Porch Project

[8ntruck 6,991]

I've got a project going at our Missouri location.  That house went on the city water department records in 1914.  This is basically the story about how the course of a project on a 100 year old house wander the deeper you get into it.  Seems every time you open something up, additional work turns up.

 

It is a large 4 bedroom two story house with a basement and a full height attic.  The front porch is full width of the building and maybe 10' deep.  It has a concrete floor and brick railing (the original owner also owned the local brick yard).  Over the year's, the concrete slab has deteroriated and cracked.  Some of the cracks are running length wise, causing the slab to start settling.  The front foundation for the porch also started to settle.

 

Now it starts to get interesting.  Last year, we had the foundation stabilized with jacks that screwed into the ground about 10 feet below the existing footing.  Had to remove the front steps to do this, but they needed replacing anyhow.  That was the easy part.

 

Turns out that the brick veneer was laid on top of the slab.  When the slab began to settle, it caused a bulge in the bricks along the front of the house.  Further, it appears that the porch roof is supported py the brick veneer.  The front edge of the porch roof is supported by 3 brick columns that are also laid on top of the floor slab.

 

How to replace the slab without disassembling the entire front of the house?  The plan the contractor and I came up with was to jack the roof up, remove the columns, cut the slab as close to the front wall as possible, add fill to support the new slab, pour the new slab, rebuild the brick columns, set the roof back on the new columns.

 

Now reality is beginning to set in.  We've gotten the roof jacks in place.  While doing this, we notice the roof framing needs some work - I figured a new deck, new roofing, and probably replace a few of the rafters. 

 

Today, I got the bead board celing pulled down and got a good look at the roof structure.  Looks like maybe 3 or 4 rafters are good, the rest are either bad or iffy.  Looks to be a better bet to scrap the roof and completely rebuild it (will now need a building permit).  Also, the rafters are in pockets in the brickwork, so it looks like the bulging brickwork is supporting the roof - this complicates reattaching the bricks to the front of the house.  This is beyond me, have to find a brick mason.

 

Oh, ya - can't forget the foundation blocks that need re-pointing.  The original mason who laid them pointed the joints with convex beads of mortar.  Got to find the proper tuck pointing tool to duplicate that......

 

I'll post a few pictures in the near future and as the project progresses.

Edited March 20, 2021 by 8ntruck

[ebinmaine 67,309]

Good luck with the project. 

 

I'll be looking forward to pics...

[CCW 1,292]

It's scary when I think about opening something up. Like that box of chocolates.  You never know what you are going to get.

 

[JCM 9,130]

FYI   Marshalltown or W.Rose Company sell quality brick jointers. A  concave jointer is what you would need to replicate that type of a  joint. Used where freeze and thaw cycles are not an issue on exterior work. The opposite of this tool.

[JoeM 7,871]

I admire your tenacity!

Those kind of projects drain the bank and the back. 

It seems like now everytime I hit a milestone age in my life. 40, 50 and 60, what I would tackle changes.  In my 40's I put a second story on the house, put in just about every nail and worked 60 hours a week. (must not ever slept). Not much interested in construction on the homestead now but I am into tinkering in the shop. 

If that is your thing......go boy go! Very rewarding when finished! 

Post some pics.

 

[8ntruck 6,991]

16 hours ago, JCM said:

FYI   Marshalltown or W.Rose Company sell quality brick jointers. A  concave jointer is what you would need to replicate that type of a  joint. Used where freeze and thaw cycles are not an issue on exterior work. The opposite of this tool.

 

Yup.  That's the one I want.

 

Spent time today removing more trim pieces to see how the roof is framed, and did some measuring and sketching.  Tightened up the jacks too.  Seems they have compressed the ground a little.

 

Turn out that the main beam across the front of the porch is a touch over 30 feet long and made out of three 2x12's spliced over the center column.  They are also in the process of rotting out over the center column.  Replacement is necessary.  Took another look at the joists too - looking better than at first glance yesterday.

