Please sir, might I have some more....??

Steve & Jocelyn said meekly : "Please, sir, can we please have some more hair-raising work that needs to be done before undertaking the 2nd floor project?"

That's how it's been this week. I've had a little pit of anxiety in my stomach about this BIG project and managing the costs.

We realized that we need to address something before we renovate the upstairs. It can be done of course, but it will cost some money and since we have a finite amount, I tend to worry about running out. The posts attached to the overhead beam(seen left), which support the load bearing walls in our building are rotting and over the years the center of the building has dropped around 3/4".


We need to address this structural issue before drywalling etc... because when you lift a house, the walls can crack and things you don't want moving (like pipes) can move as a result of the lift.

Steve spoke with a company that specializes in repairing structural problems over the phone and we got two options. The ultimate fix would be to remove the wooden posts and beam, raise the building, and replace them with a steel beam and posts. That would cost a mere $11K. The second option would be to remove the rotting posts, lift the building, and replace them with new wooden posts only. That would cost about $4300.00. We asked him how long the wooden post solution would last and he said our lifetime. We are not planning to go for the steel beams. I don't think I need to explain why.

Interestingly though, Steve was watching This Old House this morning and they had a segment on doing this exact replacement project with steel beams and posts. Granted the episode might have been a few years old, but on the show the price tag for steel replacement was only $2000.00. We don't know what to think now. We have to get some more quotes I guess.

In addition to this issue, we discovered that the power coming into the building is only 100 amps and by today's standards, we need 200 amps. Added cost: $3000K.

Then yesterday, we met with a plumber (the fun just never stops) and he presented to us a number of upgrades that would need to be done to reach code requirements for a multi-unit building: Replace the hot/cold piping with 1" (current 3/4" and they are only about 3 years old), install booster pump (helps water pressure to 2nd floor), replace bathroom stack (drain) and connections, and add a dedicated drain for the d/w. Estimated cost $9K-$12K. I've decided I hate City of Chicago building codes.

We asked the guy for a written quote and he said that he would not provide a quote until we hired him, which Steve thought was ridiculous. How can we compare quotes without having one?
So yesterday, we literally spent all day with an excel spreadsheet and going over quotes and budget crunching numbers to come up with decisions for this project. We just can't do everything that could be done on the building at this time. We're doing alot, but we can't do it all! And, I want to make sure we have some money left for our apartment for the den remodel and the floors to be refinished. One thing we had to cut was the rooftop heating/cooling system. But we figure later on we can go with Unico and we love our radiators anyway. We are also holding off on touching plumbing. We will deal with opening a few walls if we have to in the next few years. Blood from a turnip- say no more.

It was painful, but we came to some decisions yesterday. This is probably the most angst I've had since I last conducted a job search a few years ago. During the meeting with the plumber I felt like hyperventilating but I kept myself under control. I have to admit that dealing with this project has made me a tad short tempered, which I don't really like but kind of can't help.
But, the good news is: Steve and I mostly agree about what is most important and what we want to do now and we have a budget that we can live with.

Today, we're going to look at some projects of one of the guys we are considering hiring. He seems pretty good and we may go with him.

This coming week, we will be hiring an asbestos abatement company to come in and get this stuff out of our basement. It seems some of the support beams have pipes going through them (God knows why) and working with them will disturb the asbestos. It will be a good thing to get this stuff out of the building for good anyway! Some of it kind of crumbly as you can see in the below photos. Scary!

Comparing Quotes- 2nd Floor Project

The moment of truth has come- we have quotes to compare! According to all the experts, you are supposed to get at least 3 quotes for a big job like ours. They also recommend not selecting the least expensive one.

We've met with more companies than that, but we only have 2 quotes so far. These quotes are from people that have been in business for less than 7 years, but have at least 10 years experience. One of the guys is arranging for us to inspect some of his finished work. One is the renovation of an old home maintaining the original trim. The other is new construction. We are most concerned about reusing the trim because as anyone who had drywalled where once there was plaster knows, this is a bit tricky.

We are pretty much serving as our own contractor on this job. Steve and I together make up that contractor. I am responsible for sourcing and purchasing most of the finishes in the apartment: cabinets, lighting, appliances etc... Steve will monitor the job site daily as he works from home. He will also be building a medicine cabinet (he says) and shelving for over the kitchen sink identical to ours.

Next step is to get some trim test stripped by the guy who quoted us $1/per foot. We are going to remove some from the den in our unit and use that since we can't very well remove trim while the tenants are upstairs still. And we are going to Home Depot to have the kitchen cabinet configuation mapped on their computer.

Speaking of the tenants,this morning when I opened the front door, I found a crumpled up piece of paper on the floor. Of course, I picked it up and uncrumpled it to see what it was. Turns out it was the acceptance note we had given to each tenant upstairs stating we accepted their early termination. So, someone is mad- At least it's not me this time!

Tapestry Tile

As promised, photos of the framed Motawi tile we bought last weekend. It's called Tapestry and it's a nice addition to our dining room.

As far as house projects, we worked on our extremely long to-do list for the 2nd floor project. I feel better now that we have decided to simplify it a bit.

Does anyone else read Old House Journal and moon over the stunning historic homes in the back of the magazine? Some of them are quite a steal compared to Chicago market prices.

Sometimes I think about selling this place someday and buying one of them. Maybe when we retire...

What to do with all that money?

We all wish we had this problem right? Well, maybe sometimes. Steve and I are re-evaluating our plans for the 2nd floor rental unit remodel. Things kind of came to a head this week when we were talking to a heating contractor who said that a $1500 permit was required to block off the street and hoist our proposed roof-top heating and cooling unit onto the roof. Oh, and mechanical drawings are required and the city is VERY stringent about roof-top units because of some unfortunate incidents where units were installed below code and collapsed on some firefighters-very bad. This could cause delays in getting a permit.

