Opening up the view

Rennie Heuer

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Working down the honey do list. Surprising how much you can get done with a big deadline (sunken wood) hanging over your head![emoji38]

Next item on the list is take down part of the wall between the kitchen and dining area. Per LOML "it blocks the view". She's right, always [emoji16] so down it came. Outside of rerouting a few wires it came down easy.

Here's the before shot
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Here's what it looks line with the Sheetrock down.
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There was one oddity. There was a triple top plate on the little wall. When I first saw it I figured I had come across a bearing wall in a very unexpected place. On closer inspection I noticed that all that structure, well, wasn't structural! The truss is bearing on the outside wall and the triple plate is connected to, nothing. Maybe the wall studs were too short and the just had to make up a few inches at the top. [emoji23]

More pictures to come. This is just the beginning. This wall removal leads to some new lighting, shiplap on one wall, some ceiling fixtures, and a new wood floor.

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it had me worried to, but glad you looked before you leaped to far.. if it was me i would look at taking it back to the outside wall and not have the 2 ft piece at all.. wont be much more in drywall patching and would clean up the look i think.
 
it had me worried to, but glad you looked before you leaped to far.. if it was me i would look at taking it back to the outside wall and not have the 2 ft piece at all.. wont be much more in drywall patching and would clean up the look i think.

Jan and I talked about going all the way to the exterior wall. It would help a little to make the space feel more open, but the wiring becomes an issue. I'll sleep on it and give it another look in the morning.
 
from the looks of it rennie i would say you have enough wire to just put in the area that your gonna have to patch anyway.

I could make the wiring work, no doubt, but Jan has other concerns. On the right side of the opening we will be putting up shiplap painted gray and a couple of sconces with Edison bulbs and a shelf or two. To the left Jan wants to put up a couple of small shelves for family pictures, etc. We would also have to find the right spot for for a three gang switch box. She is afraid that the transition to the shiplap and the different style of shelving will look too busy on a single wall.

Leaving the 16" of wall helps to break that space so that each room is seen on its own but really does not inhibit the view. Also, there is a 12" wall on the opposite side of the opening and leaving the wall helps to balance the look. There is also a 1" difference in floor height and different flooring. Were this not the case, and the floor was the same throughout, I think we might have taken the entire wall out.

Well, that's the theory at least. We'll see how it all works out.


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Walls tell stories.

I believe our great room was once the porch. This wall used to have a door and window. I needed to open up a path for wiring a couple of sconces and two recessed cans that will go over the dinning table. It looks as though the ceiling to the old porch was 3" lower, notice the quadruple top plate, half of which is newer. I also found the remnants of an old light fixture that was next to the door. The wires, and presumably a portion of the fixture, still exist somewhere under the vinyl siding.

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Finished up the wall adjacent to the wall that was partially removed. Painted and distressed shiplap and two new sconces. Jan's design, my execution. Chip and Joanna would be proud. [emoji38]

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It is always amazing what you find when you look behind the curtain ;-) The shiplap wall and seating area looks great. I'm hiding this from my wife.
 
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