Much of the large timber frames from the demolition were saved for reuse during the project. For example, several 2 x 6's were used to reinforce the floor joists. Rich Wright prides himself on being able to save the wood and reuse it whenever possible. Several very large beams from the living room will most likely be reused in the new living room.

Today we drove around Pasadena to look at various color combinations on Craftsman and Bungalow houses. Click here to see them.

The 22 foot, 1,200 pound steel beam was put in place today and nobody got hurt. ;o)
This beam was put in to support the second floor balcony.

The first stretch of dry weather is finally here. The last 2 1/2 weeks have been nothing but rain, about 10 inches worth. The outside trenches have water in them but on the other hand, the demo guys are having a field day. There are now 10 guys working on the site. Five of them are under the house digging a massive trench for the foundation reinforcement. Things should happen quickly now.

It started to rain so a last minute decision was made to not remove the roof.

We ran into a little snag today. A footing (~8 ft. deep) can't be put in because it is adjacent to the date palm tree. The contractor called me over to the house and by 9AM he was on the phone with the structural engineer for a redesign. Since we can't put the footing in (kill the tree) or move the tree (block the view), we are going to put in a 22 ft steel beam (1200 pounds) to cantilever the upper deck.

With all of the cutting away of the floor for the foundation reinforcement and the rain we have been having, today we decided that it is more trouble than it's worth to save the hardwood floor in the living room. This is 2 1/4" quartersawn oak at about $12/sq ft installed. With all of the holes in it, it would be very hard to match new to existing wood without seeing where it was patched. Also, the wood is only 1/2" thick instead of the standard 3/4". This just complicated the problem.

The middle of my living room floor is being cut so the foundation can be reinforced.

The Art Jury finally stamped the drawings allowing the City to issue the construction permit.
It only took 22 months and $40,000 just to get to this point! Now let's build it!

The Art Jury finally reviewed the final details for a wall cap, roofline, and chimney. That was what they were holding up the permits for. All of these these items are aesthetic and located at the top of the house. None of these items would have impacted the foundation permit.

The structural plan check was cleared today with the City building inspector.
The City also issued us a partial foundation permit. It was partial because the Art Jury wanted to see some aesthetic details before allowing any work on the patio or front porch foundations. Total overkill in my opinion!