Our New Front Door

One painted lady...

2010-01-24T19:38:00.000-08:00

Ever since clearing out the dining room for New Years, Marisa got into painting the 1st floor ceiling and crown molding full force. Some of the improvements included replacing the broken bottle light with a new one, and finally covering the water stain with a`fresh coat of paint.

Ferris and I helped by staying out of the way.

There is more work to come in the next few weeks, with the mason coming back to touch up some bricks and mortar work, as well as the electrician to set up the cable outlet in the living room as well as add an exterior light at the rear door. I'll keep you posted.

Shelved

2009-12-22T06:10:00.001-08:00

Thinking back over the year, we've actually done more work than we realize on the house. The "To-Do" list never seems to get any shorter so it isn't obvious I guess.
Back in September, I extended the basement shelves, bringing them all the way to the back of the house. Big Steve would have been horrified by my methods! I cannot cut a straight line even with a chalk line. I failed to put in as much support as he did on the shelves themselves (didn't realize that till they were already installed. But mine seem to be holding up just fine!). I also let them free float rather than anchoring them to the ceiling. But the craziest part was installing them. I very carefully used the level and measured the length of each support...once the bottom shelf is installed and level, theoretically, the supports up from there should all be equivalent lengths, right? WRONG! They were all different! I kept thinking "this can't be right". Measure twice, cut once I did and weirdly, the multiple height supports resulted in level shelves. I still don't know why it worked but it did!

Sabbatical ends...

2009-11-22T18:41:00.000-08:00

It is safe to say we accomplished nothing on our house over the course of the summer. With winter approaching, we figured now was as good as time as any to get moving on some projects.

This weekend, our focus was on the vestibule and basement. After peeling two layers of vinyl tile, we were left with an ugly layer of VCT, but it should work as a sub-floor for new ceramic tile.

The second project was to get the basement walls sealed, but after doing one wall, the sealant fumes spread into both neighbors' houses and left all of us with a bad headache. We halted work until we can find a better alternative to the low-grade Depot stuff. We may also need some expert masonry work too.

Patio in full bloom

2009-06-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

My last post on the patio staining was pretty vague, but a couple of friends have asked how hard of a process it was. Looking at the pictures you can decide for yourself:

One indifferent wife

One post-op dog

Actually two buckets of Behr Semi-Transparent stain colored for Terra Cotta using a roller got the job done in a couple of hours, and most of that was time for drying between hosing the concrete off, the first coat, then the second coat. It looked pretty ugly after the first coat, but the guy at the Depot told us it would.

After we brought everything back into the patio, I noticed our container plantings were looking really good this summer.

I am most impressed with the cactus I took off the hands of my neighbor. I wasn't sure what to expect, but give it a couple of weeks in direct sun and check out the difference.

Basic green and blah

Now flowering and thriving

Eventually #2 wins

2009-06-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

From our last post, we took advantage of Sunday's sunny weather to tackle project #2. What was a gray, cold rear patio was transformed into something warm and welcoming. How do you think it turned out?

What will it be? Cast your vote!

2009-05-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, we have a long weekend in town and Marisa and I have several projects we "could" tackle this weekend, but we need your help. Vote for the project you'd like to see get compelted:

1. Build a second set of shelves in the basement.
2. Stain the back patio concrete.
3. Install a new door bell.
4. Seal and paint the basement walls.
5. Install the cable outlet box in the living room.
6. Sit out back and drink cocktails all weekend.

Please don't vote for #6. We'll most likely do that with or without your vote.

Gassed

2009-05-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

See this

Apparently having your gas feed from the main run through your neighbor's house is not a good idea. BGE proposed installing a new main and new meter. See old meter below.

A simple request to be at home at 8:30 AM today has turned into a day-long absence from work and this mess...

The crews aren't too happy. I don't know why they act like I built the house. They underestimated how deep the main gas line will be. The project will require them to come back tomorrow but I already notified Marisa it's her shift to cover.

Healthy Neighborhoods

2009-05-03T06:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it really been more than 2 months since we’ve posted anything? This year is flying by! Sorry for the absence. I think Steve and I both got sick of the house…sick of working on it, talking about it, and even thinking about it!

We started the blog because Healthy Neighborhoods asked us if we would so I think we should finish the HNI part of our home renovation story…

Back when we signed the paper work for our loan, mortgage interest rates were around 5.75%. One of the risks with doing a HNI project is that your interest rate doesn’t lock in until the project is completed. During construction, you pay interest only and the rate floats with the market. Between June and October, the rates kept ticking up and up. Rates peaked right before our project was SUPPOSED to be finished. All that whining we did about wanting the house to be done, the delays actually became a huge benefit to us. By the time the project was complete, interest rates fell back down from above 6% all the way down to 5%. And as previously explained, part of the benefit of HNI is you get to lock in at 1% under the published rate. That’s right, we got to lock in for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage for 4%! After doing a lot of work on our house, our monthly payment is only a couple hundred more than before. With rates now even lower, HNI has set a floor of 4%.
HNI does more than just low rate mortgages. They also award block grants of up to $3,000. The block residents need to pick a project that improves or stabilizes the block. Our block is working on alley gating and as soon as we get the last couple of signatures we need, you better believe we'll be going to HNI for $$!

Shelved...

2009-02-16T19:45:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to keep the blog updated every Sunday, but given there is no penalty for missing a blog post, I quickly get behind.

