November 7, 2009

Back Parlor Sanding

Removing the Paper After Painting

The First Pass with the Drum Sander

The Finished Results

After painting the back parlor room, G and I switched gears the following weekend to sanding the floor. We still had the sander and edger we were borrowing from our generous neighbor, with which we had previously sanded the kitchen floor.

We needed the back parlor habitable by Thanksgiving, since G’s mom was coming from Brussels to stay with us. At the time, G and I were camping out on the bottom floor and trying to get the top floor rented. The last time G’s mom had come for a visit, we were still living on the top floor, where we had just finished painting and sanding, and the bottom two floors of the house were still deeply “in progress.” We wanted to show G’s mom that the house had evolved since her last visit, and also give her a comfortable room to stay in.

We had about three weekends to go before T-day, so we needed to crank through the sanding and get on to the sealing, so we could let the floor dry, and then try to furnish the room in some kind of inviting way.

When sanding, G works the drum sander, and I work the edger. I hate the edger. It’s heavy and awkward to use, and extremely powerful and aggressive, so requires a lot of control. It’s also incredibly loud, and the whole thing creates a lot of dust too. The experience of sanding is really intense, kind of like spending a day inside an airplane engine. But the best part of it is the transformative results.

The back parlor floor cleaned up pretty well – I wouldn’t say perfect, being that there were a lot of stains and weird marks to begin with. We got maybe 80% of all the stains and marks up, but the floor still bears some evidence of its history.

Posted in Bed Stuy Reno by Peter at 8:31 PM | Comments (0)
Categories: Parlor Floor, Sanding

October 26, 2009

Back Parlor Painting

Cleaning and Prepping the Back Parlor

Ceiling Painted with "Swiss Coffee," Priming Moldings and Taping Off

Cutting In and Painting the Walls with "Desert Twilight"

Ok, so with the Kitchen mostly buttoned up, G and I moved upstairs to the back parlor room. This room was to become our bedroom, and we wanted it to be both warm and comfortable as a space. I had seen some images at the time of a bedroom with a bold grayish-green set off with some warm rich wood tones that I was really digging. We decided to search for our own bold grayish-green color, and thought that someday, when our fireplace was stripped (and the firebox rebuilt and working as a wood-burning fireplace, you know, sometime after that fireplace grant came through), it would act as the warm rich wood tone that would go nicely with the beautiful bold walls.

We looked through our Benajmin Moore color fan, and settled first on a color called “Durango,” which I was all for. It was deep and rich and almost a greenish brown, or brownish green, whichever you prefer. For the ceiling and molding colors, we wanted a white, but something that was also warm and rich itself. G liked a color I think called “Mayonnaise,” which is funny because in Belgium (where G hails from), they eat their fries with mayonnaise. But then we settled on “Swiss Coffee,” which I think is a winner as a paint name. We used a matte for the ceiling, and a semi-gloss for the moldings.

Once we had the “Swiss Coffee” picked, we sort of chickened out on the boldness of the “Durango,” and hedged to a lighter version of grayish-green, Benjamin Moore’s “Desert Twilight.”

We started first by getting all the crap we had been storing in the room out of the room. The focus had been on the Kitchen and Lower Level after all our work in the Apartment . The Parlor Floor, once we finished closing it up and dealing with the ceilings, was where we stored things that we didn’t know where else to store – tools, pianos, G’s giant puzzle-piece artwork, etc.

Once we had the room cleaned out, and radiators removed (heavy, heavy radiators) we began by painting the ceiling and one remaining area of wall that still had the picture molding and lincrusta paneling. Generally, when painting, I’m on rolling and G is on cutting in. Over time, we’ve both gotten pretty good at our roles, and can knock stuff out fairly quickly when we need to. We got the painting of the room done in one weekend, working a full Saturday and Sunday. (The room had previously been primed with the help of G's friends.)

When it came time to get to the walls, we opened the can of paint and said, “well, here goes.” Along with the “Piano Concerto” of the bathroom, this was our boldest color yet on a wall (not withstanding the orange door in the apartment). But we were pretty happy with the results in the end, and thought the room looked both warm and inviting, but also somewhat sophisticated (at least by our broke-ass standards).

