Rebuiding "The Box"

With the structural wall re-framed and the floor extended, the entry and walls to the bedroom are mostly framed out and we're almost ready to have the plasterboard (called Sheetrock in the US) replace the temporary plywood walls. It's because of these plywood walls that we call the bedroom "the Box" - since we moved in, the "bedroom" has been enclosed by plywood, making it look like a "box". But today...that's going to change!

The re-framed structural wall and extended floor in-front of "the Box"

The first thing that needs to be done is some additional minor re-framing of the structural wall (also one of the bedroom walls) to create an opening where the new staircase will pass as it goes upto the loft (2nd floor). This work was left until today because in order to do it, I'll need to remove all the plywood. Taking down the plywood was technically easy to do, but psychologically, this is a very big deal for us - we've been living with it for over a year, and this is the first step to returning to some level of normalcy.

Temporary plywood walls of "the Box" (photo on the left) - a few minutes later, the first few panels removed (on the right)

All the temporary plywood removed from the re-framed structural wall along the bedroom

With the plywood removed, I was able to easily cut out the opening and set a new wall-plate that will act as a structural anchor for the new staircase. This completed all the re-framing work and I could now begin re-sheathing the walls.

Cutting out studs to make an opening for the staircase

The completed opening

 The re-sheathing of the bedroom began with adding plywood - but this time it's permanently attached to the exterior face of the structural wall. This plywood is being required by our official from Building Control (the equivalent of the Department of Buildings in NYC) to make the wall extra strong and stiff so that it acts as what's known structurally as a diaphragm system. The entire wall is sheathed in structural plywood and fastened every few inches with screws. Later, this will be covered with plasterboard and painted - eventually it will be blended in and hidden.

The first piece of structural plywood added

A few more pieces of plywood seen from inside the bedroom. The opening for the staircase is on the right side

The completed plywood seen from outside the bedroom - the door opening is again visible.

Once the plywood was completed, I shifted my attention to the other walls so as to hang the plasterboard. Before any plasterboard could be hung, the wall that separates the kitchen from the bedroom needed to have the final studs installed. These were quickly cut, placed and leveled.

The remaining studs installed at the side bedroom wall

Once the studs were in place, it was finally time to start hanging the plasterboard. I hung one board on the side wall just to see how everything fit together, and then quickly insulated the structural wall before covering it with plasterboard. All the walls will be insulated to help with sound dampening and to retain heat within the bedroom during the winter.

The first piece of plasterboard in the bedroom!

Insulating the structural wall.

Hanging plasterboard is quite not as basic as it sounds. Building control requires us to maintain a 1 hour fire rating around the bedroom, which can be achieved with either 2 layers of regular 12.5mm (5/8") plasterboard or one layer of special fire-rated plasterboard - which in the UK is, funnily, colored pink (to make it obvious the board is rated). Here I decided to use the pink (rated) plasterboard along the structural wall (because it won't have much traffic/abuse) but two layers of regular board on all the other walls (so they are stronger and can take more abuse & traffic).

A few more boards up - the pink (fire-rated) plasterboard on the front wall with regular board on the side wall.

Most of the plasterboard hung

The plasterboard went up rather quickly - but by this point it was late, and I was getting tired after a 12-hour day of labor. But the plasterboard made a huge difference in how the room felt - the plywood is gone, and our bedroom is finally starting to feel like a real room rather than a plywood box!

End of the day - the bedroom re-sheathed in plasterboard

Extending the floor

After almost a month in New York, I'm back in London again. Now that the shower is finished (!), I'm going to shift my efforts towards finishing the remaining "heavy construction" so that we can try to wrap up the major work by the of the summer.

What that means is that I'll now be focusing on the preparations for the new staircase that will eventually go upto our new loft & dormer. This will include:

• Extending the floor so it meets the correct location of the new stair. Besides adding around 15 sq ft to the overall area of our flat, this extension will also provide the necessary floor area to locate the new door into the bedroom (currently, "The box"). So this extension is critical to the new layout & design of the flat.
• Re-framing the structural wall (adjacent to the staircase) so that the new door into the bedroom can be opened.
• Once the structural wall is re-framed, it needs to be sheathed in structural plywood and then covered in "fire-proof" plasterboard (1hr rated to be precise), as per the instructions from our council's Building Control officer.
• Build and install the landing for the new staircase - it needs to be built first because it will help hold up the stairs...also, it will give the stairs something to frame into
• If the above items go well...start building the staircase...!

The existing staircase (down to the flat's entry door), with the structural wood wall next to it

Before extending the floor, I needed to open up the existing floor and determine the exact location and level of the new beam that will carry the new floor area as well as the new staircase. Because this is the only remaining area of the floor that was not leveled, the contrast (between the old sloping floor by the stair and the new leveled sub-floor) became quite obvious...with a difference of over an inch!

Morning of March 26th - the existing conditions and original end of the floor.

Sub-floor removed, exposing the joists underneath

The level shows the extreme difference between the old sloping floor/joists and where it should be so it's level.

