Lots of evidence of police misconduct, perjury and conspiracy:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWhUvm8SunY
Part 2: https://youtu.be/Axgyj7g5XZY
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_Boy_Hoax
Hi everybody,
I'm a little bit stuck thinking about how exactly I'm going to do this. I'm looking to install a 24x36" window on the landing of the stairs up to the 2nd floor. This wall is only carrying the roof - it's parallel to the floor joists. I'll have to cut one stud to fit my window in.
What I'm not sure about is how to get new jack studs in. The windowsill will be about 12' above the sill plate the wall is built on, and the landing of the stairs will be in the way - I don't think I can thread a 12' jack stud into it.
Have any of you dealt with this before? How can I adequately support the window sill & header without full-length jack studs? I'll be asking my inspector about this, but I figured it would be best to have some possible answers for him going in.
Can I use a shortened "jack stud" nailed to the adjacent king stud? Like in this picture? What if I butted another 2x4 below those short "jack studs" so they bear right down to the sill?
It's a small window in a wall that doesn't bear much load, so I don't know how much I can get away with. I'd be grateful to hear an expert's thoughts on it. Thanks.
The framing in my century house is a bit strange to my eye, with 2nd floor rafters affixed to the sides of the structural posts using nails and otherwise unsupported. I presume there is nothing but the nails holding up the floor. One GC came by our house and said we should jack up the rafters to stick a post under each one, whereas another GC sort of shrugged at it - said it would probably be good practice to do that, but didn't seem to think it was important, and I guess it's pretty standard for balloon framed houses to have joists not resting on anything.
We're not looking for ways to spend money, as there are plenty of other issues in this house that are going to cost us, but it's not often we have all the walls open and we want to fix things that will cause problems later before we close everything up.
So, what do you think... would you retrofit posts into your house if you had that kind of construction?
One side of the wall is a stairway and the other is is a room where the second story floor joists run parallel with the wall.
this is an exterior wall where there's 3 studs that need to be replaced or sistered.
it's the wall running parallel to the joists.
instead of buying 20 ft 2x4s can put a double top plate over the 3 new 2x4x10's and then continue up?
thank you
I just purchased a 100yo balloon frame home in the Seattle area and I have some questions.
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The previous owner created a small staircase to the attic. We want to remove the staircase and repair the ceiling joists. The issue is the joists are 2x4. I know that 2x6s can be repaired by bolting on fresh lumber with sufficient overlap. Is this the same for 2x4s?
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Are any interior walls in a balloon frame house load bearing? We want to remove a wall between the kitchen and living area. We plan to install a new beam/get permits/inspections but we are not sure if that is really required for this construction type. The current wall doesn’t have headers over doorways witch further indicates it’s not a load bearing wall. Am I correct in this assessment?
We talked to an engineer but he wanted big money before he could answers any of our basic questions.
Gutting an old balloon framed house and noticed some of the studs could use some work. Problem is the studs go all the way up the house. Not sure how to go about this?
1880 balloon framed town house in south eastern Pennsylvania. It has central air and forced gas heat now and everything is great except for one room (purple room 10'x6') of two (tan room 14'x10') on the third floor. I called a reputable service company for an inspection and they brought a duct camera, however they didn't have a SD card so I had to take a picture of the display with my phone. The quality of these images underwhelming to say the least.
http://imgur.com/gallery/MvbwVVs
The vent in my problem room, the purple room, is 12"x18", built into the interior wall at floor level, and the duct is is 12"x5" deep rectangular sheet metal of some sort. It has center wire braces every 2' or so attaching the 12" faces. At the bottom of this is what appears to be a damper. I NEED TO GET IT OPEN. It is at least 8' from the vent in the purple room to this damper which I believe is floor level in an interior wall on the second floor. This interior wall is between the hallway and the yellow room. The yellow room has an identical vent as the purple room, but it is on a different interior wall.
I believe the original heating was coal and this house has gone through who knows how many renovations. The tan room on the third floor gets sufficient heat/AC year round, but it isn't enough to cool the entirety of the third floor.
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS INFERNAL DEVICE IS AND HOW TO OPEN IT?
The only thing I can think of is that it is a fire safety damper that was installed and somehow closed. Do I have anyway to access this damper without tearing through 140 year old plaster and lathe? Would there have been a key/handle/toggle of some kind that was accessible from the yellow room on the second floor or the hallway on the second floor?
Right now my best idea is to attach threaded pipe in 2' foot sections until it reaches this damper and beat on it until it opens up or I destroy the duct. Please help.
Hi everyone.
