Replacing the Leaky Wall

So, this post isn't about baby Huysers at all. It's all about replacing the leaky dining room wall in the new house. We knew that this project would have to get done some way some how when we bought the place. Just over a year later we finally felt like the timing was right to tackle the job. The leaks were minor but they had damaged the floorboards. 

The wall is comprised of double-paned glass framed with large cedar posts including a short ceiling done the same way. The 2x6 cedar boards framing out the exterior of the ceiling had rotted, allowing water to flow in when it rained. The leak to the floor was just a slow drip but it had soaked through and damage several of the cedar beams. Under consistent rain the beams expanded to actually seal the leak so it didn't drip to the floor anymore but it still penetrated the wood and certain spots in the beams were noticeably damp. When the beams eventually dried out, the process started all over again. This damage had continued for so long and gotten so bad that simply repairing the rotten parts was no longer possible.

The objective with this job was to replace the wall and the ceiling while preserving as much light as possible. Getting back the "sunroom" effect of the ceiling windows would have required skylights or a complicated series of casement windows; we decided against that We did, however, get several large double-hung windows that precisely matched the new windows which had been installed throughout the house approximately 15 years earlier - so the "wall of windows" effect is preserved. The ceiling is replaced with a shingled roof, and since we had the new roof installed in 2013, we were able to easily extend the existing roof section of the wall for a seamless match. The end result is a consistent look - as if it was always meant to be that way.

The interior with baseboards removed. Notice the vertical cedar beams on the windows match the exposed cedar structural beams used in the interior. A great feature that we love about the house.

Long view down the wall. Notice the glass ceiling/roof with the cedar beam framing.

A smaller window that was installed when the rest of the windows throughout the house were redone. It really looks out of place here. When I tore the drywall out, I realized why it seemed to be racked (bent): it had been horribly mis-installed; the size was all wrong and it was pounded into a space that was too tight. There was no header over the window and it was performing a structural function. We had to fix that.

Long view down the other direction.

Looking up, you can see the discoloration in the beams from the water infiltration.

Looking the other direction. More discoloration. The track lighting is going to get replaced with recessed lights in a new ceiling.

Water damage at the bottom of the beam and the sill.

The water damage in the corner of the wall where the beam meet the sill had gotten so bad that the sill had completely rotted away near the window. I was afraid of what I would see when we opened it up.

The water damage down this beam had essentially split it into two colors. Such a shame; these beams were probably beautiful when they were installed but the roof hadn't been maintained to prevent this from happening.

Water damage. So sad.

Drywall is torn down in the next picture. I don't have a lot of pictures from this section, suffice to say that the water damage continued all the way down to the bottom plate of the wall and partially impacted the subfloor. The 1/2" plywood subfloor was in surprisingly good condition so we didn't end up taking it out. There was, however, a lot of expansion to the 3/4" fiberboard subfloor upon which the hardwood is laid. Since any repairs to that could be done AFTER the wall was replaced, it wasn't done here.

Also notice in the photo, the windows that are mulled (attached) (lower left corner of the photo) and the framing materials (right side of the photo). Having the windows mulled and the new framing complete prior to construction day saved a LOT of time. I couldn't build the roof components ahead of time since there was a lot of measurement work that needed to be done after demolition - I would have saved even more time if I had figured out how to do that.

Getting supplies. I had the framing material delivered from a local lumber yard, but the cedar material delivery charges were too expensive. There is a great lumber shop on the north side of Atlanta that specializes in cedar; I was grateful to have that resource so close. I built a quick frame in the bed of my truck with some 2x4s that I was going to use for the new wall and set the new cedar boards on top to haul them home. Some of these were 16-feet in length. It worked out perfectly.

The scaffold! Oh how I love scaffolding - this project would not have been possible without it. My very generous neighbor came over on a weekday afternoon to help assemble it. He even came back after the job was done to help disassemble it again. I hauled it in my little truck to save on delivery charges and it was pushing the weight limit a little bit.

Construction Day! It was a long day with a lot of help from some generous friends. Some were there from 6:30am to 10:30pm... that's a 16 hour work day! Amazing. I am immensely grateful. My number one objective that day (aside from SAFETY) was to get the wal rain-ready. If we could get it protected from the rain, then I could finish the rest myself afterwards. A big task but these guys made it happen.

We began with demolition. Removing the windows was tricky since they were pretty brittle. Several cracked and they wrapped them with plastic on their way to the dumpster. Getting heavy + partially-broken windows down from the scaffolding and safely into a dumpster was quite a feat. Jonathan and Daniel did a LOT of hard work loading the dumpster; the tire on my wheelbarrow had gone flat and I had no idea but they figured out a way to inflate it. They even helped out by removing nails from old boards so that I could reuse them in framing the small wall to the side. 

Old framing is out. The cedar beams were surprisingly light. A single person was able to haul them out without danger of dropping it.

View at the framing that was supporting the windows. That would all come out. The hole in the side is for an air register... we kept stepping into it or putting a ladder leg in it. I tried to stuff it closed or cover it but nothing helped.

Water damage to the interior frame.

Water damage to the corner. This was the worst damage to the frame. It affected the joist but not enough that warranted replacing it. The joist is doubled up and is discolored but not brittle. The sole plate (bottom 2x4 of the wall frame), however, is a goner. It was soft and structurally unstable. I think the sole plate absorbed the moisture before it could damage the joist.

