Reno Blogs
November 6, 2009
Albemarle Reno: Welcome to The Albemarle Reno Blog
My husband and I, together with our intrepid architect, have been plotting and planning since we closed on this house on Albemarle Road in Prospect Park South about three weeks ago. We are first-time home-buyers who have rented brownstone apartments in Carroll Gardens and Boerum Hill since 1992. The renovation we have in mind is extensive. It includes restoring the kitchen to its rightful place (it was shunned to a back hallway in 1959 to make room for the owner-dermatologist's suite of exam rooms). Also in that era, the ornate, oval dining room slummed as a waiting room, while the walls, baseboards and molding throughout the house served as track for stapling miles of alarm system, intercom, phone and, yes, electrical wires. If you click through below, you can get a good sense of the beautiful house we are getting--but also the range of work that lies ahead. We're looking forward to documenting the project as well as benefiting from the input of the Brownstoner community as we go along.
October 26, 2009
Bed Stuy Reno: 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).
October 18, 2009
Bed Stuy Reno: 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
October 14, 2009
Bed Stuy Reno: 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!
June 5, 2009
Greenwood Heights Backyard: Quickie Garden Update
While we are still working out the final planting plan with Diana at Fun City Design (mostly since Mrs. Tikihouse and I are still rethinking where certain "foundation" plantings should go). Diana has come up with some great ideas in her first draft of the planting plan (coming soon).
In the meantime, here's a down and dirty post of the growth of the garden as-is so far this spring.
Photo: Azaleas from late May. Still missing those pretty blooms!
May 10, 2009
South Slope Reno: Stair Rails
Other than the final plumbing inspection, which is still bedeviling us, the stair rails that we had installed here are the last piece of this renovation.
In between, we’ve laid on a few more coats of varnish to the stairs to the basement, as well as to the second floor.
Our GC could not find anyone to do these kinds of rails (he’s a bit old-school) so we ran into Rich and his dad at Luna Welding ( www.lunawelding.com ). Rich is more than a contractor, he’s also an artist working in metals, and his dad is a carpenter. Rich came over and we all discussed the myriad options in posts, rails, and materials (there is a ton of choices) so as always we decided to keep it as simple as possible. Polished steel hardware (sprayed with a sealant to prevent rust), stainless steel cable, and an oak handrail to match the stairs. The price was $6600.
Rich showed up with his crew in a few days and put in the posts, then came back a few days later and finished the job. He even took care of varnishing the railing for us. We’re happy with the results.
Finished product above and here:
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358898
A couple of more first floor shots:
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358913
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358899
And a couple of shots from the second floor:
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358901
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358902
And some shots my wife took during the process:
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358897
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358903
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358905
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358912
During this process we were able to get all our artwork up on the walls, so it’s really feeling like home. The AC guy came by to charge the unit for the first floor, just in time for those 90 degree days, and, we’ve got our library unpacked and put away. Since I haven’t had the luxury of having it all in one place for a number of years, we took advantage of CraigsList to grab a few Billy bookcases locally. Here are some shots of the completed basement library.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358907
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358908
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358909
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/112358910
(We can’t close the pipe chaise until the final plumbing inspection)
In a couple of weeks I’ll do a final post, detailing the screw-ups we made and things we should have done differently, and that will be it! Time to go back to reading.
May 5, 2009
Greenwood Heights Backyard: Veggie Garden Time!
Next step on our phase 2 backyard reno was to bring our tropicals outside for the spring/summer/fall and then get ready to plant our big veggie garden.
Prior to that we had a good discussion with our designer Diana, at Fun City Design, about meeting up to discuss the final planting plan and the reality of what we'd be able to do under the current economic squeeze. Also, we wanted her to see the space and how it had evolved since last fall. Our meeting will be in a later post.
So all the tropicals made it out, either in the "seating area" or out by the shed (for now). Adding more greenery made a huge difference in softening the space.
Before we could move forward with planting the veggie garden, we turned the soil once more (fourth time now?) and began to layout markers to dig for our garden blue stone path.
Diana's plan had the garden broken up into four quadrants, with a bird bath in the center.
Proposed original plan, Fall 2008
In order to maximize our planting area, we opted to try out three long rows, with stepping stones in between the rows. This would align our plantings north/south and allow us to experiment as to how much we can cram in (or not) into the garden to max out our output, i.e. live off our garden this summer!
