This Old Colonial

Goodbye Tree

2009-11-27T14:38:00.001-05:00

This was taken before we started working on the house. The pine was massive and took up too much space in our backyard and shaded my garden.

My childhood neighbor came by to help dad cut the tree down. He took all the branches off, topped the tree and then used a really big chainsaw to take it down. Greg has started cutting up the branches and stacking all the wood. My parents will use the wood to heat their house and we will rent a chipper and use the wood chips in Rudy's pen.

Goodbye Garage

2009-11-03T19:08:00.000-05:00

We called the guy who removed our radiators to see if he would take down and haul away the garage, but the value of scrap metal has gone down so we had to pay him to take it down. It was the best $80 we spent.

Fiber Cement Siding

2009-10-19T18:43:00.000-04:00

We got one quote on the fiber cement siding and trim work before we decided that we would do it ourselves. The quote was $20,000, this was way more than we could afford and from our calculations included about $10,000 in labor charges. It would have been nice if we didn’t have to lift a finger and the whole project would have been completed in 10 days, but we just didn’t have the extra $10,000. In terms of the actual installation, Greg and our dads are doing all the work. My primary role along with our moms is to make lunch, do groceries, cheerlead, help carry the siding, and work on the inside of the house. All that we have to finish now is the siding on the two peaks, painting the soffits and trim work. The peaks are the only thing we really want to get done this year and today was the first day we had snow so our good working days are numbered.

I am very happy with the look of the fiber cement, it has fake wood grain and the color is very pretty. You need to purchase a special blade to cut the boards, and in terms of nailing it we are using 1 ¾” roofing nails. We’ve gone through two Bostitch nailers and returned both, one broke after a couple days of use and the other broke within a few hours of use. Last weekend we bought a Hitachi and it seems to be working well. I had to get a reducer for the air hose and I took the gun with me to the hardware store. As I was waiting in line, the guy behind me said he had the gun and he loved it.

Our new addition

2009-10-14T18:35:00.000-04:00

Well he isn’t that new, but for awhile we weren’t sure that we were going to keep him so I didn’t want to mention him. His name is Rudy and he is a 2 year old German Shepherd. We adopted him in February. Rudy’s first “parents” were an older couple (in their 70’s) and they had him for about a year, in the woods of New Hampshire. From what we were told, and from his displays of neurotic behavior he was not socialized. The older couple decided he was too much to handle and they gave him up to a German Shepherd breeder/police K-9 officer couple. The breeder trained him and gave him back to the older couple, but they still couldn’t handle Rudy so the breeder took him in. Rudy stayed with the breeder and K-9 couple for a few months, but I have a feeling he lived most of the time in an outdoor kennel.

When we bought the house it was always understood that we would get a German Shepherd and Greg and I agreed that we would wait until February, so in January I started to look on Petfinder and I fell in love with his picture. February 4^th we got Rudy. The breeder didn’t mention that he was fear aggressive and that he is afraid of everything, but we quickly figured that out. Since then, we took him to the vet and she recommended Prozac so we’ve tried that out along with, socializing him, exercising him (lots) and just giving him time to adjust, he is slowly getting better. I don’t trust him around children, or for that matter anyone else besides our immediate family and I fear for the person who is stupid enough to try and break in to our house.

Front of the house

2009-10-13T21:23:00.002-04:00

We finished the siding in the front of the house this past weekend. As you can see we still need to refinish the porch. The lovely brown square columns will be replaced by wide round columns the same color as the trim. Next spring the plan is to add black shutters, paint the soffit and the gutters.

more photos from this summer

2009-08-24T21:24:00.001-04:00

Without the old siding.

End of day one- siding.

End of day day two.

Olive Certainteed Fiber Cement Siding.

More after photos without asbestos

2009-06-14T18:40:00.001-04:00

June

2009-06-13T16:07:00.001-04:00

We're back

2009-05-03T18:26:00.001-04:00

We're back to working on the house. This weekend we bought and installed kitchen knobs and pulls. They were stock knobs from home depot, which surprised us because we had looked there before, but they are nice and didn't cost us a fortune.

