I believe this could be a very boring tour of drywall for anyone but Marisa and I, but if you are so inclined, please feel free to view. I'm not sure why I look like a cast member from Blair Witch, I am not really scared, but the opening seconds does look like a very panicked home owner. Maybe I don't have depth perception.
Sorry for the couple of moments where it gets dark, we still don't have lights.
PS-They painted the front today...Then a couple of hours later is began to pour rain. Crap. Hopefully it had time to dry.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Paint by number…
Part of the wood door/window process was to select paint colors for the exterior. We knew we wanted black for the windows and frames. We needed a color for the front door, cornice and cornice trim piece.
I really didn’t know where to start since it should be historic colors and having an "oops" moment with the exterior wasn’t an option. It had to be right the first time. I went back to our architect Todd and Heather at Trace to talk paint. They suggested the Sherwin-Williams Historic Palette. I feel good about it since it is helping a Cleveland company (I’m loyal to several rust belt cities, not just Baltimore) and Trace has used this color palette throughout the neighborhood and I liked it on other houses.
Sherwin-Williams has an online visualizer, but apparently there is not enough demand from rowhome owners so the selection of home types they provide doesn’t really help since all the homes are detached and not brick. I went with a black and blue scheme, which I’ll share with you once we get it painted. I would give you the color names, but I’m afraid I’d actually get comments telling me those colors look like crap, so as if it were a baby name, you’ll have to wait until it is here to find out. Then you can tell me it looks like crap.
I really didn’t know where to start since it should be historic colors and having an "oops" moment with the exterior wasn’t an option. It had to be right the first time. I went back to our architect Todd and Heather at Trace to talk paint. They suggested the Sherwin-Williams Historic Palette. I feel good about it since it is helping a Cleveland company (I’m loyal to several rust belt cities, not just Baltimore) and Trace has used this color palette throughout the neighborhood and I liked it on other houses.
Sherwin-Williams has an online visualizer, but apparently there is not enough demand from rowhome owners so the selection of home types they provide doesn’t really help since all the homes are detached and not brick. I went with a black and blue scheme, which I’ll share with you once we get it painted. I would give you the color names, but I’m afraid I’d actually get comments telling me those colors look like crap, so as if it were a baby name, you’ll have to wait until it is here to find out. Then you can tell me it looks like crap.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Oh Soy
This post is a bit delayed...last week wrapped up a another week of work at the house! The electric was finished off and inspected. Then we got foamed! BioBased Spray Foam Insulation, which is made out of soy beans, was sprayed on all the exterior walls and ceilings. It’s a neat product. Gets sprayed in and then foams up and dries almost like Styrofoam in texture. Between that and the new windows, we should have an energy efficient house.
I rarely see the team of guys working on the house but Friday evening they were here till almost 7:00. So I asked...when will we have our house back? 4-6 weeks! Which means they're right on schedule. Seems like a long ways off but 6 weeks is how long I was in Canada and that flew by! So my hopes to be in by election day are looking good!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Door & Drywall
Our rear door was removed and the new wood 4-panel door was installed. It makes a huge difference to the look of the exterior. I’m thinking now that we have new windows and a new door, we may need to look into painting the rear brick since the crappy white paint job is going to look crappy.
Talking with the general contractor, the windows from Marvin are made especially for our house. Maybe many of you knew that, I didn’t. The Marvin rep actually measures each frame and builds the windows accordingly. It has been a shock lately to actually be able to open and close the windows without placing a board to keep it open or a broken broom handle to keep it shut! Although they meet historic requirements, they are also Energy Star rated, which goes with our "green" agenda.
Drywall was delivered today. They craned it up through the 2nd and 3rd floor windows. They start hanging it on Tuesday. I should have taken a photo of the truck, but I was running late for work (shocking!). Even more shocking was that I caught the Quickbus and made it on time-Ha!
PS – I decided life has been going well and went to the Browns-Ravens game in Baltimore. I had no idea how many people think I suck and other obscenities since my team is INCAPABLE of winning! Luckily nothing was thrown at me, but I did manage to knock over a Ravens fan’s coke while walking to my seat and had to buy him another. To call it humbling is an understatement, and in my foolish ways I have a ticket for the Redskins game in DC with a neighbor. He promises Redskins fans will go easy on me.
