What have I done?

Yes or no? From far I like it, but when its in my face and I'm on my knees with the poly I'm not much of a fan, then again I have a hard time with decisions. Please leave your opinions.





Things to keep in mind: This is the smallest room of the house (at least right now). The floor has settled and the area by the doorway has sagged, the whitewash helps to hide this. Also the white floor molding isn't up but seems to help.







PS - left side of picture poly is wet, middle isn't "poly'ed" sp? and right is dry poly

Surprise!!!! Lets throw some more shit on your plate

I've been waiting for a surprise for a long time, except not this one. I knew I had plumbing issues, but I was hoping it was just a clog and a new wax ring and its a sealed deal. Never the case at the cooplex.

The toilet had to come off regardless, so we decided to do so since we were having trouble getting the snake through. That's when I discovered what lies beneath. There are holes in the drain under the toilet. Hopefully its just these 2 that we can see, but basically the concrete floor is going to most likely have to come up.

In terms of the fix, maybe we can fill them with lead (was someones recomendation) or we'll get the sawzall in there for a clean cut and put either PVC or cast iron/steel pipe on top. I don't even understand what these holes are from. Frozen water would be a good guess, except that would push outward, not inward.

Without further ado, here you go.

water heaters

Ah another dilema along the way. Conventional water heater, high efficiency water heater, or a tankless one. Cheapest, mid range, most expensive.

We are converting from oil to gas, so since the gas line needs to be brought it, hopefully the extra BTUs the tankless uses isn't an issue. Another thing to consider is we don't want to have to run an vent for the exhaust all the way to the roof. Even re-using the old chimeny as a chase, it would need a new flue, which would right away make kill any savings the cheap model may yield. Plus, we'll try to be a bit green with this one.

High efficiency tank units seem to go for around $800, and that we can vent directly outside the wall, but the tradeoff is a loss of even more space in my tiny utility room. I'm hoping to opt for a tankless unit for no more than $1200 that I can vent directly outside, and then have a decent size laundry/utility room.

PLUS, going high efficiency you get a 30% tax credit, and there are other incentives floating around out there.
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index

Oh and these look a lot better too.

a blast from the past AND a poll!!

I had to do this, partially for self gratification, since it feels I have really gotten no where, and I need to lift my spirits.  I also thought it might be interesting for any viewers to see where we were and where we are.  I attached some pictures, and I'd say we are maybe halfway through many of these rooms.  The flooring is not done yet, and no trim is up, but we've advanced a bit, and we are right before the fun, design oriented stage.  I hope you go into a bit of shock with the first few pictures, I sort of did.  I forgot how bad it was for a while. 

This is what we started with, not too bad right?  Shortcuts is not my middle name, and neither is dusty, so out with the old.

This was a bit hectic.  Right after some demo and the old panels ripped off.  The house looks a lot worse here than it did when we purchased it.  It took a while to throw the debri out, and it also took a while to warm up in there with that tiny dish heater and faux fireplace.

This is where we are now.  Primed walls, waiting for laminate and tile flooring and some finishing touches.  Steps will also be refinished.  I wish I could have left more exposed brick, but you heard EVERYTHING from my neighbors, and I wanted every bit of insulation I could get.

Not too much has been done with the bathroom, just cleaned up a bit.  I like the black and white tiles and will be keeping them.

After.

Here is the second floor bedroom with the fireplace to the right of the picture.  This room wasn't even that bad.  We already ripped up the carpeting, took the molding off, and then drywalled the room.

Here is is with my prince couch I got from work.  Still have to put some legs on it, but its good enough for when I need a nap.

As you may have noted, I wanted to retain my brick wall but it wasn't feasible. SO I was contemplating those fake brick wall panels. The color they come in looks very fake so without a doubt, I would paint them white (which I like since it reminds me of the place I lived in Brooklyn). I'm concerned it may look very fake, which I'm not a fan of. Help me decide.

Are faux brick walls OK
	yes
	no
View Results

Free poll from Free Web Polls

If you know what you're talking about, make a suggestion

I never found money stashed behind any walls, but I did find a awesome pocket door stashed away, and we began to re-finish it.  The door is stripped and still awaiting glass, since we accidentally put a hammer through it while it was hidden behind a wall  =x

This is an old picture, so the walls are newly drywalled, trim is still white, and I'm looking for a color to stain the door, AND the floor which is also terribly photoshopped and pictured below.  Its a pretty old, lofty type of floor, and I think a darker color is necessary to hide the gaps and imperfections.

