October 29, 2015
Sleuthing with a crowbar – Discovering three windows and a door
“Why the hell would anyone cover that up?” – Nicole Curtis, star of TV show Rehab Addict and Preservation expert, upon finding a spoked banister covered with drywall.
These last three weeks we’ve been working in the back part of the house, where a leaky roof and sagging laundry room have begged for repair. Before we can rip anything out, we want to find out where the original house was constructed, and why an awkward 6 x 20 foot laundry room was tacked onto the back of the house. We want to understand the original house “footprint.”
So we set out to rip out the “dropped tile” ceilings in the back rooms to reveal the original rafters of the house and its outline. Scott took two crowbars and tore down brown paneling and a layer of drywall in the laundry room – to reveal two windows and intact green clapboard siding. We discover that this was originally the end of the house, and the current laundry room was formerly a porch. (See photo.)
Again, in an adjacent room, Scott tore out old paneling with an autumn scene on it, (very 1970s in décor) and we discover more intact green clapboard siding. This interior room which connects the back door with the house, used to be a courtyard, or some type of covered porch, that later had been enclosed. A large black coal burning stove sits at one end, with its venting pipe leading to a too-large window.
We can see a “ghost line” as our architect calls it, of where the 1911 roofline ended, and where a roof extension was built several decades later. We find it ironic that the back room additions’ roof is the one which failed and sprung several leaks. The original huge and thick beams from 100 years ago are still solid. What does that say about “modern construction?”
While Scott and the guys we’ve hired to help us are tearing out insulation and drywall from the back two rooms, I’m peeling away coats of wallpaper and tearing out another “dropped tile” ceiling from the makeshift bathroom with the fireplace. The original beadboard ceiling is still there behind the false tile, and a leak has ruined part of the floor by the fireplace. Who puts a fireplace in the bathroom? Or rather, who makes a bathroom out of a room with a Victorian fireplace? The bathroom is early 80s décor, and though the geese and tiny hearts are down, the space is weird – just not configured right.
I remove 70 nails from the ceiling (still 25 or so left to go) while Scott tears into the sheetrock . It’s paneling, and tearing it out reveals another layer of older wall paper. A late 1960s wallpaper, it’s navy blue with gold stars and cottages outlined in moonlight. Another layer? It’s kind of funky cool, with a folk art feel, but clearly doesn’t fit in this house and will have to go. I see my work cut out for me on a future weekend. But what could be behind it? Scott takes a strategic strike at a papered area above the pale yellow fiberglass shower/bath unit – and voila – a door is uncovered, with its bullseye molding peeping out from behind the yellow fiberglass unit. Who puts a shower in front of a door? Why would anyone cover that up?
We find that the former owners have added a wall that’s 4 inches to the left of a solid room support beam, and ripped out all the beadboard ceiling above it. Between the cut out ceiling and a few very soft floorboards, this room will take a good bit of work to restore.
And the leak in this room? It’s nothing but a bit of flashing around the fireplace that failed. One beam, discovered above the ceiling of this room, is sagging and shows water damage. Everything else looks solid. The mushrooms I wrote about last time growing from the floor – they have disintegrated. I feel our project is do-able, and feel a wave of relief.
Proud of his crowbar sleuthing, Scott heads to a large, long interior closet upstairs in the middle of the hall. There he peels back a wall of hard board sheetrock to uncover another window – this one allowing light in from outside. Again, why the heck was it covered up? The dark, long closet will now have natural light – hurrah!
There’s still plenty of work to be done in the back, and we haven’t even begun anything in the front – but now we know the original house’s outline. Our architect has drawn plans to turn the laundry room into a master bath, and the bathroom into the master bedroom. Now he’ll have more details for his plans and can begin work on his final drawings. We are hoping to do our tear out of the back space next month. We wonder what other surprises will this house offer up as we uncover its history?