Steve mentioned extending the tenant's lease. Yes, he actually did this. I'm sure you can imagine my reaction.

I started thinking that we should step back a bit and simplify our plans. Maybe we'll keep the Cadillac of heating for now (radiant heat) and get a portable a/c for the unit. We have so many other things that need to be done, it just seems unbalanced to put everything into a rental unit.
Cutting out the heating and cooling system will save us a bundle.

So, this weekend we are assessing our plans. We have a few quotes and some more coming so that part is coming along. We found a few guys on Angie's List that seem okay. Of course, we'll check their references etc...

This is by far the biggest project we've worked on. I find it much more manageable when we do the work because it goes slow and doesn't seem as risky as trusting contractors. Isn't that sad in a way? You hear/read so many horror stories, it's quite disconcerting.

We are planning to hang up our beautiful new framed Motawi tile so I'll be sure to post that when we do.

We've been to the mountain

and we have seen the light!

Actually, we went to the Motawi tile factory in Ann Arbor.

All together now, "we're not worthy!" and again, "we're not worthy!"

Their tile is so beautiful and much more amazing in person. In case you don't know, we put a few of their tiles in our kitchen as accent tile.

Here's a close up of one of the tiles we used. Each one of these 6"x 6" tiles was around $35.00...

but in the back of the store, there is the factory and also a room with much coveted over runs. The over runs are about half price.

We picked up one more like this one to use for the 2nd floor kitchen rental unit. How many rentals have this kind of detail- not many that I've seen. Now if we can just find some nice appreciate folks to move in!


...just imagine doing a whole fireplace. wow.


Here are some shots of the inside of the store/factory. They sell framed tiles with quarter sawn oak frames. I took part of my tax refund and bought one. I just couldn't not.

We were visiting Steve's family in Ann Arbor and made time for a a little excursion. We also found a cool store that sells Edward Curtis photos but these were a bit pricey for us at this point.


Here's another shot of the store...



I bought a Motawi T-shirt. What can I say? I'm a Motawi groupie.



Now all together again, "ahh .....Motawi...."

This is a must visit for arts and crafts lovers anywhere near Ann Arbor.
Handmade beea-utiful tile!

I don't think May 31st will be soon enough

Almost midnight and for over an hour someone has been walking around upstairs over my head. I couldn't imagine who since Thadeus in Africa. I'll have to tell him someone's been rifling through his things when he returns. yeah right.

I just came back from upstairs. Youjay says, "what noise do you hear? Come in and see."

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. Some bimbo girl WHO DOES NOT EVEN LIVE HERE opened the door to Thadeus' room with frigging high heels on. She looks out at me, cell phone hanging from her ear.

I said, "She has been walking around with high heels on."
She says, "I just out them on. I'll take them off."
I said, "I've been listening to you for over an hour and a half since I went to bed."
I said, "You do not even live here. I do not know what it is going to take to get through to you guys."

Youjay said, "The best thing is just to leave," and closed the door.

There's still alot left unsaid. I have a phone appt. with an attorney on Sunday.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

a letter from Thadeus was outside our door this evening...it was a nice letter. It was a letter that almost made me regret my hard feelings, but then I'm only a human who needs her sleep and likes peace and quiet when she's at rest, which isn't too often.

It started like this...

Dear Steve and Jocelyn,
I'm deeply sorry for all the inconveniences we may have caused you. It is not intentional nor an act of defiance from any one of us.

It continued on and I won't put the whole letter here because I'd feel like that was mean. I was raised Catholic so for causing anyone bad feelings I feel bad --but not that bad because they have upset me alot and I am right now listening to them walk around all night tonight again.
You just can't ask people not to walk around but I have examined our walking patterns and we just don't move around like they do. We sit at a desk or on a couch and get up occasionally. Up there it's like they are walking back and forth constantly for like 30 minutes straight and I'm not kidding. And then there's the running....

The best part of the letter was when he wrote that they have decided to move out at the end of May. I wish it was sooner, but maybe they want time to save money. I don't want to look this gift horse in the mouth.

The end is in sight anyway. And we have a tenant-free summer to look forward to.

Angie's List

We are at the point now where we need to get quotes for the work upstairs. We have asked around and gotten a few referrals, but it wasn't enough. So, we decided to consult Angie's List.

I wonder if any of you have ever used this resource? If so, we'd be interested to hear about your experiences.

It's a national site, so many of you could use it in your area. They have a Quick Tour on the site that kind of gives you the low down. I know many of us are DIYers but there are times when you need outside help! ...except for Gary of course :o)

This week Steve contacted 5 general contractors with "A" reviews on Angie's List. We got 3 return calls within 2 days and 3 appointments set. I think this is pretty darn good compared to past experience. Maybe it's because this is a pretty good sized job.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Angry Steve

I woke up last night at about 1am and I heard strange noises...
As I came out of my slumber, I realized it was Steve talking to someone.
At first I thought he was sleep walking/talking.
As I started to become more awake sitting up in bed in the dark,
I realized he was talking to Thadeus!

It seems that Thadeus had pulled one of his Thursday night walkathons
over our bedroom and Steve's sleep was disturbed for about an hour.
I had slept through it this time, but Steve, he had had it about up to his eyeballs.

Many times we've laid in bed staring up at the ceiling wondering what on earth he could be doing at 1am in the morning walking back and forth opening drawers and just basically walking around and around a 10'x11' room.

Well, last night we got an answer, but we don't believe it. See what you think.

Steve calling Thadeus....

