In the last issue we looked at a few of the changes that happened on the inside of this Webster Groves home.   In this issue, I will finish my 4 part series on the home that won the Webster Groves Award of Excellence in Historical Preservation.

  There was no way to determine what the original kitchen may have been like.  Some time during the 40s or 50s, this house had a remodel to the kitchen area.  What we found was that the original kitchen stair was chopped off to create a refrigerator nook, and a mish mash of cabinets was assembled to create some semblance of a workspace.  We decided that the kitchen was going to have a complete redesign.  In the space where there had been a kitchen, butler’s pantry, sitting room, closet and rear entry to the house, we would create a large walk-in pantry, large open kitchen with the old kitchen staircase rebuilt, and a closet for the redesigned and relocated rear entry.

  During demolition, we uncovered the original double swing door that went between the kitchen and the dining room.  This was salvaged for restoration and reinstallation.

  To best maximize the available space, we removed the old back door from the corner of the kitchen, and moved it to the top of the basement stairs.  As you can see in the picture below, the window that used to be at the top of the basement stairs was turned into the rear entry of the house.

  The acquired space in the kitchen would be used for the open staircase and family information center.

  All of this work could not have happened if we had done nothing with the substructure in the basement.  This was a monumental undertaking.  Hundreds of feet of iron waste pipe, gas lines, water pipes and wire had to be removed both for the replacement of the first floor joists, and for removal of antiquated infrastructure.  The biggest concern for the basement was the condition of the foundation itself.  Most houses built in the 20s employed a concrete forming system that involved digging a 10-12 inch wide trench 4 or 5 feet deep and topping of the trench with wooden forms.  This was then filled with concrete and then the house was build on top of this.  The mass alone of the concrete is what gives it its strength, since steel reinforcing was seldom used.  The real question was whether or not there was a footing under the massive wall.  A simple excavation unfortunately revealed that there was no footing.  This had led to multiple small fractures and gaps in the foundation.  The decision was made to reinforce the existing foundation by the use of two systems.  The first was the helical pier, and the second was footing replacement.

 

Here you see an installation of helical piers.

  Heavy-wall pipes with a helical screw on the end are bored into the ground until they achieve the specified torque and compression measurement.  A huge shackle is then fastened to the top of the pier and then tightened until it actually picks up a portion of the load of the foundation.  This process was employed at 14 specific points around the foundation.  This was done so we could do the second task: replace the missing footing.  Since we were going to be excavating under the foundation anyway, the decision was made to gain some desireable head height in the basement by lowering the floor level from a diminuitive 6.5 feet, to a cathedral-like 8 feet from the bottom of the joists.  This meant pouring a short concrete wall on top of the new footing, and under the old foundation.  All of the new concrete work incorporated a matrix of steel rebar to multiply the load capabilities of the concrete.  However.  All the footing and foundation work could not be done at once.  It had to be done in sections no bigger that 6 feet at time.

  The only downside to this was that the economics of using pre-mixed concrete would not be affordable.  Therefore, 2500 bags of concrete were ordered over a period of 5 months and mixed by hand in wheelbarrows to pour 12 to 18 feet of wall and footing each week.  Pallets of concrete were delivered by semi truck a few times each month.  Each bag was carried down to the basement and restacked for that weeks use.  That’s 73 tons of dry materials were hauled by hand into the basement.  The 136 cubic yards of soil and broken concrete were hauled out and deposited on the front yard.  The amazing thing here is that all of this was accomplished by two guys: Josh and John Dunlap, employees of Consolidated.  They has some help from some machinery, but it was not until the 3^rd month that a mini skid steer loader could operate inside the basement.

  The last thing that needed to be done in the basement was to replace the old support columns with new steel ones set on massive piers, and to add redundant beams to better carry the load of the house.  This was done because weight of the house had sunk the old posts and diminutive piers 2 inches down from the level line of the foundation.  With the basement work completed, the rest of the house finished up much like any other project.

  The walls and ceiling of the entire house were finished in veneer plaster.  This was done to achieve the authentic look of plaster.  It is hard to explain, but a plaster wall has a depth and characteristic that just doesn't come through using conventional drywall finishing.  All of the floors were finished in 1¼ white oak with walnut inlay on the first floor.   The bathrooms and foyer were finished in marble, and the sunroom and basement bathroom were finished in a multicolor cleft slate tile

  We installed a reproduction two-piece base throughout the house that we procured from a local planning mill, and used a new eco-friendly gypsum product for the crown moulding and coffered ceilings.  The base was a copy of what was originally in the house, and the crown moulding style was complimentary to the base.   The advantage of using this modern product is that no mechanical fasteners are required.  That means that the material can be applied over the masonry exterior walls without having to attempt any nailing to brick or oddly spaced wood blocks.  Another benefit is that in finishing, there is an absolutely joint free finish.  You cannot find the areas where one piece meets another.  The millwork around the windows and doors is representative of the styles that were common to the St. Louis area during the 20s.

  All of the interior doors were original to the house.  We had them stripped and refinished to restore them to their original condition.  All of the hardware was sent out to be replated in bright brass.  When the doors returned from refinishing, we sent them out again to our custom door supplier be set into new jambs.

  The fireplace was repaired and a new wood mantel and multicolored marble surround were custom built on site.

    The color palette throughout the house that was selected used saturated earth tones to reflect the Tuscan style, and the millwork was all painted white to keep in stride with the style that was popular in the 20s. 

The effort that went into completing this 2 year project was monumental.  The most people we had working on the job at one time was 31.  But it was obviously worth the effort due to the recognition we received from the city of Webster Groves and the surrounding neighbors.  Community pride and the courage to embark upon a major restoration project instead of tearing down this “diamond in the rough” and building a brand new McMansion is what keeps our neighborhoods friendly and inviting.  Many people along the way questioned the reasoning behind the restoration.  The owners probably could have saved themselves a few hundred thousand dollars if they would have torn this house down and built a new home, but the sense of loyalty to the Community Sprit of Webster Groves would not have been nearly as strong, and the neighbor hood would have suffered from the loss of this opportunity to retain the feel it has maintained for nearly 100 years.

 

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Consolidated Construction is committed to providing the best possible customer care for your remodeling project.  As we continue our eighteen year history of precision craftsmanship and attention to design, we will provide neighborhoods in Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Glendale, Brentwood, Ladue, Clayton, Des Peres, and surrounding areas with quality home remodeling that reflects the dreams of our customers.  Exacting attention is paid to preserving historical accuracy and architectural detail to enable a seamless integration of old and new, while using top of the line materials and Green Building alternatives.