Posted in Bed Stuy Reno by Peter at 10:14 AM | Comments (7)
Categories: Painting, Parlor Floor

October 18, 2009

Lower Level: Kitchen Recap

Original Kitchen (maggots included) - Day 1

Kitchen Space - Ready for Kitchen Install

Kitchen Install - G and I get to know Ikea

Kitchen Final - Up and Running

When we last left off, G and I were just about done with the kitchen install. (It had been a long haul since Day One, and the maggots we found there found there). There were some odds and ends left – cabinet doors and drawer pulls and things like that. We had successfully assembled our Ikea kitchen – put together the base and wall cabs, put them in place, installed the microwave, installed the range top, assembled the island, cut and installed the countertops, installed the sink, and then called the electrician and the plumbers to come back and hook up the appliances. (By successfully, I mean we finished, but not without some hiccups – we ordered the kitchen from Ikea our first summer in the house, thinking, hey, we’re gonna need this new kitchen pretty soon! But in reality, it took us nearly two years to get the point where we were ready to actually assemble our new kitchen. This meant limited warranties had expired on the appliances we had bought – microwave, oven, range top – and that we were only now, two years later, finally opening the boxes and seeing what was there, and what was missing. And there were some things missing! See previous posts for more on that...

We had planned the kitchen space when we first designed the layout of the house, and when we decided we would go with Ikea, we spent some time with their kitchen planning software laying out their cabinets to suit our original design intent. We had to modify our own plans (the kitchen along the wall was expanded by one cabinet), and to achieve the island we wanted, we had to go off of Ikea’s grid somewhat, and used some wall cabinets as base cabinets to get deep cabinets on the sink side, and shallow cabinets on the other side, with a sort of cutout where we could sit two stools with space for legroom.

Once we had put everything together, the electrician was able to wire the dishwasher and install two outlets on either side of the island. He also wired the oven and the range top igniter (range top is gas, oven is electric). The plumber hooked up the sink, installed the faucet, connected the dishwasher, connected the range top to the gas line, and hooked up the fridge to its water supply. (G and I had decided to spring for having the plumber run a water line to the fridge so we could have water and ice through it – our own American luxury! Which took a little time to convince G of its necessity, or at least benefit. She never uses it. I love it.)

Et voila! Looks easy, in hindsight. Really, the hardest part for us was cutting the countertops to size. We used Ikea’s butcher block counter tops, for their warmth and also their price point, but to really cut it perfectly, you should have a table saw. We didn’t, so we did our best with our circular saw, using cutting guides that we screwed into place to keep the cuts straight as we went. Results were decent, not perfect. But overall, we were really happy with how it turned out. And pretty impressed with ourselves that we were able to pull it off. Sort of like that scene in the Matrix where Keanu Reeves says, “Whoa, I know kung fu!” For us it was like, “whoa, we built a kitchen!”

Some previous kitchen-related posts, if you're interested:
Here Comes the Kitchen!
Kitchen Chronicles, Part 2
Kitchen Chronicles, Part 3

Posted in Bed Stuy Reno by Peter at 7:14 PM | Comments (7)
Categories: Lower Level

October 14, 2009

No More Times

Update:

It’s been a long time, folks.

Why the year-plus hiatus? To make a long story short, G and I had been in touch with the New York Times last summer, and the House and Home section was planning to run an article about our house, and the ways in which we have managed to renovate it on the cheap.

There were two caveats:

One, we finish the renovation before the story could happen.

Two, no blogging.

The Times wanted the story to be an exclusive, and they couldn’t have finished images of our house being published elsewhere before they had a chance to publish the story themselves.

But, I pointed out, I’m sure the Times readership dwarfs the readership of the Bed Stuy Reno! It really shouldn’t be an issue.

Still, that’s how they operated, I was told.

So, I had to make sure then, if I was going to stop blogging, that the article would be a sure thing. Since it would be some time before the reno was really done, to cut myself off from blogging about the work was a real sacrifice for me.

No problem, I was assured. Just finish the project, and when you’re ready, we’ll be here to do the story.

About a year later, with the renovation more or less done (is it ever really done?), and phonecalls and emails back and forth between the writer and myself, a date for the interview was scheduled – October 15th, with the story to drop sometime by the end of the month.

Until I get the call today. The House and Home editor has decided to put the kibosh on the story. It turns out too much time had passed, and the editor now deemed that our “on the cheap” renovation wasn’t cheap enough. Or the aesthetics no longer exciting enough. Or the whole story not unique enough, since other similar articles are scheduled to go to press soon.

All of which I completely disagree with! Similar stories? I think in order to fully understand the project, you need to get the full story, of how we went from crackhouse with maggot-infested fridge, to pretty-nice house, with a lot of salvaged original details mixed with our own aesthetics and sensibilities, all on a shoestring budget. Not to mention the fact that we updated our electric, plumbing, and put in a new three-zone heating system.

AND blogged about it! Garnering advice, counseling, materials, help, and new friends. I really think the Times missed the whole importance of the blog. The Bed Stuy Reno has been as useful a tool in our renovation as any of the number of others sitting in our basement. I mean, what other way to ask people how to sand and seal a floor, and get 40 responses back in a day? And all speaking from first-hand experience. We're not the first people to renovate a house of course, but using the blog as a critical resource in doing it yourself, that's a story I have not personally read about yet.

