We’re starting to make some visible progress on the remodel/rebuild job on George’s grandson’s place here at the lake. The new target is to be finished by Thanksgiving. Historically the place was built off site as a beach house up on stilts. Circa 1980. Somewhere along the way, an owner decided to frame in the lower area and make it a two story place – converting a 750SF place into a 1500SF home. The plan was to gut the interior and remodel it into a 3 BR, 2 bath bungalow but as the siding was removed on the lower part, it was obvious that the 8” x 8” posts holding it up were totally rotten. You could punch a hole completely thru with a screw driver. That changed the scope of the job from a simple remodel to a repair and remodel. As it turned out the extent of the rot and termite damage pretty much made the job a rebuild. The biggest hurdle (so far) was replacing all the structural poles – 13.
All the 8” x 8” posts are installed. We ended up installing 12 posts, each was 12’ long and weighed several hundred pounds. The one’s we removed were unbelievably rotten – amazing that the structure could still stand. We were hopeful that when we tore off the siding on the upstairs half of the house, the basic structure would be sound but on the south side no such luck – the 4” x 4” posts between the floor and the roof rafters are just as rotten as the lower poles. We’re hoping that this is not the case on the other 3 sides but so far, nothing but the worst case has been the reality. By the time we’re done, the entire structure will have been replaced – one board/post at a time. The pic’s below show the installed posts from several viewpoints. Each post drops below the surface 3’ and is encased in concrete – so quite sturdy. You can also see they’re bolted into the floor joist above, tying it all together.
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