Our 1914 house is a 2 story balloon frame, it's uninsulated except someone has put down some very thin bats in the attic, only about 6" thick. I'm just about done rewiring and air sealing.
However, what's to stop insulation from falling down the stud bays into the basement? Should I also add fire blocking at the top of each stud bay? What's the easiest way to do that (foam, wood, something else)? I can't really get big tools up there, the access hole is about 10"x 24".
Our old house, and current office, is an 1885 balloon frame in New Jersey. The previous uses of the home have included office space, a rental, and throughout it has been ... interestingly maintained. We're trying to remedy that.
One big issue has been that the first floor kitchen is over a crawlspace, with the front room being over a basement and the back room being on a slab. The kitchen, and thus the crawl space, is about 20' x 20'. The crawlspace is about that size, and thus has "outside walls" of about 40' (20' on each side). The current skirting over this crawl space (dirt floor), is a mishmash of plywood and some kind of fiberglass insulation on one side and old asbestos tiles on the other side. Its a mess.
I'd like to "do this right." I'm frankly kind of tired of the water pipes freezing in the winter. I know I'll have to look in to putting in a vapor barrier, but what I can't seem to find out is what "skirting" is appropriate for this kind of application. Something like is used around a trailer? Just pressure treated plywood? Cement board? In effect, how do you construct "walls" for a crawl space that would otherwise be exposed. What would have been there when the house was constructed?
Thanks!
I had a really good contractor come in and tell me 1 wall is load bearing and 1 wall is 99% certain not. He said the job was too small for him and encouraged me to do it myself since I seems knowledgeable. Upon removing the plaster and lath on both walls I am uncertain what to do as it is balloon framed.
Wall "2" which supposedly is not load bearing has a thin top plate and no bottom plate. The studs are directly on the double joist that runs parallel with the wall.
Wall "1" I am cutting out a bar top. It sits on 3 sandwiched beams in the basement and the studs go up without a top plate into the next floor. I was hoping I would open that wall out and see studs on a bottom plate but now realize the wall is thin and the studs are oriented opposite with the thin side forward. I cant see down the pocket well but it looks like they may be on a bottom plate. They are wider in size by like an inchbut oriented sideways. I now am at a loss for how to install a beam. I have a new contractor and he originally acted like it wasn't going to be balloon framed and I'm starting to think I know more than he does. I only hired him because I wanted electric moved and the other wall demo'd as the plaster demo was awful work. I can't find anything about this wall framing nor how to add in jack studs if the studs are oriented as they are. Hopefully someone can tell me what is going on or draw a picture.
Pics.. 1st two pictures are of wall 1, 3rd picture is of the non load bearing(which maybe both are)
Im just looking for an idea on what can be done, if the contractor tells me his plans and I disagree I can move on from him. Just looking for what you would do.
https://m.imgur.com/gallery/t75NOXV
My house is a 1920s balloon framed duplex. The side I live in has a disjointed mess for a layout. I have grown to really hate it. To improve it, I need my kitchen to feel more attached to the front room so the front room can be used as an eating/entertaining area. Currently they are connected by a 2ft doorway.
The problem is the wall dividing them is load bearing. The kitchen area is 1-story while the front room has a bedroom over it. The 2nd story roof's weight is on the wall. Additionally the house is balloon framed and has a "snake not baby" crawl space under it. If you need access under the house you have to go through the floor.
The house is over supported in typical historic fashion so I think I could remove a beam or two without issue (I'd get this conformed first of course). Any ideas what I could do? Could I put a framed window over the counter into the front room? Is there a way to make the support polls look decorative if I remove drywall?
I have a balloon framed house in Chicago that has no insulation in the walls or attic.
I’ve gotten conflicting answers on cost effective solutions. Looking at blow in fiberglass for the attic floor and spray foam on the rim joist to start. Would either create mold / moisture issues? Would open (12”) vs closed cell (3”) foam matter? I’m using a contractor, but don’t want to create issues since the building has lasted this long in decent shape.
I live in a 1925 cape that has some elements of a balloon frame structure. From the first floor to the basement, the stud bays go right down to the sill plate. and are fastened to the floor joists in the basement. Then there are cut pieces of 2x10 that close off the space between the exterior wall and the sill plate, basically leaving a small cavity there.
I have problems with drafts there, but this summer I had some crickets get in there and basically drive me insane because I cant get to them. Here are a couple pics (I had to do some hack job work on one of the bays run some new wire) I think that may be an old steam pipe in there?
Anyway I was thinking of just drilling the bays and filling with some store bought spray foam, but with the cavity open to the floor above I dont know how effective that will be.
Any ideas?
I know this is specific issue, but I couldn't find much information online.
