Holland House Reno

Cool and Not So Cool "Finds" »

February 10, 2008

Holland House Intro

Hi everyone,

This is our first post, so a little intro is needed. We purchased a house in the North Slope about a year ago. We knew nothing about renovations and being a landlord but quickly convinced ourselves that a) really only the kitchen needed to be upgraded and b) we could live through a renovation so we could keep the rental income. After 6 months of complete denial the reality set in: a) we really are looking at a gut renovation and b) there is no way we could live in the space while the renovations were happening. So here is the project....

We are combining the top two floors of a three floor building to be an owner's duplex. The lower floor will remain a renter's apartment. The project involves.. all new EVERYTHING.... plumbing, electrical, kitchen, two bathrooms and a complete new configuration of space. The second floor will be all about livingroom and kitchen, the third floor will be all the bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Why Holland House? Well, one of us is from the lower lands and we do live now in "Breukelen" and the house eerily looks similary configured to dutch houses. (A little patriotic feeling of my other ("he claims better") half did not hurt either). We will fill you in later of the details we are looking to work in, needless to say we are very excited.

We look forward to your comments and suggestions...but be gentle...!

While we now are 4 weeks into the renovation. Let me start with the beginning and catch up. So, I included some pictures from the first day of demolition. More to come ... Enjoy!

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/3829

Comments

Welcome to the madness! Are you doing the work through a contractor/architect or doing it yourselves?

Posted by: HomeSweetstuy at February 10, 2008 7:06 PM

I often wonder what the criteria are for finally going into a "gutted reno". I suppose it does make it simpler. I haven't seen any houses updated here with plaster walls where they figured out how to selectively route plumbing and electrical.
I have seen one owner do a really nasty job of putting conduit across walls and ceilings not bothering to try and disguise it. I think it was a "stop gap" measure until she got back into renovation with more money...or planning.

One house I worked on they found an old reostat dimmer inside a wall that looked like it weighed about 35 lbs! It was in a speakeasy/gambling house. You open up a wholly different can of worms when the walls come down. Best wishes for your renovation!

Posted by: akryeguy at February 11, 2008 2:42 AM

HomeSweetstuy, we definitely needed both a contractor and architect.

akryeguy Thanks for your wishes. We really wanted to keep more of the original details, but it turns out that is easier said than done!

Posted by: hollander at February 11, 2008 12:49 PM

Welcome to the dark side where your life is taken over by thoughts of electrical permits and tile selections :)

Are you doing this work yourself? I'd love to see more photos.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at February 11, 2008 3:57 PM

your wrecking the details?? Good for you .Out with the old

Posted by: guest at February 11, 2008 4:44 PM

Wow, I bet that there was a hell of a lot of dust. Generally its best to wreck one room at a time instead of going to down and creating large piles of debris. While it is very satifying to start wrecking everything in sight it causes a hell of a lot more dust then cleaning as you go.

Hollander, just remember that there is "CON" in contractor.

Posted by: albany at February 11, 2008 6:24 PM

And is your tenant living through the renovation? Yikes!

Best of luck to you, and I look forward to watching it come together. Cheers!

Posted by: Rehab at February 11, 2008 10:12 PM

don't scare Holland House off fromo reno-blogging before they've even started! welcome to the fold, HH.

Posted by: guest at February 12, 2008 9:57 AM

Every time I see a gut renovation I cringe. It puzzles me as to why anyone would post a picture like the one above...showing all that sheer waste and destruction. I'd be vaguely ashamed.

It makes a mockery of all the news about "deconstruction" and "recycling" I read about (in other parts of the country, apparently, since I never see that sensibility here.) Not one renovation on this blog has mentioned "green" materials or issues, not one has mentioned recycling or reuse (except the new green roof one.) Does anyone care about any of this?

What makes me suspicious that this was not all that necessary is that the owners lived there, so it could not have been structurally or otherwise untenable to do a more sensitive renovation. But it's easier to smash and destroy.

Even if walls had to be moved, one can do wonders without all this. Having done some extensive renovation myself, I know how much can be done with replacing, replastering, rewiring through channels cut in the walls, etc...

Posted by: guest at February 12, 2008 5:12 PM

Rehab. The tenant living through this is myself. So thank you for your concern :-)

Guest 5:12. There was no way to keep many of the materials, if you can afford to replaster all the walls, good for you, I am not that rich. Also, before throwing stones on being "green" I hope you a)have just installed all green insulation and b)you never do takeout or use plastic bags because otherwise you should really keep your comments to yourself.

I really wanted this to be a "happy blog" as the reno is stressful enough. So please lay off.

Posted by: hollander at February 12, 2008 8:14 PM

5:12 here. Actually, I do what I can to be green (it's my secondary business,) tho' I'm sure I don't do enough. CFLs, bamboo flooring, lowflo stuff, setting the themostat low, not having central a/c (a sure-fire energy hog) and replacing equipment as it fails with better stuff. My next thing is, indeed green roof insulation, or maybe a green roof (which is why I'm waiting for that other blog.)

Sorry about the post, but the internet does foster a kind of free-for-all. I comment often on brownstoner, mostly in a polemic, why're-you-spending-so-much vein. Because I see people saying things like 100,000/floor to renovate, buying $5000 appliances which have a lousy reputation. Viking or SubZero, revelling in spending money. I know I'm in the minority here.

I spent a tidy sum to renovate a 4-storey house, but it's 2 Ikea kitchens, painted trim, and LOTS of flaws. I just don't see sweating the small stuff, like spending a week to pick tile.

Replastering, or should I say reskimming, btw, from the guy who did three of our rooms was certainly *much cheaper* than ripping out the old stuff. Of course, no one is going to look at these walls and say they're perfect. And we didn't bother with stripping and staining trim either; imo painted trim looks better and the white brightens up the typically gloomy brownstone rooms. But it was also a desire not to waste too much time and money.

Posted by: cmu at February 12, 2008 8:37 PM

Hollander, Renovation hell is an individual journey. You need to do what is right for you--there are all kinds of ways to do things. Just remember that most contractors will always take the easiest and yet most expensive and wasteful way out. Contractors are hard to manage but if you educate yourself you might just be able to ask the right questions and get a result that is less wasteful and maybe even less expensive. I am looking forward to reading about your adventures!

Posted by: HomeSweetstuy at February 13, 2008 11:32 AM

Boring !

Posted by: guest at February 14, 2008 12:44 AM

I think many of us are still wondering why they realized that they "really were looking at a gut renovation". What was so wrong with the house? I can understand gutting a house that have major structural issues and all systems needing to be replaced. But I see people on this site gutting houses that really don't seem that bad, and I can't believe the waste of money, energy, and material. I wish people would explain why they decided to go this way. I live in a house with some ancient plumbing and wiring, and some rotten joists. I'm fixing these things gradually, and it certainly does not need the level of destruction that I commonly see here. That being said, I understand it's a personal choice.

Posted by: guest at February 14, 2008 10:53 AM