January 6, 2008

My Favorite Things

With 2007 now over, 2008 just begun and in celebration of David Letterman being back on the air, I thought I would channel the late night talk show and write up our own Top-10 list of favorite things that we've accomplished in the reno thus far (be forewarned that this list will not be as funny as any delivered by Letterman).

10. The front double doors. When we bought the place, the locks and hardware much to be desired in terms of security and looks. We replaced them:

I love the bronze hardware and I think it will age beautifully as years go by.

We also had iron scrollwork installed over the glass, on the inside of the doors. I LOVE the way they look. It works with all the other ironwork (on the windows, the original stair rails, and the fence) and makes the doors look more substantial, without creating a jailhouse door aesthetic. Added bonus is that I can hang holiday cheer on them.

9. Our new mailboxes. I special ordered them to match the front door hardware. Silly I know--but it's the little things that make me happy. Of course, we couldn't find a new set that fit the already-exisiting hole for the old ones, so T spent a few hours building out a new mount and securing them in place.

8. Hot water heaters. There is nothing like a hot shower and I am so happy we installed two 50-gallon tanks (over the advice of our plumber, but following that of fellow brownstoners) because there is nothing like KNOWING you can take a LONG hot shower at the end of a long hard day--even when you have tenants showering at the same time. And it has made our old oil-burning furnace much more efficient; controlled by a new-ish thermostat and burner, it no longer fires constantly in order to keep water heated, but is now used only to heat the home.

7. Our home security and fire alert system. It really allows me not to fret that the building is going to burn down when we go away for the weekend. And since our 4th-floor tenants already burned a dinner that set off the system and brought out NY's Bravest in no time flat, we know both that the system works and that the FD actually responds to calls in our 'hood. Priceless.(It all happened while we were out on a Sat night, so by the time we found out about it, the whole thing was just a funny story.)

6. The nickel-finish shower we installed in what is presently our main bathroom. From Signature Hardware, this shower is a joy each and every day. I love the way it looks and I love the feeling of bathing in a warm waterfall.

5. Our new common area hall lights.

4. The completed rental apartments. The two apartments came out great and our tenants are really cool. I love the 4th-floor kitchen with the granite counter top and the breakfast bar and the way the apartment flows.

I am also really happy about the way our redesigned kitchen area came out in Apt 3.

Having tenants you like and can trust in the house makes it feel more like a home (although this may be post co-op trauma)--especially when they understand how hard you're working on the house and are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt when you tell them "uh, you won't be able to use your kitchen sink for a few days until we can get that drainpipe replaced" or "I hope to get your bedroom door mounted next week--as soon as I can find a replacement at a restoration and salvage shop." Now that the sweat equity and sweet greenbacks have been invested, we are starting to get a little something back every month--and it feels great.

3. The floors. Yay!

2. The bannister and garden-level newel post. We're still intimidated by the main-stair newel post, so it remains the last bastion of purple from the previous owners.

But we're SOOOOOO happy with the bannisters and smaller newel post, that it doesn't even matter for now. We just finished the post.

It was a project that burned each of us out on more than one occasion so it was truly a tag-team effort. We used just about every product out there--Peel Away, Citrus-Strip, Rock Miracle, Zip n Strip; with every combination of tools: pull scrapers, push scrapers, sand paper of every grade, metal brushes, fine steel wool, course steel wool, dental tools, orbital sander; and cleaned it up with after wash, denatured alcohol, and mineral spirits before sanding it and cleaning it all over again. We topped it all off with teak oil--which was downright fun to put on. The post transformed before our eyes as the wood happily drank the oil in.

A note about the teak oil, when we first began stripping the bannister for the main stairway, T was set on applying a good thick coating of poly, since those stairs are in the public hall and would potentially receive the most abuse. But after a good deal of online research and talking to a couple handymen, I convinced him that teak oil was the better way to go, since it would mean not having to strip the poly every now and again to redo the bannister, nor of having the chance of non-matching touch-ups to fix small dings and other minor infractions. With the teak oil, you need only sand the section that needs fixing and then reapply. It needs a couple coatings per year, but doing so is both quick and easy, and the wood looks amazing afterwards.

And the number one best thing we have done with the house so far is................................

1. The Banishment of the Purple Hallway (from the main hall): This is a monumental event. I think it looks just grand.

(Well, the near banishment, since the aforementioned main newel post continues to display the royal color. Ah, but his days as king of the castle are numbered...so stay tuned.)

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