Rebuilding The Past
This 1894 plan of the basement for the Cross House. See the red oval? That wall was removed in the early 1950s to create a bathroom for an adjacent Mouse Palace Motel bedroom. I call this THE LOST WALL. Note, too, the two niches in the red oval. The larger was the 1894 dumb-waiter. The smaller was the 1894 laundry chute. However, both these features had been removed, it seems, in the late 1920s when the house was converted to apartments. The top of the plan is south. The wall just to the right of the red oval is brick, and extant.
Looking UP from the basement. The 1894 siding to the dumbwaiter shaft is visible. The plumbing is temporary and will soon be relocated. The 1894 siding will remain. Of course!
After buying the house in 2014, I gutted the basement of almost all the 1950s alterations. You can see the remaining pink plastic bath tiles on the west brick wall. Now, see the steel beam held up by three lally columns? I had all this installed because, when we removed the walls to the 1950s bathroom, we realized…to our horror…that THE LOST WALL had been structural. The EAST ceiling joists you see ended atop THE LOST WALL. And so did the WEST joists to the other side of THE LOST WALL. What kept the center of the house from collapsing is the brick wall which the pink tiles are attached to. This wall, at least, kept aloft the WEST joists. But, how the EAST joists didn’t collapse is a mystery. And, so, the steel beam has been in place since 2014.
Today though was a day I have been LIVING for: The recreation of THE LOST WALL. But, was the 1894 wall brick or wood? I have no evidence to support either conclusion. Wood though would be much easier to recreate. The bottom plate is pressure-treated. (Scott, left, and Justin.)
And THE LOST WALL is lost no more!!!!!!!! I am ridiculously excited about this.
The wide opening, left, is for the dumbwaiter. To its right will be the laundry chute.
The brick west wall, and pink plastic tile, will remain and get covered by the new dumbwaiter shaft and laundry chute (as will all the plumbing). So, in the future somebody might rediscover it! “Why did that Ross guy cover this up? It’s pink! It’s plastic! It’s sooooo fabulous!”
The other side of the new wall. Ross: “SQUEE!!!!!!!!”
With THE LOST WALL recreated, the 2014 steel beam was no longer required.
I have mentioned numerous times that, before I can move in, I need to relocate my vast lighting inventory to the Cross House basement. But, before I can that, I need to complete ALL work in the basement. This means ALL the electrical, ALL the plumbing, and ALL the construction. It is sooooo not possible to do such work in rooms filled with delicate vintage lights.
Last week, as Justin and Scott were demolishing the last Mouse Palace bathroom, I asked Justin: “Would you be OK about doing this work with a dozen vintage crystal chandeliers just inches away?”
His look…could have killed.
And he 100% has my sympathy.
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This is SO SO SO exciting!!
I am so happy for this work and the LOST WALL is lost no more:-)
Oh, yeah. The minute I saw that first blueprint, the red oval and the “lost wall” I instantly thought, isn’t that a load bearing wall? WTF? Yeah, you are really lucky the house didn’t collapse. Plus, what were they thinking? So glad is it back in place. Compared to the other walls the lost wall in those blueprints doesn’t look substantial enough in the first place. At least now you have a chance to make it substantial enough to bear the load.
What sort of system will you use to hang all of your vintage lights? Are you going to put hooks in all of the beams or do you have some other sort of system for hanging them? There is a lot of space down there and if you expand your business you may be reorganizing them in the space more than once.
Hooooorayyyyyy! Moving in is getting closer, as finishing the basement is getting done. Group hug!
And please Ross, no more delicate vintage lighting jokes on Justin. That is nightmare stuff for him.
Ross, maybe you should be delicately removing those pink tiles and using them to fund a portion of the basement reno?
Ooh – any precarious load bearing situation completely sinks me so, I love seeing straight & sturdy walls. 💜 Bravo, Scott, Justin, & Ross!
Things appear to be moving along quite well. My curiosity about plans for the dumbwaiter has been rekindled. 🌻
Man I hope the Plumb House has a boarded up dumbwaiter and laundry chute somewhere!
So does a wooden wall provide enough strength for a house that size? I am not sure how loads are carried. Maybe it’s dispersed throughout… but it did make me nervous to picture taking out an i-beam and putting back in a few studs. I am sooo excited to see the dumbwaiter!!
Allissa, most of the house is wood.
Lol lol lol. Yeah, but would you use toothpicks at the bottom?
Like I said. I don’t know about structural engineering.. But a load baring wall in the basement of THAT house might have more load than most.
I can see 2x6s, some of them sistered, plus a large beam across the top. Looks pretty solid to me and likely more substantial than what was originally there.
SO exciting to see the lost wall, lost no more. That’s cool that you’ll be recreating the dumbwaiter and laundry chute.
Maybe you could use the dumbwaiter to bring your vintage lights to the basement.
Cindy, you made me laugh!
In all the years I’ve owned the house it never once occurred to me to use the dumbwaiter for my lights. But, it will be soooooo helpful as such!
Bless you!
Well, I’m glad my idea was a good one.
That’s a major step forward! Awesome! 🙂
What happened to Cody?