Thadeus: Hello?
Steve: (read extreme accusatory tone here) What are YOU DOING???
Thadeus: Steve, I don't think that's an appropriate question.
Steve: It's 1:00 in the morning. What could you possibly be doing?
Thadeus: I'm studying.
Steve: Well, what do you have a book in your hand and walk around? I thought people sat in a desk to study.
Thadeus: Well, do you want me to walk on air?
Steve: Can't you at least take your shoes off?
Thadeus: I don't have any shoes on. You want to come up and see for yourself?
Steve: No. The point is that from 10pm until 7am there shall be no noise in the building that disturbs any other tenants as outlined by the Chicago Multi-unit Noise Ordinance and that is to benefit both of us. And that is in your lease- read your lease.
Thadeus: blah blah I work nights blah blah Eugene leaves for work at 3am blah blah. I don't complain that the garage door is frozen shut.
Steve: Well, when you have freezing rain, which happens occasionally, sometimes locks are frozen. We can't control the weather. You should tell us when the lock is frozen and we'll de-ice it.
(My feeling is that if it were me renting the garage, I'd keep some de-icer on hand but then I'm a DIYer)
Thadeus: I don't complain when your dogs are barking.
Steve: Well out dogs don't bark after 10pm at night. And we're working on training them.
Thadeus: Well I guess it's probably not appropriate that my Mother and her 3 young adopted children who are moving to the US should move in upstairs?
(Steve is thinking in the back of his mind they have no legal right to move in)
Steve: You're absolutely right Thadeus. The building cannot support that level of usage.
(If you recall, when they had 6 people over there during the holidays, the toilet backed up several times and the plumber was out twice)
Thadeus: I guess I will have to move out early because they are coming here.
Steve: Well we have a rider in your lease and we can discuss a specific time later.

We just flat out don't believe he was "studying". You sit still when you're studying. The problem here is that we and they are on completely different schedules. Not to mention, I don't know when this guy ever sleeps. I think he's sleep deprived. He gets in all these car accidents, which to me indicates sleep deprivation.

This is great news though IF THEY ALL LEAVE. We have to see about getting them ALL out.
If not, we'll have to serve 30 day notices to the other occupants who are not on the lease and maybe even evict them. But we have both decided that if Thadeus leaves- they are all out no matter if we have to evict them or not. The other 2 living up there are less considerate than Thadeus in general and less responsible. Oh what fun.

Weekend in Connecticut

I made my trip to see my new nephew Ciaran (pronounced "Keer-ran") this past weekend. I got trapped in CT due to the storm. It sure was pretty though.

Ciaran is a gailic name in case anyone's interested. It means "little champion". Can you tell my sister and her husband are both Irish and competitive cyclists and one a former rower at that.

No surprise we watched the Olympics all weekend. Gosh those athletes are all so good looking in an all-American-type way- it's really kind of an oddity.


Here's the proud auntie with the little cutie pie.

I know I shouldn't put political commentary on this blog (I try to avoid that since we have such a harmonious scene here) but I can't resist saying that although I'm sorry the man was shot, I am really enjoying all the Cheney jokes and the fact that the man might actually be forced to explain something to the public and the press. It just kills me because it really seems like the last thing he would ever want to do.

More on the house later!

The entry- Teamwork & Trimwork

Yesterday Steve and I worked on installing trim in the entry. We are probably about 2/3 of the way done. We were lucky because most everything went up nicely.

As I've said before this room is pretty small, so it's hard to get really good photos. We are planning to add 2 vertical pieces of oak on that wall, which will match the opposite wall.
The past few weekends Steve had rebuilt the framing around the side windows because it was not built properly in the first place. The thickness wasn't level with the outside wall and it didn't look seamless. A minor detail, but these are the details homeowners tend to be willing to address as opposed to when this building was entirely a rental.

Since he finished that we were able to install the trim.



Here's the same side of the room before demolition. What we have left to do are some of the horizontal pieces of trim that frame the room and the vertical decorative design and a few pieces of baseboard and one piece around the front door.

I felt SO HAPPY to get the room to this point. It takes a while, but it practically brings a tear to my eye to see things come to fruition.

I demoed the room around mid-June. And progress slowed to a halt over the holidays. My motto is it may take a while, but it's not a race and what matters is that you make it to the finish line with panache. That has to be my motto because these projects take us a while and we learn as we go.



Here's a couple more shots of the room when I first took the wallpaper off and now.

The void being filled

As you can see at left, I finally was able to satisfy my need for removing paint from wood. As I stood heat gun in left hand, scraper in right hand, feeling the burn in my forearms after a few hours, I thought to myself,"I missed.......this???"

I tarped off the room and had a fan blowing the air out to keep the fumes down, but I didn't wear a dust mask. Therefore, last night I kept smelling melting paint even though the work was long over with. My eyes got a little irritated too, but not bad.

But, I did manage to expose some nice oak! It adds so much definition to the room. The colors underneath the layers of whitish paint were in this order going back in time: lilac, baby blue, a dullish green, yellow, tan, and then finally and blessedly: shellac. God bless shellac for its protective barrier.


The stickers to the left are on the door in the den that leads to the basement. They are on the inside facing the basement. We think they are kind of interesting and plan to keep them when we clean up the door. We have no idea how old they are. They look kind of old.

I just now googled "The Culpeper Minute Men" to see if I could find some info and lo and behold I did. Culpeper is evidently a very historic place in Virginia and their militia were called "The Culpeper Minute Men." The top sticker is a replica of their flag. They were attached to the First Virginia Regiment, led by Colonel Patrick Henry, who is famous for his statement, "Give me liberty or give me death!" One of their members, John Jameson was instrumental in exposing Benedict Arnold, whom we've all heard of.

Replicas of this flag are sold on a number of sites on the web.
Interesting.....

It's official

We have had our property downzoned from B-3 to RS-3.5. For those of you who don't speak Chicago Zoning Codes, this means that our property and our neighbor's property are now zoned for a single family or two-flat and cannot be leveled to build monster condos.