After the big basement cleanup, we had planned a relaxing weekend with Big Steve (Dad) and Patti (Mom). After coffee, Big Steve wasn't so interested in checking out museums and instead re-directed us to National Lumber so that we could build the shelves Marisa had designed several months ago. Mom wasn't so thrilled with the plan, but she went along with the change of plans. Only Big Steve travels with the miter saw in the trunk of the car!

Marisa was determined to get her shelves built according to plan and she did.

After a couple of hours, the shelves were built and ready for our bins. To celebrate and thank them, we took them out for a great dinner at Peter's Inn.

Basement Blowout

2009-02-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

Sunday's sole job was to get the basement in order so that the following items could occur:

1) The mess from the 1st floor needs to go down into the basement.

2) The mess from the basement needs to be moved to the front of the basement so that we can build shelves in the rear of the basement.

3) The mess from the rear of the basement either needs to be donated, recycled, or trashed.

In the midst of sorting, recycling, trashing and moving, I found some real treasures in this mess.

A bottle of rum...with Marisa and my picture on it from our honeymoon. Letting it age.

A journal I shared with my mom, back in February 2002, until one of the cats threw up on it while it was in the basement. I have "cleaned" it and hope to send to mom soon!

A flea house fogger we bought when Ferris had a case of fleas and we over-reacted. Never needed to use it but too thrifty to throw it out.

Some people are found dead in their homes with years of newspapers surrounding them. Somehow we have amassed a granny's cart full of plastic bags for Ferris' #2s. I think we can spare a plastic bag here.

And finally the best of the day! This great warning not to pack your child with the x-mas decorations.

Whistle Stop & Re-claiming the Flag

2009-01-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

We took a break from painting and organizing this weekend to take part in the Obama Inaugural Whistle Stop Tour. We didn't want to miss out on this opportunity so we, along with our neighbor Kelly and her family, and my cousin Philip headed downtown early and spent a very cold 5 hours waiting for Obama to arrive. It was another 2 hours after his arrival before we were warm again but every one of us agreed it was worth it!

We decided we had enough of standing around in the cold on Saturday and we really couldn't top our view or experience so we stayed home in Baltimore and watched the inaugural activities from the warmth of Kelly's house with her and her family. To celebrate the inauguration of Barak Obama, we hung American Flags on our house and Kelly's house. We've had our flag for a couple of years now but just didn't feel motivated to display it until now.

Getting there...

2009-01-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

It really is finally feeling like home. Each week, we are making progress with our painting, furnishing, and general organization of the house. The posts have slowed down a bit, but there's plenty more to show so keep stopping by.

The new master bedroom his/her closet walk thru

Master bathroom with mirror

Guest bathroom (still needs a shower curtain)

The den

The new 2nd floor hallway leading to the den, guest bathroom, and guest bedroom

Best of all, this Saturday Marisa and I are heading to Baltimore's City Hall to see President-elect Obama give a whistle stop speech enroute to DC. What a coup if I could convince him that living in Baltimore is not only better, but more affordable. Ok, I'll get off the work soap box.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-01T11:46:00.001-08:00

Marisa and I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on 2008 and ready ourselves for 2009. We were fortunate to have had a very good year in 2008, not only in our respective careers, but also our health, our community, and our families.

To celebrate, we thought today was a great time to introduce our beautiful NEW FRONT DOOR. For those of you reading who are not in Baltimore, the door has been installed since September and painted in October. We still have some work going on in the house, and we will continue to highlight those efforts here.

It all started with the door.

The Old Front Door

Our New Front Door!

Happy New Year!

Santa came early for us...

2008-12-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

Santa brought the gifts we bought on black Friday this week. Ho ho ho!

Ferris only looks dead, he's mostly depressed still.

The new chair futon for the den:

Chair position

Lounger

Single bed (AKA my brother Jon's bed when in town)

The Marisa & Steve Economic Stimulus Plan

2008-12-10T18:03:00.000-08:00

Who knows what Paulson is doing to turn this economy around with the $700B bailout, not much from what I can tell* (seriously..$700B?!?! no plans, no questions asked, no nothing, and so far, no results. And Detroit Inc., which employs something like 1 out of every 10 Americans, has to beg for $14B in LOANS?!? ...but I grew up in the Detroit subburbs so maybe I'm biased. And don't get me wrong, I know the US auto makers have made some really stupid decisions).

Enough about Washington, this isn't a political blog afterall. Let me tell you about the Marisa & Steve Economic Stimulus Plan....SHOP TILL YOU DROP!! All of my training and experience was attained from world-renowned shopper, Mo V...my mom. As mentioned way back when, we didn't have much "grown-up" furniture before and we ditched the crappy stuff we'd been moving around rather than move it again. So we have a house to outfit! So far benefitting from the M&S Econ Stimulous Plan have been: Fells Point Futon, Lowes, Kohls, JC Penny, Sears, Macy's, and HomeDecorators.com (which appears to be owned by Home Depot).

Steve worked from home this afternoon to wait for delivery of our bed:

And washer-dryer

Closed:

Open!:

Next week, the couch arrives!!
We've also purchased a desk, a multi-functional-futon-chair-thing (aka, a grown-up version of a flip-and-fuck), lots of paint and supplies, and 2 comforters! Pictures when we get to it!

*we may have actually benefitted from the 'bailout'...more on that later.

You've Got no Mail

2008-12-10T17:18:00.000-08:00

During my hellacious commute home tonight (2 hours!! grrr), I found myself thinking back on the past 5 months. And I realized one thing we never mentioned on here....the mail.

