Movin right along

     

The outline of the demolished bump out shows the original color of the 1934 masonry. The limed, or perhaps faux limed finish was not very well done. We hope to rectify that.

Four days earlier it looked like this:

And the hole got bigger too. I am glad they got this done before the snow came...

 

This is how you break up a brick wall Part 1

Breaking the wall section Part II

 

Breaking the brick section Part III

Much easier to move it up the hill

 

I was a little afraid the incline would make the Bobcat slide back down the hill.

The contractors found this picture of my niece on top of one of the demolished built-ins.

   

Fitting a 5-bedroom house into a 2-bedroom apartment

 

I put the two Barcelona chairs up against the floor to ceiling windows in the living room. With the fleecy blanket to cosy it up, this has become Lucy's favorite spot. Really good for napping and really good for keeping an eye on what's going on outside. Being on the 4th floor, she has quite a view of the squirrels in the trees. 

Since our renovation is touching pretty much every room in the house, it made sense to get the heck out of Dodge for the duration of the project. Moving out makes the project cheaper and faster--although having to pay rent for temporary quarters probably makes the project savings a wash. What isn't a wash is the fact that we don't have to go through the daily hell of dust and noise and general renovation discomfort.

I should say that as a child, the first 13 years of my life were spent in a renovation zone. My parents renovated our home themselves and the project went on for some time. There were many weird situations we lived through, like doing dishes in the bathtub, living with only stud-walls, and flushing the toilet with a pail of water. Thankfully I wasn't yet born when my dad and my grandpa dug a full basement under our existing 20' by 40' house by hand. And thankfully, we don't have to live in a construction zone this time around.

Once we decided to move into a rental for the duration of the project our biggest concern was finding a place that would take Lucy. At 35 pounds she doesn't fit into the 'small dog' category in the world of rental units. Lucky for us there are some pretty good options in DC which is a very dog-friendly town. Our second concern was that it be somewhere in the general vicinity of our house. I wanted us to be able to have easy access to the project. Of course cheapish rent would be nice. Access to Metro is always a plus. In the end we found a building that fit the bill.

Then the question became do we want one bedroom or two. Since we were going to have to put stuff in storage, my thought was let's go for the one bedroom. But then the sizes and relatively inexpensive options for two bedrooms made me begin to think that I could cram all of our house contents into a two bedroom. Storing household goods for twelve months is fairly inexpensive, but it means you pay movers extra to move your stuff to two different locations and then again to move it back. Plus, you end up having to say goodbye to your belongings for a year.

Say what you want about 1960s apartment buildings, but they really have spacious units with TONS of closet space. Newer, nicer buildings almost universally have smaller units with less storage space that cost more money. Plus, they don't seem to know how to build rectangular rooms anymore. Whether they are trying out some 'interesting' design aesthetic or just trying to maximize real estate return, condo and apartment buildings built in the last 15 years come up with some really silly room shapes.

The other thing that made moving all of our belongings into a much smaller space possible is that we hadn't really acquired much new furniture in the three years we lived in our house. Just two George Smith club chairs and a really crappy sectional from Room and Board which convinced us never to buy anything ever again from Room and Board. My book collection had expanded hugely and a few other areas saw some significant increase over three years, but I began to think I could really make this game of living space Tetris work.

One of the keys to my success is that my other half was very busy with work and didn't have much time to think about it. This gave me an opportunity to be creative (and perhaps foolish) without comment from him. For instance, our lease started on January 11th, but we didn't move until January 30th. This gave me time to move pretty much all of our non-furniture belongings into the new place by taking a carload or two over each day. And because there are so many closets the place pretty much still looked empty the day the furniture was moved. And, because I did it in in piecemeal fashion, packing was easier and done mainly with reusable bins. So each time I took a load over I unpacked everything and brought the empty containers back to the house. This meant there weren't mountains of boxes and packing paper to be disposed of after the move.

Another key to success was that I drew all the rooms and all of our furniture to scale using graph paper so that I could come up with a furniture plan that would include everything we own (except for that crappy Room and Board sectional which we are getting rid of). I didn't actually think that this exercise would work out. I assumed that there would be something I wasn't taking into consideration. But in the end it worked really, really well. The movers brought the rugs in first, I referred to my plan, got out the tape measure, showed the movers where each should be placed. And then each time they brought in another piece of furniture I knew exactly where it should go. Everything went flawlessly.

The day of the move itself I was battling a fever and the husband was on his way out of town for a business trip for five days. I sent Lucy out to board in the country because I knew I couldn't cope with being sick, moving, and taking care of her at the same time. I also had a huge desire to have everything in place and looking good before the spouse returned. I really didn't want to be second guessed about whether or not everything actually fit in the apartment. I was going to make it work if it killed me.

Well, it didn't kill me. Everything did fit. And we are pretty darn comfortable in our temporary digs. It should make for a pleasant year away from home. Especially when the rooftop pool opens in May.