April 13, 2009
Greenwood Heights Backyard: Paper, Dirt, Buckets...and Bamboo!
As a recap form the last post, after much clean up, we received a call from our "generous neighbors" that we would be able to have some young specimens from their grove (they were thinning it out) of the bamboo genus Phyllostachys. We were THRILLED.
The only catch is the delivery date was TBD and we needed a ton of topsoil to prep the bamboo planter box.
A quick call to J&L Landscaping (and then a "help" call to several friends) and we were scheduled for a delivery of their best top soil.
Larry at J&L had figured we would need approximately 3 1/2 yrds. of soil to fill the box, with a tad left over to spread around. At $65/yrd. (with delivery) we figured it was a good deal. In prep for the delivery, and bucket brigade through the house, we cleared away furniture and plants and laid down contractor paper (no need to scratch up the oak floors).
Photo: one HUGE pile of topsoil (tarped, of course)
Delivery was made bright and early and to our surprise, more like 4 1/2 to 5 yrds. were dumped! (though we only paid for the 3 1/2 yrds)
April 8, 2009
South Stuy Blog: Details Beneath The Surface
Who knew that if one were to glob on some Peel Away 7 and spend 7 or 8 hours picking and scraping THIS:
That you would find all of this detail:
This is probably the most gratifying and surprising discovery I have made in the house. I honestly had no idea that there was this sort of detail buried under all of the glop (I put the peel away on the plaster just to see if it would work).
April 6, 2009
South Slope Reno: The End is Nigh
On my last reno blog entry, bkny asked:
“Ok, so denton, this basement is a true basement as in a cellar? and not as in a ground floor/1st floor/garden level? i am guessing that by the looks of the small windows. Can you recap your floor plan/layout? i think it's great to have an extra bathroom in the basement/cellar? it could be a guest suite.”
Since we’re about done, let me re-cap. The house is a 16' x 66' semi-detached house, South Slope/GH. C of O as a two family although we are using as a one family. Two stories, plus basement which is probably 2/3 underground. Half of the basement we plan to use as a library, the other half is storage/laundry/boiler. We didn’t want to put a bathroom in the basement from the beginning, didn’t want the extra scrutiny. What the hell, we have a slop sink, right? But seriously we may put a toilet down there once the permit is closed out.
The second floor has the master bedroom, large walk-thru closet/dressing room, very large master bath, a office/computer room for me that also just happens to be the 2nd family kitchen right now, and another room that is my wife’s room/guest bedroom.
The first floor has a large living room, a small bathroom, the main kitchen, and a formal dining room, which opens onto the patio/garden.
We closed on the house at the end of 2007, and have been renovating ever since (a complete gut). We figured three months optimum, six months worst case, and here we are. All we have left is our own cosmetic work, and the stair railings. But much of that time was spent waiting for permits, drawings, and inspections. Probably six months of actual work.
However, to my great disgust, again, we have not passed the final plumbing inspection, which was gas pressure test, and finish. This particular inspector hates to leave without something. The gas pressure passed, and the finish passed. When the plumber showed up at the beginning, he pointed out that some of the gas unions did not meet code, and he replaced them all. But for some reason, one length of old gas pipe was not replaced. Even though it passed the pressure test, the inspector failed it because, don’t laugh, it was PAINTED. Not now, maybe twenty years ago. There was more rust than paint, but since it was connected to new pipe, the inspector stated that ALL the pipe had to be up to code. I happen to have a photo here, it’s the middle pipe.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022952
I certainly don’t have a problem seeing that pipe replaced, in fact it was silly and penny-pinching for the plumber not to have replaced it, since all the other plumbing was replaced.
The same inspector failed the boiler last time he was here, incorrectly. I should have been here to argue the point, but wasn’t. (Big mistake! Always attend the inspections, because the contractors seem more interested in being nice to the inspector for future jobs than standing up for their existing paying client.) I had to send an engineer to the DOB to get the objection overturned. Another lie I was told, is that once the objection for the boiler was overturned, the inspector will not touch the boiler again. Didn’t phase this guy, he was right back at it. After asking a highly technical question that proved he really didn’t know much about these new mod/con boilers, and I got my installer on the phone to answer, he kept up about something else, and I battled him for at least fifteen minutes. Ultimately successfully, I might add.
