These Walls Are Talking — Hello Robin Clark

This scene got hardcore and stayed that way for months. We felt as exposed as the house was. Each day brought infinite decisions, waves of nausea, and willful optimism. We had to assess the bones of the house before committing to anything cosmetic; 117 year old bones.

FACING EAST

Our bedroom is kind of a mess.

STARTING OVER

WINDOW BLOCK

Ultimately I convinced Mike to cover the window opposite our bed so we could install a giant flatscreen tv there. It was maybe the first time I chose function over symmetry.

LURKING SHOPVAC

That there shopvac still shows up in some of my dreams!

DO THESE LOOK RIGHT TO YOU?

Ultimately we took the 2nd story down to the studs; and those studs were not up to code! Neither were the floor joists. The floor was out of level by inches in some spots. The insulation was labeled 1984. Our odd-sized windows? Ancient weight-and-pulley; some painted shut, one permanently broken by a guest. But the mother of all issues? To get the intense vaulted ceilings up here, a previous owner had eliminated some vital structural support.

Our house was SLOWLY COLLAPSING.

“I Don’t know how your house is standing.”

-Todd Schutte, Structural Engineer

The Bad.

Solid Gold Glulam beams the length of the house had to be craned in and installed to shore up the structure. Every element was sistered; brought up to code. Ok, not SOLID GOLD, but they might as well be for the cost. Total budget ambush!

The Good.

So much good!

Sprayfoam insulation = warm, cozy, and quiet. The walls upstairs are now 8” thick!
High efficiency windows operate properly. No more need for junky-looking storm windows.
Goodbye mottled splatter wall texture.
We are safe and sound up here.
Those Glulams look hella cool. You’ll agree when we get to the AFTER portion.

SUBFLOOR + RAMBOARD

GIANT WINDOW

We filled in the picture window overlooking our backyard and we covered the stained glass window above it (it’s now in the attic which we call NARNIA).

OLD STAIRS

We thought we’d be grandfathered in with these stairs. More on that later.

FRAMING

Closets are being created in a way that makes sense!