The former B-3 zoning was actually a business zoning, which would allow a building to be built from property line to property line- right up to the curb. We had visions of some monster condo being built where Mark's house is and right up to the property line. Now, this can't happen and we have made an effort to preserve our building and our neighbor's.

Now, If I can just get them to put that Stop Sign in.

Help Wanted

Putting a call out for referrals in the Chicago area. We are in need of some outside help for the 2nd floor gut rehab.

Steve has been working on drawing up the plans to get the required city permits, which will involve moving a wall here and there to make for a larger master bedroom. Truth be told, even this larger bedroom still doesn't seem big enough to deserve the word "master." What's up with that terminology anyway? It sounds like a plantation house or something. That has never occurred to me before- how strange. Anyone know anything about the etymology of this term? (Holy tangent!)

Back to business. We are looking for a few good men (or women) tradespeople with rough and finish carpentry skills to frame out and drywall the upstairs as well as put the trim back in so that it looks (ejem) good.

If you have any referrals, we would love 'em. We need to get some competitive quotes for this job. We've gotten one decent quote, but we know we need to get at least three.

We have already gotten quotes on the roof replacement, tuckpointing, heating & cooling, and electrical work. We are planning to do some things ourselves such as painting and tiling and probably some finish carpentry.

The void continues

Sigh. Warning. Don't read this post if you abhor whining. Work was so busy this week that I stayed late every night and was slammed from the moment I came in the door. I even went home one night and spent 45 minutes responding to emails I couldn't get to during the day due to being so busy.

At work: Someone had a baby, someone else quit with one week's notice, and someone else just walked out in mid-December. We hired three new people, but they are new so can't do that much.

I am pooped and so I'm not stripping wood this weekend. Now, a normal person would be happy about this, but not me! And on top of this, Steve hurt his arm (God knows how) and is sleeping on the couch. Now a normal person might see their boyfriend sleeping on the couch and be like "Oh, how sweet." But not me. I am like, "He should be working -look at all we have to do- we haven't finished anything in months- blasted holidays damn winter- damn it all." Fortunately, I am able to keep these thoughts to myself for the most part.

I am going to a yoga class now and hopefully this will improve my mood.

It's important to document this part of the restoration process of our home as it is definitely a very real element.

The void

Okay, I am now experiencing "the void" that is me not working on house projects. Yes, I'm taking a yoga class, and reading some good books, and I enjoyed the holidays, and my sister had her baby and I'm planning a trip there in a few weeks to meet the little fellow.

But I have that itch to pull out the heat gun and start removing paint on the remaining painted trim or rent a Silent Paint Remover from Clark-Devon hardware and strip a painted door. Or have a bookcase made to order or something. And yes, I've been trolling eBay too but haven't found anything of interest so far.

The problem is I prefer to avoid lead particles floating throughout the house. Oh, I could strip a door in the basement I suppose, but I prefer to work outdoors. And it's just too chilly for that.

So today, I baked cookies and did laundry while Steve is working on the entry trimwork using our trusty new Power Planer. I lent my Mom my camera for her visit with my new nephew so no pictures I'm afraid.

Maybe next weekend I can start something. I do have a turkey in the freezer that needs cooking too...

Recycling Your Christmas Tree

The City of Chicago will mulch your x-mas tree for free, but of course you have to bring it to the site and bring the mulch back home. Since we don't have a pick-up truck or even a car, I came up with another way to re-use our tree this year.

Ingredients:
x-mas tree past its prime
stale bread
peanut butter
apples and oranges
wild bird seed mixture
niger seed
suet bar
pot for planting
backyard


Recipe:
Cut off the lower branches of the tree so it fits into the pot. Dig a shallow hole to rest the pot in so it doesn't (hopefully) blow over.

Spead peanut butter on bread and dip into bird seeds. Shove pieces of bread and fruit into the recesses of the tree. Hang a suet bar.

Optional: use trimmed boughs around the tree for more bird shelter.

Should result in a virtual fiesta for the neighborhood birds and somewhat ease the conscience of those guilt about wasting a perfectly lovely tree!

Look who got a new power tool!

With the demise of our neighborhood wood shop, Steve has been taxed when it comes to projects. He used to be able to walk 4 blocks to the shop carrying a few boards, run them through the band saw etc... and walk back home and install them. Now, the nearest wood shop is a 20 minute car ride away and we don't have a car so that makes it even more of a challenge.

We haven't been able to finish the entry trim work because Steve hasn't had time to get to the wood shop. We figured out a solution though. No we haven't bought a table saw. That would be about $2K for the quality Steve would need for his projects.

We got a power planer. To be specific we got a Bosch 1594K 3-1/4" Planer Kit with a Bosch VAC002 Adapter 35mm-1 1/4" . We read reviews on Amazon and I had remembered reading about House in Progress buying a planer for their trim work sometime recently and we saw that they chose the Bosch as well. So we're in good company. We bought the shop vac attachment in case we do this inside and to minimize the wood shreds everywhere.

There were mostly positive reviews on Amazon. A few reviewers criticized the fence saying it was shoddy and the fact that the hose attachment did not come with the unit. Some others said that the fence was good though. We will find out for ourselves soon enough. If we have any problems or good things to say, you'll hear about it right here of course.

Now Steve can plane down the boards to whatever size we need and we can finish the trim. Now if only the wood shop would reopen. I'm hoping Greg's fairies can help us with this one.

Everyone together now, "I believe in fairies , I believe in fairies ..." You know you do. Maybe the fairies can take our tenants away to NeverNeverLand too...

Would you throw this away?

I decided to share this little anecdotal story about our tenants on the blog after telling my Dad the story last night. When Steve relayed it to me, I just laughed at the absurdity.

As you know we had a toilet overflow upstairs and pour water down into our unit. Steve was pretty mad because he feels that for a toilet to overflow like that, it had to be acting up for a while and they didn't say anything. Plus, he blames the fact that they treat this place like a flophouse and always have friends coming and going, which is true. So far, we see no apparent damage to our ceiling or walls, but time will tell.