Because of the extreme slope of the old floor, I realized that it will be necessary to reconfigure the top of the stair to get everything level. This required pulling off the top step so as to fully expose the beam below. Once the joist was fully exposed, I was able to set-up a string line and determine the future leveled location of the new beam.

Removing the original top step to expose the beam below

The string line and level - note the difference between the string (which is level) and the slope of the old floor/beam!

The location on the structural wood wall were the new joist will go. Removing the plaster to expose the wall plate below where the beam will sit. (A wall plate is a horizontal stud within a wall - usually in between floors)

With the location of the beam determined, it was time to create the openings for it to go into and determine the structural support that will hold it. On the side of the exterior wall, I cut into the wood trim and exposed a wooden wall plate that holds the joists (the wall plate sits on top of the brick wall below). On the other side (at the structural wood wall) I also found a wooden wall plate that was conveniently at almost the exact location I needed to sit the new beam on. Once everything was opened, I cut the new wood beam and inserted it in place. It took some time to set it at the exact level, but I was eventually able to get there.

Afternoon of March 28th - locating the wall plate that will hold the new beam (at the exterior wall) and establishing the correct level there. This required a thin steel plate to get it to the exact height needed.

The new beam at the correct level (notice the difference between it and the old beam)

Once the beam was set to the correct level, a second beam was cut and they were fastened together (this is known as sistering) to create an extra strong beam. This double beam was then fastened to the old, sloping beam to help stabilize it and prevent any further settlement or sloping.

The double beam fastened in place

Now the fun part started...I was able to remove the old railing and start setting up for the actual floor extension. This again required using string lines to determine the correct location of the new joists (that will frame into the double beam). Once everything was worked out, I was able to to cut the wood and install special steel clips (called joist hangers) that help make the structural connection between the joists.

Morning of March 29th - The new double beam in place...then removing the original railing.

String lines locate the positions of the new joists.

With everything cut and the joist hangers in place, I was then able to insert the new joists and fasten everything together. Within a few hours they were structurally sound, and i was able to add a layer of plywood so we could walk on our new extended floor!

The joist hangers in place, holding the new joists

The completed framing

Adding a piece of plywood so we can walk on it...

Tiling: The Shower (Day 2)

On our second day of tiling, Sean (our tiler) pushed ahead and began cutting/installing slate for the main shower wall. Once he turned the corner, we could really start to get a sense of what it was going to look like - I had initially been lukewarm about "Aglaya"'s choice of copper slate, but I have to admit, I now think it's actually going to look quite stunning - particularly (I hope) when contrasted with the limestone.

Sean appeared to be moving somewhat quickly, but somehow, by the end of the day, only 6 tiles had been installed...

Morning of Feb 21st

The first few rows of slates

Here you can see the tile adhesive right before the slate is installed

End of the day's tile work - can really start to see how the completed shower will look!

Once Sean had wrapped up for the day, I began my work, as part of our tag-team approach. Tonight, my task was to frame out part of the bathroom wall and what will ultimately be our bathroom door. Because  the bathroom is now en-suite, this new door is going to be between the bathroom and the bedroom. We're currently accessing the bathroom through a temporary door on the opposite side (the living-room side) so that while everything is a messy construction site, we (and our workers) aren't constantly traipsing through our "bedroom" to use the loo or while working on the loo.

Of course, the "bedroom" is still very much The Box - that is to say, it's still sheathed in plywood and not really a proper room yet. So I'm aiming to do this framing work from the bathroom side rather than the "bedroom" side so as to keep the dust and mess outside our sleeping space.

Cutting the rough opening in the floor stud for the new door - the temporary plywood wall is simply pushed out of the way

I carefully measured out where the doorway would go (making sure to accommodate trims, etc)  and cut out the rough opening from the floor stud using a circular saw and handsaw. From there, studs were cut and installed on either side of the opening - each one perfectly leveled. I then installed a few other studs and was able to temporarily attach some scrap trim and plasterboard on either side to see how the door would look....

The studs erected with temporary plasterboard & trim to get a sense of the wall & doorway

Tiling: Starting the Shower

After a last-minute scramble to get the shower ready for our tiler, Sean, he showed up first thing this morning (8am!) to begin work. He probably has no idea how much effort went into getting everything ready for him - besides building-out the shower from scratch and waterproofing it, we had spent weeks picking out tiles ...and then, upon delivery, I had to single-handedly haul hundreds of pounds of stone upstairs into the flat...

Feb 14th - the first of two tile deliveries - the slate

Sean started by bringing all of his tools upstairs and setting up his cutting area out on the balcony. Because our tiles are natural stone, he is using a "wet saw", which uses water, so besides some dust it also tends to splatter water...everywhere. This is why we decided it best to set up the wet saw outside.

Morning of Feb 20th - the tiler's tools next to the stacks of tile

Sean's set up for cutting tiles with the wet saw on the balcony

Once Sean was set up, we reviewed the layout and design together. This was actually quite complex because of the arch and ledge in the shower, plus the fact that the limestone and slate are sort of woven together in the shower (as if the limestone is passing in front of the slate).