Needless to say it was very disappointing, and, I thought, pretty unfair to boot. In the end, we were penalized for taking a long time to finish our renovation, despite being assured it would not be an issue. And ironically, the time our renovation took was a function of being “on the cheap,” the whole point of the article in the first place!

So, while I have lost a year of blogging, with no Times article to show for it, there is a bright side. G and I have done a lot of work on the place in the past year (less blogging meant more working), and have taken a lot of pictures to prove it. Seeing as how I’m no longer bound by an exclusivity agreement, I’m going to start updating the blog again, both with work already done, and the projects that continue.

Yes, work still continues, but it’s of the more finish and design-y variety, and less the necessities of the basic shell and enclosure. We’ve got some great stories to go with the projects, like how we built a complete built-in custom floor-to-ceiling bookshelf along the lower level wall, complete with a built-in desk and return, all for about $650 bucks all-in. (Hint: the Home Depot and Lowes both have loose return policies.)

Stay tuned!

Posted in Bed Stuy Reno by Peter at 6:31 PM | Comments (14)
Categories: House General

Salvage Doors Wanted

Hello, I'm looking for old solid-core brownstone interior doors - the kind you may have sitting in your basement unused. Any size at all will do, and any condition - painted or not, with or without hardware. Please let me know if you have any available.

Thanks,
Peter

Posted in Forum by Peter at 9:34 AM | Comments (6)
Categories: Doors

August 7, 2009

Property with Violations

I'm looking at a property in Bed Stuy that, after some research on BIS, appears to have had a Stop Work Order in 2008, and has multiple open Violations with the DOB and the ECB (what's the ECB?).

If the price is right, do I proceed? Or is this just a field of landmines? Is it a negotiation tool? Or is it just asking for trouble?

Most violations appear to be the result of neighbors calling the property in. Seems not to be a popular house on the block.

Thoughts, advice?

Posted in Forum by Peter at 3:53 PM | Comments (5)
Categories: Research

April 30, 2009

Gut Reno on Shell, Saving Facade

Looking for some general numbers ($/sf if possible) on doing a major renovation of a shell structure where the facade is to be saved, but everything inside is kaput.

This is a small 3-story semi-attached building that still has a nice limestone facade, but literally all the floors, joists, walls, everything inside has collapsed.

I'm trying to get a sense of rough numbers to basically build a new 3 story building behind the existing facade, and add a floor to the roof. I'm not even sure the back brick wall or party walls are structurally sound anymore.

Would love some input from anyone with this type of experience. I know it would be easier to knock it all down and start over, but I am very intent on saving the facade.

Posted in Forum by Peter at 9:24 AM | Comments (7)
Categories: Renovation

April 18, 2009

Assorted Salvage Bricks - $25

Approximately 100 assorted bricks for sale left over from a renovation in Bedford Stuyvesant. We need to get rid of them quickly, so I'm pricing them at $25 for all, or best offer. You must be able to pick up yourself - I can help load them in your car.

Send an email to bedstuyrenot@gmail.com if interested, I'd like to get rid of them by tomorrow (Sunday).

Posted in Forum by Peter at 2:11 PM | Comments (0)
Categories: Architectural Salvage

Salvage Doors - $10/ea!

Assorted salvage doors left over from a renovation on our house in Bedford Stuyvesant. Doors were found from dumpster diving, but I have no immediate use for them. These doors are each approximately 100 years old. Solid wood, none of this hollow-core business, typically 4 or 5 panels per door. They are mostly covered in layers of paint, but given some love and elbow grease, clean up really nice.

I have 5 doors for sale, sizes are as follows. I'm pricing them at $10 bucks a pop so they'll go, because I do need to get rid of them, but don't want to see them wind up back in the trash! Please send an email to bedstuyreno@gmail.com if interested. Must be able to pick up doors - I can of course help you get them to your car or truck.

Door 1: 24" x 84" x 1-1/8" thick

Door 2: 23-1/2" x 89" x 1-1/8" thick

Door 3: 27-3/4" x 88-3/4" x 1-1/2" thick

Door 4: 28" x 84" x 1-1/2" thick

Door 5: 27-1/2" x 79-1/2" x 1-1/2" thick

Posted in Forum by Peter at 1:31 PM | Comments (0)
Categories: Doors

April 3, 2009

Quicken Loans?

Has anyone ever dealt with Quicken Loans as a lender? I am looking at refinancing and they have been quoting me attractive rates for a refi. Somewhere around 4.8% for a 2-fam, paying 1 point. I always just thought they were a tax prep computer program though.

Posted in Forum by Peter at 6:20 PM | Comments (1)
Categories: Mortgage