Mail is always an issue with city living. Packages can't be left on the stoop for fear of theft and not much more than a large envelope can fit through the slot. The Sunday paper is a stretch. Thankfully, most will leave packages with neighbors if they find someone at home, otherwise you have to go pick them up, which is a pain in the ass. (our neighbor two doors down, who teaches kindergarten, accepts a lot of packages during the summers!! We have the best block!)

Anyway, we faced new mail issues during the renovation...there was a period of several weeks during which the new door was in but the mail slot hadn't been cut yet. Sometimes the mailperson would catch JD and leave it with him but for the most part, nada (luckily most of our bills are paid online!). Mail is definitely something we take for granted and mailpeople in the city have to be some of the hardest working people around!

And if you haven't noticed, we have yet to reveal the new front door on here. It's in and looks fab but we figured it all started with the front door, it should end with the front door as well.

Goofing off and other great finds...

2008-12-09T18:56:00.000-08:00

In our move back in we found fun stuff like Ferris' reindeer headband

Ice skating with friends

Meat vendor at Farmers Market had a 30% off sale

Chiming in

2008-12-05T13:18:00.000-08:00

It’s been a while since I’ve said anything on here lately so I thought I’d better chime in and give you my perspective on recent events.

First of all, when describing the “Wall of Death,” Steve failed to mention the fact that I’m afraid of heights! The staircase makes a 90 degree turn right by the wall of death so the stairs are triangular there making it difficult to fit both legs of a ladder. Plus, we didn’t know where the studs were and I didn’t want too much weight against the drywall, so I didn’t want too much pitch. As I climbed the ladder, I thought to myself “this is really stupid. This is how people break their legs or their back.” Steve must have had the same thought cause his question to me was “is your life insurance policy paid up?” The first several trips up the ladder with a brush or roller in my hand were nerve-wracking. My legs were totally shaking! But then I got more confidant and much more comfortable.

Secondly, some of you may have already guessed this, but the reason I’m the only one in any of the painting photos is because I was the only one painting much of the time!! But Steve is a hell of a taper. I hate taping. If he didn’t do it, I would just eyeball it and cut in.

Lights or Art?

2008-12-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

Our weekend of painting did not prove to be as nearly as successful as we wanted. I had envisioned the entire house painted by Sunday evening. Instead we settled for "The Wall", the chifarobe wall, and the den. Not quite the whole house but still it was progress.

A finished view of the chifarobe wall:

The "squatters" quarters we are inhabiting with pets and laundry:

Marisa in action, notice there are no pictures of me? Someone is a camera hog:

Monday night, Steve Baker from Wholly Terra, the man responsible for our bottle lights in our kitchen, agreed to make three sconces, the master bathroom sconce, and a sculptural light piece for "The Wall". Steve does a lot with glass and metal out of his studio in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore. We knew when it came to adding our personal touch to this project, we would do it through Steve's studio, and we were excited to see what he had designed for the house. After some nerve-racking installation maneuvers on "The Wall", he had everything in place and working. Great job Steve!

Chifarobe sconces:

The third floor landing sconce:

Master bathroom sconce (it looks odd not having a mirror yet, but that is on the list of things to get asap:

And the coolest, the sculpture. This measures 4 feet + in height, and roughly 32 inches in width. Steve designed this to flow upwards from the light source and actually "pull" off the wall. Here are some pics both at night and in daylight.

Thankful

2008-11-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving Marisa and I are especially thankful that the house is close to completion and we will get to enjoy the Holiday Season in the "new" house. This Thanksgiving was our first ever in Baltimore. It was our year to head back to Youngstown for Thanksgiving but having just seen my family in Hilton Head, we decided to stay in Baltimore and get some much needed painting done as well as take advantage of some Black Friday sales for needed items such as a couch, bed, etc...

Ferris and I started the morning with a frosty walk in the park.

We enjoyed dinner at Marisa's cousins', Philip & Lisa's, and enjoyed spending time with their son Gabriel (aka Primo).

Friday we braved our first ever Black Friday chaos. A man was trampled to death at a Wal-Mart in NY!!!...we chose civility in Howard County (it's a dumb bumper sticker the county gave to residents out there, apparently we are uncivilized in the city). We were on a mission: couch, bed frame, washer/dryer, television. We picked up everything but the W/D. Good deals and well worth waiting months to buy.

Come Saturday, we got down to work. We needed to paint a couple of areas so that the artist/electrician can install the decorative lighting on Monday. Marisa drew the short straw and was chosen to climb the wall of death (a 16' beast-of-a-wall in the stairwell between the 2nd and 3rd floors. This wall causes everyone on our block pain when its time to paint). I found my skill with prep work (taping, washing brushes, drinking beers). Big Steve, where are you?

Marisa:

Steve:

A lot has happened around the other parts of the house. For those eager to take the tour (Chris C), enjoy:

The front window was one of the most awaited items to be installed. It does a number of things:
1) Replaces the shotty old split window we used to have (see below)

2) It swings open to allow us to get furniture into the house as well as tilting in from the top to get a breeze. The Marvin salesman had never sold this window before.

We also failed to mention that we moved back into the house exactly a week ago. The cats are especially happy to be given free range of the whole house. The move is bittersweet, yes we are back in, but we are sleeping on an air mattress with our clothes scattered around us in plastic bins. At one point last night I noticed we look more like squatters than homeowners. What's worse, the air mattress has a slight leak that requires inflation throughout the night. Oh well.

Until tomorrow....

