We Have Arrived

Finished Brick in the evening hours

Plants in the front

Plants on the side

Silver Mound near our new downspouts 

Denver Daisies 

The brick finished during the day

Potted Perennials 

Closeups 

Closeups

For the first time in three years we can actually use our porch

The Golden Vicary will some day cover our utility vents

The Front Planted and watered

Well over the weekend we finished up all the brick siding and got a good deal of the landscaping done as well.  Amber found some excellent deals on shrubs and flowers and with the help of her parents (Dennis and Lois) transformed the otherwise terrible looking front into quite a nicely landscaped garden.  With the brick done the scaffolding got returned and we are more or less done with the place.  I say more or less because there are a few things we want to get done before the open house, and will be working on bits here and there for the next ten years, but we are ostensibly done, and it couldn't feel any better.  In fact I think that we are going to skip town for a few days over the fourth holiday and see some of the sites upper MI has to offer.  So other than the open house the big events of the renovation are done and Amber and I are looking forward to finding out what hobbies we used to/still like doing.  






#BobVila

Finish Work

Bricking The Front

Bricking The Side

Bricking the Low Side

Bricking the Back

Bookshelf with books and things on it

Lamp Installed

The Living Room Is Starting To Look Like a Living Room

Mullions Added to Half Wall

Original Grate back in action

With the open house about a month and a half out we have been trying to tie up all the tasks that have been left hanging, and get things looking presentable.  With this we finally folded because of time and it looks like we might be having a few small pieces of work contracted out so we can effectively clean, organize and get the lawn into shape before the 14th.  That being said the progress still continues some days better than others, but that is the nature of all things.  Personally it was a pretty big victory to finally put up our artwork and books on the bookcase, it really had the effect of making at least one of the rooms feel like a home and not a project space.  What I think though I am looking forward to the most is being able to hang up pictures, which is actually kind of absurd if you really think about it.  The one thing that I am looking forward to the most punches nails through fresh paint and fixed drywall...  That being said it looks like we might actually pull this thing off and have some time to enjoy life this summer.
#bobvila

Progress?

Well it saturday never seemed to get into a rhythm from the outset. I ended up getting up later than indended, then the trip to home depot for treated wood and some 2x6's killed another hour or so.  Really the "working day"  didn't get started untill around noon which is three to four hours later than a productive day starts.  The lagging trend continued throughout the day synergiseing with the weather that was less than inspiring.  The plan on the outset was to get the windows in on the ground floor porch, caulked and sealed.  In order to do that the remaining sheathing had to be put in place as well as the header boards for the window frames themselves.  This didn't seem like it was going to be an involved project and to no end of frustration took hours.  Somehow it was 4pm before we were even ready to put the wrap on the outside.  Once wrapped we were finally ready for window installation.  In the end we managed to get one installed sort of instead of the panned six entirely.  It has been foamed around the edges with "Great Stuff", but not caulked, and the trim work need to be redone and cut with an actual miter saw (yes we thought we could cut perfect 45's with a hand saw...lesson learned).  All in all though one good working day should lend itself to having all the windows put in, so next weekend onward and upward.  Hopfully then the weather will be nicer and the questionmark can be removed from Progress.

Here's to say a thousand words

...And we are all still alive.

This weekend was probably the most in depth project that has been undertaken and hopefully any following will be less dangerous. With the aid of Doug, Lynch, and Amber the addition of the house was stripped of windows and then jacked up half an inch allowing for the rotting uprights to be sawed out and replaced with built up 2x6 columns. While this reads like a small feat on paper is truly epic in person. With four clashing personalities and of course the potential for half a house (literally) to fall on us if done incorrectly. The placing of the header beams for the the jacks and the physical raising of the house is not an experience that I would like to repeat in the near future. I am glad that I did not have an idea of how poorly the porch was supported prior to getting into the jacking. Even if the original posts were completely rigid, plum, and new, there were only about half as many as should be required for the spans they were covering. Once the first one came out though when the secondary bracing was in made everyone stop and consider what in fact was holding the house up. Half of the post was rotted to to the point where it had the strength of a sponge and the remaining part was lending itself to be the habitat of thousands of carpenter ants. What it came down to is that maybe, (and I mean maybe, because they were not resting on the foundation but on floorboards) four 2x4's were holding up the sun room. It does explain why the second floor has been sagging so much though. We used two pressure treated 4"x6"x12' beams as headers for the jacking posts and while Lynch and myself braced them in the air Amber and Doug screwed the posts into place and plumbed them. The most nerve racking point of the day though was when the jacks were put under full loading, the 4x6 held next to my face was forced out of a two and a half inch bow. This cause a good deal of argument from all sides, the beams, floor joists, columns, and of course between the four of us. (Well...more of me overstepping my bounds and yelling a lot) The house did get raised though and every new column that went in the chances of the floor above crashing down became less. When the jacks were removed as it turns out there was very little pressure on them, because every post that was put in was hammered into place. So, despite the volume of our (my) foul mouthed swearing at each other (everyone else)...we did not dislodge, hit, or knock out any of the supports, bring down a house, or physically injure anyone significantly. With that said it was a soaring success of a weekend and I greatly appreciate that Doug, Amber and Lynch, put up with working with me on this project because it was not easy.

D-Day

After many months of contemplation, more than enough gumption and almost enough money to take this on, today was the first day of repairing Dee and Elizabeth DeLind's house on 2188 Hamilton rd.  Though I guess it is actually my house now and is in need of more work than I can reasonably understand at this point. For starters "repairing" today consisted of tearing out carpet and sub-flooring.

I subconsciously decided to purchase the property a few years ago before I had the means or the understanding of what needed to be done to it. Through a series of advantageous events regarding this (graduating college, getting a job, and of course the fact the place never sold) I found myself proud owner of an 1850's brick house in the heart of downtown on 1.3 acres of land. First and foremost I would like to thank my family (though I'm sure most of them will never read a "blog") for supporting me with the decision, cutting me deals, and helping finance. It is much appreciated and will probably keep me out of trouble for at least two years...

  On to day one. No better of a time to start a project than in 87 degree weather, especially if it involves removal of carpet, foam rubber, and subfloor. It went according to plan for the most part today though the plywood is old enough that the glue doesn't hold the pieces together so taking it out is a real pain in the ass.  What at this point appears to be a oak plank floor underneath will some day more than make up for it, after a quarter inch is ground down into it. Structurally the foundation, floors, and roof seem to be in excellent shape though thats about where it ends. I guess blogs should have purpose, so, this one is to document a young adult struggling to re-establish a house for the fourth generation.