I quickly sketched up a revised second floor plan, illustrating modifications to our current plan if we were to go ahead and resurrect the hidden stair. The bottom plan shows existing, while the top plan includes the 2nd stair. 
We decided to just leave the hidden stair hidden. Too much space is lost on the second floor to justify the cost of restoring the stair... even though it really is a fantastic vintage original feature (sigh).
All the floor joists needed to be reinforced, due to water damage. One needed to be partially replaced, due to extensive water damage... and of course, the stairs framed into THIS particular joist. Alas, began the Great Joist Project of 2006.
Temporary column supports were constructed on the first floor and in the basement, so that the second floor would not fall onto our first floor. The best part was removing these... Just in case the connection between the new joist and the old failed, we decided to remove the temporary column supports in increments, so that the columns could still serve as an emergency crutch. I sat in the upstairs corridor, watching the joist connection, while Bryan cut away at the bottom on the column on the first floor, inch by inch... if I saw any indication of failure, I was to yell, and how. Good news is the connection did not fail... there was settlement though, which was pretty darn interesting to see... 
The infamous rotted joist... I don't think it was supporting ANYTHING, which means with our new joist, I think structurally, we should be a-okay.
Due to the very odd shape of the room, we decided to go with octagonal 1" marble floor tile. We found a great deal at Tile Outlet (on Fullerton Ave., just west of the Kennedy Expressway). Only $6. per square foot! The only problem was that the tile came in 12" square foot sheets and the mesh backing of these sheets caused a sticky gluey nightmare when cutting the tile. In addition, the stone is not the best quality... but it's as close to Carrera or Thassos Marble as I think we'll be able to get! Ceramic wall tile came from Daltile... with industry discout we paid approx. $1.25 per square foot. THAT was a GREAT deal! 
When we started this project, we weren't sure if we would be adding a second bathroom upstairs, so we decided to install a nice big soaking bathtub, with shower. The double ended clawfoot tub was our first choice, but in cutting costs, we went with a slightly smaller single ended clawfoot tub instead, purchased thru Signature Hardware. Bathtub, shower and sink faucets came thru Grohe (a bit of a splurge, but they are BEAUTIFUL... they feel so solid yet operate so smoothly... like silk). The pedestal sink came from Vitra Bathrooms and amazingly, was the cheapest purchase of the project, at approx. $130.
The toilet is a Kohler Cimarron, low-flow, therefore eco-friendly, purchased thru Home Depot. The medicine cabinet came thru Basco, Inc (not the best quality, but about 1/2 the price of Robern). Light fixtures are Halo, 4" recessed can lights, courtesy of the Home Depot and the radiant floor heating was purchased thru Warmly Yours. 
There are some items we still have yet to install... a shower curtain rod, some storage and shelving, towel hooks or rails, toilet paper holder (crucial, I know...). We also were debating on adding some extra tile on the walls... and, finally, when we paint the rest of the upstairs, this room will be included. Oh... almost forgot, some blinds, for the window... right now it sticks out like a stubbed toe. Oh well... new window was not in the budget.
Application was submitted and forgotten... until a letter arrived in mid-December, notifying us that we were selected as one of the recipients. We should be receiving the official 'Green Roof Grant' package sometime later this month. Stay tuned...
Even though I am constantly cold (I even have a space heater under my desk at the office), Icehotel looks like an adventure. The hotel is located in Jukkasvjarvi, Sweden - a small village 200km inside the Arctic Circle. Several accommodation options are available: Cold, Warm or Wilderness Camp (I'm imagining dog-sleds, ice fishing and Reindeer rodeos). In the winter months, Icehotel offers snowmobile, dog-sled and moose safari day-trips, courses in ice sculpting, snowshoe and cross-country ski excursions, hunting, etc. In the summer, one can go hiking, fishing, hunting, canoeing and camping (plus more). The Northern Lights are visible all year round. I have officially put it on my list of places to visit.
Livingstones are ultra-comfy seating and sleeping cushions.