We also went over - in painstaking detail - exactly how and where each course of tile would run and where the seams would be, how wide the joints would be, and so on. This may sound like over-doing it, but if you don't figure this stuff out in advance, you might end up with a faucet, or a shower valve, coming through the tile off-center, or  near an edge. If that happens, it will look like a mistake - particularly with such large tiles, and could also be impossible to cut without breaking the tile.

Ready for tile: right before the tiler gets started

So after everything was worked out, Sean set-up a laser level (which was really cool!) and marked out each course. Using the laser, he then set a wooden batten at the bottom of the first course to provide a permanent guide, and to prevent the tiles from slipping.

The tiler set up a laser to set the level for each tile course

One interesting thing was that the first course Sean set on the wall was not at the lowest level (adjacent to the floor), but the next one up. I learned that the lowest wall course is only installed after the floor goes in, so that there's an overlap (similar in concept to how flashing is done) and also so the exact dimensions can be measured once the floor tiles are set.

Sean on the balcony cutting tiles

Sean moved quite quickly, so by the end of the day, he had completed the entire area of wall under the arch...and it looked great!

4pm - The first set of tiles completed!

Although Sean finished for the day at 4pm, I was mobilizing to continue prepping a few unfinished areas in the shower and bathroom that I had not yet completed. Because there was still a decent amount of work left for me to do, we worked out something of a tag-team arrangement - he would tile during the day, and I would do the prep work in the late afternoon and evening after he left. We agreed that every day we would have to co-ordinate the schedule so that I could stay a few steps ahead of him.

That night - building out the exterior face of the shower & setting the shower ceiling's level

For tonight, we had decided I should finish the outside edges of the shower - this included the step/ledge at the floor of the shower, the upper face (or soffit) at the ceiling, and the side face of the shower. By finishing these areas, the shower's waterproofing and substrate would be complete, and it would also give Sean a stopping point by setting the levels of the ceiling, and outside walls.

Adding the tile backer board on the side and top edges

Adding the tile backer board to the bottom ledge/face of the shower

The mostly completed ledge/step

By the time everything was finished, it was 11:30pm...but my portion of the shower is finally (!) finished and now Sean won't be held back by anything on my end...at least in the shower...

The shower at the end of the night

Under the Shower: Waterproofing (part 4)

With the bathroom wall construction completed, I now have to make major progress on the shower - with the tiler coming on Monday there's a lot of work to do in just four days...

The next step is to finish waterproofing the area under shower, and permanently affix the raised shower floor. As mentioned in previous posts, I've gone a bit crazy with the waterproofing and have several redundant layers to minimize the chances of a leak. As part of this strategy there are actually two "floors" to the shower - the actual raised shower floor (because it is sitting on top of a steel beam), and then the sub-floor, which is level with the rest of the bathroom. Each "floor" - including the entirety of the bathroom floor - is to be fully waterproofed to increase the redundancy, (hopefully!) minimizing the chances that if there is ever a leak, it will not penetrate through to the flat below ours.

I started by waterproofing around the shower drain opening in the sub-floor - a large hole that was cut into the plywood while leveling the bathroom floor and installing plywood around the drain.

Feb 16th - applying the waterproof membrane around the drain

After the membrane was dry, the following day I fitted the Marmox insulated tile backer board, made sure everything fit together properly and prepared a bucket of flexible tile adhesive. As with the shower walls, the combination of the rubberized membrane, waterproof tile adhesive and waterproof tile backer board creates the redundant waterproof assembly.

Feb 17th - fitting the Marmox board in place

Testing to make sure everything fits!

Ready to go - mixed tile adhesive, cleaned sub-floor.

As mentioned in our roof posts, I have a serious aversion to mortar and troweled adhesives...mainly because I'm not that good at working with them and generally make a mess. This time I made a huge effort to learn from those initial experiences, mix smaller batches, and work quickly - yet carefully. Fortunately it went better than I expected, with minimal mess! The sub-floor was coated with the adhesive in sections, and the Marmox boards were placed over them.

Adhesive partially applied

First Marmox board down

Next few pieces on the left - the last section of adhesive on the right

In between the board edges, silicone is applied, and then taped over with a special (and expensive) waterproof tape that completes the waterproofing system at the joints.

Completed Marmox board with silicone along the joints

Extra waterproof tape around the drain opening

After all joints are siliconed and taped, I added several intermediate supports for the raised shower floor, making sure everything was level and cutting openings for the boiler's white condensate line. I then did a few final reviews of the waterproofing to verify there were no gaps or neglected areas, and screwed the waterproof plywood in place.

Feb 18th - Additional wood supports for the plywood base

Final shot before closing-up: fully taped and waterproofed

The plywood based permanently fastened

Permanently attaching the plywood made me somewhat nervous, as from this point onwards, I'll never again be able to access the drain and sub-floor in case there's a leak. I guess this is where having the redundant layers of waterproofing come into play, and provide some peace of mind. Not to mention a bit of confidence from the success of our new roof, and the fact that it has not (so far!) leaked...