Nothing

2008-11-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

Nothing! That’s what it seemed like they got done at the house while we were away for a week. In actuality, they did get a few small projects finished but it has been two steps forward, one step back lately. For instance, when they went to finish off the master bath by installing the racks, the wrong drill bit was used and a tile was chipped. But of course we didn’t have anymore of the tile so we had to wait for the tile to come in and wait to get on the tilers schedule. Till then it looks like this:

Another example…when they put the medicine cabinet in the 2nd floor bath, the cabinet was taller than originally planned and interfered with the light. So the light box had to be moved up and then the drywall needed to be patched and painted.

We moved all of our stuff out of the house in late June…this is going on 5 months! I’m beginning to think we’re going to have a permanent relationship with JD and his team…like Eldin on Murphy Brown!

Home, Home, Home

2008-11-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry for my absence, but this post is a catch up about our weekend back in Youngstown, my hometown at the end of October. It provided us a chance to spend time in my childhood home which my parents still proudly maintain after 30 plus years. I find that amazing since so many homes in our neighborhood here in Baltimore are resold after a couple of years and sometimes only a few months.

It was beautiful at home, the leaves still on the trees and changing colors. My parents' have great views surrounding their home. Growing up, the field across the street was used for corn, but now is just grass.

Our neighbors still raise cattle in the rear yard. They typically only have a handful of cows, which really don't do much back there but eat and crap.

Marisa and I are not the only ones in the family undertaking serious home improvements. My sister and her husband are building a new home near Lake Milton after they outgrew their lakefront duplex when they added my niece and nephew.

Touring their home was bittersweet. Why? Because their 3,000+ SF home started AFTER we started our process and they have since painted and are installing the finishes. When we toured it, they were dry walling on a Saturday, primed on a Sunday and were painting on Monday. That is news we can do without.

Meanwhile, we had fun at my cousin's Halloween wedding reception. Kudos to Marisa for finding our "old standby" costumes in the storage unit. We last wore these 5 years ago so saying they fit is a stretch, pun intended.

HAPPY ELECTION DAY!!

2008-11-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is election day and we're not in the house...we missed my deadline! Though we could be in the house if we wanted to be so JD sorta pulled it off.
Steve and I still need to do lots of painting and the crews need to install light fixtures, electric outlets, and do some small clean-up tasks so we're probably a week away from being finished. But it will likely be Thanksgiving or later before we're actually moved back in cause we're headed down to Hilton Head Friday night and will be down there all of next week, not returning till Saturday 11/15.

Steve has lost all patience for the project. He was holding it together until his sister told him that they're already painting in her house...a big new house that they broke ground on in August. Our renovation has been going on since July!! Granted, renovating an exisiting house is more complicated than building new but it put Steve over the edge none-the-less. He was hitting the oreo cookies pretty hard to console himself last night!

We have a broomball game tonight and then an election results party. Hopefully the election goes the way we're hoping it goes. And hopefully that will cheer Steve up for a day and take his mind off the never ending home renovation project!

More Paint and Plumbing

2008-10-31T08:20:00.000-07:00

Big Steve has been busy! The bathrooms and ceilings are all painted and look great!

Steve stayed out of Big Steve's way and stuck to what he's good at, stripping paint off the old chiffarobe detailing (the washer and dryer will go in here).

With the bathrooms painted, the plumbers were able to come! The Steves had to spend the day with no water and I hear they were washing brushes in the toilet tanks...ewww! Sinks and shower heads and toilets and the tankless water heater were all installed.

Master bath on 3rd floor:

Master bath faucet detail:

In our effort to be as green as possible, dual flush toilet in master bath:

And the master bath shower:

2nd floor guest bath sink:

And another dual flush toilet in the 2nd floor guest bath:

And finally, the tankless wather heater. It took my Uncle Joe 3 days and 6 trips to Home Depot to get his installed last year...our guys had this thing installed in a couple of hours!!

And now we're headed out of town for the weekend to go to Steve's cousin's wedding reception tonight in Youngstown. Its a Halloween costume party reception. I wasn't up to creating new costumes with everything else I have going on so we're reusing our Joe Dimaggio and Marilyn Monroe costumes from a couple years ago...luckily found them right away in the storage unit! Then Sunday we'll be in Cleveland for the Browns game. I'm not really a Browns fan, I like the Lions and the Bills and I like to see the Ravens win as well (I know, I know, I'm psychitsophrenic when it comes to my NFL loyalties) but I'll put on the orange and brown for a day and fake it!! If for no other reason than to not have a beer thrown at me!

Big Steve, the Painting Machine

2008-10-29T19:27:00.000-07:00

Big Steve was painting for us till 7:30 last night...with no heat, no radio, no food, and most atrociously, no BEER! And after that we dragged him to watch us play broomball before we finally took him to the bar for dinner. It was so bad that Steve's former roommate, Graham, offered to step in and help Big Steve get unionized to get better treatment! That’s what we get for procrastinating and packing too much into a too short weekend and not having things ready for him. We were able to get all but the first resolved today and luckily the house has been holding around 65 degrees.

Steve stepped in to help Big Steve this afternoon. I think the day can be ruled a success as no one was injured and there was no obvious damage. By the time I got home, he was tasked with clean up...not too bad!

P.S. Broomball was awesome! It was so much fun! Of all the sports Steve and I dragged our parents to while we were kids, I think Big Steve might agree that broomball is one of the better spectator sports...he got to watch Steve run around an ice rink in tennis shoes and fall on his ass repeatedly for 40 minutes!....sorry, no pictures.

Shiny!!

2008-10-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

Waiting for paint to dry...