I made another garden box and added some soil, but we need to get more. I actually won 5 yards of organic compost about 5 years ago (at an ecological landscaping conference), it was delivered to my parents house and they didn't use it so last time we were home we brought about 15 wheelbarrows full. I think the 5 yards will fill about 4 garden boxes.

Greg worked on installing the cabinet that goes above the refrigerator and we added paneling around the side.

During the week we worked on removing vines from the trees that line our border with the apartments.

Since we moved in

2009-01-11T21:10:00.000-05:00

Half bath on first floor.

Staircase

Full bath on second floor. I stained the vanity.

New trim, we tried to match the original and came pretty close.

We got a snowblower, but it only worked for about 5 mins because it ran out of gas.

Living room floors

2008-11-03T20:50:00.001-05:00

This weekend our parents came up and helped us install new floors in the kitchen and living room. Here are some before and after photos.

Here's the way the living room looked when we bought the house.

5 months later, it looks about the same. It does have new windows, heating, insulation, plaster, and the linoleum is gone.

We love the new floors

Kitchen before and after

2008-11-03T20:37:00.001-05:00

Here are some before and after photos of our kitchen. We're still missing a few cabinets and other details, but it's come a long way.

The house as we bought it, and the way it's been since 1861

The way our kitchen looked all summer

Most of our cabinets and the counter tops installed

New floors and some of our appliances are installed

Homeless

2008-09-29T22:13:00.000-04:00

We found out on Friday that our landlord found another tenant for our apartment, so we spent most of the weekend and Monday packing and moving everything to the house. Our parents helped out, and we got some electrical work done and installed two new windows in the attic. We'll be living out of a suitcase for the next couple weeks while the house is made habitable. All of the blue board is hung, and the plasterers will be putting skim coat up starting tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll be able to start installing kitchen cabinets this coming weekend. We'll be staying with friends for the next couple of weeks.

Insulation is finished

2008-09-24T20:29:00.001-04:00

We decided to have all of the exterior walls and the roof insulated with spray foam. Here's a picture of the kitchen with all of the electrical and plumbing work complete.

Two stoners came and sprayed the whole house with foam. It sprays onto the wall and expands to over 100x its original size. After it expands, one of the guys cuts away everything that expanded past the studs.

Here's Greg pretending he had something to do with the installation.

Another inspection

2008-09-15T20:57:00.001-04:00

We passed our building inspection.

We passed

2008-09-14T20:18:00.000-04:00

We passed our electrical inspection! This weekend we worked on getting the house ready for the framing inspection.

Lowe's vs. Home Depot

2008-09-05T23:04:00.001-04:00

Convenience - Home Depot wins because it is about 5 minutes from our apartment and 15 from our house. Lowe's is 30+ minutes away.

Kitchen design- We had layouts done by both, and the kitchen designers were both friendly. Lowe's had a better price on cabinets and the designer knew more about kitchen design. Lowe's designers work on commission and Home Depot is hourly. We ended up going with a local kitchen store that carried Wellborn Forest cabinets, they are about the same price as the Shenandoah or American Woodmark, but the people we purchased them from came out to the house to measure and we got a good deal on granite (we picked it out by looking at a slab, not a 4" sample). So I would award a point to Lowe's for price and knowledge.

Deals- We have run across some good deals at both. Last week we picked up some pendant lights at Lowe's that were normally $30 for $5. Our back door was a deal from Home Depot $100. Tie.

Helpful staff- Home Depot definitely loses on this one. When we go to Lowe's there is someone who offers to help us within a couple minutes and if we need to go look for someone there are actually people around. Home Depot, good luck getting help.

Windows

2008-09-02T21:25:00.000-04:00

Greg is removing the last old window (besides the ones in attic) it was a bitter sweet moment, but I love our new windows.