But the upshot is that I still am looking at this *&^%&% second floor kitchen, an ancient stove connected to a gas pipe to which the service has been shut off, and a rickety sink for which I have absolutely no use. While my file cabinet and stuff sits in the hallway waiting for the next inspection to be over.
Meanwhile, we have vanished the stairs to the second floor.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022955
And to the basement:
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022937
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022938
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022941
Therefore, the basement is done! (Well, almost. The pipe chaise was left open due to the inspection, so we will have to close that up ourselves after the gas pipe is replaced. ). We were able to unwrap our good bookcases, and set up a lil’ ‘reading area’, complete with a cheap Arts and Crafts rug from Lowes. This coming weekend, I have a truck on reserve and my kids from Da Bush lined up to move our library from storage into the house, which will reduce our overhead by $250 a month. Here’s the main area.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022940
The basement was the last major dust-producing process to be done, so we were able to lay out our rugs, and most importantly, install the turntable so we can hear music the way it was intended, as an analog waveform not a chopped salad. And the crew chief agrees, of course after screwing up the blinds. (That wall is not yet painted).
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022943
To recap, our GC had given us a price to do the basement that was unacceptable, given our finances, of 20k (he later claimed that was for the WHOLE basement and the half that we did was only 11k). We then thought we would scale down our ambitions, and maybe do some of the work ourselves, and do it cheap. So we asked the Brownstoner community for advice about stripping and painting the walls, and we heard from another contractor, Shane Deary. We liked what we heard so we asked him to stop by. He offered to sheetrock, tape, and insulate the walls, epoxy the floor, rock but not tape the ceiling, and build frames for the windows. And install the needed doors as well as replace the rotten door to the outside with a new metal door. He quoted us 8k, and he did a great job, speedy and well done (he’s a carpenter by trade). We are very pleased with the results. We taped the ceiling, added vinyl baseboard, and painted. Some pix:
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022935
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022944
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022946
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022947
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022949
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022951
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/111022957
Shane’s email is smdconstruction@gmail.com. We like him.
All we have left is the handrails (report to follow), the last plumbing inspection, painting, hanging pictures, touch ups of various kinds, and that’s it. Then again I get the feeling that a house is never done.
March 31, 2009
Greenwood Heights Backyard: Spring Has Sprung, But Something Sunk
Spring greetings from Mr. and Mrs. Tikihouse. After a VERY LONG and cold winter, we were most happy to see the temps begin to rise and the ground soften.
Since our last post a short "knee wall" was installed and a less than ideal green hurricane fence was placed between the new brick condo building's yard and ours. Could have been worse...it could have been white vinyl! NOTE: we will be covering it up as one of the first tasks in phase II of our backyard reno project.
While it is a tad early to begin any planting, our plan was to begin moving plants again and turn over the right hand side of the garden, adding humous and peat moss as we went.
Photo: overview of the start of phase 2 of our back yard reno
That's when we had a sinking feeling, or rather saw the sinking.
March 29, 2009
South Stuy Blog: SHUTTER TO THINK
Hey all. Its been a while but we have not forgotten about our reno blog. We have just been pretty beaten down by our recent experiences and haven't had the gumption to post. That said, I am so proud of Operation Pocket Shutters, that I am breaking the silence in order to do an expose on the project.
When we bought this house close to 2 years ago, we were pleased to observe that we had all the original pocket shutters ---albeit caked in 100 years of paint. We brought 2 floors worth of them to "Lou's in Hackensack" to have them dip n' stripped (via zipcar) and have been working on them on and off for about a year. When our contractor flew the coup and T and I were demoralized beyond measure-- we decided it would be a satisfying project to get started on and even more satisfying to complete (to quit would be letting the enemy win).
Here are the shutters pre-strip
Here they are once they were dipped
Dipping and stripping is a great short cut to beautiful wood but its still a lot of work to refinish them. First you need to pick out all that persistent lead paint crud that is wedged in the nook and cranies. We did this with a couple of dental picks and many hours. Then you need to sand sand sand sand sand sand sand with 3 grades of paper AND if your shutters are pine like ours (beautiful golden pine) -you need to treat the pine with a prestain which conditions the wood (we did 3 to 4 coats on each side).