Since then, we've had a plumber out twice to snake out their toilet ($50 a pop)and then Saturday it was acting up again and Thadeus came down to let us know. We had bought them a plunger right after the first incident because the one they had was totally useless. Steve also showed them how to shut the water off on the toilet in case it ever happened again.

Well, Saturday when Steve went upstairs to plunge the toilet, the following conversation ensued:
Steve: Where is the plunger?
Thadeus: We threw it away.
Steve: Why would you throw it away?
Thadeus: It had feces on it.
Steve: I can't believe you threw that away. We bought that for you. You could have taken it in the basement and rinsed it off. I can't believe you threw that away.
Thadeus: Oh, we will buy another one.

Honestly, I don't think they have the stomach or wherewithal to really plunge a toilet. What's so funny to me is that they have no problem leaving food around, attracting rodents and leaving milk to sour and stink up the back porch, etc...but they can't plunge a toilet and problem solve enough to think how to clean off a plunger. Maybe rinse it in the toilet after you've plunged it?

No, to them a plunger is like toilet paper (which also touches the dreaded feces) and must be thrown away.

Life as a House

Looking back on this year, I could come up a really long list of all the minutae that we have completed, but then I've covered most of it on the blog. The main acheivements (on the house) this year were (of course) finishing the kitchen and almost finishing the vestibule/entry.

We still have the pantry to do, but it is working okay as is for the time being. In the entry, we have the following left to do: install remaining trim and fix the interior lock on 2nd floor entry door. Not too much really to do there.

I don't really think about how much faster this work could be done if we paid someone because quite frankly, we didn't want to do that. We just refinanced and are using that money to renovate our rental unit upstairs. The jist of our whole strategy is this: If we do as much work ourselves as we can, we will be able to afford a nicer home with more expensive and high quality accoutrements than if we used that money to pay someone else to do the job. In any case, half the time the work we see paid tradesman do is sub-par compared to what we are able to do ourselves. We take a while to do it, but when it's done, it's done right.

This is going be a banner year for us. We have plans to have the building tuckpointed, a new roof put on, the upstairs completely renovated and tackle the den/office in our house, which is the one room that has not been touched at all. I am very optimistic that we will have the floors refinished in our home as well, which will bring things to a very finished state. Oh, and we will be rid of those pesky tenants to boot.

And having the bulk of the work behind us will enable us to do something we haven't gotten around to, get married! Ever since Steve and I met, we've been working on this place. Most people get married and then get a house and work on it. To us, the need of the house was more pressing than our need to make our union official. It would be different if either of us seemed unwilling to marry the other- but that just is not the case.

I come from a pretty untraditional family (in some ways) and I get pretty much zero pressure from anyone to get married or do anything in particular except maybe take a yoga class once in a while. Steve's Mom has brought up the subject in a mildly exasperated tone. "When are you guys going to get married?" but we don't see her too often as she lives out of state.

I have to admit my response to any pressure is to rebel especially because me and Steve are already totally committed to each other and being married is merely a formality in my mind.
I didn't used to be this way. When I was younger I planned to be married by 23, and have kids at 27. But what did I know back then? As time has gone on, a big wedding, dress, and event has just grown passe to me. Sigh. But hey, it will cost less this way.

I know we will be working on our home for years to come. It's what we both enjoy doing. And when we finally do get married, we will come home from our honeymoon to a place that we both love being in- a place that represents the fullfillment of our dreams. Home is truly where our hearts are-- (as if that isn't obvious by now).

Happy New Year to everyone and I hope your dreams continue to come true in 2006!

Holiday Recap

I've been off work this week and I made a conscious decision to not work on the house. It doesn't make for an exciting blog entry or give me the gratification that getting work done does, but it pays off dividends when I return to "house" work with new zeal and energy.



So, what did we do this week? Went out to for some nice dinners, hit the annual clearance at Anthropologie and REI. Spent time with Mom and Dad & Dave. Went to see Brokeback Mountain and going to see David Sedaris' "Santaland Diaries" tonight. Took some good long walks and actually tried that yoga class I've been meaning to get to for a long while.




One of us got a new 1/4" chisel from Woodcraft this year- guess who? But my most exciting gift is a new Web Camera. The reason for this camera is so I can keep in touch with my sister in CT and her husband and new baby. You see, I am about to become an auntie!

New Year's we like to be very low key. As I've said before I cannot abide expectations of certain days and I just feel like everyone expects too much out of these days we designate as holidays sometimes. This year I did really well and kept an even keel and just relaxed. Another benefit of not pushing myself to work on the house amidst the festivities.

We got a Honey Baked Ham for x-mas dinner and have been eating it all week. And I've been savoring the chocolates from Anderson's Candies that we get from my Dad every year.

Tomorrow, we do plan to work on finishing the entry trim, so we are doing a little bit. I am going to work on a recap of the year like I've seen HiP do. I think it's a great idea to look back at what's been accomplished in the previous year. It's so easy to just keep looking at what needs still to be done.

I am planning to do a recap on installing the new front door lock as well- just haven't been online much this week. That's it for now!

We wish you a Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year!

Best wishes from Chicago 2-Flat!

The above photo is of my Dad circa 1938.

The crew is illin'

First it was me coming down with a cold/flu on Friday night. Must have been the damp.
Now it's Steve with the same thing. I hope for his sake he doesn't get it as bad as me. It's amazing how one can blow one's nose every 30 seconds all day long.

I am from the school of no suppressants and suffer through to get better faster so 2 days this week at work I renamed myself "sniffy". If you're going to be all gross at work, some self-deprecating humour never hurts.

As you can see, not much work will be happening here till after x-mas. But then, this gives us a chance to just enjoy our house, which is after all, what we are all working so hard for isn't it?