The windows in the front of the house have the nice permanent grills. We chose Windsor windows with black aluminum clad exterior and primed white interior. They came with the PVC sill and trim that will never rot. Windsor was recommended to us by the Boston Building Material Coop, they said the were like Marvin without the advertising.

We could really use a window in the center of the second floor.

Update with photos

2008-08-18T20:49:00.000-04:00

A "new" grill dad picked up for us (at the dump). I am planning our first cookout Labor Day weekend so adjust your schedules.

Framing and new electrical boxes. This was taken from the far wall of Jenny's room looking into the hall and through the closet you can see our room.

This took forever and it is only one side of the door. Every door we do we are saving $200 by not paying someone else to strip them.

Half Bath

2008-08-13T21:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went to the house after two days of not visiting. It was nice to see lots of new walls and plumbing going in. After we visited the house we went to Home Depot and we saw a toilet that matches our pedestal sink. We decided to go with the Kohler Archer series toilet and pedestal sink.

Here are some pictures from Kohler.

Weekend Roundup

2008-08-11T21:57:00.000-04:00

Friday- Greg removed the plaster and lath that was remaining on the basement stairs.

Saturday- I watched Greg and his dad remove the boiler, we had quotes of $1200 and $500 to remove it and it only took them an hour and a half. We then purchased our second and third fixture a pedestal sink and toilet. We also picked up materials to replace the sills in the mud room and removed the flooring.

Sunday- My parents and Greg's dad came up, we jacked up the mudroom replaced the sills, replaced the floor joists and put down new plywood and studs in the wall. Mom and I worked on sweeping up the mess on the second floor and I trimmed the hedges. We also knocked down the chimneys in the basement and carried most of the bricks outside.

Monday- Greg and his dad took the day off to work on the house. They poured a new concrete pad for the new boiler and hot water tank to sit on, and removed the flooring in the first floor hall. The plumber came by and will start tomorrow. The framing is progressing slowly, but surely. A guy named Pedro stopped by and took the old radiators and pipes we didn't need, he even took some junky bikes that people left in our yard. I guess you can get money for any type of metal.

The bank and electrician will be by on Wednesday

Baseball anyone?

2008-08-05T21:44:00.000-04:00

This weekend we ordered the new windows. Please send money.

On Sunday my mom, Jenny, Greg, Don and I went up to the house. We removed a lots of stuff from the basement and a huge net that was buried a few inches below the soil in the back yard. I saw our neighbor while we we're removing it and asked her what it was, it turns out the previous owner had a huge baseball net for his sons to practice batting & pitching. It must of been 20'x40' with vines and poison ivy holding it in place. Greg is covered in rashes as a result.

On Monday we had our energy audit and learned about the rebates and loans we can qualify for. Do it yourself window installation does not qualify for the loan so we can only use the loan for the boiler and insulation.

On Tuesday Greg removed the rest of the flooring in our future master bath. He then took an ax to a section of our basement, we'll need to pour a new pad for the furnace and hot water heater. I pushed down a brick column that was holding up the house, but now we have new lally columns we don't need it. Of course we then had to carry out all the bricks and cement so that was lots of fun.

Today we got back two quotes for the plumbing and heating, $8,000 more then I expected.

A Little Progress

2008-07-31T20:18:00.001-04:00

Today we had a delivery of lumber, nails and adhesive. There are 4 new footings in the basement for the new lally columns.

Building Permit

2008-07-29T21:47:00.000-04:00

We got our building permit today and our framer is starting tomorrow. Finally a little progress on the house.

My Story

2008-07-23T21:26:00.000-04:00

I have always had an interest in houses and construction. I am the daughter of a carpenter recently turned restaurant owner so I grew up around construction sites. My dad built our family house (on weekends and after work) and it took 4 years. When my dad first started the "yard" was 5 acres of trees. Slowly it took shape and I visited the construction site all the time. I think that experience has made this whole project easier. Any normal person would probably be freaked out.