For context, my 100 year old house is balloon framed, which means that the studs run all the way from the basement foundation to the base of the gable roof. This creates huge wall cavities that are very drafty because moist air vents up from the basement & plaster walls to the attic. We haven't insulated those walls because I've read about it catching too much moisture.
Which leads me to the dilemma. We are getting a new roof put on, specifically a standing seam. It will require stripping the roof down to the rafters since there is no roof underlayment or sheathing currently.
Our attic currently has no ridge, soffit, or gable vents. It seems like it ventilates well, if only just because this old house is so drafty. I've never had issues with ice dams in this house, unlike some other homes I've lived in this area.
I'm concerned that a ridge vent will create excess ventilation from the basement through the balloon framing and make my house colder. I live in the north, so it gets cold.
The other consideration is that I've been thinking I may want to eventually finish the attic into living space. But that makes me very nervous regarding ventilation and insulation since I want to stave off ice dams...
Anyone with older homes or experience in this issue? I know the homes in my area all have old original roofs that are going to probably need to have similar replacements in the next few years, but I seem to be on the earlier end. It's expensive, so I understand why it's rare to see a new roof...
We are installing a bathroom in an unfinished space of our 2nd floor. I am hanging the insulation and drywall myself (most everything else is being done by others), and know I need at least r20 for code. But my studs aren't all evenly spaced as you can see to the left of this picture which was taken before all the work began, especially around the window areas. What type of insulation should I use? Thanks so much!
My home is a 130 year old, 1 1/2 story, balloon framed house with blown in cellulose insulation. I'm planning on having my first story bathroom gutted and renovated in the near future. Will the 2nd story cellulose insulation fall down and out while the 1st story bathroom's walls are down to the studs? Is there a way to keep that from happening?
Would I be able to 'refill' the cellulose? The wall cavity is accessible from the 2nd story knee wall attic.
Hey guys and gals I'm curious about how you deal with coldness moving between levels in balloon structures. Particularly when its 0 degrees out my office gets very cold near the walls. The base boards seems tight but you can still tell from the walls to the center of the room their is coldness coming up. My basement is heated though I'm sure not well, mainly just to a point to have some air circulation.
I was debating spraying some great stuff or something in between all the framing to kind of shut out the basement air. There is some insulation now but it doesn't seem particularly air tight.
How concerned should I be about that causing a fire issue (I think balloon structures go up fast, I wouldn't want to add anything that is potentially flammable). Any other tips?
Hi all,
So... I recently purchased a 125 year old two-flat that is balloon frame. there were some issues with the center girder at the time of purchase so I was able to knock the price down significantly. We replaced the old girder and posts but during the construction one of my friends pointed out an odd thing.
it appears that about half of the joists are not attached to the studs. I have no idea how the hell this happened but it looks like its been this way for a very long time.
additionally when I purchased the home we were all puzzled why the floors were perfectly even with so many structural issues. IT turns out they were not. one of the previous owners installed a floated subfloor directly ontop of the original hardwood. at this point I have all the floated subfloor gone and I can see how bad the floor dips (2-3 inches in some spots) while not a huge problem to even out the floor with new sister's one thing is puzzling me.
All the joists in the basement are 2x8s running 16 inches OC minus the bathroom which are 2x10's. The really weird thing is the last joist before you hit the rear exterior wall is a 2x8 but it has been jacked up and shimmed to give it the height of a 2x10. the last joist that has been jacked up this high is the only joist that runs the full 22 ft width of the house.
Im thinking about fixing the first problem by installing new 2x8s and fastening them to the existing studs unless anyone knows how the hell I can knock the existing joists into place.
for the second problem what Im thinking is installing a 2x10 in the section that is supported by 2x10's so that the bathroom is supported. once that is in place I plan using two screw jacks to slowly lower the 2x8 to the sill where is should be resting.
another thought was that for added strength I could basically replace all the joists with 2x10's that are notched 1/2 inches then place them on the sill with hangers.
here are some photo's of the raised joist
http://imgur.com/a/50aH0#0
Thanks!
Where older homes of middle/upper class people built better than ones nowadays? Or if the old house was top of the line would it be better than new top of the line (wood frame) And if you used true 2x4s and used balloon framing like they did but used the lumber without knots and put in bracing and fire blocking would it be better? I've noticed how well old victorian mansions were built and wondered why newer homes lack that craftsmanship and I've noticed how in old homes they use big beams like in the basements and in the house I used to live in built in 1900 had cedar logs for the beams. I have also an old garage where it was more like 3x5s for the framing and in some places the studs being a little thicker than 2 inches.
