Charleston Renovator: Up, Up and Away with a Whole New Structure

The last several weeks has been a dynamic push to get the "wing" erected and the area into the dry and secured. An elderly lady who lives across from us said in astonishment, "He tore all those rooms down by himself! And then hauled it away!" It has been a difficult time, but I have seen the excitement rise in Greg as he has been framing this past weekend. At this stage, it's amazing to see the progress. He began with getting the foundation ready to support the structure.

In order to marry the new with the old, he had to jack up our piazza and I wasn't aware how much it was leaning until he got finished.

The walls on the room are next to be framed. We used the 1950's block to lay added foundation along the side here and one the cement pads under these floor joists. He was able to get these done prior to our framing this weekend. These blocks from the front wall I may have mentioned earlier are heavier and are made with three sections instead of two. We are going to be using them to pillar our back deck. We have that type of debris in our courtyard currently. Hoping the city gives us a few weeks to get them moved.

When you see a structure rise, it almost feels like it was out of nowhere. A surprised neighbor called down the street to Greg and said she went into her house and there was nothing and came out to find their were walls suddenly. It is amazing to watch a structure come up. Greg lifted that first wall by himself.

Greg has left the sheeting over the windows to keep people from being able to jump into the area and visually give some privacy.

The last weekend in February, this is what the structure looked like. The roof is the next thing we tackle and help is on the way. Inside, you can visually see the three windows that will be across the elevation on Carondolet Street.

New foundation along the sidewalk entrance

The supports are tied to the floor joists that outline our Jack and Jill bathroom that will be between the two larger bedrooms. As hard as it was to see the wing come down, this new area is larger and much more stable.

Fortunately, our sons are coming to help us with the sheeting of the roof. They work well with their dad and their youthful strength will prevent him from needing to hoist all those sheets up to the top. He framed in the bathroom area, but has left the flooring open until the plumbing and sewer lines are complete for the new drain. We spent time cleaning up the ground which had all manner of debris. Large amounts of soil have to be removed to give the area a more accessible crawl space.

View from Congress Street. Courtyard is filled with block.

I emotionally cannot even process having this area available, much less the concept of a new space. It is sure to feel like a new haven. By extending the area to the street, it opened up for us an added linen closet, storage cubbies over the bathroom ceiling, and added wall space in each of the bedrooms making a king-size bed possible in our room. The ceilings to come will be vaulted to add a feeling of openness. The windows have been matched to the size of the main house and the third door will remain off of the piazza. Three porch doors traditionally exists on a Freedman's cottage. Much has not really changed from the original house plan.

Roof rafters from inside the structure

We were so excited to have our boys come for the weekend to set the rafters and sheet the roof. They left with it in the dry, ready for shingles which you will see below. It's been an intense 5 weeks, just 10 days of work. Greg tore down the three rooms, cleaned up the debris, removed the block wall and converted it into the foundation of the new rooms, framed the walls and roof, sheet-ed the roof with some help, and applied black paper.