I work in the renewable energy field and have an interest in energy efficiency. I hope to make our house as efficient as we can afford. About two days after we closed on the house I called and scheduled an energy audit. There isn't much for them to look at, but we need to have an audit before we can take advantage of 0% interest loan for energy efficiency improvements. We had a serious debate about what to do with our original 1860s windows which were historic and pretty, but probably contain lead paint and definitely have significant heat loss. I was fighting to keep the windows and re-glaze them and add new storm windows, but in the end I lost the fight and we agreed to get new windows. Yes, they will cost a fortune and we won't see a payback, but I think I will like them.

Yard

2008-07-14T20:17:00.000-04:00

We chipped all the brush and now you can see our 2 car garage. We will be looking for a salvage company to take our garage away, it's all metal.

We're tired...

2008-07-13T21:31:00.000-04:00

And so is our family.

Since our last update we have thrown another 8 tons of our house away. All of the lath is gone. The yard is clear except for our garage. All non load-bearing walls are gone. The chimneys and cast iron stack are gone. We've gotten quotes on a new roof, insulation, kitchen cabinets and framing.

After a month's worth of work we are finally ready to put our house back together.

12.3

2008-07-02T10:54:00.000-04:00

They finally removed the dumpster and it weighed 12.3 tons. That means we (me, greg and family) carried out over 24,000 lbs of plaster! The dumpster company is making a fortune off of us.

Monday night Greg's parents came up and helped us take out a wall and clean up the downstairs. Tuesday night was our night off and we went to Bargain Outlet to look for a door, they had the back door we want, but not a nice front door. After Bargain Outlet we went to Ruby Tuesdays to treat ourselves to the salad bar, and celebrate almost being done with demo.

Tonight my dad and Ed are coming up to mark where the new walls are going to go. We hope to get a framer, plumber and electrician in very soon.

Dumpster

2008-06-28T22:34:00.000-04:00

This morning the dumpster was scheduled to be removed. When I arrived Greg gave me a look and I knew there was an issue. It turns out a 20 yard dumpster full is too much for the truck to handle. The dumpster company has another truck that should be able to get it out, but it is broken so right now we have two dumpsters.

My parents and Greg's dad came up today to help on the house. We took down one of the chimneys, removed interior walls and the awkward bathroom downstairs. The chimney was pretty easy to take down. Mom and I didn't really do much, we went into town and shared a frozen custard and checked out what the town has to offer.

Tomorrow we'll tackle the other chimney and the upstairs bathroom. Soon, we'll be ready to have the framer, electrician, and plumber come take a look.

Last Weekend

2008-06-27T22:35:00.000-04:00

Taking the plaster down.

Lots to carry.

Four layers of plaster/sheetrock all came down in one piece.

Upstairs

2008-06-18T21:27:00.000-04:00

Today we put in a full day at the house. We removed plaster from 5 closets and the front and back stairs. The upstairs is about 95% complete, in terms of plaster removed.

Tomorrow I go back to work, I have been out for a week so I am not looking forward to all the emails and voice mails. It was nice to be able to get some good work days in on the house although I wish the circumstances were different. I think my parents are coming up on Saturday and Sunday which will be nice, I bet we will have all the lath and plaster removed by the end of Sunday.

Monday

2008-06-16T21:42:00.000-04:00

Greg and I took down the plaster in the upstairs bathroom and some of the bead board. We found a sheet of drywall on the ceiling and some cardboard-like material on the wall, both were harder to remove then the plaster. We also canceled our cable service at our apartment because we figure we could use the money and we will have no time for TV. The water department was by to turn on our water, but we have the wrong fitting so next weekend we will fix it and have a working shower, toilet, and sink. Today we were also able to remove the nasty fridge and sink so hopefully the house will start to smell better. The kitchen smelled like urine when we first "moved in".