Here are some pics before and after the pre stain treatment and sanding
After the pre-stain, you need to do one more light sand as the wood grain raises a bit during the prestain treatment and then finally you get to stain. Although the original plan was to stain the shutters, we thought the shutters looked so good after the conditioning treatment that we abstained from the stain and went straight to shellac.
We decided on shellac because its all natural (Its actually a resin secreted by the female lac bug) and because it sort of acts like a combo of stain and poly with a built in primer, sealer and odor and tannin blocker (the more I know about it the more i like it).
On the "basement floor" shutters, we used a clear shellac in aersol form. Had we to do it again, we would probably only use the aersol on the louvers (we went through an obscene number of aersol cans). All and all, we did 4 coats on each side nice and thick to protect the shutters from the elements.
Although we know its totally premature to put them up, we just could not help ourselves.
a href="http://www.brownstoner.com/southstuy/014.JPG">
Note: we had to also do some stripping around the window frames as the paint build up prevented the proper opening and closing of the shutters. We do plan to strip the whole window at some point soon.
For the gorgeous tall shutters on the parlor floor, we decided to use the amber shellac on all but the louvers. We probably will not put these up until both windows are fully stripped and this floor is close to complete but we are going to go ahead an hang the MISSION ACCOMPLISHED banner across the parlor floor anyway.
P.S.Unfortunately we do not have all the original knobs --anyone know of a good resource for copper ones like these?
March 12, 2009
South Slope Reno: Getting to the basement
Well! The day before I was supposed to cash my refund check, twenty-seven weeks after I ordered them, the shower doors showed up from Brooklyn Kitchens. And they look pretty good, we think. (Although the master bath has a leak at a seam, so a service call will be in order).
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/110124471
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/110124457
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/110124474
Downstairs bath here.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/110124475
Meanwhile if you’ve been following along, you recall that the stairs to the second floor were too short, and didn’t completely make the platform. This was solved by putting a ‘box’ at the top of the stairs and pushing them forward.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/110124473
As we come to an end, one of the biggest nightmares has been the amount of dust that just doesn’t stop. I’ve realized that the basement ceiling, sheet rocked in 1968 and with many holes, has been capturing dust and debris for decades, as well as new stuff from the renovation. We decided that whether or not we had the money to do some basement finishing, the ceiling had to go. This is a perfect project for a homeowner to do to save money; not difficult or technical, just dirty, dusty, and time consuming. But we got it all down and out in the space of a few weeks. Here’s the space with the ceiling as was.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/110124481
I’ve taken a couple of shots of ceiling pieces as they came down, to show what was sitting on top of them. Nasty!
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/110124477
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/110124476
The worst spot was below where the old kitchen and bath were. The plumbing had leaked for years, the joists had to be replaced there, but they had tried to reinforce it by nailing boards under the plumbing and filling in with cindacrete. That was vile getting down.
Getting rid of the debris was timed to not call any attention to ourselves. Everything went into black plastic bags, but nothing too heavy. Two bags in front of our house, and two bags in front of a just-converted rental with no tenants a few doors down. One sometimes up the block mixed in with trash from a larger apt building. Twice a week for a few weeks and no problems.
We’ve now come to the point where we have to decide what to do about the basement. As avid readers and book collectors, our library is about three thousand volumes. In our previous coop, we had space for about half, and the balance was in a storage place, which is now up to $250 per month. Our plan was to turn half of the basement (500 sft or so) into a library, but only if that would not put books at risk. (The other half is boiler, storage, tools, etc.).
We are two blocks from the highest point in Brooklyn, and we have been here fifteen months without the slightest whiff of mold, mildew, sewage, or water. We have done calcium chloride tests on the concrete floor, and moisture tests on the walls (thx smokychimp for that suggestion). We seem to be as dry as can be. And frankly I’d be equally afraid to try and pack a library in an upper floor of a small house without reinforcing the floor.
At the same time, we are pretty broke after this reno. We asked our GC for a price to ‘rock walls and ceiling, and tile the floor as cheaply as possible. His price was $19,000. That was very discouraging as we really can’t swing that right now. We decided to see if we could do it ourselves, maybe with friends, maybe just stripping and painting the walls, so we asked for some advice about the walls.
http://www.brownstoner.com/forum/archives/2009/02/what_to_do_abou_4.php#comments
Thanks to that post, a contractor had an interesting suggestion, and we invited him over to take a look. To make a long story short, he quoted us less than half of what our GC did, which is manageable, and we retained him to start.
