Normandy Park Restoration

Wanted to get a good exposure to the foundation so I could verify the seal (think I found a leak in the planter box where the foundation meets), so I decided to tackle getting the rear concrete pad broken up.  Quotes to do the job were in the $5k range, so I decided I'd break it up and move it myself.  Removal then is only $650. Rented a breaker from HomeDepot.  Took about 6-7hrs of work, and a lot of Ibuprofin.  Went from this: To this: I am planning on taking at least a week of picking at it to move everything.

Lots of efflorescent white stuff on the joints between the stones, and some water drip stains on the stones, so now I'm wire-brushing all of that off, and then I'll re-seal it.

As part of the larger chimney job, I needed to fix the leaks in the crown, and fix the seal around the base.  The roofing guys did a really crappy job sealing around the chimney. It looks like they assumed the flashing was all that was needed, as the tar paper wasn't sealed to the chimney.  So, cleanup, removed flashing, new cap seal, and sealing around the edges. Next step will be a little more cleanup, and then re-seal the masonry on both sides.  I also will have to dig up around the base at the ground level, as there doesn't seem to be any sealing there.

Starting off a big project to really, finally fix the fireplace.  One of the things to do is make what was originally a wood storage area to the left of the fireplace better suited as a planter.  The masonry in there is a mess, and there were actually some rotten wood forms from the concrete pour at the base of it.  So, cleaned it all up and put in some concrete leveling. Then I cleaned up the flashing, nailed it back down, and started putting in some RedGuard to water proof it. It will take a 2nd coat, and when that's done I'll paint down past it a little so you won't see the red at all.  Then it will get filled with soil and I'll probably put some succulents in there.

Decided to bite the bullet and pull off the ugly tile. Also, I was convinced that there was rotten wood behind the inset area around the fireplace, so I pulled off the drywall in there.  Turns out the wood is fine.  Only issue is that there wasn't any insulation in there.  So I just made some more work for myself.

Figuring out a plan for the sunken area, cleared it all out.  Will likely need to deal with the chimney first.

Now that I know how to make the stair treads, I'm making the big long treads for the step into the sunken living area.  I have to rebuild the steps too while I'm at it.  Here I've built the main tread.  It's only loosely in place while I size and build the framing.  I have a few of the framing pieces installed to finish the upper flooring. First step done