The HGTV Project – Final Reveal!
Okay, folks! I've heard your emails, and I've heard your calls, and I've heard your posts...direct, from me to you, is the FINAL REVEAL of the HGTV project.
Following Integro Rehab on HGTV! and the drama of The Hoyne Project – What happened?!, I'd love to say that once we received our revised permit after a 6-month waiting period, everything was smooth sailing - unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Just when we thought we couldn't take anymore, the house threw another curve ball at us...the siding didn't fit. You read that right, we literally could not install the siding on the north side of the house:
That picture above? That's not an artistic photo - that is the actual distance between our house and the house next door.
BLEEDING HEARTS OF THE WORLD UNITE!!!
We absolutely HAD to get siding on this side of the house to meet fire code. Our revised permit was approved on the condition that we had a 3-hour fire rating - meaning it takes 3 hours for a raging fire to burn through the wall and to the next door neighbor's house. We originally thought that we could slide the aluminum siding between the houses and attach them to the house from either side. Luckily, the first day we tried this there was a wind storm so we could immediately hear the "RAP, RAP, RAP, RAP!" on the house from the wind getting underneath the siding in the middle and slamming it against our beautifully renovated building. Even if my clients and their newborn could withstand the noise, the neighbors definitely wouldn't...so, what else could we do? We went back to the City.
Here was our resolution:
We will build a 20x25' steel frame, attach aluminum siding to that, back it with steel rebar, slide it between the houses, and attach it on either side.
No problem! Right...
This thing is massive.
Okay, so we built the frame (no small task to measure the exact locations of exterior windows and vents), we spent an hour explaining to the siding contractor how the siding is going to be attached to the frame, actually attached the siding to the frame, and got it upright and ready for installation.
How exactly are we getting it up there?
Of course! We're going to call the GC next door, talk to him about our project, call his clients - the neighbors, explain our drama-filled predicament, and ultimately pull insurance to use their new roof to hoist up our panel with sailing lines (provided courtesy of Nautical Donations, Inc.):
Did I mention that is only one of the panels? No? Oh, right..well, there ended up being THREE panels to make it more realistic to be able to hoist.
So, first step - tie bowline knots around everything (that was my job, of course). Second step, take a close look at all the shackles to make sure we don't realize a stupid oversight when we're hoisting (thanks, Vince!).
Third step, get the panel over the fence:
This required hoisting it up with lines through the trees from the 2nd floor porch:
Then, we got on the roof next door, hoisted three panels onto a scaffold, then between the buildings, and secured them to the building. I have no photos of this because I was too busy running around like a chicken with my head cut off making sure all safety precautions were intact and everyone was hydrated. Did I also mention it was 90 degrees outside?
A special thanks to Marc and Vince - the rockstars who showed up for a hard days work in extreme heat and extreme conditions - and expected no thanks. We could not have done this without you. You are awesome.
Between the collapsing 3rd floor during demo and the north wall siding, I'm pretty sure I've lost at least a day off the end of my life.
All of this makes the ending that much sweeter. Without further ado, here are our final photos:
...and that's a rap! Thanks to all of YOU who showed your support and enthusiasm for this project. This has been a humbling experience, you're the best.
Want to see more photos? Check us out at Integro Rehab!