about 7 inches of the exterior 8x8 rim joist hacked away to route a steam pipe, leaving the central beam ("the Beast") notched in and supported by only about an inch or so of structure. Now of course we were planning to shore up things like the Plumbers Special anyway. The Good News part-- is that Landladylike happens to work in an engineering firm so could fairly easily get a kind coworker with a license to help us out. So, while the process of getting my P.E. friend out to the house, getting a plan write up from him, and getting the inspector's buy-in set us back several weeks, it only set our checkbook back the cost of a Home Depot thank you gift card! In the meantime while waiting for the structural go-ahead, we set about trying to hire someone with carpentry experience who would be willing to work with us instead of just handing over the whole job to a contractor. You see, Mr.LL does rough electrical work; I do the plumbing, but carpentry is probably the one area of home repair that we have close to zero confidence in ourselves. Not to mention lacking certain important tools such as a table saw. So several friends/acquaintenances were contacted...but no takers... Finally, just when LL was sinking into despair....the goddess of DIY shone upon us and it was Handywoman to the rescue!!Woo hoo!
She offered her assistance, tools and know-how for a modest fee. She promised to try not to OverEngineer the project. We promised not to sue if we cut our toes off with her saw. We agreed the overarching principle was to preserve our friendship at all costs. Then she and I set about together to overthink the heck out of the project while Mr. LL patiently waited for us to argue our way back to the original plan. Most specifically the question of how to build a level ceiling from a jumble of 1800s wood beams occupied our brains. A necessary task so that the plasterers will be happy when they come to hang blueboard. Since my brother (a contractor in California) used 2x8 wood sister boards bolted to the joists in our kitchen renovation, this method came to my mind first. And we actually got as far as loading up our cart at H.Despot with 12 x 12' 2x8's. It made good enough sense in the kitchen, with a space about half the size of the living/dining room. And without any joists or posts that had been mutilated. But looking at this monstrous pile of lumber and imagining attaching it to our (already structurally compromised) joists gave us all pause. We had also considered using lightweight steel studs as sisters, following this method However, at least the first plasterer we talked too scoffed at the idea of using steel- "flimsy stuff suitable only for commercial or tear-downable work". After a considerable amount of research, we came to the consensus that while the steel solution might be easier and more elegant; there were too many uncertainties (where to buy, what to buy, how to work with, how to attache recessed lighting) for our liking.. Plus, in a tradition-driven Beantown, its a safer bet that your Inspector and the other trades will be more comfortable with tried and true. So, we plan to build a 2x4 frame suspended from the joists. The drawback is we'll lose two inches of height. The plus (I think) is we'll lose some decibels of sound transmission through the creaky floor above. That, plus the mineral wool soundproofing insulation should be a big improvement! Next post...Carpentry 101..a lesson in measure thrice, cut once...
