Framing and Lighting Placement

There are pros and cons to living in London while building a house in Chicago. If Jeff wasn't willing to go the extra mile by taking pictures of possibilities and then waiting patiently for our responses we would really have no say in how this thing turns out. The blue tape marks possible locations for, sconces, down lights, outlets, and water.

Taking a Step Back - Waterproofing

I want to document the extra process that Jeff Lucas, our contractor, recommended as were deciding how to waterproof the house. There are two traditional ways to erect masonry walls. The first option is to lay the brick as the cinder block wall goes up. This is easier and therefore cheaper to do it this way. The second way it to erect the cinder block wall first with the hook and eye anchor system and then coat that in a water proof layer. After that is finished the brick is then laid and tied to the existing wall with the previously mentioned eye of the hook and eye system. Here are the pictures that show this process although not very clearly due to the coating also being the gray color of the cinder block.

New Window and Stair Framing

Here are a couple of new photos to track the progress. One is of the new space created for a slightly more typical sized window in a powder room and the other pictures shows the framing of the stairs to the basement.

The Roof Has Been Completed

After redoing the roof once 3 years ago and redesigning the roof line two more times, the roof has finally been completed with no turning back. It has been waterproofed and soon the windows will be put in and the house will be protected from the elements for the first time in 18 months. I am sure my neighbors will be happy to have the noise be sealed inside the house going forward. Enjoy the picture updates:
Framing the second floor:

Framing from inside the house:

The Rooftop Work:

Aug 14 2012 - Additional Framing Photos

As always click on the image for the larger version of the picture. Enjoy.

Aug 11, 2012 Update and Photos

It turns out that in many areas of this house the thickness of the exterior walls were not drawn properly. Guess what problem that causes? That's right - all the rooms need to become smaller because at this point we can't push the exterior walls outward. Three areas that are affected by this as of now are the powder room/small study on the first floor, the reading room off the master, and the front staircase leading from basement to first floor due to the ledge created by the new underpinning. Luckily we were able to shift the staircase on top of that one that leads to the upstairs back out 3 inches so the entry way hallway will not be narrower as you walk into the house. That does lead to a 3 inch smaller staircase leading to the basement but that staircase will be the secondary route to the downstairs area. Enjoy the pictures:

So I Was Wrong

Just when I thought that there was nothing old left in the shell of our house, I was reminded by our contractor that was wrong. As you can see by the pics below, he correctly advised us to remove the old firebox and start over with a slightly higher quality one. Now I will say it again - I don't think there is anything else in this house that can possibly be removed any more. Enjoy the pictures.