Please see
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/basement
for a series of pix on progress.
Naturally our GC was not happy, altho he didn’t express it. But he did say, yesterday, that his office person had made a mistake and that the 19k was for the WHOLE basement. The HALF that we wanted was 11k. He would have got the job for that, but, that’s not what we remember.
February 20, 2009
South Slope Reno: The Stair Issue
The bad news is that things have come to a screeching halt because my GC had to go into the hospital for a new heart valve and a couple of stents, and the day before he fell off a ladder (not here) and shattered his kneecap.
The good news is that we are so close to the end that we are living comfortably, with only the stairs having serious issues. And we need railings shortly thereafter. Also, we were able to arrange a final inspection from our PE, who will sign off everything subject to stairs and railings being finished.
THAT means we were able to get rid of the second floor kitchen, thank goodness, and turn it into my office. For the last few months, my computer stuff has been hooked up in the unheated basement, gathering tons of dust to boot. I’ve already had to replace two case fans and a WD Raptor HD, all failing, I presume, because of dust.
I took the computer over to Park Slope Computers, on 19th and Prospect, and they did a great job cleaning it out, before I moved it up. Cleaning out my printers and scanners and so on was quite a task also.
The upstairs temporary kitchen is here. Hard to believe we actually ate and cooked in here for a few months!
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/109380116
But we are leaving the plumbing as is, after capping everything off. This gives us or future occupants the option to turn this back into a 2-family easily enough. We were able to shut off Keyspan service as well, that knocks $20 a month off the overhead.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/109380115
Here’s the room almost finished. Yeah, my wife has to stick a plant everywhere, even if it’s mostly dead!
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/109380107
And then that leaves my good friend Brian Ackerman at Brooklyn Kitchens aka Garfield Kitchens. He did manage, almost on time, to take care of everything needed in the kitchen. There were a set of spice drawers that had to be made over–thrice. The third time the grain was running in the wrong direction, but at this point, we’ll just pretend we liked the contrast. However, we still have no shower doors! That’s twenty-three weeks and counting!
I gave him an ultimatum on a Monday that if he didn’t get them by Friday I wanted my money back. He asked for the next Wednesday, which I gave him. I didn’t call him and he didn’t call me until late Wednesday, when he called me practically in tears begging for more time because he just lost 80k due to a cabinet supplier that just went under with his deposits. Allegedly. Against my better judgement, I gave him until 3/3 provided he gave me a post-dated check to be deposited on that date if there are no doors. For your amusement...
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/109380105
Back to the big hold-up, the stairs. We’ve been through two sets already and it looks like we’re cruising for a third. We wanted a set of oak open stairs. We liked the first set when it arrived.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/109380109
There were a few things we didn’t really notice at first. But when we did... First is that the stairs seem to be made by a Chinese robot. They were routed out and wedged from the back. This would have been fine if they were to be covered underneath, but they’re not!
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/109380108
Then there was some more sloppy stuff, like magic marker here and there, and glued labels, all of which would have been a bear to sand off. It was the GC who opened his mouth first, and told us he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if he left us with the stairs. So he had a pow-wow with the stair guy, who agreed to replace them. This time I sketched out in Corel Draw exactly the way I thought the stairs should be.
When we started the job, the GC offered to replace the rickety stairs to the basement for $700, new pine. I told him we’d deal with the basement after the main work was done. It struck me that these oak stairs would be an upgrade to new pine, so we offered to pay the $700 for the oak stairs installed to the basement. This way everyone got a little something. The stair guy probably breaks even, the GC makes a few bucks, and we get better stairs to the basement. In fact they have been installed and we’re in the process of varnishing them now.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/109380113
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/109380114
The new proper oak stairs were delivered. By this time the GC was in the hospital. These are gorgeous, massive stairs. I had to help the three guys get them into place.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/109380112
One little problem, however. They’re too short.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/109380110
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/109380111
The stair guy came over and suggested some smooth ways to fix them. I told him I can’t agree with anything unless the GC approved. The GC is finally out, came over last night, and we will have to have another meeting with the stair guy. That should be interesting.
