i've decided to post the progress of the house remodel on a great site called renovation voyeur. i guess i felt if i was responsible to another blog host, i'd be more committed to updates on the status of our home. my head has been firmly entrenched lately in these projects of mine, and it's inspiring to me to watch what others are doing. so just go to that site and follow the "chris: denver bungalow" link if you're interested...
although i'm certainly a sports fan, i'm not normally one to bask in the glow of the accomplishments of professional athletes. i don't live and die by the games, i follow the games and teams for the entertainment value. there's something about a game - a broncos game on a crisp fall sunday afternoon takes me back to the days as a teenager when i'd listen to the game on am radio with my brothers while tossing the football around, and an matinee baseball game turns my mind to the days i worked on my grandparents farm in north dakota... driving the tractor on the hot prairie and listening to twins games. there's a romance to the games that brings back the joy of the boy i used to be - and still am inside...
last night was another magical moment in what has been a run that has invigorated a city. if you're a baseball fan, you've heard about the numbers and the streak by now - and if you're not, you could probably care less. and while the exploits of professional athletes probably shouldn't bear so much on our collective psyche, there's something about this team, this run, that creates new romance. it doesn't just drum up memories of days gone by, but invokes real joy in the moment. it actually feels like we're living in a movie script, and in the next moment robert redford's going to bust out the floodlights with an impossible hit...
i was lucky enough to go to the game last night with my brother and experience a moment that i knew i'd never experience again. the sheer joy of that place, the improbability of this team's run, knowing that this is the only time we'll be able to experience the first time - it made all those other things that i worry about melt away in the moment. and while we hear a lot about sports' ills and cheating and unruly fans, it's moments like these (and this moment has lasted an entire month) that make you realize why sports capture us. to believe in the impossible, and to watch it unfold in front of your eyes, is something you can't describe. you just have to ride the ride until it ends...
my only regret is that ian isn't old enough to understand what this is all about. because i'd like nothing more than for him to look back when he's my age and remember that romantic and magical run, this epitome of a team - and believe in the unbridled joy of youth...
go rockies. no matter what happens next, you've reignited that belief in a whole lot of souls...
the contractor cleaned up and cleared out early last week. framing and drywall complete, and the house ready for my projects. new floors. kitchen cabinet-hanging. painting. trim work. seemingly endless projects - but it beats the heck out of the seemingly endless mess that we'd been living in for 6 weeks...
the floor project began last sunday. i opted to install new wood floors over the existing hardwoods for a couple reasons. 1) the existing hardwoods are nearly a hundred years old and worse for the wear - and in half the house are covered in a layer of tar used to glue down yet another wood floor. and 2) the deal i got on the new hardwoods was just barely more than the cost to refinish the existing floors - with about 5% of the mess...
so sunday, monday, wednesday and thursday nights were floor installation. thankfully and graciously, my brother jeff was there each of those nights to help - which made the work go more quickly and much less painfully. by the end of the evening thursday, we'd managed to complete the floors in the kitchen, living room and dining room. i've still got another half of the house to do, but the renewed availability of those rooms to once again live in has been emotionally uplifting...
progress photos taken from the living room towards the dining room and kitchen
on friday and saturday (again, with jeff's help), the kitchen cabinets went in. i'd never installed cabinets, and was actually surpised by the ease of the process. that is, until you're forced to deal with 95-year old brick walls and sloped floors. it took us several tries to master the connection of the cabinets to the brick exterior wall and - with some sometimes-substantial shimming - the cabinets are all in place...
kitchen cabinets in place
finally, on sunday my uncle came to build a template for my countertops. this uncle runs a home remodelling business, and in partnership with a friend just started a concrete countertop company. as one of his first projects, i'm getting a great deal on a concrete countertop - which will go great with the design character of the kitchen. the countertop will take a couple weeks to fabricate, but i can finally see the end to this kitchen-less existence that we've been living with for nearly 2 months now...
