We have this front room in our house. Used to be the front porch, then was made a bedroom as the family that owned it since the 20's had 5 kids in a 2 bedroom house. It faces due west and has traditionally been the coldest room in the house, complete with breezes when it's windy. The use of knotty pine is staggering and lead me to rip out my bedroom 2 years ago as i felt like i was in a coffin, or at least a 70's basement.
Here's what we're starting with.
Begin removing wall. Insulation is full of mouse homes, covering about 70% of the outside wall. Particularly bad on the west facing wall.
Fire is cathartic
Sooo framing. Yeah, there isn't much. The 5 feet from front window to corner has ONE stud. And it's 3 feet open bay to the corner. To add to that, the header for the front wall is short of the corner studs effectively making that single 2x4 3 feet in support the entire corner and whatever snow piles on it. No wonder it bounced when walked on. Side wall isn't much better. It's not technically load bearing as the rafters extend to the header, but the way it was framed the long 2x above the window was acting like a hinge and we almost pushed the wall out when prying against the framing to remove the interior wall.
After calling many 2x4's into service, i had a structure i was confident in. Also used foam to shoot into any spaces left for air infiltration then went to town with insulation and drywall(and some wires since the room had one outlet)
Before you sheetrock, don't forget to fix that one issue on the back wall...never mind.
Excellent work Pat! But I haz a sad that you burnt the knotty pine... 
I have a stack of reclaimed 70's knotty pine I still hope to use somewhere/someday...then again, I like feeling like I'm in a coffin. After watching all the HGTV shows we've nicknamed our new place the "Biloxi Bunker" because it's so dark inside.
Forgot how good the oak floor was when i carpeted it to give the kid something soft to play on. That's staying. Also sometime last week i managed to mud/sand and texture the ceiling, and slop some paint on the wall so I wouldn't have to do as much cutting in or rolling around trim.
Saturday yielded a trip to blowe's and home depot for carpentry materials.
Normally i work with plywood for things getting face framed but at this point i was willing to skip the time and pain of ripping plywood alone and ate a hundred bucks extra for some clear 1x12's. The shelves themselves are made from 48" stair treads that already have a nice kid safe rounded front edge and come sanded and ready for finish.
Beginning to turn a pile of lumber into usable parts
This guy is quite insistent on being my helper
The workspace
Sunday stopping point. Sheves right, drop down desk center, another unit to build for the left will wait for now.
Sneaky sneaky, the kids' desk drops to reveal shelves for all their school supplies.
patgizz wrote:
Sunday stopping point. Shelves right, drop down desk center, another unit to build for the left will wait for now.
Sneaky sneaky, the kids' desk drops to reveal shelves for all their school supplies.
Kids PLAY ROOM huh! Very sneaky!
Room looks great!
Stampie wrote:
patgizz wrote:
Damn he's getting big.
I second that. I need to get a visit in soon.
Little more progress made. Just assembled the final section and got them all tied together and mounted to the wall. Next is adjusting anything and getting the face frame and top trim built, but tomorrow is more paying work in the morning at least. I have my window and door casing and baseboard in the trailer above the racecar, just need to spend a little time with the saws and get that all cut and nailed up
Been at it all week with a bathroom remodel in a bed&breakfast that's booked for Saturday night and they need tomorrow to paint, so we had to bust butt and get out of there by tonight.
In reply to patgizz:
Not the one I stayed in was it? I liked it even though I didn't less than 12 hours there.
Stampie wrote:
In reply to patgizz:
Not the one I stayed in was it? I liked it even though I didn't less than 12 hours there.
No, this one is up in Fairview right across the bridge from the hospital in Cleveland that i was born in. I've been working on this one for 10+ years.
Lookin good Pat. Did you use the treads full width (48") or cut them down a bit? SWMBO wants me to build her some of these, and she is going to fill every shelf with books to the gills. I'm concerned about shelf sag with that much weight. What are your thoughts?
Outers are 42". I used some at full length for temporary shelves for last few years with no sags, theyre strong. These are screwed through the back though as well.
We have LOTS of books