Tomorrow is my grandfather's wake and funeral so we will be back to work on Wednesday. I think working on the house is helping me to deal with his death and is what he would want.

2008-06-15T21:03:00.000-04:00

Our garage is under the brush.

Carrying plaster.

The results of our labor.

We are homeowners

2008-06-15T08:32:00.000-04:00

We closed on Thursday and started working on the house Friday afternoon. We would have started earlier, but of course there were still issues with recording the deed so it wasn't officially ours until Friday around noon. Friday we were able to take some trim down (which we hope to save) and Greg took down the plaster in the library.

Saturday my parents and Greg's dad came up to help, we did a lot more then I was expecting. My mom and I cleaned up the hedges in the front of the house, my dad cut down most of the trees in the yard, Greg and his dad cleaned up the plaster in the library and brought it to the dumpster, we fixed a leaky pipe and stacked most of the trim in the basement and cleaned up some of the trash people had been dumping in our yard. A few neighbors stopped by and they were all very friendly and happy to see our house was getting some attention. Today we are going to continue with the removal of trim, plaster and lath.

We forgot the camera the last couple days, but today I will get some action shots.

This Week.

2008-06-09T20:44:00.000-04:00

It is going to happen this week. Greg and I are going to sign a lot of paper and finally get the keys. Again, I will believe it when I actually need to pull out the pen, but this Thursday is the day.

Next Week?

2008-05-31T22:34:00.000-04:00

We might be closing next week, but I'll believe it when I sign on the dotted line. On Monday we stopped by the house and noticed the basement window was broken. Then we went over to the bulkhead and the basement door was open. After talking to a neighbor we found out some kids broke into the house, they didn't do a lot of damage just the broken window and a hole in our bedroom ceiling.

Greg was doing some surfing on the internet and found a post from a lady who used to live in our house. She said the house was built in the 1860s and after further research we saw the house on a map from 1875. We originally thought it was build sometime in the early 1900s. I'm looking forward to researching the history of the house after we get into the place.

Closing in on closing

2008-05-15T21:46:00.000-04:00

Instead of cleaning up the driveway and taking down trim, we are watching TV and adding a post to the blog. Today was supposed to be closing day. Late last week we found out that there were issues with the title, and our closing date would be delayed by an unspecified amount of time. After calling everyone that we can think of, and rattling every cage, we still have no idea when we will actually get the keys to our place. Hopefully everything will be worked out soon so we can get off the couch and get to work.

only a few days left

2008-05-11T22:02:00.000-04:00

Saturday we sat down with a kitchen designer and now we have our dream kitchen all planned out. The custom cabinets cost $10,000, but are unfinished so there is still a lot of work we have to do before we can hang them.

I just got a quote for the heating system and a new hot water heater it is way more then I was planning. Tomorrow I am going to call our gas provider to get a quote for a new gas boiler. While looking online at permits that were pulled they all had a price of about $4k so I think we can do better then our quote.

We are supposed to close on Thursday, but only time will tell. On Friday I got a call from our bank's lawyer and there is some paperwork issues that could delay closing. Typical for purchasing a foreclosure.

Weekend Recap

2008-05-05T21:50:00.000-04:00

On Saturday I went to a window rehab workshop and learned how to take out the sashes, weather strip and change the ropes. I also learned how to replace a screen and watched someone replace the glass in a window.

On Sunday we met with Ed to go over our new layout. The first plan for the downstairs was open and we had an island in the center of the kitchen. To get the space for the island we would need to knock out one of the chimneys and take some space from the library/den. I talked to the plumber and we can direct vent the hot water tank so we can knock out the chimney.

We’re now less than two weeks away from closing and all that we have left to do is the title search… and to sign our lives away.

On the way home

2008-04-25T21:41:00.000-04:00

On the way home we stopped by the Colonial to check out the place. The bushes in the front are turning green and there are some red tulips growing in our side yard which looks like a little forest. I was checking out some Colonial Style houses online to get some ideas and came across a good site the houses look so nice. I look at our place and it is so plain I guess we feel in love with the interior and looked past the exterior.

