Chapter 2 - Defining the scope

As I mentioned in Chapter 1, we have been through one attempt at remodeling our 1912 prairie-style home in Oakland. This chapter is going to list many problems that we need to address while finishing our remodel.

• Replace old sections of foundation that were left by the first contractor.
  
• Reframe walls where the studs are not connected to the plate.
  
• Flatten (not level) the floor in the old house to make a transition to the addition possible.
• Replace all subfloor and flooring in the old house.
• Remove both masonry chimneys and one masonry fireplace.
• Replace the furnace and water heater flues which were routed into the unlined masonry chimney.
• Add height to floors to make a clean transition between old and new.
• Replace the exterior doors.
• Rebuild the front entry.
• Waterproof the front entry to prevent water from leaking into the shop added by the first contractor.
• Figure out why several new electrical circuits do not energize.
• Add missing electrical circuits in the kitchen.
• Install the kitchen.
• Paint inside and out.
• Install two bathrooms including the master shower.
• Replace the deck on the second floor to remove a beam that protrudes into the deck surface.
• Add missing kitchen stoop.

Note that this is a short list of things we need to accomplish. All-in-all the list of problems introduced by the original contractor is longer than the original scope of the work!

Decisions, decisions
There were several things that we had to decide before we attempted the fixes. The most difficult of the decisions was whether to keep the fireplaces. The house was built with two masonry fireplaces, one in the dining room (which was not functioning), and one in the living room (which we use a few times every year). At issue was the fact that the two chimneys were not strapped to the house and since the floor levels in the original section of the house was going to be changing by at least two inches, the hearths would need to be replaced.

Fireplaces and Chimneys
If you own an old house and have an original fireplace you may have this same dilemma, especially in California where there is the chance of earthquakes. Factoring into our decisions regarding the fireplaces are the fact that old Rumford style fireplaces are large polluters, the masonry chimneys are not strapped to the house, modern building codes require high-efficiency wood burning fireplaces if you are not repairing an existing one, and we want to keep the feel of the house as built in 1912. After many discussions between ourselves, our designer Leela, our contractor Bill, and family members, we made the decision to remove the dining room fireplace completely, and to save the living room chimney and hearth, but keep the firebox and repair it.

Notes for people looking for replacement fireboxes: The new high-efficiency replacement fireplaces are much better for the environment, but they do not have the same old-world feel as the original Rumford ones. There are newer ones that mimic the Rumford style, but they have vents that surround the opening. Because of the louvered vents on the front, the look is very modern, not old-world. One of our goals with the remodel was to make the house seem as though it was built with the addition in 1912. To us that means keeping as much of the old-world feel as possible.

Dining Room Fireplace
Our final decision was to remove the dining room fireplace completely and to replace the chimney and hearth in the living room but leave the existing masonry firebox. The dining room fireplace (as seen here) would be completely taken to the ground. We came to the conclusion that we would never use it. The only time it would make sense to have it fired up was during a dinner party. The person sitting in front of it would be very very hot. That plus we could use the chase for running flues for the furnace and water heater, we could add a small coat closet on the first floor, and add a linen cabinet in the upper stairs bathroom conspired to have us eliminate the chimney and fireplace. Also, we would be saving money by not trying to repair and strapping the masonry chimney.

Note to interested parties in the SF Bay area: we still have the dining room fireplace facade in the back yard and it is free to anyone with a truck that wants it. Note that when it came off, it came apart as the mortar was pretty worn out. It is laid out on its face in the correct alignment.

Living Room Fireplace
When deciding what to do about the living room fireplace, we really had to prioritize the features we wanted. As I mentioned above, the old Rumford masonry fireplaces are polluters, but the new high-efficiency ones don't have the right feel to them. Along with that, we needed to decide if we were going to face the fireplace with tile or stone, what color that would be; how large would the mantel be, should there be an overmantel, etc. In the end, our living room fireplace priorities broke down something like this:

1. Maintain the old feel
2. Make it as earthquake safe as possible
3. Keep the cost down
4. Be as green as possible

There are other elements I haven't listed, but this is the general fireplace priority list for our situation. Since the high-efficiency fireplaces don't give us that old feel, we decided to work with what we had. Also, since there isn't a really good way to make a masonry chimney earthquake safe, this needed to be replaced with a lightweight metal flue. By leaving only the firebox, we are able to "repair" the fireplace without meeting the current building codes which would have forced us to use a new firebox.

There was one thing that I should mention here that took us by surprise. When we decided to take out the chimney, we assumed that we would be taking out the bricks to the ground. Lo and behold, the largest section of brick is actually the firebox itself. Only the narrow part of the chimney is the "chimney". We had our hopes up that we would get back all of this space in the addition where this monstrosity of brick was, but it was not to be. We were able to square off the angled shoulders which will allow us to put in shelves.

Taking the Next Step
With the fireplace decisions behind us, we could now start demolition of the chimneys to make room for the flues. This became more critical as we were leaving summer behind and would need the furnace again very soon. In order to save money, we took on the task of taking the down the chimneys and the dining room firebox. This turned out to be an interesting experience. Overall it took about three solid eight hour days to completely removed both chimneys and the one firebox.

Using an air chisel and working from the top down, Miranda, my business partners Larry and Chris, and I took the chimneys down brick by brick. The hard part was taking down the dining room chimney and firebox. The living room chimney was exposed on three sides and came down very quickly. The dining room chimney was located in the center of the house and was surrounded on all sides. To take it down, you have to stand on the bricks of the chimney as you take them out one at a time. The chimneys were assembled around clay flue liners which are about three feet long and two feet wide and weigh between 20 and 30 pounds each. As the bricks come away from the outside of the clay flues, it gets harder to get the bricks free. Once the liner is clear of bricks, you can either break the clay up and send it down the chimney, or you can do like we did and haul them out of the hole in one piece. Pushing these liners out of the hole and into the attic while standing on a wobbly step-stool is a harrowing experience.

In the end we saved ourselves some money and now have brick with which to make a garden wall. It was a good thing to save the chimney liners as well as Ohmega Salvage in Berkeley paid $5 each for them.