This is taking a while, but I am making progress.

Here you can see the removal of the knee wall on the left and 1 rafter raised about 7″ in the background. I did that several times and propped them up at the correct height and using a 2×4 underneath to mark the right uniform distance to the floor. Then, I was able to set the laminate beams in top of them and fix them in place.

With the beam finally set, mounted, braced and level, I could start attaching each joist to it with steel hangers, filling every nail hole for 14 nails each. All nailed in by hand since my nail gun can’t to that.

With that done, I could reattach the bracing to the ridge beam along the roofline. Then reattach the knee wall, with shorter vertical pieces.

Not done yet, this is only the joists to the left of that beam. Now I have to do all the ones on the right. It will be less work though because the central beam is already mounted and there’s no need to move any supporting structures. The joists have already been severed under the beam and only need to be cut on the outside edge.

When laying out wooden planks for a deck, pay close attention to the end grain and lay the boards so they will naturally bow upwards in the middle (cup downwards). This will prevent the planks from holding water after rains.

I very carefully did that. But this stupid wood warped back onto itself and formed cups anyway.

(Grumbling)

Oh well. I wanted to expand this section anyway.

So, I was thinking that having a 12 foot long 2×6 smacking me in the back of the head might slow down my progress. I thought of using my scrap 2x4s to make a safety scaffold, but that looked like too much extra work. Then I remembered I have one made of steel.

Perfect. Handles the weight easily. Mounted on wheels. Knows it goes to the landfill if anything bad happens to me.

More like raising the ceiling.

First… lots of prep work. Removing lots of blocking and bracing and putting In different blocking and bracing.

Took out the knee wall on the left and added a vertical support to the ridge beam. I added some more to the right that you cant see in this picture.

I expected I could simple pry them up with a pry bar, but that was not the case. The rafters are nailed firmly together at the midpoint and the ends as well as cross toe-nailed down. This is a really solid connection. Plan B: pry the boards at the midpoint, then use a sawsall to cut the nails.

Then I cut 3.5″ off the end over the sill plate and slid the whole thing up.

And put in a temporary 2×4 to support the center line until I put in the upper support beams.

And there we have it. One ceiling joist raised 7″ to a total height of 8 feet. A totally normal ceiling height. Only 25 more to go.

When you demolish old parts, you learn. Today I learned why my home is full of bugs.

I removed the interior window trim, prior to removing the drywall. And … VIOLA!

Daylight to the outside. This window was likely a replacement put in about 15-20 years ago. Never sealed the gap.

Yes, those are wasp nests filling the upper gap.

There are 8 of these windows in this house. One I already replaced in the bathroom project. 2 in the back of the house will get replaced when I install a sliding door. This one, I’m probably going to replace with a kitchen picture window. I havent decided yet where the best place for it is yet.