Doiok Journal A 1956 hanok, rebuilt by hand
Log #11 Day 12 Roof & Structure

Jacking Up Sagging Rafters — and Registering the Business

원문: 한옥 셀프 리모델링 기록 #11 (부연설치 및 서까래 정렬 · 산자메꿈 · 벽체 추가철거 · 바깥채 채광 구상 · 사업자등록)

Jacking Up Sagging Rafters — and Registering the Business

Day twelve. Roof structure, interior demolition, and — for the first time — paperwork that made this officially a business.

Setting the buyeon, one by one. Between the fixing strips installed yesterday, each buyeon went in aligned to the centerline of the rafter below it. The problem: seventy years of gravity. Sagging rafters had to be lifted with a bottle jack until level, then held with wooden wedges hammered into the gaps that opened up. Most of the day was line-setting, not fastening. The wedges stay until plastering, when they’ll be removed and the gaps closed properly.

Packing the roof. Under a hanok’s tiles there is brushwood (sanja) and a thick bed of clay — and ours was full of holes from decades of settling plus our own tile removal. We packed the voids with new brushwood and capped them with red-clay mortar. This layer is the roof’s insulation and its waterproofing backup at once. It photographs like nothing; it matters like everything.

One more wall. The non-load-bearing wall between bedrooms 2 and 3 came down after a structural check. The two rooms merged into one flowing space — and we noticed something: an easier work path today is an easier living path for guests later. Circulation is the same thing for builders and residents. The accumulated stone waste — a full one-ton load — left by truck the same day.

Subsidy reality check. Follow-up with the district office: because our house wears Japanese-style tiles, only the cost of converting to Korean-style tiles qualifies for the hanok repair subsidy. Noted, recalibrated.

An idea from a hole in the roof. Sunlight falling through the open roof onto the annex floor was so beautiful that it produced a design idea on the spot: set glass blocks into the dark zone above the annex’s main beam — daylight without structural change. We mocked it up with an AI image generator to see it before committing.

And the milestone: Doiok’s business registration went through today. This stopped being a renovation and started being a company.

What we'd tell you
The gaps under the roof tiles must be sealed properly before the new tiles go on. It's invisible work, but once the roof is closed, fixing it means opening the roof again. Never rush the boto (clay-packing) stage.
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Originally logged in Korean on February 27, 2026 — read the original. Translated and edited by the brothers who did the work.