2008-10-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

That's what we've been up to since Friday. I finally got to go into the house Saturday morning to see the floors...they look gorgeous! Sorry no pictures for now...tonight, I hope.

The weekend was errand-full. I painted the outside of the claw-foot tub with two fresh coats of glossy black. We did the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 4 mile walk Sunday morning (it was a beautiful day for it!). Then we headed down to the boat to clean it out. It was kind of sad to pack it up! We confirmed what we suspected all along; dog fur and boat carpet are a bad combination. The boat is maybe 300 sqft but it took over an hour of vacuuming to collect all of Ferris' fur!

Monday the final coat went on the floors…more waiting.

Monday night brought us our favorite handy-man, Steve’s dad Big Steve! Big Steve was instrumental in remodeling our kitchen back in 2005. As I previously mentioned on here, Steve is not very handy. When Steve tried to help Big Steve with the kitchen remodel, he nearly electrocuted himself sticking a giant screwdriver into an electric box in an attempt to remove the electric box from a stud….saved us all a trip to the basement to flip the breaker! Big Steve is here this time with his paint sprayer and will be spending the next 3 days painting for us. Steve was very happy to tell Big Steve last night that he managed to get all day Thursday and half of Wednesday off from work to help Big Steve paint….I’m not quite sure how to describe the look that came across Big Steve’s face when he heard he’d have an assistant….definitely not one of joy!

Speaking of paint, Steve thought I was crazy when I told him that we needed to pick out a bedspread before picking out paint for the bedrooms so that the paint and the bedspread would coordinate….he’s had 2 people tell him that of course I’m right so far. Please feel free to echo!

And finally, in our usual style, we’ve overcommitted ourselves yet again and are signed up for broom ball, first game is tonight. I played broom ball a couple times at Ohio Univ but never sober. We were advised to invest in shin guards to protect against ex-field hockey players….yikes. Drinks beforehand sound like a good idea!

Patience...

2008-10-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

I've been out of town since Saturday at a conference in Denver. Which means I've missed an entire week of work at the house! I want to go see what changed, hopefully a lot in a full week (though we have suffered through a few painfully slow weeks over the past 3.5 months...oh my god, has it really been that long since this started?!?) but Steve tells me I can't go in and check it out cause they refinished the floors this week and the floors are drying. ....But I think I'll take a peak through the front door!! That can't hurt anything!

All better

2008-10-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

New floor was laid. Problem corrected!

Other details that have been added the past few weeks:

The new master vanity installed

In other housing news, rumor has it Big Steve is making the turnpike journey down to help paint in one week. We always learn so much from each other, like the time I showed him the easy way to flip the breaker without going to the basement...

Tile...ugh.

2008-10-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

Notice anything wrong with this picture? Look closely. See the little black hexagons? They should be in a pattern that makes sense....they're not. We didn't notice the problem till after they started grouting. We were torn as to whether or not to tell JD, the project manager. Part of me wanted to becuase I know it would bother me everytime I walked in there. But part of me didn't want to say anything becuase of what delays or costs would be involved in fixing it. We decided not to say anything and live with it.

BUT THEN! JD called Steve on Tuesday and said "Steve, we have a problem." After Steve's heart resumed beating, JD told Steve about the messed up tile pattern and informed him that the tilers would be out this week to rip it all up and start all over again! Which is good that it'll be right...but bad that to me this says delay. And my desire to be in by election day is quickly approaching!

Marathon Party Pics

2008-10-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Why NOT throw a party during a renovation?!?

2008-10-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

For the past 2 years, our block has hosted a marathon party...marathon party in two senses really, we cheer on the crazy people running the marathon as they run past and the party lasts all day! There was no doubt in my mind, regardless of the state of the house, the party must go on! The party is mostly outside anyway.

Steve skipped the party this year and instead headed back to Cincinnati for UC's homecoming weekend. But with the help of neighbors, we were ready to go at 8:30am! Bloody Marys, mimosas, lots of cow bell, and our neighbor blasted the Rocky theme song, Chariots of Fire, the Olympics medal music, etc. There's nothing better than drinking before noon on a beautiful fall day. And this year was especially great because we had several neighbors run the race. I'll post pictures later...my camera ended up at our neighbors during the clean-up effort!

The light at the end of the tunnel...

2008-10-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

We can see it! The house is looking like a house again. Trim, and tile, and base boards, oh my! Unfortunately, no pictures because we still have no lights and we've both been getting home late the past few days...combined with the days getting shorter, doesn't make for great photos.

Sean, the carpenter, has been putting up trim all week and it's looking great. He does amazing work! In fact, we'd like to talk to him some day in the future about adding some shelves to the den and modifying the staircase.

Yesterday and today the bathroom tile went in. The guest bath has all the tile down. They ran out of the master bath tile so its almost complete but it'll be a week or so till they can finish it. The grout still needs to be done so we can't walk into either bathroom which is killing us! We're using this special (read - expensive) grout Mapei Opticolor that never has to be scrubbed and doesn't stain or discolor.

The tile, by the way, looks great...and I'm the one that picked it out! I haven't picked out many of the fixtures or design elements that are going into the house cause I don't care about that stuff as much as Steve does. He's form over function, I'm function over form. Plus I trust his taste. ...And if it turns out awful, I can blame him! Ha! ...just kidding.

So all that's left to do is finish the trim, finish the tile, install lights, install plumbing fixtures, re-porcelain the tub, paint inside and out, refinish the floors...ugh...maybe that light at the end of the tunnel isn't as bright as it first seemed!

