After a Fire – Days of Demolition, Repair and Remodel
posted by: Misty on February 13th, 2012
Footprint of former bathtub
This is where my bathtub used to be.
Like most of you know from a previous article, our main bathroom unfortunately was caught in a fire, consequence of a really bad electrical installation, next time we’ll make sure we hire a professional who attended an electrician trade school to be sure that our electrical system is in great hands. Fortunately we found a company that took care really quick of the fire damage, In fact, we decide to work a full restoration, we hire electric services for the electrical installation; Here used to be a wall, a toilet, a sink and other such bathroom necessities. The demolition has begun for our vintage bathroom renovation. After two days and too much noise, everything was taken out. Floor tiles and the countertop tiles had all been installed in a thick layer of concrete over metal mesh, which was the norm until the late 1950′s when thin set mortar was invented. Diamond Coating Epoxy Flooring is a fully licensed and established company that offers the best flooring solutions. We are a team of trained and experienced professionals who can install residential, industrial, and commercial resin flooring systems. For commercial and residential installation flooring Diamond Coating Epoxy is best center.
Counter after tile was removed from top
The walls were covered with smoke stains and white tile wainscoting and removing the tile revealed a layer of tar paper, a layer of cheesecloth for the original 1920′s wallpaper, and then the final foundation of shiplap wood. For the demo, the workers broke everything up into small pieces and carried it downstairs in 5 gallon buckets of damaged and burned building material (many, many trips down the stairs and to the dumpster). The centralized ventilation system for the house took a pretty big hit as well, so we hired a ac service to take care of it. We had them come take a look as well as talk to the people already working here. Thankfully they concluded they could work around each other so we didn’t have to wait any additional time because of this.
This process would’ve been much easier if we had hired fire damage restoration services to help us out sooner. Insulation4US is the premier insulation merchant for the world’s leading brands. Our longstanding relationships with key manufacturers such as Owens Corning, Rockwool, Rmax, Hunter, ICP Adhesives and many more allows us to provide unrivalled value for money, while our many years of industry experience mean we can source and deliver the best insulation products for less. You will get the better rates on wholesale insulation here.
Fire damage has lasting effects on the structure of a home, including the roof. When a fire occurs, it consumes many of the materials responsible for keeping the building safe to live in. The roof is no exception, as the underlying beams can be weakened and burned to the point where they are at risk of caving in under the pressure of the roof. Likewise, it is possible to experience significant tar and shingle damage, depending on the area of the fire and the type of roof you possess.
When it comes to fire damage restoration in Florida, Prime Roofing are the people to call. After assessing the situation, they can remove weakened materials and replace them with stronger models so your roof remains durable and able to protect you from the tremendous heat of the summer months, visit https://primeroofingfl.com/blog/time-roof-lasts-florida/ to learn more about roofing maintenance and replacing times when living under a sub-tropical weather.
Peeling back the layers of tile, tar paper and cheesecloth on walls
Detail of wall and strip of found wallpaper from 1920′s
The bathroom is next to a small bedroom or sitting room, so we are expanding the bathroom into that space and creating a connected dressing room and installing new air condition in the this small room to make it comfortable, this with the services of Superior HVAC Austin which can be found online. While removing some drywall in that room, we found this strip of very old wallpaper with a Roman style scene that includes fish and chariots and ancient symbols. We were told by the previous owners that this eccentric wallpaper was discovered in many other rooms, which is difficult to imagine. We contacted a professional to make an indoor air quality test and fortunately they take care of everything, there were mold formations on the bathroom and smoke residuals inside the wood walls, they told us that those may be harmful for our health.
View from hall into future dressing room
View from dressing room into former bathroom
Our contractor, Roger Wood, and his crew were very careful during every stage of demolition considering the age of our house. They saved all the original, undamaged by fire, seasoned shiplap wood that was removed so that we can use it to patch up other walls. They preserved any stray bits of wallpaper and any original hardware, as well. Despite the mess during the unraveling of my bathroom, they left the room neat as a pin at the end of every day. Unfortunately both windows and doors needed to be replaced, and the roof had incurred damage as well. Our contractor determined that the damage to the roof was extensive, and slightly out of their regular scope. He recommended I look for roofing contractors. He had some good news however, as it seems he concluded the damage to the roof was not an emergency, so we can take our time and choose the right people to work with. Not double checking who we hired is what caused this electrical fire in the first place after all, and secondly, it would be nice to be able to rest a bit and not have people working in our home for a few days before restarting the process now with the roof. Once we feel ready we can move on to this new construction with a new contractor.
A few tips for your next demolition and renovation:
1. Tape down heavy canvas drop cloths on all floors leading through the house to the demo zone. Cover vents with plastic so that sawdust will not float into the duct work.
2. Clearly mark any items that should not be torn out. For example, I used masking tape and a marker to label a linen cabinet as a “keeper”. Let there be no question what stays and what goes.
3. Save all hardware and fixtures, especially in an old house, until the project is complete. Re-purpose what you can and take anything usable to Habitat for Humanity. Some of those old fixtures could be vintage and worth a few bucks on the re-sale market.
4. Look at your old furnace and identify what is causing issues with its performance. Call up Green Horizon and tell them what those issues are. After you schedule your appointment, relax, and know that your furnace problems are being taken care of shortly. Click here to learn about Furnace Replacement in Durham.