Talking with the general contractor, the windows from Marvin are made especially for our house. Maybe many of you knew that, I didn’t. The Marvin rep actually measures each frame and builds the windows accordingly. It has been a shock lately to actually be able to open and close the windows without placing a board to keep it open or a broken broom handle to keep it shut! Although they meet historic requirements, they are also Energy Star rated, which goes with our "green" agenda.
Drywall was delivered today. They craned it up through the 2nd and 3rd floor windows. They start hanging it on Tuesday. I should have taken a photo of the truck, but I was running late for work (shocking!). Even more shocking was that I caught the Quickbus and made it on time-Ha!
PS – I decided life has been going well and went to the Browns-Ravens game in Baltimore. I had no idea how many people think I suck and other obscenities since my team is INCAPABLE of winning! Luckily nothing was thrown at me, but I did manage to knock over a Ravens fan’s coke while walking to my seat and had to buy him another. To call it humbling is an understatement, and in my foolish ways I have a ticket for the Redskins game in DC with a neighbor. He promises Redskins fans will go easy on me.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Its electric!
Last weekend Steve and I managed to pick out just about everything that we needed to. From towel bars to tile...even door knobs! We picked out our bathroom tile by visiting just one tile shop for 15 minutes...how's that for efficient?!?
As Steve said, the windows were installed last week just in time for tropical storm Hanna to test the house for water-tightness...we had a few failures! I think we had 3 leaking windows and 2 leaking spots in the roof from new vents. We're glad to find the leaks now and not after drywall goes up.
We had a delay in the electric work last week. Apparently the original electric subcontractor showed up for one hour one day, nailed in a couple blue boxes (which Steve could have even done) and left! So Baltimore Green Construction had to find a new sub, Milton Electric, who we've heard great things about from other people around the city! They started this week and have been running wires like crazy! Progress is a good thing!
....for those of you that know the story of Steve's last encounter with working with electricity, yes, that is a screw driver in his hand but don't worry, these lines are dead for now!
As Steve said, the windows were installed last week just in time for tropical storm Hanna to test the house for water-tightness...we had a few failures! I think we had 3 leaking windows and 2 leaking spots in the roof from new vents. We're glad to find the leaks now and not after drywall goes up.
We had a delay in the electric work last week. Apparently the original electric subcontractor showed up for one hour one day, nailed in a couple blue boxes (which Steve could have even done) and left! So Baltimore Green Construction had to find a new sub, Milton Electric, who we've heard great things about from other people around the city! They started this week and have been running wires like crazy! Progress is a good thing!
....for those of you that know the story of Steve's last encounter with working with electricity, yes, that is a screw driver in his hand but don't worry, these lines are dead for now!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Let there be light
The windows have been installed and the house no longer feels like a cave.
The next step is to pick out paint colors for the exterior portions of the windows as well as the cornice and trim. We are pretty sure we want black for the windows, but haven't made up our mind on the front door and cornice yet (which will be painted the same color).
Our view of the park has returned!
The next step is to pick out paint colors for the exterior portions of the windows as well as the cornice and trim. We are pretty sure we want black for the windows, but haven't made up our mind on the front door and cornice yet (which will be painted the same color).
Our view of the park has returned!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
HOUSEboat GUESTS!
There seems to be an alluring quality to the idea of boat-life that has drawn several out of town guests to us. Our guests fall in love with boat-life after just 5 minutes sitting on the top deck watching the sun set over the city with a drink in thier hands. Its unbeatable! Their love wanes a bit when they see the boat's bathroom and hear the captain's rules!
Labor Day Weekend brought my sister, Andrea, and brother-in-law, Mark, to us from Columbus, Oh. We had a great weekend! Very relaxing. Andrea and Mark also live in a nearly 100 year old house so their weekends at home are usually spent on home projects but they quickly made the adjustment to the "contract-it-out" mentality Steve and I have. We didn't do much other than sit around and drink, play cards, and party-hop around the neighborhood! Good living...
As for the happenings at the house, the electric work started this week and the windows were delivered and are sitting in our living room ready to be installed! Steve and I need to make some decisions about door knobs, tile, etc. Can you believe door knobs are something you have to decide on?!?
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