Wooden figures by Alexander Girard, originally made in the 1960's, have been recently re-issued by Vitra. Each doll has so much character! 
The guy in the photo above is Jonathan, our carpenter.
We discovered the 2 joists closest to the masonry wall in the photo below had to be completely replaced, along with the stringers.
Dry rot and termite damage. When I heard the word 'termite' I freaked... immediately I started inspecting every square inch of wood in the upstairs... floor joists, the subfloor, wall studs, ceiling joists... anything and everything. It looks as though the damage was focused in that corner though, and it looks old. Still, once at the office, I immediately called Terminix for an estimate. Bryan said to drop it... but I can't... it's TERMITE damage. I just picture our house, slowly turning to wood dust. ... and by the way, I thought termite damage was more of a milder climate or rural issue. I mean, we live in the hood, surrounded by concrete. 
The photo below is a close-up of a joist with some termite tunnel damage. 
In addition, we discovered the masonry load bearing back wall, on which the cantilevered joists rest, needs to be tuckpointed, BIG TIME. This is partially due to a football size wasp nest that had been attached to the wall, for years. 
We used about 7 cans of Raid Wasp and Hornet Killer to extinguish the population. No joke.
You can see bits and pieces of wasps and honeycomb in the photo above. Honestly, I feel a little bad for the wasps, everyone needs a home. But hey, wasps aren't the friendliest of neighbors to have around...
My friend Larry emailed over today, this handy little diagram, to forward to the framers, since it appears they may have forgotten how to frame a window properly (see yesterday's post)... that, or they must be smoking crack.
It has been one long weekend. Friday morning, the guys started working on the cantilevered bay projection. When we spoke with the contractor, it was our understanding that the ENTIRE bay would be rebuilt. We came home to find the patchwork in the photo above. 
I'm not quite sure how the 2 walls connect... there's no strapping nor any lapping of the 2x6s at the ceiling... I think that shim of a 2x4 may the link... scary.
WAY too large of a gap b/w the window and the framing... and I still cannot believe they cut that vertical 2x4.
We met with the contractor this afternoon and said that the work has to be completely redone... he agreed. Basically, he said he wasn't around to supervise the work and it was done in a rush and is totally unacceptable. So, they are starting from scratch tomorrow morning. I hope I hope I hope they get it right this time. I'm sticking around in the morning to supervise.
Oh... and to top it all off, we discovered some wasps made a nest in our wall - in the cavity between the brick and the plaster/lath interior wall. Brilliant. That explains why we've been discovering a handful of wasps in that back room, on the first floor... including a wasp that buzzed itself into my shoe and stung me. Mean bugger.
View down corridor, towards front (master) bedroom, facing street. Stair and new hall closet to the right of the corridor, new master bathroom and existing bathroom to the left of the corridor.
Front (Master) Bedroom, facing street - Furring along exterior and party walls.
Front (Master) Bedroom - Pocket door into new bathroom.
Skylight opening in corridor. In-progress, additional framing still necessary, along with additional framing in order to level the entire corridor ceiling... You can kind of see it in the photo above - there is about 1 1/2" difference in height, using the bottom of the ceiling joist as a measuring point, between the masonry wall and the interior corridor partition wall. It becomes startingly obvious with the skylight opening. 
Hall closet and entry into master bedroom (the entry to the bedroom hasn't really changed, we just wanted to try and make the doorway slightly wider, since originally it was only 2'-4").
Picked up the recessed can lights at Home Depot last Saturday... they have been sitting in our living room since, awaiting the electrician's arrival Monday. We are using a combination of 4" and 5" Halo recessed can lights, with white baffle trim, throughout the entire upstairs. Originally we were going to get Juno light fixtures thru Lightology. However, after taking a second look at our budget and running a cost and performance comparison with Halo, we opted for Halo, with a cost savings of over $1500. We didn't get the trim option we wanted and Juno fixtures do perform better, but sacrifices must be made and $1500. is mucho dineros.
