20 January 2023
A local realtor friend alerted us to an old house nearby that the owner intends to demolish. The interior walls and ceilings are covered in bead board, and we need to more of it to do the ceiling of the porch once it's finished. We contacted the owner and he was more than happy to let us salvage whatever we can from the house.
So far, we've spent two Saturdays there, and probably will do a couple more to get whatever we think we can use.
I also finally got a break in the weather, and my schedule, to start dissecting the old back porch roof.
This area of the house has suffered a great deal of water damage, some of which I have repaired, some (most) of which I have not yet. Three different roof areas dump their rain water into this area. Much like peeling away layers of flooring, taking things apart reveals 4 different attempts to control the water.
This is the first roof, which I believe was original to the house, pre 1890's. The rafter tails have been cut off and trim on the beam has been removed.
What's left of this little roof I think must have been built when the house and kitchen were connected. It may have been put there to protect the door below it, which the original roof, to the left, doesn't cover completely.
This flat roof, or what's left of it, I think was added in 1970's or 80's. Above it is a small deck. I think this was used as a little balcony, until the flat roof below it started leaking.
You can tell the deck was uncovered for a while because of the stains on the joists under each of the board gaps.
The latest solution for the old flat roof leaking was to put a rubber membrane on top of the deck/balcony and add a large gutter to catch all the rain water and send it to a downspout, turning the deck into another roof.
I added the plywood and plastic, trying to keep the walls, windows, and window sills dry. You can see that water from the dining room/kitchen roof falls right in front of the upstairs hallway window. Water has been a constant problem here that people have been battling for decades. Now it's our turn. Hopefully with knowledge, common sense, lessons learned from past attempts, and modern materials, we can make a lasting functional change that will protect the house.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention, shifting the height of the roof for the new porch means putting a huge hole in our house! I think I have one more day to get this buttoned up before it rains again.
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