Night stands are actually Florence Knoll credenzas. Reading lights are Tizio lamps by Artimide. Blue pillows are from Swan Island and the art over the bed is by James Balla.

Stereo cabinet by Daniel Donnelly. Reading light next to the Saarinen womb chair is the HH floor lamp by Arne Jacobsen. Beside lamp is from CB2.

Club chair by George Smith.

Side chairs in the foreground are vintage Finn Juhl that were purchased on an online auction in Denmark. Cost almost as much to import them as it did to buy them. We had them fixed and recovered in a really nice soft leather. (Fabric purists don't hate, the original fabric was terrible and in terrible shape.) Blue table lamp is part of a pair from Christopher Spitzmiller. It kills me that I had the shade seam showing. Basalt bowl is antique Wedgwood. 

Even though we are only here for a year we decided to hang every piece of art we own. Plus I had no where else to put it. The verdant, woodsy Maine scene second from the right on the bottom row is by bookseller, painter, and all around nice person, Sarah Faragher.

The gorgeous Venini glass Veronse vase was picked up for a song at Filene's Basement about 11 years ago. Ceramic vase by Frances Palmer.

That's a Mies day bed in the background under the painting by Jose Ruiz.  The diptych to its left is Barcelona at Night I and II by Tanya Huntington Hyde. In the foreground a Darren Waterston hangs over a Willam de Looper. Footed bowl on antique table by Frances Palmer. Handkerchief chairs by Vignelli for Knoll.

Some of our coffee table books sitting on a Nelson bench.

Couch by Baker.

My rather successful plan for getting a lot of furniture into a small space.

Wallpaper time warp

 
People really used to like wallpaper.

This lovely pattern was hidden behind shelves in our kitchen pantry. We were told by someone who used to live in the house that this used to be part of a breakfast nook. How could you not have a great day when you start it out eating your balanced breakfast looking at this sunny wallpaper?

This was hiding behind a built-in desk in the attic bedroom.

 

This subtle palette was found behind some shelves in the nursery.

Slowing the design process can be a good thing

As I mentioned before, there was a period when we slowed down the design process. In total we ended up delaying our start date by about a year. The main reason for the delay was to save more money for the project, but the side effect of the delay was that it gave us and our architect the opportunity to reflect on some of our decisions. In a couple of cases this led to some really wonderful changes that we weren't necessarily looking for but are so glad they came about.

In our existing house there is a lovely attic bedroom with lots of head room and two really pretty arched windows. Unfortunately, the only way to get up there is by going up a steep, uneven, staircase with two turns in it. Not exactly the type of stairs our guests would want to go up after a drink or two. An early pipe dream of mine was that we could straighten those stairs out. Doing so would mean we would lose a "bedroom". But in reality that bedroom was a tiny little room that might have been okay for a nursery or small office but not much else. We ended up using it as a clothes closet to make up for the lack of space in the bedroom closets.

 Existing

The staircase next to the "UP" is the existing way up to the lovely attic bedroom.
The small room at the bottom of the image is a little nursery room that we use as a walk-in closet.
The little square in the middle of the stairs is our existing linen closet.

Planned

The new configuration shows the new straightened stairs going up to the attic.
Notice the nursery room is gone with a landing/sitting area taking its place.
Also note the larger linen closet.

Changing plans along the way

We were very excited when we realized we were going to be able to straighten out the stairs and were also excited by the resulting new linen closet which would be about twice the size of the old one. This is what is was going to look like.

The double doors are what would have been our new double-wide linen closet. The staircase to the right goes up to the attic. Since these were early design drawings the staircase railings and other details are not drawn in yet, but you get the general idea. (The style of the doors is based on the existing doors in the house. Since all of the interior doors are being replaced the look of the doors will be different as well as you will see in the next picture.)

Several months later when the next set of drawings were ready we were surprised to see that, unbidden by us, our architect changed the design of the linen closet. Being the control freak that I am, my initial response was annoyance. But that lasted for about two seconds. The new linen cabinet that she proposed instead of the closet (in the picture above) was truly a thing of beauty. Not only did it look way better, but it is clearly going to function way better for linens that the previous version would have.

Granted, the picture looks better right off the bat because the stairs are drawn in more detail and the chair rail has been added, etc., but you have to admit the new linen cabinet is way better than one we were planning before. I don't think there was anything wrong with the original design, but it really pales compared to this one. 

I never thought I would be so excited about a linen cabinet, but I find myself fantasizing about organizing sheet sets and towels in this beauty. Not surprisingly the cabinetry is more expensive than a simple closet with shelves inside--and it seemed for a while that we weren't going to be able to afford the new version--but I think the upgrade is so worth it.

I'm so glad our design had time to breath before we went into construction and I am so glad our architect took the initiative to make it better. There are a few more design changes that came up during the delay period that are equally exciting but I will save those for another day.

