# Forum More Stuff Go to Whoa!  Our kitchen reno...

## ramjet1379

Hi All.<o></o><o></o> I have been a member of this forum for some time but this is my first post. I have read many, many posts and have learnt much.<o></o> I thank you all for the advice and knowledge you have shared via this site. Some of the renovations and building projects have been inspiring.I particularly enjoy ongoing projects. I guess because that's how I see our place.. It will take me years to do it all.   
A couple of favorites are............ Building progress shots - Woodwork Forums  Renovations from start to finish Part A - Woodwork Forums <o></o> My lovely SWMBO and our blended family with 5 children are renovating an old house in the lower Hunter Valley in NSW.<o></o> The house was built in 1907 and moved to its current location sometime in the 70's.It has been raised up on piers several metres above the ground due to floods in the area in the 50's. I guess if we lived further north it would be called a Queenslander? The hardwood frame (a hard as iron really) has very few nails in it with all the joints being mortised. We have been lead to believe it was possibly built by a shipwright, as they often built that way and there were plenty in the area at the time of construction.<o></o> <o></o> The house has not been renovated since the 70's and was left by the previous owners in a very poor state. After cleaning up and taking care of some essential maintenance our first major Reno was the Kitchen. We actually did this work several months ago and I wanted to post as we went but I was just too busy doing the work. So over the next several weeks, time permitting, I will attempt to tell how we did it.    
To start here are a few pics before we start.

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## ramjet1379

As the current kitchen was very basic and in poor condition this was going to be a complete rebuild, with a wall being taken out to open the kitchen up to the dining room.<o></o> Plus a small window facing west filled in and a larger window placed in the south wall. The walls where lined with old "horsehair" plaster and in some places with fibro.<o></o> So the first job was to gut the whole room to see what lay hidden behind the plaster .What we found was some fairly dodgy work done by previous owners at some point. Part of the wall of the dining room had been taken out and the load placed on a 4x4 hardwood beam held up at each end by 2" angle iron bolted to the studs!<o> 
</o> <o></o>

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## ramjet1379

We next tackled the job of installing our new window. New window $1500. We managed to find a used one for $357 including fuel to pick it up. Thank you EBay! We have managed to build a top quality kitchen without a top price by using many used components. A lot of material came via Ebay but we picked it up anywhere we could get a bargain. My lovely partner is amazing at hunting down a great deal. <o></o><o></o> We began by supporting the roof and wall load with our 3 Acro props (Ebay $50.. bargain). Once the weight was taken by the props, we cut studs as needed and using new timber, set about framing up for the window. We used a "Hyspan" beam of the correct dimensions to take the load of the roof, ceiling etc. We then cut out the exterior cladding giving us a lovely big hole in the wall. The necessary flashing etc were installed and the window was lifted into place and secured. It let in huge amounts of light and we are very pleased the result. It made the room so much brighter and open. <o></o>

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## Armers

gotta love your work! Gotta love ebay!  :Biggrin:  
Cheers
Armers

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## ramjet1379

Next morning we began to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room. The process was very similar to doing the window. First the roof load was supported by Acro props.  
Then studs cut as needed to allow the Hyspan beam to be fitted. At one end the beam was supported by a new stud and at the other we cut a rebate into an existing 4"x 5" stud. 
 After the beam was secured in position the Acro props were removed. Again we were very pleased with the result.  
Pic 1 shows the old wall studs to be removed. The wall had been partly removed and all the weight supported by the 4 x 4 hardwood beam supported by a piece of 2" angle iron each end? :Shock:  
Pic 2 is another view of the 4 x 4.  
Pic 3 shows the load supported by the Acro props. 
Pic 4. BOOF. Project supervisor doing what supervisors do  :Biggrin:  
Pic 5 shows all the studs cut, ready for the new beam. 
Pic 6 Is the Hyspan beam rebated into the existing stud. 
Pic 7 From dining room into the kitchen at days end.

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## Ashwood

Lots going on. Keep up the motivation & good work! 
And yay to ebay. A lot of my stuff came from ebay, a few lemons, but lots of great deals!

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## ramjet1379

Next job on the list was to remove the existing small window as it faced west and received the full force of the afternoon sun.  It was also in the position we wished to have our new oven and range hood. Once again the Acro props are used to support the roof.   As we found evidence of past termite activity we decided to replace the affected studs with new ones.   We fitted new studs each side of the window, removed the window and put new studs in its place.   One of my younger brothers showed up to help out on this day. The big beam between kitchen and dining room, plus the small widow removal where done in 1 day. Thanks Andrew. 
In the last photo you can see wiring for Power Points and Range hood etc . Also there are lots of noggins to support the overhead cupboards, range hood etc.

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## METRIX

Hi, I am only fairly new to these forums and I just saw your link. 
Just a bit of Structural advice, your photos show you acrowing up the internal ceiling while removing external structural wall studs, these are two different structural elements you are working on, and supporting the ceiling has no structural bearing on the load being placed on the external wall by the external roof. 
The ceiling joists actually rest ON the external wall, as does the external Roof [rafters etc], so when you prop up the ceiling you are only taking the load of the internal ceiling and NOT the external roof [which is where most of the load is]. 
The ceiling joist are only holding up the gyprock and have nothing to do with the load on the wall from the external roof. 
Correct method is to acrow up the top plate of the external wall first at the points you want to remove the studs this allow you to safely remove the wall studs while the load is transferred to the acrow. 
This is done by removing the noggins where your new window will go, loading up the acrow close to the points where the studs are then you can safely remove the studs, you will be able to work around the acrows to get your new timbers in. 
Remember each stud is taking a proportional load of the external roof and internal ceiling, each time you remove a stud that load needs to be transferred elsewhere, if there is nowhere to go because you have removed the studs, the load gets too much and will be transferred to the ground when the roof comes down, each separate element of a roof / wall or floor is tied in to the next so it all works as a WHOLE, if you remove one element without re supporting it then you can quickly get into problems when something fails. 
I am writing this here for your own information and the safety of others who may read this posting and think this is the correct way of replacing a window in an external wall, as it isn't and cannot stress enough that the method shown is *unsafe* and should not be followed. 
I also noticed the beams you put up on the walls you have not notched the trimmers around then, and the beam appears to be just sitting there, this is also the incorrect way to install it, the trimmers on top of the beam should be cut to wrap around the beam and then nails off to the face of the beam, also your shots don't show the stud supporting the beam going anywhere except under the beam, this should also be notched around the beam and continue all the way to the top plate. 
There is two ways to do this either notch out the width of the beam in the long side of the stud around 25mm deep, or notch out the short side of the stud to the depth of the beam and pin it in place, either method is acceptable, but just sitting it on top of the cut off stud is not correct. 
Some might say well we didn't have any problems doing it this way, all I can answer to that type of comment is you were lucky. 
I have posted a thread which shows us doing a major reno on a clients house, you will see the laminated timbers going through the ceiling, these are actually holding up the roof, as well we have separate supports holding up the ceiling while we ripped out most of the walls and replaced them with steel.  http://www.renovateforum.com/f176/re...oughts-105433/ 
Always if in doubt seek advice from a licensed carpenter or builder,  they know how the structural elements of a house work as they build  them.

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## Bloss

Clarification - thought it best to PM rather than rant . . .   :Redface:

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