The Kitchen Wall is Moved But the Rain is Back!

Yesterday, before the rains came again, the framers finished moving the north wall in the kitchen. It was a complicated process. First, Adrian the plumber needed to come and move the roof drain to the other side. You can see the rerouted drain in the picture below. The drain needed to be moved anyway, since if we left it where it was, it would come out right over the new big window in the kitchen wall.



Then, Dan, Fernie and Casey needed to build a temporary wall both above and below the floor to support the ceiling. They removed the wall and cut the ceiling joists so that they could slide the new beam up into the ceiling. When they opened the wall between the kitchen and the dining room to put in the post that will hold up the beam, they were met with an unwelcome surprise. The flue for the furnace and hot water heater travels through the wall exactly where they wanted to put the post. Rather than even think about moving the flue, they build a new wall on the outside of the old wall, making it three studs thick now. You can see the flue in the wall in the picture right below. In the picture below that, you can see the temporary bracing and how they cut the path for the beam.



After attaching the beam, they built the new wall closer to the basement stairs. The wall takes a jog inward after the pantry. The door to the stairs is no longer in the north wall but around the corner. This is a huge improvement, because now you don't need to turn 90 degrees to go down the steps right after opening the door. Instead, you will be able to open the door and walk straight down the steps. The first picture below shows the framed opening for the door down to the basement. In the second picture, the girls are standing in the doorway of the pantry. The long wall next to them will have the banquette on it.




It seems like a lot of time and money to spend to get an extra 6 inches or so in the kitchen, but without that space the design would not work. I am very attached to the banquette idea, and we need the extra width to make having the banquette feasible. I know it will all be worth it in the end!