So if you'd like to take a stab and show your interior design capabilities, please make a suggestion on the door color/stain, glass style, floor color/stain, and even wall color if you'd like.

Not house related for a change!

Heading to All Points West today and tomorrow, right next door in Jersey City. Here is the schedule for Friday's line-up:

Looking forward to some Fleet Foxes, Ra Ra Riot, Vampire Weekend, The National, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and maybe some Mstrkrft.

Tomorrow's schedule is as follows:

Looking forward to White Rabbits, Cool Kids were pretty fun last time I saw them, Arctic Monkeys, Gogol Bordello I think should be insane gypsy fun, Crystal Castles, Ting Tings, My Bloody Valentine, no thank you to tool. Im sure I'll discover some other bands in that bunch that I enjoy.

Hopefully I'll have some good pictures for you cats, I'll be snappin pics live from the photo pit!

hit the deck!

If I never mentioned anything about a deck in my previous posts, its because I never thought I'd just get a whim to build a deck. The only deck I thought about building so far was a deck on top of the roof, which is put off until fall or next year. In fact my original intentions for the backyard were to just cement most of the yard and leave a small amount of grass for my dog to piss on and maybe my drunk friends if it came down to it.

I then realized several days before my July 4th party, I needed a place to hang since the inside wasn't done and the "grass" (read - weeds) looked atrocious. So we embarked on an adventure and I decided to build a deck. Things got out of hand and went from a small, simple deck, to a larger and slightly more complicated one with the decking laid at 45 degree angles and a step up. Not that big of a deal, but I didn't plan this out really and it was the first deck I've done. Here goes nothing:



This is what I started out with. You can see my painting, debri, and work station.




Fast forward a bit. After wasting a lot of time at Home Depot, we purchased most of the supplies, leveled everything, decided to add the step up, continued to frame. Check out that back wall, I actually like it. To the left of the deck is a couple feet and then my neighbor, which I may put up a fence for some privacy.





And then here is the ALMOST finished product. We trimmed the tree back a bit, I still need to stain or waterproof the deck, put a step on the front, grey pavers around the side and front of the deck, but at least now I have a place to hang, drink, and eat.

Some freebies or cheapies I picked up

Here is a sneak peak of just 3 of my recent cheap finds which I am very excited about:


Panda bear needle point I picked up at a flea market last year. I like that a lot.
Sugar or flour holder has a funny story behind it.




50/60's chair - Picked this up online for free, needs a bit of work to make it pristine but its relatively good condition. Real excited about this and it should fit very well with the old world feel of the house.

Is this a good idea?

I'd like to get any opinions from anyone readng this. Here is a picture of walking up from ground level to the 2nd floor living room:

That door in the right of the picture seems to have been previously been the front entrance, which they since knocked the steps out, put new siding up, and we put a new window in. I don't have the funds or time to make that into a front door again, so I'm contemplating what else to do, and have 3 options. Options continued below, here is a closer picture:

I'm thinking I can knock it out (have to really look into this first to make sure its a possibility) which would give me a bigger and more usable living room space (pretty narrow right now and I'm unsure where to put the TV and furniture). I can use it as a guest closet, but I already have a guest closet space downstairs. OR, and perhaps my favorite, I can make it into a small bar?

Its a cool space, with molding in there, I would put up a tin ceiling, snazzy lighting, and the bar top across where the door currently is, maybe extend it to the wall. Don't worry I wont throw the door out, its going in storage. Then where the semi ripped up wall is on the side, I'm going to blast a whole through there and that will be the entrance. I'm just worried I'm so excited about a bar and all the options I can get creative with it that I'm not thinking logically and that its going to be out of place. Someone guide me!

A pictureless update

I have the worst renovation blog out there =[

For those that are dreamers and can just close their eyes and envision things, here is where I am at.

Stressed out and very snappy and miserable at times. I decided to have a 4th of July party at my house, which really lit a fire under my ass and we started getting A LOT done. Except I have 24 hours, and here is what is left on the to do list.

1. Finish the deck. I decided to build a deck on Saturday, rain has hampered things along with work. What started as a simple square deck turned to 45 degree angle planks and a 2 level deck. Pair that with an uneven yard, it was a bit complicated and is just about completed. This was the most dangerous project so far. The shield on the chop saw has been loose, and I used it anyway, and it bit me in the ass. The shield tilted and got caught in the teeth and was ripped off, hitting me in the head and both arms. I thought I had been cut in half.

