.
Once the walls are done, frame in the ceiling joists, paying attention to the corners and where the drywall will be attached. Also, make sure you plan accordingly if you want a heavy item such as a ceiling fan in a specific location.
Once the framing is done, it’s time for Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing trades to come do their thing.
Originally posted in 2004:
In Baltimore City, you need a permit to do any type of work on your house. I couldn’t believe it either, but if you so much as replace a plumbing fixture, you are required to have a work permit.
I was not sure where to begin, so I naturally turned to the internet. I found the web site for the Baltimore City of Housing and Community Development at www.baltimorehousing.com. The web site still left me with a few questions, but it showed me where to download my permit application, and where to take it downtown.
I went to check out the permit office in Downtown Baltimore and I began asking questions. Everyone I had talked to before this told me that I would need detailed plans to provide with my permit application (because I planned to do structural framing work). To my surprise, I was in and out in under 30 minutes… it bears a striking resemblance to the MVA, and is every bit as dull and impersonal. They don’t really seem to care what you are doing, they just want their cut of the money.
A copy of my permit it shown below. I think I was a bit too descriptive. (After looking up permits on baltimorehousing.com, you don’t have to be very specific in the wording.) Once the permit is in hand, you can work until the date that it expires. Basically, mine gives me 6 months to re-do my floor, build walls, and finish the upstairs. NOTE HOWEVER, that that does not include any plumbing, electical or HVAC work! You need to have licensed contractors pull the permits for plumbing, electrical and HVAC!!!!! What a pain in the @$$!
So, now that my permit is in hand, it is time to start working.
Me, taking a crowbar to the window frame. Note the purple panel walls, and the plaster on the brick. (Click it)
So, the offending old walls, doors, ceiling, etc have been removed. Upstairs is a wasteland of bricks, plaster, floorboards, plywood, and joists of various ages holding it all up. The joists in the front half of the house are original. 3″ wide by 7 and 3/4″ high, and 130 years old!!! I ripped up the floorboards to see what condition they were in, and they were all solid… the 20th century has given them a slight bow in the middle, but overall they are in pretty good shape. (except one, which termites were feasting on at some point. The old joists are 2″ on center. In the back of the house, the new joists were installed (I think in the early 80’s) into the same brick pockets as the originals. Because dimensional lumber has smaller finished dimensions, the 2×8s were shorter than the original joists, resulting in a different floor elevation for that section. I wanted the new floor to be flat, so I had 2×10s cut down to the exact dimensions of the original joists. (This was a great idea posed by a carpenter named Tom. There was about an inch difference in floor elevations upstairs when I bought the house, due to the different heights of the original and new floor joists. The simple solution to this is to raise the shorter joists, but then the bottoms don’t match up, and the ceiling below will be at different heights! I never would have thought to do it that way!)
A plan, showing the layout of the subfloor. It did not end up like this, many peices had to be cut smaller. (click it)
The first step was to frame out the new stairwell. I had already settled on the staircase I was going to buy, and a spec sheet, including minimum stairwell dimensions was available at www.theironshop.com. The stairwell opening required 2 doubled up joists running the width of the house, a double header, and 4 shorter joists headered off (see the picture if you don’t know what that means.) One of the full length doubles sat nicely in the existing pocket, and the other required me to extend an exisitng one about 4 inches to one side (After all this work is done, I will need to get someone to patch up the brick) The joists were almost level when they were set in place, and needed a few shims on the right side (where they bear on the top of the brick wall below, not into a pocket. All of my new joists are 16″ on center, which is sturdier than 24″. I left the back section of flooring in place (with the existing stairs) so we could still get upstairs while we install the new front.
After the new joists were in, and the stairwell was framed out, it was time for the new subfloor, which was made from 4′x8′ 3/4″ thick tongue in groove plywood. (these darn things are really heavy, and need a big hole in the floor to get them upstairs. Since there was a lot of stuff upstairs, we did it in sections, starting in the front right corner… We ripped up a 4×8 section of the old flooring, and applied subfloor adhesive to the joists. MEASURE FIRST! 2′ on center is what the old joists were SUPPOSED to be, but some are a bit off… the edges of the plywood need to line up with the joists, so some may need to be cut. Once the first half of the floor was in, we moved over all the stuff, lumber, etc from the other half and continued! Tap them in place with a hand maul, making sure the joints are tight, and nail them down with 8 penny sinker nails!
With my stairwell opening framed in, I was ready to install the new spiral stair. The first step was getting the thing from Philadelphia to Baltimore. I could have paid for shipping and waited 2 weeks, but I decided to go get it myself. I drive a hatchback, so I borrowed a pickup truck one Saturday morning, and went to get my stair.
It came nicely packaged on a palette, and the folks at the iron shop were nice enough to tie it down and make sure the pole had a little red flag on it, since it was hanging several feet off the back of the truck. It took about 4 hours round trip.
Installing it took a while, (about 4 hours) but it went more smoothly once we were underway. Basically, you install the center pole, slide the treads down, and then position them all from top to bottom, attaching the spindles as you go. The handrail goes on last… be careful, there are a million little nuts, bolts and screws to these things that all need to be accounted for.
Mid assembly. Making sure everything is level is the tough part, because everything shifts when you tighten the bolts.
Sweet.
It’s not by any means a finsihed stair. The handrail is black vinyl, and can be upgraded in the future. The treads are predrilled for a wood covering, which I will work on once other things get finished. For now, it is a means to get upstairs, and I can remove the old staircase.
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