On Tuesday a plumber is going to come by and take a look at the place and give us a quote for the new bathrooms and heating. I am worried about the cost I have no idea what to expect.

Commitment Letter

2008-04-22T19:36:00.001-04:00

We received our commitment letter from the bank which means we are getting our loan and money for repairs. This past weekend we went home to our parents houses and did some cabinet shopping. Right now we are leaning towards unfinished poplar cabinets that we can finish ourselves. They are about half the cost of Diamond brand cabinets and FSC-certified solid wood. The only downside is that we (I) have to paint them. I don't mind, but it is something to consider. Tomorrow we are calling plumbers to get some quotes.

Catching Up

2008-04-16T21:26:00.000-04:00

Over the past 11 days we have been waiting on bank stuff, and today they told us our application was approved.

We went to the Design Expo Center in Burlington MA last weekend to look at over-priced fixtures and appliances, and I really liked a $3500 fridge. Anything you get at Home Depot has water and ice in the door and the fridge is on top and the freezer is on the bottom. This may appeal to some people, but I like ice cube trays and the freezer on top so I guess i'll need to shop elsewhere. This weekend we're going to Moores and Howlett Lumber to look at kitchen cabinets and butcher block counter tops. They had butcher block counters at Design Expo for $130 a ft that's even more then granite. I can guarantee we will find it for a lot cheaper.

Drawings

2008-04-05T16:40:00.000-04:00

Last night we went to Home Depot and purchased The Complete Guide to Home Plumbing and The Complete Guide to Home Wiring. They have lots of good photos and over 200 pages so we should be ready when the time actually comes where we can doing wiring and plumbing.

Today we went to the house with my parents and Ed to take measurements. Ed is going to do up a plan for the house which will be very helpful. After my parents left we went to Woodcraft Furniture in Allston. They had nice furniture at reasonable prices and you can order real wood cabinets and they will stain or paint them whatever color you want. When we at Home Depot we looked at the cabinets and even the higher end cabinets they carry only have white laminate no real wood cabinets painted white.

After the furniture store we went to Ace Hardware which is also a Benjamin Moore store and checked out some paint colors. I saw a color online and wanted to check out the little sample it's called Acadia Green, but when I saw it in person it was too bright.

Time

2008-04-03T20:06:00.000-04:00

More waiting for financing. It is going to be like this for the next 42 days until we close on the house. I wish we could go over there and just start working. There is a forest growing all around the house and by the time we move in, it will all be full of leaves and I am going to feel bad cutting down trees. Right now I can rationalize it because they are just branches. Other random things I wish I could be doing include washing the floors and hanging curtains. I figure we need to put up curtains because we won't be living in the place for 6 weeks while we do plumbing, heating and hot water, and I don't want people looking in the windows scoping out our tools.

I've been reading a bunch of house blogs to see what we can expect and it looks like it's going to take ten times longer then we think it will, it will cost more, and we might even end up hating the house by the time we are done. Hopefully the dog won't.

Learning

2008-04-01T21:43:00.000-04:00

Last night we watched a bunch of how-to videos on thisoldhouse.com I learned a lot and I am looking forward to actually getting to test my knowledge. Today we received our estimate for the work and the time line to complete it all, if everything were to go as scheduled we'll be done at end of August.

General Contractor

2008-03-30T13:27:00.000-04:00

Today I went through the house with our general contractor. Financing is an issue because we need to get a loan for all the repairs. We need to plan out each phase of the repairs, the time line to complete each and the cost.

To do list:

Electrical
Plumbing
Heating
Hot Water
Kitchen
Yard Work
Roof
Insulation
New Doors

Day One

2008-03-29T22:43:00.000-04:00

The bank finally signed the Purchase and Sales contract, so now the race is on to line up financing and plan all the repairs.