Finally .. wall is being removed

After getting all the permits and stuff, we're finally executing on the wall removal project.  I am tired of writing the same stuff over and over again, so I'll share the pictures and you can get the context from previous post.

First of all, this is what we saw when we removed the paneling on garage-bonus room wall in order to reinforce this wall:

It says "E-41 Fairbrae". So it turns out that our house is not an E-11, it is an E-41. We were wrong. Now we know thanks to that 50 yr old chalk marking.

Then Michael drilled all the holes in the slab in order to put the new bolts and hold-downs in:

We've repeated the same for the small section of wall between entry and kitchen:

Finally, we've added plyboard on these walls and closed them!

Now, let's start talking about actual wall removal instead of shear reinforcement.. Here is a picture after removing the wall between bonus room and living room:

Note that the post is currently missing too (hence the supports under each beam), because we needed a new post. The existing post is about 1/2" shorter than it needs to be in order to fit exactly between that post anchor on the foundation and the steel beam support thingy. 

Here is what it looks like after the new post is in place. Also note the bottom sill-plate for the new wall is in place (left lower corner of the pic), and it is nailed to the foundation (without puncturing any radiant pipes thanks to the infrared thermometer):

And finally the new wall completed:

Another problem you'll encounter during the removal of this wall is rerouting the electrical. I wish I'd taken a picture before disconnecting the electrical, but following picture will give you an idea:

Basically, someone designed the electrical in these houses as:

- power on this circuits comes down from the roof into this wall.

- It comes down into an electrical box, where  the line is split into two:

       -One line powers the outlets on this wall as well as one outlet on the left side of the fireplace.

       -2nd line goes back up in the roof and it powers the water heater/radiant heater!

This sucks, because we need to find a way to continue powering the water heaters and the outlet next to fireplace. Luckily, our electrician Sergio was able to fit a shallow junction box in the ceiling to continue the circuit without interruption all the way to water heaters, and he routed electricity to the outlet next to the fireplace through the outside from the garage outlet. 

Of course, there is still a lot of filling, sanding and painting to do, but those are all minor stuff...