Excavation starts

 
We decided to drive over to the house this morning because my husband hadn't been there since they started work. My hope was that they would have cleared away the rubble from the patio that they broke to pieces n Thursday morning. Very happy not only to see the rubble cleared away but a big ol' hole in the ground.

The wood clapboard covered bump out will be removed. The horizontal pipe that stretches from the house to he backyard appears to have been a water pipe. Probably for filling the pool that was once in the backyard.

Nothing like a little rotting wood to make you glad you are tearing something down.

 

Not a big surprise the floor of the powder room that was in this little bump out was a little on the cold side.

Lucy approves.

As expected, Lucy loved all the straw. 

Project team meeting (Windows, HVAC, and Demo)

 
Today was our first project team meeting. When things really get going they will happen every week, but for now every two weeks seems appropriate. This morning we talked about windows, HVAC, and I had a chance to see some of the demolition work.

First up, let me say a bit about demo. Well actually there isn't much to say about it at this point, but after so much anticipation, it is such a nice, tangible sign of progress it is hard not to get a little giddy. The old aggregate concrete terrace was there when the meeting started but after about an hour and half it had largely been reduced to rubble.

Is that a Bobcat in the backyard or are you just happy to see me?

When I arrived for the meeting the back patio looked like this. The brown flat area is the old aggregate concrete slab covered in a little dirt.

Turns out the concrete was particularly thick and a normal handheld jackhammer wouldn't quite do the trick.

A bit of the patio rubble.

Flat surface no more.

Of course the noise of the Bobcat jackhammer made it a little hard to hear the meeting at times, but that's the sound of progress I guess.

One of the more exciting parts of the meeting was the discussion about windows. Currently the house has its original wood frame windows from 1934. When we moved in most of them were busted, and stuck, and just looking plain awful. We spent a good chunk of change a few years ago to have them all removed, stripped, mended, and rehung. Those windows are largely staying in place. The beautiful French doors in the picture above were custom made for us at the same time, but unfortunately those will not have a role in the new house. The resulting opening after their removal will be the main entrance to the new family room right where all that rubble is. There will be two sets of new French doors with sidelights that will line the back of the addition, but wanting all the new stuff to match (and be double glazed), these doors will have to find another home.

A Loewen window sample that doesn't look much like what ours will look like
but very helpful for discussion during the meeting.

The new windows in the addition will be as similar to the old windows as we can get without going totally custom and without sticking with single glazing. Even an untrained eye will probably notice the difference, but their spatial relationship to the existing windows will be such that direct comparison won't happen in too many views. The new windows will be double hung, six over six, simulated divided light windows made from Douglas fir by Loewen. And given the thermal protection of the double glazing, we discovered today that we can have clear glass as opposed to low emissivity (low e) glass which casts more of a greenish tint. This was good news indeed. We also discovered that we can probably get the new French doors with double glazing and true divided lights.

Our lead architect along with her project architect were at the meeting and know enough about our desires to ask all the right questions and insist on details that we would never have known we cared about. This is one of the ways having an architect who really knows her stuff is invaluable. We probably would get a decent product that looks good without her help, but it would have been not quite right. The devil is always in the details and while discussions of muntin width and depth and profile wouldn't have been over my head, getting it perfect is what you need an expert for.

The second part of the meeting concerned duct work layout and radiator location. We also had a very helpful discussion about the equipment that will be in our basement mechanical room for the geothermal heating and cooling system. I will have lots more to say about geothermal when they get going on drilling the wells for the system.

In the meantime, enjoy some more progress pictures.

Before demo began. (We had been testing cabinet paint colors.)

Similar view today. God only knows how much kitchen slime is on the edge of the range.

A full discussion on paint colors in the near future.

A similar view this morning. A bit of architectural archaeology.

Cabinets on the side porch.

The old, hideous counter tops This was likely the product of a sprucing up from the last 10 or 20 years. Tip for anyone
thinking of a tile counter top. Don't do it. So hard to keep clean and that lip on the edge sure made it hard to whisk
crumbs into the garbage. The fact that it also had a drop-in sink as opposed to an under counter  mounted one also made it really difficult to keep things clean.

The old sink that was just a little too small. I could fit a half sheet pan flat on the bottom but I had one large skillet
that was so hard to clean in this sink. And the sink itself was hard to keep clean of metal scuff marks. Baking soda often
worked better than cleanser, but even that didn't get all the stains out.

There is also a fair amount of site protection and runoff protection that is necessary prior to excavation. An inspector from the District Department of the Environment came out about a week ago to make sure our contractor was planning on doing the right thing.

The rock is to give construction vehicles a sturdier footing. The straw bales against the plastic sheeting
helps limit runoff.

Not only did this area smell like a manager but it really seemed to beg to be a petting zoo.
Wouldn't Lucy look cute asleep on the hay?

Thanks guys, can't wait to see what happens next.