Chris's Remodeling Project

The House that Chris Remodeled

This project began when I was asked to save a round stack-wall building which had fallen into a very dilapidated condition. For the 5 years before I was asked to save the building, it was being used as a barn. The floors had rotted out, and the upper wall you could throw a cat through. It was in extremely poor shape and impossible to heat.

After the floors were rebuilt, work began on the upper wall. This photograph illustrates the stud wall built round with a 35 foot diameter. Building in the round is a little like boat building.

1 by 6 tongue and groove is clamped, then screwed to stud work as an exterior finish.

The old upper walls were removed and then rebuilt one quarter at a time as the roof needed to remain suspended.
This is a view of the wall as each quarter wall comes together and is completed. As you can see it looks a little like a cross between a ship and a racing car.

Most interior features of this building I designed to take advantage of its round nature. This image illustrates the rough woodwork to create a curved staircase which is fully insulated to the ground so that it acts also as a pantry which keeps goods cool in the summer while keeping goods from freezing in the winter. Most interior features of this building I designed to take advantage of its round nature. This image illustrates the rough woodwork to create a curved staircase which is fully insulated to the ground so that it acts also as a pantry which keeps goods cool in the summer while keeping goods from freezing in the winter.

This image illustrates a hand made trim on the outside edge of the staircase, which was cut and shaped in the round such that it not only completed the edge of the staircase but also allowed the tongue and groove work to seat directly into it.


These images illustrate the pattern of the finishing tongue and groove work.
This image illustrates the curved stairwell above the stairs. Much of the restoration work at this point has been finished on the stack-wall behind the stairs. The oak capping has yet to be done on the stair treads and risers.

These images show the many hand shaped and scribed pieces that make up some of the finishing work inside the building.

The lower interior walls I designed with a waynscotting stepped out from the stack-wall 5 inches. This allowed for more insulation on the bottom 3 feet of wall where cold tries most to enter the building. It also offered a space where plumbing and electrical wiring could be run. A 6-½ inch chair rail completes the top of the waynscotting. All screw holes were filled and colored to match the trim.

This image illustrates finishing work of the upper interior walls beyond the second floor. Note the 11-inch plate rail between the stack-wall and upper wall. This allowed for an insulated joint between the two sections as well as another space to run wiring. Also note the interior wall at the upper left, the second floor when I started this job was sagging over 18 inches with a forest of posts that had been jammed under it to keep it from falling. After jacking the second floor back to a true position I turned what was a stud wall into a six foot deep parallel truss which not only kept the second floor true, it also allowed the suspension of the second floor over 32 feet with no posts.

This image (above) demonstrates the tongue and groove work in progress on the second floor ceiling.

(right)
Developing a glass finish on the second floor ceiling.

This image shows the shape of the second story. Note how the knee wall on the left has been turned into a parallel truss that suspends the second floor.

This picture shows the beginning of the finishing work on the inside of the upper wall or truss.

The reconditioning of the stack-wall both inside and out on this project was a huge job. The original builders left no room for re-chinking but flushed the mortar work to each log therefore, mortar had to be chiseled back ½ inch around each log as well as every crack filled, any rot removed and finally we sanded each log end before coloring and perma-chinking, a fairly simple job when the stack-wall is built properly in the first place.

Here we are doing a light test after perma-chink has been applied to a wall.

(left)
My wife, Laura is helping seal each log before the perma-chink is applied.

Other Building Projects
The Spec House	The Remodel	The Garage	The Home
Woodshed and Shop	Another Garage	The Round House	The Strawbale House

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The House that Chris Remodeled

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