I know I've mentioned before that it's hard for "people like us" to just relax and enjoy the house. When we are not working, we tend to start thinking of things we need or can do to improve the house and its furnishings. The list of furniture for Steve to make keeps growing. We need that wood shop to reopen! I wish we could make a wood shop here, but we still have the upstairs to do and money for that project but not for a woodshop right now.

C'est la vie!

The miracle door

I feel pretty sure many out there can relate to this one. You know how we are all so often busy mired in a BIG project? Sometimes those little things fall by the wayside.

Take the inside front door to our home. It's never shut properly ever since Steve moved in here in 1999. It just hasn't been catching. So you'd have the juggle the handle and try and get it to catch. Or else you'd have to have the deadbolt activated and then the tendency was to lock oneself out while accepting a pizza delivery while little naughty dogs bark like mad on the inside.

Well, this past weekend, Steve disassembled it and simply oiled it and voila- perfect functionality. They sure made things to last as this lock is as old as the house and works with a skeleton key, which we don't use. We use the deadbolt for security. But now, we can disable it and still shut the door.

That's why I call it a miracle door. If only every ill could be cured as easily with some WD-40.

The whole situation with the door reminds me of the part in "It's a Wonderful Life" where Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey keeps pulling off that knob on his staircase and wants to throw it when he gets mad. That is just too true.

We watched the movie on Saturday night. I noticed something different this time. Notice how Mary falls in love with that old house? And notice what happens to the house in the world where George was "never born"? The house falls into ruin. And wasn't the world in that movie a better place with George, Martini's bar, Bailey Park, and that beautiful old house?

Funny, how I never noticed that part of the movie so much before.

Here's our tree all lit up.... and here's my favorite Santa figure greeting people as they come to the door.

a little holiday cheer

I did get the tree up this week and this is the first tree we've ever had here at Chicago 2-flat! We've always been too busy with projects to take time and have a tree so this is a very nice thing.

I have to admit that there is a part of me that loves the tree, etc... but also I tend to be anti-holiday. I don't like the pressure of having to do all these extra things, go to parties etc... I am such a wimp when it comes to social obligations- I seem to just like a quiet little life with occasional social engagements.

Plus, I come from a divorced family and they say that the split family can make holidays more challenging. I also tend to put pressure on myself to make everything "perfect" and get overwhelmed- but it gets better as I get older.


Okay, now that you know about all my holiday neuroses, how about that tree?

p.s. The plumber came and went and everything seems to be okay right now. It was just a clogged toilet it seems. That bathroom on the 2nd floor is so ready for a rehab.

Oh my God

We had an "Oh my God" moment last night and it wasn't a good one. I was walking through the dining room towards the kitchen and I heard water- like a heavy rain sound in the house- not good.

I got to the hallway and saw water pouring out of the spaces between the trim over the bathroom door. Our tenants toilet had backed up and overflowed. Steve ran right upstairs and turned off the water. Then out came the mop and bucket and towels.

Fortunately, I was too tired to get upset and besides what can you do other than clean it up and call a plumber and pray the water came straight through and didn't damage the ceiling too much? Sigh.

Of course when you have tenants like ours, the first thing you think is "what did they put down the toilet?" or "How long has thier toilet been acting up and they didn't tell us?"

Steve plunged it last night and it was okay, but we got a call from Thadeus today saying it was filling up with water again- it's clogged. We called a plumber because we don't have a good snake for this job.

I feel kind of depressed about this happening, so I'm watching Turner Classic Movies today and not working. The plumber just came and he's up there now.

Got snow?

we do!

Basement Re-org

We had tidied up the basement a few weeks ago, but there was still no work space, which put us in a bad spot since we can't really work outdoors anymore as it's like 20 degrees out.

Also, we had all this wood for the pantry that has been sitting in one spot for months and it needed to be flipped over to prevent it from warping. We moved the wood onto 2x4s in another part of the basement so now there is a work space for us.

The pantry has been delayed because of the entry project but also because of the local wood shop closing. It's more of an undertaking to get to Lincoln Park for Steve and we have to rent a van to bring the wood there etc... It's coming soon though.

I am really excited to have this little work area now. Today I sanded the shoe moulding, hit it with linseed oil and a coat of stain. See below photo.

The shoe moulding is for the kitchen and the entry.
It's about the last thing to go into the kitchen. We still have some odds and ends such as nailing the moulding down permanently. It's just tacked on with minimal nails right now. No, it won't fall off, but it's not nailed on like it's meant to be there for the next 100 years like it was when we removed that. Ever try and remove trim that's been in place for 100 years? It's like -petrified.

Anyway, we have that and a few thresholds to put back and that's it. Oh, and readjusting the hinges on the swing door. And that's besides Steve's furniture projects in there which include a plate rack, work table, and the pantry.

Still plenty of good things to come in that part of the house.

I can't believe how happy this basement re-org made me. Nothing like getting more usable space I guess.

Today, Steve was installing a new entry lock on our front door. This one will work with the strikes we got for our entry system. I'll post about that tomorrow! He's still working and it's almost 6pm. We need to be able to lock the door before we go to bed at least.

Looking for love

No it's not me, it's this house. It needs a new and loving owner to bring it back to it's former pinnacle of homey-ness and grandeur.

Look at those columns! and those brackets! and those round eyehole windows! And that lovely huge pine tree!

This house is in my neighborhood and up for sale. It was actually featured in one of my previous posts as part of the The Good , The Bad , and The Ugly series. It was featured in The Ugly because it's "ugly" when an architectural beauty such as this is allowed to let herself go or rather her owners let her go.

Of course, I'm concerned about it being torn down and having something much more ordinary minus the sense of history replace it.

When you read the listing on Century 21's website, you can understand why I'd be concerned. They call it a "Developer's Dream!!!" (their emphasis not mine).

