The Thumb & Hammer Blog

With the recreation room in the basement now 98% gutted, yet another structural issue has been revealed. Once again, the previous owner messed around with main structural supporst without having a clear understanding of what he was doing. In his defence, he did attempt to do something the right way, but as usual, he came up short in the actual execution.

A room with a view

The rec room has one window– a rather large picture window with a decent view of our scenic back yard. I guess the previous owner wanted to have an unobstructed view of the window from the other side of the room, so he removed the post supporting the main beam. To compensate, he built a 2×6 wall on the one side, and he installed a beefy 3.5 inch by 8 inch post (actual size) on the other side. In theory, this should have been adequate for supporting the span. However, the post was not properly installed.

Support post.

The post (on the right) is resting on top of a concrete hearth, where a wood burning stove was once located. This is not even close to being a proper footing, and the hearth itself is very unstable (one whack with the sledge hammer and half of it broke apart cleanly). The stud on the left is not structural in nature. I think that the real problem was that the post was a little short, as there is a sag on the first floor between where the original post was and where this one is. I have a couple of options in mind for the repair, one of them being to replace the main beam (which is comprised of 2×10′s) with a steel I-beam. I will investigate this option and see if our budget will allow it.

The other issue with the support beam is the fact that it is not continuous across the basement, as it only goes up to the chimney (which is also visible in this picture). For about 6 feet between the chimney and the block wall for the workroom, there really is no structural support– just a 2×4 wall with a double top plate between the chimney and the stairs, and nothing over the stairs. In an ideal world, I would remove the rest of the chimney (it was removed to just below the level of the second floor), but this would result in some more demolition on the first floor in one of the few areas of the house that is not a construction zone. Removing the chimney is not a priority and the risk of causing greater damage is reason enough not to attempt it. Looks like I will be consulting someone with some knowledge in structural engineering (or at least a very competent contractor). In the meantime, I will have to do a temporary fix…

State of the bin

As of Friday morning, the 30 yard rubbish bin is no longer in our driveway. It was hauled away, 22 days after it was first dropped off. That’s $200 just in the stand-by charge, never mind the cost of having it dropped off in the first place, or the charge by the weight dumped at the landfill. I should be getting a hefty bill in the mail in a week or so!

Time for a break

I’m burned out. The past five weeks have been a blur. I am pleased that I spent some quality time with friends and family during my time off. And I guess that in the final tally, I did get quite a bit accomplished. The ensuite bathroom and the basement are both almost completely gutted. Now I can take my time and get the basement cleaned up while giving our finances some time to catch up. Funny thing: a couple of days away, staying in a hotel is not very expensive, but if you do that a couple of times in a month, plus add the cost of gas, the bank account takes a pretty heavy hit!