and all that happened in the course of a week. at some point on saturday afternoon i realized that between work on the house and work on, well, work - i hadn't taken time to stop during that week. but seeing everything come together, and finally having the chance to do things with my own hands, has been so rewarding that i don't want to stop. except i know that i'll have to slow down a bit... my body and the rest of my life can't possibly keep up with this pace.
next steps: choosing paint colors, finishing the floors, and trim work.
what was supposed to be done by september 14th is only now exhibiting any illumination at the end of a very long tunnel. the contractor - who is certainly not trying to get away with anything, but seriously needs to consider a partner - finally, today, got a room to the point that i have some hope for the near-term use of my house. granted, that's one of four rooms. but a room is a room. and it's all i've had since the day he began work...
it's been a tough month here. since the kitchen, living room and dining room are out of commission, ian and i have been living mostly out of my room (which has served as the temporary kitchen-slash-living room-slash-dining room). ian's room is still in operation, but it's separated from the remainder of the living space by a cloud of pervasive dust. the bathroom? that's where we wash the dishes - our skeleton crew of eating equipment - every single day because of the mess. ian's been a trooper... it doesn't seem to bother him. but for me - it's knocked me down a rung or two both physically and mentally...
the good news? there is a light. i'll take friday off and, after a major cleaning of the living and dining room, start to put down the new hardwoods that will eventually overtake the whole house. i may even manage to get the kitchen floored over the weekend. within the next couple weeks, i should have walls painted and cabinets in and (dare i say) kitchen-stuff put away for the first time in two months. not to mention, as early as next week, furniture. in. my. living. room. (after, of course, a thorough steam-cleaning)...
pictures will come soon. i just want to have an after - and, well, i'm still waiting for the after.
on another note, i'm feeling some need to make a declaration of intent ala bold, just so i have something to hold myself accountable to. because as my mood has gone through this renovation mess, so has my desire to train...
on monday morning, the contractor began work.
monday was labor day, and when his bid came in and he named a start date of labor day - well, i asked if he was sure. he said yes, so i scurried to get all that i could moved out of the four rooms that would see demo and cover all the larger items that wouldn't fit elsewhere. besides that, i had to close off the three remaining rooms that we will have to live in for the life of this project - ian's room, the bathroom (which doubles as dish-washing station), and my bedroom (which also serves as kitchen and living room for the time being)...
the contractor was to show up at 9:00 on monday morning, and when 9:15 rolled around i started to worry. outwardly, i'm not really a big worrier. but on the insides, the worry can turn me upside-down... and since i'm perpetually on-time, the worries begin early and grow exponentially with each minute. by 9:20 i'd tried both his cell phone and home phone and when neither was answered i managed to jump to the conclusion that he'd taken my 50% deposit and moved to montana. by 9:25 i was dealing with the loss and recovering it in my head with personal labor. and when he called at 9:30 to let me know that he was at home depot ordering the materials and had left his phone in the car... well, i felt a little silly. so i waited until he made it here, and then went and celebrated by buying a new tree...
(yes - i know that sounds random. but tree-buying, trust me, is not a random occurence for me.)
today was the wrap-up day for demo... mostly because the very large dumpster sitting in my front yard is set to go to the landfill tomorrow. the lathe and plaster removal turned out to be exactly the project that i hired someone for - meaning, rather than deal with the mess myself, i could hire a contractor to do the job and deal with the mess while i work (dust-free) at my job that will pay for his work. of course, the living here isn't so dust-free - but with some heavy-duty plastic sheeting and a staple gun, life can be manageable...
i really don't have much story beyond that. the demo is done, and framing begins tomorrow. i've got some exposed 95-year old studs (which look so much better than the studs you can buy today), lots of electrical in lines running in conduit (we don't do that any more in residential building), and some exposed (for the time-being) brick that almost makes me want to take the rest of the plaster down. almost.
this is essentially the same shot as the before from the last post, with the arch in the foreground and the missing yellow wall non-existent in the background
while this shot better shows the extent of the demo
and, so as not to be deemed lazy while the inside work is happening, i tore out some unsightly (to me) shrubs from in front of my house - to make way for said purchased-tree...
before
blurry after