I already posted about it and the house next to it on my other blog and wrote to one of my contacts at the Alderman's office to see if he knows anything. Nothing is going to happen for a while as the ground is frozen at this point and developers move slower in the winter, but I'm keeping my eye on this one.

Getting quotes

We have secured our financing for the upstairs renovation. We close next week- now all we have to do is get permits and get the tenants out-ha-ha.

Seriously, we aren't sure what we will do about the tenants. I've started writing on the calender every night that they disturb our sleep. Yes, it's getting that bad folks. We are going to get some area rugs and put them in the bedroom above ours. I wrote them a long emphatic note that I gave them on Saturday also. We also consulted a real estate attorney about what we would need to do to get them out legally.

Some here have suggested bribing them to leave, but I think that it would take more than one month's rent and then the apartment isn't rentable in it's current state. We may just have to "go zen" and deal with them for a while. I really need to grow more spiritually anyway- you know?

We are getting quotes now for the upstairs work and we will be commencing getting the permits. I'm sure I'll have a story or two about that. Dealing with the City of Chicago buerocracy should be interesting. We've just seen way too many "Stop Work Order" signs around here to even risk not getting permits.

We know someone in our neighborhood who completely gutted their frame home and she drew all her own plans and got it approved. We are going to talk with her and a few others before submitting our plans. Permits must be issued for the electrical, plumbing, and heating and we have to hire licensed contractors for these trades.

Anyway, I haven't really posted about the whole upstairs project much, but we've been working on it quite a bit.

The Big Reveal

Well, it isn't a reveal for the readers of this blog because you've seen our kitchen. But this weekend was the big reveal for Steve's parents, sister & niece and my sister and her husband, who hadn't seen our kitchen for over a year.

Steve's parents are the best audience for our work- I love when they come. They notice every little detail and they like our taste. It's probably because they are do-ers and do-it-yourselfers themselves and they know what goes into doing the work that they appreciate it so much. Plus, they are among the select few that have seen this place before anything was done to improve it. They saw it in its raw state needing of much TLC. Steve said when his Mom came here and saw this place, she said "You paid way too much for this place!" They thought he was crazy and they prayed for him to get a girlfriend. Then, I came along and signed up for the work camp and the rest is history.

We all had Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom's house. It was definitely a group effort as far as the cooking goes. After Wednesday night, which I spent peeling and chopping more root vegetables than I care to count, I had the realization that somewhere in the 3rd circle of hell people are peeling acorn sqaush. But the dinner was great and it gave me a very warm feeling to have both Steve's family and mine together and having a good time.

Alot to be grateful for really!

The report

Well, our Field Trip to the Student Sale at the Art Institute was a success. The prices are unbelievable and there is alot of great work. Next year we will definitely pay the $50 for the Preview Night as we were told by many students that 30% of the work sells on that night. I am happy that we've found a solution to Steve's "only original works of art may adorn our walls" aesthetic.

Above is a monoprint we purchased for $30. We also bought a small oil study of a seated nude for $30 and an ink line drawing for about $15. It was really nice to interact with these young artists too. You get the feeling this is their first time selling their work or at least one of the first times and they feel good that people want it. Maybe I'm just reading into it, but I'd imagine that's how I would feel if people wanted to buy things I made.

Last night we hung some pictures in our bedroom, including the oil painting. Steve is going to make frames for all three pieces, which will save alot of money. Framing is quite costly we have found. I like the look of a full wall of small framed works and am starting to realize how costly that can be if professionally framed.

Of course, once we hung all the pictures, I thought how nice a long table would look along that wall and then we could put some small lamps on it and store books on the shelves underneath the table. It's amazing the way one project just leads to another and then another. Times like this, I wish I could make it stop and just be satisfied. I feel fated for being featured in a magazine like "Renovation Style" or something, with a storyline like this, "Jocelyn and Steve have been painstakingly restoring their Chicago 2-flat for about 10 years..." The fact that I think this way proves that I am truly doomed!

Today we are going back to Jan's Antiques to help my Mom find some hardware for a headboard she bought at a yard sale. And we are going to pick up some old screws because we never have enough. I'll bring my camera and take a few photos of Jan's place. It's pretty amazing.

Above is the "picture-hanging" we did last night in our bedroom.

You can see the oil painting we bought on the left.

Field Trip!

Today we're going on a field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago. Our main objective is not to visit the museum itself though. Rather, we are continuing our ongoing quest for artwork and checking out their student art sale.

When you aren't made of money, you have to get creative. Who knows? Maybe one of these students will get famous and then we'll have one of their earliest works.

But really we just want some inspiring art for our walls. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Curb Appeal

As long as I have lived in our home, I've wanted to clean up the front entry and front door. This year we really made some headway in this area.

This weekend, we put in the new glass to replace the cracked piece and the afore-mentioned jimmy-rigged sidelights. The new glass is so clear that from inside it looks like there is no glass.

We used silicone caulk to weather-proof each panel.

I also finished painting the interior doors in the vestibule and touched up the outside door for the winter.

Steve had to go up on the roof and finish winterizing. Between that and installing the glass, no trim was installed.



Even though we are still missing alot of trim work, the room is cleaning up well. It's such a small room, it's very hard to get good photos, but here's a shot that shows the now matching doorways.

I can't wait to see it with all the woodwork.

Here's a few before shots to give the full effect:






















I'm waiting till the end of the project to clean the floor, but I will post some info on that project since a few people have asked. Not much else to report, just many things on our to do list as usual!

Yep, it's fall alright

My next door neighbor Mark's red bud is showing spectacularily this year.














And our Japanese stewartia is no slouch either.




















and our pal Scrappy is getting ready of course...



Catching up on houseblogs the past few days, I read about alot of folks glazing and and prepping windows , lining a chimney, planting bare root plants, and getting ready to hunker down for the winter with new furniture or a snazzed-up kitchen.