Beer, BBQ, and Paint Stripper

2008-10-05T16:33:00.000-07:00

As true procrastinators, we didn't even begin with the stripping till after 5:00 today. We had signed up to pour beer at the Fells Point Fun Fest and that's an event neither of us would miss! We have volunteered at the beer garden for the past several years and it’s always a blast. Great people, beautiful weather and as much beer as you can drink! The beer garden was pretty quiet today because the Ravens played at 1:00 so we poured a few and drank a lot from 11-3.

After the Fest, and with a nice mid-afternoon buzz, we headed to our neighbors for a BBQ...pulled pork and pit beef and all for a good cause. Mike lost his mom to breast cancer earlier this year and was raising money for the clinic that cared for her in her final days.

A quick siesta at Kelly's followed the BBQ and then we finally headed to the house to start stripping! ....And believe it or not, the soy gel actually worked! I was shocked! and relieved that a visit to Home Depot was unnecessary.

Strip tease!

2008-10-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

No, not by me! Steve and I will both be stripping this weekend...stripping paint that is!

Back in July the contractors uncovered some lead paint on the floors of the 2nd floor and rather than pay them big bucks to remediate the problem, we decided to tackle the project. I naively thought Steve would take care of it over the summer while I was in Canada...ha! Wishful thinking I suppose. Almost 5 years of marriage have taught me that he's just as much of a procrastinator as I am....maybe even worse. This week the contractor told Steve that we have to get it done ASAP cause the floor refinishing is coming up quick on the schedule. So we're finally taking action.

Steve and I both try to be environmentally conscious in the way we live our lives (yes I commute 45 miles to work each way but hey, I work in the nuclear energy industry! which I would argue offsets the carbon I generate during my commute!). Steve takes his environmental stewardship a bit further than I do. To strip the paint, he's selected Soy Gel Paint Remover which I picked up for him at a great environmental home store Amicus Green Building Center near my office. I'm skeptical....very skeptical. I envision a trip to Home Depot in our near future to pick up the good, strong, non-environmentally friendly, chemical version that smells like my Nano's wine!! But we'll give it a shot and let you know how it goes....

You are what you eat

2008-10-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

I was going to start this off by saying OUR, but Marisa is actually working out in the mornings, so let me phrase it like this. MY dietary and exercise program has taken a back seat to the house. Not sure why since I am not doing any of the actual work. Needless to say, I have been absent from the gym and the past month have broken down and stocked the freezer full of microwaveable instant meals.

So much for Maryland's Buy Local campaign, or the great picks at the Sunday market. I hit the Costco frozen food aisle like nobody's business and picked out every savory calorie laden item I could find. After a month and a half, I'm starting to feel and look like a Hot Pocket!

My personal top five:
1. The Jamaican Style Beef Patty (best after a night of drinking, you can eat 20 they're that good)
2. Hot Pocket Pepperoni (tried & true, this was the original hot pocket)
3. Kirkland Signature Sausage/Bacon/Egg Muffin (great for mornings, although heating is tricky)
4. Lean Pocket Chicken/Spinach/Artichoke (Marisa bought these)
5. The Cheese Burrito (better have sick time accrued to ride this one out)

Where are they now...

2008-10-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

I guess it's been a while since we actually mentioned the cats, but they are doing well on Kelly's third floor. I think they have enjoyed Marisa's return as a frequent overnight guest to the room. Hopefully they should be back in the house by November, although they won't recognize any of the rooms and probably be freaked out by it. Cats are neurotic, Vote Dog!

2008 Tour de Drywall

2008-09-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

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.

This sums it up...

2008-09-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

Paint by number…

2008-09-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Oh Soy

2008-09-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

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!

Door & Drywall

2008-09-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

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.

Its electric!

2008-09-13T06:03:00.000-07:00

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!

Let there be light

2008-09-11T05:14:00.000-07:00

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!

HOUSEboat GUESTS!

2008-09-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

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?!?

Spoiled Rotten

2008-08-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

There's one member of this household making out like a bandit because of these home renovations....Ferris B!. We can't leave Ferris at the house while the workers are going in and out, we can't leave him on the boat during the day due to marina policy, he's not welcome in either of our offices...so Ferris goes to day care at his Nana's, our neighbor one block up, Beatrice.

Beatrice, like any good Nana, spoils Ferris rotten! He spends most of the day in the park with her while she walks other neighborhood muts, she gives him wet food mixed with his kibble (he turns his nose up at his dry kibble at home now!), she gives him table scraps, and she's still learning that she can't leave anything at nose level with Ferris around (so far he's gotten her coffee, yogurt, and beer!).

Election Season

2008-08-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

There's been so much discussion about people, REAL people sitting down around their kitchen table (unlike Mr. McCain we have only one) at night and wondering how they are going to make ends meet. Marisa and I are no different, by God we don't even have a real table, just a card table and three matching chairs and one that does not.

What is this country coming to?

Just kidding MOM!

2008-08-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

Mom, did you really think we would add another pet(s) to this household? Patterson & Parker were found in our beautiful park by a staff member of the neighborhood restaurant, which could not keep two stray puppies because of health code and no one would be there overnight.

Our neighborhood association has a weekly walk on Wednesday’s nights, Citizens on Patrol. We meet at 7 and walk till 8. It is a great way to keep an eye on the hood and catch up with neighbors and friends.

We were all having drinks and dinner afterwards at Three (restaurant) when they mentioned finding the puppies Wednesday afternoon. We quickly mobilized and brought them to our house (what is there to damage?), washed them up in the basement utility sink, applied tick and flea treatment and then let them get a bite to eat. They are cute. We think they are part beagle and basset or entirely one or the other.