Like a fool, I used this the next day as well with the shield rigged back on, this time it did it again striking me in the fingers and shearing some metal piece off. Im done with it.

2. 12ft wall in kitchen needs gas line run behind it and then drywalled. Bathroom needs to be drywalled or patched in 3 places, and ceiling in kitchen and front bedroom need to be primed.

3. Paint walls and ceiling on first floor.

4. Re assemble painted fridge and deliver to the house.

5. Purchase grill

6. Spackle 2nd floor giant livingroom with 10ft ceilings and prime.

7. Spackle and prime 3rd floor drywall. Lay down already purchased laminate.

8. Clean.

+1 = 9. (Forgot about this one, but its important ). Fix the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom so people can use the sink, instead of the spicket outside.

I have work for 5 more hours, and then begins the 24 hour deadline to get everything accomplished, except for cleanup.

I have my free coffee coupons to 7-11 ready, but I don't think this will be enough. Im starting to think this is not going to be worth it. But I guess once everyone is drunk they will forget about it, and the NYC fireworks that I am anticipating will be in my face, better damn well be in my face.

flooring ideas.

Im not even near being done with the HVAC, drywall, painting process, but I can't stop thinking of the flooring I want to go with to tie it all together.

For the most part I have it figured out except for the first floor.

4th floor office room (I think this will look good, but I haven't seen it done yet) I plan on painting the floor white. Its a small room, low ceiling, sort of a getaway and overlooking the city, so I want it to be open and airy. I happen to also like to see some woodgrain, so after I paint it white im going to give it a quick sand so the top of the woodgrain shows through. If its not smooth enough I'll throw some clear polyeurethane on top. Hopefully this doesn't make the floor too busy, if it does, I'll simply keep it all white. I was worried about it getting dirty, but there are 3 other floors to walk through before your dirty feet can even touch this floor.

3rd floor is 2 bedrooms and a bathroom in the middle. Most likely both bedrooms will be getting new hardwood or laminate, the hallway in between may be granite, depending on what I do with the bathroom remodel.

2nd floor I am going to refinish the old wood floor. Perhaps its more of a subfloor (but not plywood, actual strips of pine), but this floor reminds me of the place I lived in over the summer in Brooklyn. I'll keep this a darker wood color most likely.

1st floor is what is making me think, but with the situation at hand, maybe I can get creative with the flooring. It is ground level, but the back of the house is a bit below grade. With the kitchen also in the back, Im worried about any potential water issues, so this kind of rules out wood or laminate, plus tracking water in from the outside. Seems to be a simple fix with some tile, but I don't want to tile the whole first floor as the front will be a bedroom or 2nd living room, wow! Polished cement slab sounds nice...nice and cold. All these stipulations I've created in my head are making things difficult, so I've come up with a plan to combine all three of them. The entrance that leads to the stairs to the 2nd floor may be polished concrete. Easy clean, water is not a problem, pretty contemporary, I get my polished cement fix. The kitchen and dining room is in the same room, so I'll tile 4 feet off the wall that the cabinets are on. The rest of the eating area, hallway, and front room are going to be laminate (I'm thinking a very very light/white-ish color).

Hopefully its not too much, but since I do all of this myself, if I have to change it down the road to sell, not a problem, plus when I change it I can put the latest style down which should help with the sale. I think all this floor talk calls for me to bust out my architectural skills and show the world what I've come up with.

Blogging is tougher than remodeling

Everything is sort of working with me right now with the renovations, and against me with the blog. Camera is MIA again and all my friends with their fancy SLR's are...MIA. And I have no female accomplice to do the bloggins.

However, I pretty much hit the lottery in terms of stuff for the house. I got a TON, litterally a ton, of granite. Amazing, amazing granite slabs. This will probably make the place look like some ritzy hotel from NYC, well thats because they were intended for a ritzy hotel.

Oh yea, I hit the lottery twice actually. I also scored 3 nice Ikea Udden cabinets that are in great shape from some fine folks in Brooklyn. What makes this more awesome, is that I was planning on picking up the Udden wall cabinets and piecing something together for the bottom. It took many trips to scoop them all up, and those damn tolls, but it was worth it. Actual pics to ensue, but here is a teaser:

The only issue now is deciding between this setup for a quick free-standing kitchen, or utilizing my new granite in my kitchen. Otherwise my bar and bathrooms can use some granite.

'Cause God is on my side...

And all the wine is all for me

And all the wine is all for me

And all the wine is all for me

Thanks.