Winter is definitely a slower pace at our house. All stripping of woodwork comes to a halt. Maybe this year, I'll strip a few doors in the basement. We'll see. I just can't do a heat gun indoors with no ventilation- it feels too risky.
And forget about using chemicals inside with fumes.

The upside is by Spring I am raring to go.

What do you guys plan to do this winter?
Here's our list:
(for fall & winter)
Finish installing trim in entry
Finish painting in entry
Install new front door lock/door strikes
Install replacement glass in entry & curtains
Adjust hinges on swing door so we can prop open with hardware we bought
Put in thresholds in bedroom & dining room
Misc. wood patching in door jambs

Oh, yes and then there's the pantry, which will be pretty big project.

This and the holidays should keep us occupied.

The Scary Basement photos

Thank God for our basement. It's where we keep all our "building materials", tools, and items that can't be put away because our pantry isn't done yet. It also houses many boxes of my books, which await the construction of a wall of bookcases in our den.

This is a picture of the basement after I "tidied" it up this afternoon. Yes, this is "tidy."

Here lies the pile of oak for our pantry shelving:


Yes, those pipes are coated with asbestos- we had it tested.
Someday, we'll have all the pipes re-routed for the basement dig out/conversion and have abestos abatement done at that time.

This is only one part of our basement actually. The other side is Steve's office and it's quite a bit more finished than this side.

Back in the saddle

I guess I'm back on track with the blogging. Truth be told, I like our little community here quite a bit. You guys understand me and my life, while so many others do not!

The appraiser is coming Saturday so I was tidying up a bit tonight for that. And we signed the paperwork- lots of signatures. I'm glad Steve likes handling all that paperwork, because I do so much of that stuff at work by the time I get home I'm over it.

I am very excited about some of the things we are going to do with the loan money. Perhaps most exciting is restoring the French (sorry Gary) doors on the 2nd floor. We aren't getting real French doors though. We have been looking at Anderson sliding glass doors made out of wood the 400 series. We believe these will be more energy efficient than true doors. They would have muttons on them to match our existing windows so they'd have a more authentic look, but be modern in function.

We are also planning to have a decorative iron balcony outside the window. Something that reflects our aesthetic.

I wish we could live upstairs, but we like easy access to the yard and basement for projects etc... Maybe someday we can have the whole building to ourselves...(evil maniacal laughter echoing)

Other things on the agenda: tuckpointing, new roof, gut rehab upstairs etc... One big ticket item that probably won't make it is a new back porch. I've said it before, but this particular project is even more $$$ in Chicago after the porch collapse scandal.

Everyone please pray that Steve will work on trim this weekend and not be chained to his desk working the day job!

On a side note, it's pitch dark now at 5:30pm when I leave work. But today was like 70 degrees- very neat.

the 2nd floor (present & future)

I mentioned in my previous post that our tenants had a little "soiree" this past weekend that kept me up till 2am. I was all psyched about getting some extra zzz's from daylight savings, but they ruined those plans. I gave them until 1:30am and then I called them. In brief, the conversation went like this:

Me: "Thadeus, I cannot sleep and I want you to break up this party. The music is not loud but people are walking around in hard shoes and up and down the back stairs and I need my sleep etc..!"

Thadeus: "Jocelyn, I can't do that- these people came from far away. And I can't tell them not to walk around the apartment."

Me: "I have lived in many apartments and this (meaning disturbing other tenants at all hours) is not allowed. If it doesn't quiet down, Steve will be calling the police."

To add insult to injury after I hung up the phone, someone upstairs stomped all around the apartment- a very low blow I'd say- childish, which is how their guests tend to behave and doesn't incline me to be more tolerant.

Funnily enough, it wasn't any loud music that kept me up, just a dozen or so people walking around constantly in hard soled shoes- even high heels. Steve and I have decided we will profile future tenants by their choice of footwear.

Seriously though, we are plotting how to get them out early. We are right now securing our financing to have work done up there. The appraiser is coming this weekend.

Something you strippers might find interesting. We have been pricing out the cost of getting woodwork stripped. We were quoted $1.00/per linear foot and that was the cheap price. The higher price was $3.00/per linear foot. And we got another quote tpday that was $8/per foot. Who knew? We have to measure all the trim and figure out the price of this now.

The difference in price is the difference between "dip" stripping and hand stripping (preferable). As we all know, hand stripping takes a bit more time than throwing some boards in a vat and letting the paint slide off. Some say dip stripping damages the wood and I'm sure it could if the wood is left too long. Guess which one we can afford?

Getting there- weekend by weekend

This weekend I sanded the remaining entry door and then painted 2 of the 3 doors. We also ordered the replacement glass, which will be ready this week. Next weekend we can put in the new glass, finish painting the remaining trim and front door, and then Steve can work on finishing the trim.

A dear friend of mine from my old job who moved to St. Louis may come by Saturday. It will be her first time seeing our work in person. I hope you come Jen!

Steve was working up on the roof doing damage control. He does this every Fall. He also weatherstripped the 2nd floor back door for those ungrateful sots that live up there (sorry they kept me awake until 2am on Saturday- they are on the BAD list right now).



Above is a tight shot of one of the painted doors with cleaned up hardware and stained trim minus door jambs.


The plate is original and like all the other hardware (window, hinges etc...) in the house has a copper-color finish. It's a bit worn. I suppose some day when we have nothing else to do we could get these replated. Any opinions on that? I am certain it is not cheap, but what do you think about "the look"? I don't mind age and patina and even some wear, but what do you think?

The black knobs ( I have a pair) came from the frame house my Dad sold several years ago. Before he sold it, we grabbed a few doors for our house and these knobs.

I wish I could work on the house more, but with my demanding job, it's hard. But at least I know working every weekend we continue to make progress.