Since Oct. 1 we have been remodeling the Day House in Durango, Co. for Mark Williamson and his family. The original house was built in 1884 and had fallen into neglect the past decade until the Williamson’s purchased it in Sept. 2011. After almost 5 months we’ve gotten through the complete rebuild process by carefully removing section by section of the old house and rebuilding in its place. It was a messy and tedious process but we’re now dried in and are moving ahead with the rough plumbing as we complete the new porch and will soon be framing an attached garage. These photos show the house as it went through these stages to get to where it is now. Having done a lot of remodeling I have to say this one takes the cake. Nothing in the old house was straight or plumb nor level.
We found stacked brick in the wall bays, stacked rock for a foundation, and the chimney was built with a significant lean. We’re through the hardest part now and it should be smoother sailing from now on. Check back for more updates and images.
I’ll be making some large collar ties for the third floor bedrooms out of heavy timbers we salvaged from the original home. I’ll have to clean up the beams and plane them down to start with. Then I plan on distressing the old timbers a little to bring out the character and finally staining them a rich brown that will be hand rubbed over the golden tones of the pine. It should be a fun project so check back soon. Thanks for your visit!