NO we (Marisa & I) are not keeping them (show me a boat big enough for two adults and three dogs). We all took turns holding them so that we could send similarly devastating photos to our parents showing more pets, still no grandkids! Thankfully a neighbor's brother and his wife offered to take them for the night and get them to the vet the next day.

Hopefully we will see these two little guys around our neighborhood. Great job everyone getting these guys cleaned up!

Coping

2008-08-27T20:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just can't explain what stress does to you, and maybe a home renovation is no different. We are approaching two months of no home and tonight I found two signs of hope and patience in Patterson Park and just exactly what I need to get through this: meet Patterson & Parker. I think they are mix Beagle and Basset Hound, definitely brothers, and Ferris is a great older brother!

Marisa is out of town for a business trip but I'm sure once she meets these two she'll be happy to have them as much as I do.

Its good to be....home??

2008-08-20T11:18:00.001-07:00

Yep, I'm back from 6 weeks in Canada at World Nuclear University. The time flew by, I made lots of great friends from all over the world (first visit...Argentina perhaps?) and I even managed to learn a bit...and not just about the bars and pubs of Ottawa either!

But its good to back in Baltimore! I'm still trying to get back into the routine of normal life...though our life right now is far from normal! What a shock to go from 6 weeks in nice hotels to the living situation at the Vilardo-Gondol household! We're like refugees! We've got our stuff spread out all over SE Baltimore. Steve and Ferris have adjusted quite well to life on the water...but the boat is definitely a bachelor pad, its perfect for a guy and his dog. Our saint of a neighbor Kelly took in the cats, they're locked away on the third floor because of turf wars with Kelly's cats (it makes me think of that movie Flowers in the Attic). What about me?? I'm still trying to figure out what I'll do. I think I'll split time between Kelly's third floor, the boat, and maybe some time at my cousins out in the country (Ellicott City).

The contract with BGC anticipates 4 months for the project...which means late October or early November... If only WNU were 10 weeks longer....

Fixtures & Finishings-Need your help!

2008-08-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

We have hit the selection stage for our fixtures and finishings. Baltimore Green is providing us an allowance, but I'm looking for some great locations to find quality plumbing fixtures, tile, and ceiling fans at a bargain, or at least reasonable.

If you could send us some recommendations via the Comments section, Marisa and I would be very appreicative. We are open to online as well as traditional retailers. And of course, only vendors that you have had a good experience with.

Hope to hear from everyone.

HVAC and guess who’s back!

2008-08-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

The HVAC crews were in the latter part of last week and today. I wouldn’t say that HVAC is a sexy aspect of the renovation process, but when I am sitting here sweating in an un-air conditioned house, it quickly moves up the ladder of favorites.

I don’t know who did this, but I’m glad the crews have a sense of humor. This supply duct looked an awful lot like a robot.

Bathroom duct

Rear bedroom duct

Master bedroom duct taking shape

And most importantly, back from her soul searching trip for the meaning of nuclear, Marisa is now part of the nightly inspection team, much to Ferris’ dismay.

Fun weekend and more new walls

2008-08-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

Most times when I would invite my father to Baltimore, it was with the sincerest purpose to help Marisa and I fix, build, or move something. That routine can tire a man out. So last weekend, I invited my parents to Baltimore with the sole purpose of enjoying some of the City's best treasures, great dining establishments, and the close quarters of the houseboat!

Mom was digging the “convenience” of the houseboat. Everything within arms reach! We were able to sneak a trip to the house in on Saturday, not so much to show off the work more so to reassure them that I haven't lost my mind and chosen boat life over land and that we still have a home to go home to at the end of this process.

As for the house, the second floor framing should be complete today! Here’s some pics of the newest room added to the house:

Rear Guest Bedroom

I realize these photos don't look like much of anything, other than a bunch of sticks between the floor and ceiling, but the rooms are taking shape.

2nd floor coming along nicely

2008-08-07T16:28:00.000-07:00

The second floor framing is moving along nicely, although there are some more twists and turns compared to the third floor.

This will be the washer/dryer closet with the original chiffarobe doors parallel to the railing

This view is looking into the middle bedroom/den toward the closet

The rear of the second floor has the walls framed, the interior walls should be completed by next week

Not sure what Ferris is thinking, but he seems to be handling things well. We did have an algae bloom this week on the harbor and the end result isn't pretty, visually or to the nose. The first to die are the fish, crabs, and surprisingly an eel. The eel really bothered be because it kept getting hung up around the boat. Blah. I would have gotten a photo of the corpses, but I was more overcome by the thought that I was sleeping at water level surrounded by so much death. The City Sanitation boat came out and sucked up all the dead creatures, big and small. Now the water has a murky green haze to it. Considering the state of the water, I find it funny that when DC and Baltimore were vying for the 2012 Olympics, they actually thought they could reverse engineer the Inner Harbor to be safe for the triathlon events to be held there. The green haze proves otherwise in my book.

As for the cats, they seems to be doing well at our neighbor's house despite being on other cats' turf. Nothing a little albacore tuna won't fix. I'll grab some pics of them next time I'm over there.

Season Finale

2008-08-04T18:01:00.001-07:00

No news to report on the house. Had a great weekend in town with some friends. Saturday morning was Ferris' and my first storm on the boat and it was rough. I'm not sure what you're supposed to do, but I knew it felt so much safer tucked in the berth riding it out. Obviously we survived and enjoyed the remaining portion of the weekend sunning ourselves on the upper deck.

