lifted the lid on my pony wall pass thru

[lupinfarm]

I finally lifted the lid on my pony wall pass thru between the kitchen and livingroom. This is where the wooden part of
the house meets the old brick part. Found to my surprise that there is still the wall underneath. Oh and a little visitor who
obviously enjoyed his last supper there. He has been preserved since the 60s in a brick and wood tomb. I have named
him Pharoah Mousey. Here are the pictures just for fun.

[Josiecat]

Wow, poor Pharoah Mousey

[pqtex]

Darn! I wish you'd found a mummified bird because then we could have called him "King TutMouse."

[sooth]

I'm kind of confused. Is this part of a stair, floor, or wall (or half-wall)? I see brick, and tongue and groove, and I think I also see a wall outlet in one corner.

[lupinfarm]

Hey sooth...you are very observant..I didnt even notice the wall outlet in the picture. It is a half wall. This used to be an
exterior wall until the summer kitchen addition was built. I think where the half wall is ( which was converted to a kind of
ledge with the addition of a piece of wood ontop) it used to be a window. The vertical framing u see in the picture looks a bit
undersized to be supporting all the way up to the second floor. Next to this half wall is what remains of an original exterior entry way. The arched brick mold and wood trim can still be seen above and at the sides. I have posted some more pics
showing the entry from the kitchen into the living room, you can see the strange little half wall on the right side and
the what remains of the original door frame.

[sooth]

Hmmm. Seems odd that they wouldn't have just knocked-out the bottom little wall, since it's basically useless. I'd definitely be knocking it out to make a nice big archway with some nice trim around it. Otherwise, I'd install a column on the corner (for looks). And not like a dinky porch column. I mean like a BIG, round Roman column. Something like this:
http://www.thefauxpro.net/images/column22.jpg

[lupinfarm]

Hi Sooth..yes I thought it odd that they left that weird half wall. I guess it was all the rage in the 1970s though. Funnier
still was that they left all the bricks inside. Oh well I will have my very own dedicated stock of reclamation brick.
I am planning on removing the 1/2 wall and putting in some additional support for the 2nd floor as the headers look just
a tad dodgy to me. Then I was thinking of trimming them out, haven`t decided if its square or round yet. There is a company
here in the GTA area that makes decorative columns that go around support posts. Oh and I am going to trim out the arch way
as right now it looks terrible. 1970s orange stained pine, not my fave look.
P.s. Just checked out the link in your post...those are some nice columns, maybe a bit glam for my humble little cottage.
My ceilings are not even 9 ft in the kitchen, so I will have simplify and scale down on the ornateness or it may seem more like a Greek temple than a settlers cottage. I really hate what is there now, its tacky and smacks of 1970s hunting lodge. Why
couldnt the POs just have left the original detail?

[sooth]

If you're planning to remove the half wall, then I'd definitely suggest just a plain rectangular "arch". Something like what I have in my dining room (if you can remember, since I can't link photos at the moment). I wouldn't do the round Roman columns unless you had something to match with them (and were keeping the wall).

I'd just use the same trim as what's currently in the nearby rooms (or to match the originals).

Orange stained pine can be painted-over pretty easily with a good primer (like the Bin or Zinnser shellac based primers). It's hard to tell from the photos, but are those just plain rectangular pine stock acting as trim? Seems to me that you had some rather lovely Victorian style trim in other rooms. Are you redoing the trim in this section to match, or just painting it to match the colour scheme?

I'd also try to save that tongue and groove if you can, since you never know when you might need just a small piece of it.

[Texas_Ranger]

Does that wood header support a brick wall above?!? In that case I absolutely don't like it unless it's something like two 6x6 headers side by side! You might be better off installing a modern concrete lintel.

Our original headers (without much brick on top, our house is only 1 storey) were hewn 5x5s (up to 5 depending on the thickness of the wall) for only half that span! And even those sagged some where the span exceeded 3 feet.

[lupinfarm]

Hi Texas Ranger...I dont think those 2bys are supporting brick. The wooden part of the house was added where a dormer
used to be, that is my theory anyhow. When I look up I can see some of the original brick but there is just a floor above
it not a wall of any kind. I was thinking of just some 6x6 posts at either side of the opening as any weight from above
would then be carried directly down to the foundation below. I will know better when I take down the drywall above the
opening. I agree that it is probably better to recreate the trim in the older part of the house, which is very plain. The orange
pine that is there now is actually rounded on the outside edge so I would have to square it off to make it match the orig trim, and its just not worth the effort.