A long needed update on the way

My camera was lost, and has been found. I have some pictures of the back room progress (kitchen) which was framed out, and is ready for drywall (hopefully today). Also buying a drywall lift today, yes! More tools!

On a funny and almost dreadful note, I stepped on one of these the other day, something I thought only happens in the movies:

That hoe almost messed me up bigtime, but it wacked my shoulder instead of my face, wew. But thats ok, I have medical and dental now!

I assure you, I'll have pictures of progress on the first level, and my table saw I proudly acquired within the next day.

Thinking of the house, and food

Im sitting at work right now thinking of the projects ahead of me (securing furring strips to the brick wall and getting sheetrock up to finish the first floor), but I haven't posted any new blog entrys, because well, I feel blogs suck without pictures, and my camera is missing, again. But basically 80% of the first floor is drywalled and taped.


Im starving at work, sitting in an office is the pits sometimes, and my stomach always feels like an endless pit, or maybe its a tapeworm from that crappy fried wonton last week?


If you know anything about me, I love pizza like most people, but I really enjoy making it as well. Being all about tools, this gadget is a must have! So females, go buy your handyman man one of these, make some pizza and have fun. And, if you DON'T have a handyman, buy me one and we'll make some pizza. I can just imagine a hard day of work, a hard night of partying, making some pizza while drunk, and cutting that pizza with this while making circular saw noises. This thing is so sweet!

Island or dining table

If anyone can vote, I'd appreciate it!

Here is the layout if you are not familiar: Walk in front door, go straight to the back, thats where the kitchen is. Its a 13x15 room (just walls, no cabinets yet). I can either put a island in, and keep it very contemporary and modern, or put a table in and no island. I'm not planning on having a dining room, but there is another room on the first floor that can be used as a dining room down the road (when I no longer need a roommate in there). Concerned with what is most practical and for best resale value.

Going for either a gloss white modern kitchen, maybe some black.

Have an island or table for small kitchen/no dinning room
	Island
	Table
View Results

Web Poll from Free Website Polls

To buy or not to buy

I have a new tool lined up! Of course Im excited, but Im trying to rationalize the purchase. Partly due to funds. Do I reallyyyyy need it, or is this just something I want. I am a recovering tool addict that used to go out on whims and buy stuff, especially shit I didn't need one bit, but they all proved useful in the end. Ie - Stud welder, mig welder, 2 air compressors, those are the bigger items but the list goes on.

For $100 after my 10% off coupon and with a stand, I suppose its worth it.


Im sure with a full renovation underway it will be good when I have to do flooring, kitchen cabinets, casings, filler strips, cutting 2x4s longways, in fact it would have saved me a $30 door when cutting it to size rather than using the circular saw which I NOW know the base of it was bent. This led to trying to cut the end of the door down 5 times and wondering why it wasn't square.

At the same time I think I want the 4 piece Ryobi Lithium tool kit more (drill, sawzall, circular, flashlight) for $200 marked down from $300. I should have bought this from the get go.

PSEG

Don't mind the totally random picture of a ultra cute puppy that reminds me of my baby girl.

Anyway, PSEG = Public Service Enterprise Group = Piece of Shit eating goats.

You guys are impossible, and everyone knows it. This is a monopoly! My acronym makes no sense except the PS, please ignore the goat part or fill it in with something that makes sense. I couldn't get it to flow.


BRING ME MY GAS!

Venting

While this may be the first post of venting you've seen on here, I assure you it isn't the first, nor the last. In fact this is the most passive venting I've done so far. Usually venting involves either a hissy fit and wanting to go home to a stable, non dust filled environment, or drinking whatever Natty lights or Steel Reserves I can scavenge, or cursing and sitting atop a ladder (it seems to lift my spirits when I sit up there).

If you are in a similar situation or ever have been in a similar situation (read - working on a old, decrepit house) you know that one thing leads to another, and everything depends on something else. That "something else" is usually something not in your control, albeit you can sometimes make it in your control if you want to take 5 steps back (not 2).

So this was the situation yesterday:


In the picture I attempted to box out where the heating/cooling duct goes, and unfortunately it had to be dropped down like that. The joists go perpendicular to the furring strips, and we decided not to rip down the whole ceiling to fix this. The real problem (besides using Microsoft paint with its super pixelated lines, and in-ability to "undo" anything past one step, which yields the big white mistake of a text box) is that corner of the room is way off in terms of being level. The other half of the duplex is to the left in the picture and im sure has to do with the sagging.