January 8, 2009
Green Roof Reno: Green Roof Course at CityTech
Through City Tech's Division of Continuing Education we will be offering a course on Green Roof Design and Installation starting this January 29th at their downtown Brooklyn location.
Whether you are a DIY homeowner intrigued by the possibility of a green roof, or a future Green Roof Professional preparing for the accreditation test later this year, this course will give you the tools you need to "go green." We'll start with the basics of green roofs, and work our way into all degrees of specificity in regards to plant design and maintenance, roof membranes and drainage, and current policy and incentives.
Please follow the link below to register . . .
http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/academics/continuinged/
For City Tech's Continuing Education complete course catalog please follow the link below (green roof course listing on p.25) . . .
http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/academics/continuinged/pdf/spring09_web.pdf
Thanks and Happy New Year!
January 5, 2009
South Slope Reno: New Year's kitchen edition
We now have a almost-completed but definitely working kitchen. We are missing some trim pieces for the cabinets which Brooklyn Kitchens has promised in a week. We’ll see, because we’re still waiting for these glass shower doors, now sixteen weeks and counting. As soon as we get the trim pieces we’ll be done with Brian Ackerman except for the shower doors. If we don’t see them shortly after we’ll demand our money back and if not forthcoming sue.
Photos show the progression of the kitchen first with the counters (Caeserstone) and then the glass tile backsplash.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/kitch2
We’ve had our share of problems, all resolved or in the works. The big counter slab facing the dining room was not cut square, which I didn’t notice until after it was installed. Therefore it doesn’t overhang the cabinets properly. They’ll be back this week to rip it out and fix it. Another Brooklyn Kitchens sub-contractor. I find not being able to cut a piece of stone square to be rather appalling in this day and age.
The other fiasco was the dishwasher/waste disposal installation. The insinkerator was installed a few days before the dishwasher was hooked up, as the plumber always seems quite busy. When the dishwasher was finally connected, it wasn’t draining. Furthermore the motor was giving off a burning smell. Everyone seemed to agree (plumbers and master plumber) that there was something wrong with the washer and I called Bosch to schedule an appointment (after complaining that it was highly unlikely a defective motor would have left the factory).
Then the foreman of the main work crew (who’s not supposed to know about plumbing) wandered over and wondered out loud if the plastic tab in the insinkerator had been removed. As he explained, there’s a tab in the dishwasher inlet that needs to be removed if in fact there’s a dishwasher. I ran to my computer, downloaded the installation instructions for the insinkerator, and the foreman was correct. The tab was removed and the dishwasher is working fine.
We have a toilet and shower in the downstairs bathroom, but no sink yet. The reason is that we had to return it to Brooklyn Kitchens because it wouldn’t drop into the vanity. Because the clips were way too large and messily installed. I don’t know where Brian gets his sinks made but it seems to be somewhere local. Three sinks have had to be returned four times for repairs. Sloppy, sloppy work. Pictures when complete.
The last big piece of this job is replacing the stairs. My feng shui guru (alexstark.com) had suggested that instead of the stairs going straight to the exit doors (your money flies out the door, as it has, lol) you should bring the stairs into the living room. Because we’re keeping this as a legal two-family house, albeit using it as a one-family, we want to have the option of having the stairs go either way, so we hit on the idea of bringing the stairs to a platform, and then having the last two able to be configured into the LR or straight to the door.
The old stairs:
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/107826622
The new open stairs:
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/107826608
Cleaning up by the stairs and door.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/107826620
After a couple of minor problems, we have passed the plumbing inspection in the cellar, and are ready to finish up in the next few weeks.
November 28, 2008
South Slope Reno: Thanksgiving Edition
Making great progress on the first floor. The floors are entirely in, only to get covered with masonite to protect painting and further work.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106453885
All the photos at
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/kitchen1
Still waiting for the upstairs glass shower doors from Brian at Brooklyn Kitchens and Baths. Twelve weeks and counting.
We made it very clear to the GC that we wanted at least a stove and hood in by Thanksgiving, so we could use the dining room and the multiple ovens. We made sure that the appliances were here when needed (btw we bought all the appliances from Appliance Showroom, behind Costco’s. They met Drimmer’s prices and were a pleasure to deal with).