The weather was on our side all day. It worked out so perfectly that all of these guys were free for the weekend AND the weather cooperated. 

Richard working hard to remove the small window frame. He ended up taking the whole wall apart. I was slightly disappointed with the need to do so since I had just installed some new siding at the corner and replacing the exterior casing (frame) around the window two months earlier. Richard tried to save it but I told him just to demo the whole thing to save on time.

Putting in the new wall. The header (long boards at the top) is comprised of two 2x12s sandwiching a 1/2" foam board (insulation and moisture/sweat prevention) at a span of about 10 feet. If this were a structural header (supporting a second floor above it) I would've had to use a 14" or 16"engineered laminated beam (HEAVY duty stuff) but since I have nothing but a 50" long roof on top, I can use the less-bulky 2x12s.

I pre-built the wall on the dining room floor. It took five of us to lift it into place and we had to negotiate a tight space with a low beam from the ceiling and a narrow passage created by a column to the left and the scaffolding to the right. When it was all in place, we nailed it in. Even though I had to build it before total demolition, my measurements were spot-on and it fit in nicely. I was pretty excited.

 The new wall was attached to the old wall with 4 carriage bolts, 1/2-inch thick and 10 inches long with locking nuts on the end.

The wall is there... but it's hard to tell since the space for the windows is so enormous.

The exterior of the house consists of 3/4" foam board nailed directly to the frame and a beveled texture cedar board exterior. I don't think that'd be done these days on a new home, but I did it here since there was no other way to make it fit with the old structure without repeating the old process. 

I didn't supervise the foam board installation at all but Stephen and Matt did a perfect job. All of the joints were facing the proper directly and fitted very tightly.

Just below the sill of the windows you can see a silver "X" shape. I was pretty proud of that. I wanted to install a brace to prevent lateral movement but didn't want to waste a lot of wood between each of the cripples (vertical supports under the window sill) since it really is not necessary in this case - just an extra good step. I found a long "X" brace in the garage that originally belonged to an old metal-frame shelf that was in the storage closet of the apartment that Amanda and I moved into when we first married (shelf was left there by the previous owner). When we first move, I disassembled the shelfand kept the parts. This old part found a new and permanent home in our house 9 years later. Things like this is why I have a hard time throwing anything away.

By the end of Saturday, the windows were installed and the roof rafters and decking were installed. I don't have any photos of the rafters and decking process - it was late into the evening and we were working furiously to get it done before nightfall. Scott was running around like crazy getting rafters back and forth and picking up tools we had dropped so we didn't lose them in the dark. If you look in the right side of the photo you'll see a blue tarp where that short wall with the small window wasn't quite finished. I hadn't originally planned to tear it down completely so we didn't have time install a new frame.

On Sunday, Andrew and Richard came by to help install the roof. I was immensely grateful that they both had roofing experience, so they pounded this out pretty quickly while I worked on framing the small wall. This is yet another reason why the scaffolding was helpful - we never could have done this on ladders. The biggest surprise was that I didn't know Andrew was coming at all. He couldn't reach me on my cell phone because I had it on vibrate, and he knew I needed help finishing this section, so he just decided to come over anyway. What an awesome thing to do. Richard stayed a long while that day and was a big help getting the flashing set behind the old siding - I would not have been able to do that myself.

All the framing is done, the new lights are installed, and the insulation is in. Drywall will be a few weeks later. The lighting is significantly less than before but at least it's dry. Not everything was right in the first few days because some of the windows weren't shutting properly. I was paranoid that we had installed them wrong but couldn't figure out how because all the measurements were perfect (we even measured diagonally in every direction, something I've learned to NEVER forget). I eventually figured out that I had bent the track of the window hanger when I reinstalled the glass. Luckily, these windows were built to be fixed and I was able to disassemble the track and fix it up right. Crisis averted.

Recessed lighting and new ceiling. The small window doesn't look out of place anymore.

New wall meets old wall. If you're counting, there are six 2x4s bolted directly together... that's a lot. The metal strap at a 45 degree angle is another lateral movement brace. It's wrapped around the old wall, then goes up and around the top of the new wall. There's a second strap on the exterior side. This same arrangement also done at the other end of the new wall. This should prevent the wall from racking (bending side-to-side).

Same straps on the other side.

The roof is a 25.6 degree angle. I've memorized that by now. This photo show a corner that I am NOT looking forward to drywalling.

I like the windows. They're quite nice. I do not agree with the stain color choice that the previous owners made when they installed new windows, but I've already refinished a few and been adequately satisfied with the look. These will match and no one will be able to notice the 15 year difference.

No photos of the exterior siding installation in progress but here is the completed job.

Installing the siding in those narrow spaces between the window and the edge was frustrating. If the cedar board is bowed outward, it splits in two the instant a nail comes near it. Drilling a hole doesn't help every time because the pressure of holding the board in can still split it at the last moment... and at that point it is a very difficult nail to remove.

I like the natural look.

Did my best to match the boards up to the existing siding so; even though there's a vertical divider, the horizontal line carries through the new wall.

The roof looks consistent. It matched up really well.

Exterior is done! There are a few spots to touch up but the big stuff is finished. I had about two gallons of the dark trim color that the previous owners left behind and Sherwinn Williams hit the color match of the primary green spot-on. The color match is so good that I can spot paint over existing walls and it blends in right away.