The problem -
I get to work on the house 3-4 hours a day after work. My mind is usually clustered with crap, I can never think straight. Then take some electric that needs to be done, heating and cooling that needs to be done, additional framing, and sheetrock, a dash of planning ahead and rushing, put it in the bowl, whip it up, and you get a lot of incoordination. I know this can be easily solved, but there are reasons things are being done like this.

The duct went up before we could level that out. It didnt look to bad so we threw up the sheetrock. Then we realized the overhead light ideally had to be moved from the center of the kitchen to the left side where the table would be. The sheetrock was up anyway and I don't want to deal with 5/8ths above my head anymore than I have to. So the dilema is to take it down (I can't even tell you how often stuff like this happens) or keep going and hope for the best. My lack of experience here doesn't help, but I do know I want to keep moving ahead.

Too bad, Im going to keep on going on.

Quite a steal

To be honest, this house was a good deal, for obvious reasons. And the way the economy is, I'm still looking for some good deals, and thats when I stumbled upon this. My room has an existing fireplace in it, but it almost certainly needs to be relined. That is probably big bucks I don't have now, so I found this alternative. Thanks Lowes for 50% off seasonal heating. I scored this for $125




+



=


">

Thats probably not how it will look exactly, but there will be similar colors, maybe some black granite tile, cedar, Im still browsing, and if anyone has recommendations, please don't hold back. What do females like in terms of fireplaces?!

Demo Daze - Take 1

This is part of the first day of demo. I really wish I had better pictures, but here are some shots of the cabinets off the wall, paneling is gone, what remained of the drop ceiling is gone, and this is pre breaking the window on the right, dammit.

Lookng towards the backyard:





From the back door looking towards the front. You can see the furnace room attached to the bathroom, and my gleaming electric blue drill from Harbor Freight for $20. I have to say this is one tool that is holding up well. I rarely have to charge it, and its better than my Black & Decker cordless, but no match for the Ryobi.



And here is the front room, looking towards the street. Some supplies moved in, some paneling out. I really love brick walls and Im going to see where I can salvage some and showcase it.

Information about Union City

Just a article I stumbled upon. Brief information about Union City, some pros, perhaps cons, development and hopefully gives an idea why I think UC property values will rise a lot more than they have.

NY Times on Thread building

NY Times UC article

Surprise! We have pictures

So I finally managed to upload a few pictures of the house. This is what I purchased, and tomorrow I'll post the first round of demo time. Yes the pictures are terrible. I didn't take the time to take proper pictures, so you can't get a good idea of the size of the rooms, but I vow that as of today I will do my best to take accurate and clear pictures. Amen.

This is walking through the front door. You can see steps going to the second floor, the bathroom on the first floor to the right, and the kitchen is in the back.

From UCHouse

This is from the back door in the kitchen looking towards the front of the house. Obviously still ground level.

From UCHouse

Downstairs bathroom came with free curtains.

From UCHouse

From UCHouse

On the second floor looking towards the backyard, and more stairs! Definitely my favorite room out of the house. There is a lot of detail to be seen in the big windows that are behind me in this picture. The trim work, the old wood, the high ceilings, and most of all, a hidden gem is in this room that you can't see. Can anyone guess what it is.

From UCHouse

The view from what will most likely be my room:

From UCHouse

This speck of a room on the third floor is located in the back of the house, overlooking the backyard. To the left of the wall is another room the same size.

From UCHouse

There is the full bath on the third floor. Holy PINK. This is probably a 10 year old girls dream bathroom, and probably a lesbians dream bathroom as well. Pink on the walls, ceiling, floor, tub, toilet and sink, ew.

From UCHouse

Thats all the pictures I have from the first day. There is another room towards the front of the house that is a good size and pretty clean. Oh there is also another set of stairs that goes into the attic which is storage, and has ANOTHER room in the front with views of Manhattan. How about that.

No more stairs from there, but there is a small ladder to the roof which should yield me some splendid views on Fourth of July.

Welcome!

I know, I know, a blog is pretty useless and boring without pictures, but patience is a virtue and I will have some grimey, dirty, eye candy for you shortly. There isn't much to see of the place besides some death and destruction, but soon enough I hope this will be my little gem on this side of the Hudson.

Here is a quick background. This is my first place, and needs some (read: a lot of) freshening up. I nick named it the Pigeon Coop since the first day I checked out the place and was rudely introduced to a flock of pigeons sitting in the dark, abandoned attic. Armed with only a dim flashlight, that was the end of exploring for that day. God only knows who or what else was squatting in there at the time. This can also explain my missing beer.

Stay tuned!