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seems to be in decent shape. It’s a pretty plain building, with no trim of interest, and was <br />under-framed at the time of its building. <br /> <br />Predating my acquistion of the property, one interior wall slipped off its foundation footing, <br />which has caused the roof to fail significantly. It’s particularly unfortunate that this is the wall <br />that is virtually on the property line; it wouldn’t be possible to stabilize it from the exterior <br />without taking down the fence and ripping up a fair amount of my neighbor’s yard. <br /> <br />Both sides of the roof are bowed inward and on the right side of the garage as you face the <br />alley, immediately above the failing wall, a hole in the roof has caused major water damage. <br />Both overhead doors are in bad shape although possibly salvageable; one was wrenched back <br />at some point prior to my acquisition of the property and may be beyond repair. There are <br />several broken/missing windows and the side door was wrenched out of its (rotting) frame a <br />couple of years ago. (See photos at the end of this narrative) <br /> <br />The foundation itself appears to be in reasonably good shape overall. <br /> <br />I’ve consulted a variety of contractors over the last 18 months, most of whom don’t think the <br />structure is worth rescuing. Nevertheless, the current plan is to attempt to stabilize the extant <br />wall structure and re-roof. Ken Prager will direct this project, which will involve: <br /> <br />1) removing shingles and roof decking to minimize risk of caving in <br />2) pulling the failing wall back into place on the foundation and stabilizing it from the inside <br />3) any necessary re-framing of the roof; re-decking the roof; and eventually shingling it with the <br />same shingles used on the main house last year <br />4) any other necessary structural repairs, tbd <br />5) Possibly replacing the overhead garage doors. If we can’t rescue the doors currently in place, <br />I have an alternative in mind, which is to replace them with wooden doors salvaged from a <br />garage at 730 W. Washington St that likely date to the 1920s. <br /> <br />Regarding external appearance: <br /> <br />1) I plan to continue to remove the large-format cedar shingles on the walls to reveal the <br />clapboard siding underneath. Once that’s complete I would repair and paint. <br />2) The side door can be replaced with an exterior door salvaged from the main house. <br />3) Window replacement will probably be put off until next year but eventually I’ll replace them <br />either with salvaged or newly built fixed wood windows. <br /> <br />To the best of my current knowledge this is the plan. However, it does feel like there’s a fairly <br />high level of unknown here -- we won’t understand exactly how bad of a shape various <br />elements are in until roof demo is underway and until Ken has actually tried to pull the failing <br />wall back onto the foundation. I’ll stay in touch with staff if there are any substantial changes. <br />That said, the alternative to this plan is likely total demolition, with rebuilding put off <br />indefinitely, so I just want to have a go at rescuing the structure if possible.