 

Spent time on line looking up beam equations, lumber properties, and snow loads for this area.  After turning the crank, looks like a 30 foot 3.5" x 14" lvl beam will replace what is there.  Have to check the local lumber yards for availability, price, and delivery next week.  Will check with the building office for permitting needs too.

[Pullstart 62,803]

That sounds like our last house!  It wasn’t near the age, but a bathroom project took 686 days, based on that simple idea of everything you touch falls apart and everything touching that is junk too.  I luckily replaced the roof before interior rot became an issue, but did have to replace some sill plate on the front side of the house due to previous owner’s termite repairs being a can of spray foam...

[CCW 1,292]

10 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

 

Spent time on line looking up beam equations, lumber properties, and snow loads for this area.  After turning the crank, looks like a 30 foot 3.5" x 14" lvl beam will replace what is there.  Have to check the local lumber yards for availability, price, and delivery next week.  Will check with the building office for permitting needs too.

 

Last year I helped replace a 20 foot beam that had rotted out.  Lumber yard did the calculations and came up with the proper engineered beam to do the job.  You might ask the local lumber yard if they could do that for you since you will be buying the lumber from them.

 

[8ntruck 6,991]

On 3/21/2021 at 11:34 AM, CCW said:

 

Last year I helped replace a 20 foot beam that had rotted out.  Lumber yard did the calculations and came up with the proper engineered beam to do the job.  You might ask the local lumber yard if they could do that for you since you will be buying the lumber from them.

 

Yup.  I'll probably have them use their beam calculator as a reality check on my work.  Besides, they do that more often than I do.

Edited March 22, 2021 by 8ntruck

[8ntruck 6,991]

The plot thickens.  Had a brick mason out yesterday to look at the project.  He pointed out that the stone lentils, one over the front door and one over the front window are being supported by the brick that is loose from the house.  They are also cracked, and will need to be addressed.  I'm thinking new stone Intels with a Intel angle to support the bricks above the stone..... 

 

I took a few bricks out from between the porch roof joists to see how the roof is attached to the house.  Good news and bad news.  The 2x6 joists are sitting on a ledger board, but that ledger board is only a 2x4.  The ends of the joists are notched out, leaving an effective bearing height on the joist of about 2 inches!  I can't in clear conscience put it back together without replacing the 2x4 ledger with a proper 2x6 ledger and joist hangers.  This means more bricks will have to be stripped off to do this.

[Landore 0]

Please share your news. It would be interesting to know how you are doing with your project now. It hasn't been that long, but I hope you're doing well. I have long dreamed of replacing the roof of my house, but I don't have enough time and energy for this due to constant fatigue at work. Stories like yours inspire me to do what I've been dreaming about for so long. I've even found some guys who can help me with the roof replacement. I hope that I will be able to take a vacation shortly and finish what I started. So wish me good luck!

Edited April 28, 2021 by Landore

[8ntruck 6,991]

I've got a brick mason lined up to start the week of July 12.  In the meantime, I will be taking the brick railings down - after photographing them from all angles, and cleaning those bricks.  The actual replacement of the floor will depend on what we find with the bricks.  

 

For extra fun, the limestone Intels above both the front door (wide door with side lights) and big living room window are both broken.  One end of each Intel is resting on the portion of the bricks that are being pulled from the wall by the sagging floor.  This is creating the need for some steel work to support the bricks above the Intels.

 

As far as the porch roof goes, that is looking like it will be the easiest part of the project.  Again, the exact order and amount of work will depend on what the brick mason finds.

 

 @Landore -  see this is your first post.   to the forum.  Since you are digging around in a Wheel Horse forum, I will assume that you have a Wheel Horse, are planning on getting one, or just interested in them.  Tell us a little about yourself, and if you have a tractor, share some pictures.  Most of us here are like little kids - we like pictures.

 

There only dumb question around here is the one that you don't ask.  Bunch of good folks here.  If you are chasing some sort of Wheel Horse problem, somebody, or most likely, several somebodies have solved it and will chime in with advice.  Now that I think about it, help and opinions are offered on most any subject - except politics.  The moderators will squash those threads well before they get a chance to get out of hand.