Here we are just finishing the taping in the DR.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106453883
We’re doing the priming and painting, so there she is, doing it up.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106453886
The raw kitchen and DR, primed.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106453887
Here’s the DR, mostly painted (BM Linen White) with the speakers installed.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106453888
We didn’t expect to have plumbing in by Thanksgiving, as plumbing inspection was Monday. Indeed, we didn’t. We didn’t think we’d have cabinets either, as they were coming from Brooklyn Kitchen as well. Given the source, we were hoping for Thanksgiving 2009. However, to our surprise, they showed up Monday and were installed Tuesday by our GC. Of course, you may be wondering where the doors are. So are we. Supposedly they had QC problems so Brooklyn Kitchens says we should have Monday or Tuesday. We’ll see.
There’s a whole sequence of photos in the main gallery showing the crew chief inspecting the kitchen cabinets. Here’s one of the better ones.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106453892
Here’s how the kitchen was on Thanksgiving (those are a couple of trim pieces posing as counters).
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106453899
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106453900
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106453901
The eagle-eyed will see the turkey in the bottom of the unplugged wine cooler, where it was placed to warm up while also being safe from the dog and cat.
We heard some people complain about these Wolf stoves. Here’s one who actually likes it!
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106453902
November 25, 2008
Greenwood Heights Backyard: The Final Day Arrives, Phase One Complete!
As the dawn of the last day rose, we were not sure that the crew would be able to finish up with only a half day's worth of "work time" left, but they had surprised us before.
On the hit list: finish up the pavers, bring in the remaining pea gravel, brush in "lock sand" into the pavers and wet it all down so, as Gaspar was fond of saying, "it'll look NICE." (overlay words with a great Canarsie accent)
The remaining pavers went down quickly with most of the more intricate "piece work" taking the bulk of the time, with the crew custom cutting shapes and slices to fit in any remaining gaps in the pattern.
Photo: Making quick work of the paver "piece work."
Photo: Final paver pattern.
Continue reading "The Final Day Arrives, Phase One Complete!"
November 17, 2008
South Slope Reno: Eye Candy Edition
We’re moving right along on the first floor. Taping and spackling. Seems to go on forever. We’re looking for a semi-functional first floor by Thanksgiving, and it seems we should make it. Plumbing inspection is a few days, which is what will make or break us.
Still waiting for the shower glass upstairs from Brooklyn Kitchens and Baths. Ten weeks and counting.
Pix here:
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/appliances
But you know you’re making progress when the eye candy shows up. In our case, that’s the 48" 6 burner Wolf stove. Six hundred fifty pounds of beauty. This is what it’s all about, baby! (And that's the refrig in the background box).
This, plus the hood, is all we need for Thanksgiving! The hood should be up any day. We were worried about the hood conflicting with the AC duct, but there’s enough room for both.
The kitchen floor is tiled and ready to go. I know a lot of folks feel wood is the way to go in a kitchen; experience tells me differently. What can we say? Photos at:
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106060127
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106060134
Meanwhile we’re moving ahead on the bathroom.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106060117
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106060133
We used more tile than we thought on the second floor bath, and the 4" square tile we need for the walls has been discontinued (we apparently used too much on the second floor). But we’ve arranged to have some 13" square tile cut down to the size we need. It will just take a few days.
The first floor has no room in the ceiling for AC ducts, unlike the second floor, so we’re doing soffits. And we’ve decided to put the air handler in the basement for the first floor. So we have some rather large ductwork happening. The supply and return ducts will be routed in the same soffit in the DR, next to the kitchen.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106060122
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106060124
Here’s the AC ducting pretty much boxed in.
http://www.pbase.com/dentontay/image/106060150
The oak floor was delivered today and should be completed in the next couple of days.
November 11, 2008
Greenwood Heights Backyard: Stone and gravel galore: days five and six.
When last we left off, the patio was poured and faced with cultured stone. We had added back into the mix the 15 foot planter box for the bamboo...the rest of the work would be to finish the install of the remaining cultured stone, add blue stone caps to the box, stairs and patio edge, layout the pathway and seating area, then bring in our reused (and some new) bluestone for stepping stones, layout the pavers on the patio...add in a final layer of pea gravel, then the crew at Your Way Contracting would be done! Here's how the two days went.
The main work yet to be done was the final grading of the yard and the layout of the 11X11 foot seating area and paths.
Photo: Bird's eye view of the work site.
Continue reading "Stone and gravel galore: days five and six."