Our neighborhood association held it's last game of the season tonight, and despite a tough season, our team had one of the best attitudes of any team (that translates into we didn't win a game!). We were some of the fiercest drinkers and always showed up for our games.

Marisa comes back to Baltimore in two weeks. It has flown by but I feel the last two weeks will feel like they take longer.

Framing

2008-08-02T13:30:00.001-07:00

Thank you to my father-in-law for a perfectly timed invitation to go fishing in Canada. It was great to get away for a few days and enjoy absolute solitude from the normal pace of the city. Georgian Bay is stunning, and despite not catching many fish, I had a great time with the Vilardos.

While I was away, the crews started framing the third floor. It was great to come home and see our vision taking shape.

The pile of lumber on the second floor indicates framing starts on Monday

update from up north...

2008-07-27T15:07:00.000-07:00

I must admit, I felt a tiny bit guilty the past couple weeks as the work at the house has heated up and the stress on Steve has mounted...but there's not much I can do from here so I got past it pretty quick! And now its Steve's turn for some fun. He's fishing in Canada with my Dad and Uncles till late Wednesday so no updates on the house till after then!

Last week was our week of technical tours. We started out in Niagara Falls for just one night but we managed to get in most of the Niagara Falls must do's: Maid of the Mist, caves behind the falls, and the casino. I won $20 on nickle slots!!

Then it was on to Toronto for 4 nights. We went on 4 different plant tours from there. The tours were very interesting (I'll spare you the details) and our evenings in Toronto were a blast!

We ended the week with a drive through Algonquin Park, a tour of Chalk River National Labs, and camping and white water rafting.

Now I'm back in Ottawa for the last 3 weeks of the summer institute. The first 3 weeks have flown by! They keep us extremely busy and of course we need to build our professional relationships with dinner and drinks after the sessions every night!

Virtual-Reality Tour

2008-07-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

The bulk of the demo work has been completed. Take a look at the second and third floors.

Work headed south

2008-07-22T05:17:00.000-07:00

On Monday it was the basement's turn for a bit of demo. Joining the ranks of the departed were the boiler, the oil tank, the radiator piping, and the front windows.

Past, Present, Future...

2008-07-21T18:36:00.000-07:00

You might be wondering about the work we are having done and where it is occurring in the house. Sometimes pictures are just better than words, even if that is taboo to say on a blog. The house is not in its original form. It had been partially renovated beginning 10 years ago up till Marisa’s and my efforts revamping the kitchen 2 years ago.

The bulk of the work and the most exciting parts are the second and third floors. Whereas the house is setup for 3 master bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, the new layout will provide for 4 bedrooms (1 master), 3.5 baths. Ignore the numbers and indication arrows on the existing plan, which was for photo identification on our historic tax credit application.

Second Floor Pre-Construction

Second Floor Post-Construction

Third Floor Pre-Construction

Third Floor Post-Construction

Major Changes Part II

2008-07-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

What a great way to start my Friday, the third floor had been removed and the second floor was on the chopping block. The plan was to demo the back half of the second floor and begin removing the old windows and replacing with new frames and plywood. It’s going to look ugly for a while.

I had my favorite inspector stop by to check on the work, Primo and his dad (Marisa’s cousin), were kind enough to bring dinner for me on the boat afterwards.

This is a view into the rear of the second floor. This was one of the master bedrooms and bathrooms (the one with the wall-less shower that never quite worked the way it should have.

Where the claw foot tub sat.

The vanity

The toilet

Some old wallpaper that has been buried for who knows how long.

Even the front room was not immune to some demo. The windows are being replaced and the floors are being refinished. The room is also the holding place for the claw foot tub that will be reused on the new bathroom.

The front of the house looks like a couple of teeth have been busted out. Not sure how long the plywood will be in place, but it will give people sitting at the intersection something to talk about.

Major changes

2008-07-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

I came home from work on Wednesday to find this, this can mean only one thing, major demo was coming soon!

Wednesday night meant I had to get the cats out of the house, a task I wish upon no one. Major thank you to Kelly our neighbor for taking Shenzi and Sambuca in with her two cats. Also thank you to Neosporin for promising to heal most of the scratches without scarring from trying to put two angry cats in carriers.

The electrician and plumber had been in on Monday thru Wednesday to tie off the electrical outlets and plumbing in the areas to be demolished. Ferris inspected the initial demo of the Playboy Grotto bathtub on our third floor.

Work passed!

On Thursday I came home and as I ascended the stairs, what normally would be the wall for the bathroom was now an open landscape of destruction!

Turning the corner to the front bedroom of the third floor, only the wall separating the future bedroom from the stairwell remained.

A view back toward the back of the third floor felt like this was someone else’s home.

Looking up was an astonishing site. We always had a dropped ceiling, with a plaster ceiling about a foot higher. Our architect suggested taking the new master bedroom ceiling all the way up to the rafters, I’m glad we agreed. How cool there is that much space above what we thought was an 8-9 foot ceiling.

RIP grotto tub…

Is the trash trying to tell Marisa and I something

Our former sinks, toilets, and tubs in the backyard

Ottawa or on the Watta’

2008-07-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

Marisa may have thought she was clever to have perfectly timed her “study abroad” during the worst part of construction (demolition), but I think I have out-smarted her on this one. I spent some time researching boats for rent and found this little gem floating on the Inner Harbor in Canton, an easy 15-minute walk from the house. The owners were gracious enough to give us a month-to-month lease which will end the second week of November when the marina shuts off the services to the boats for the winter.

This home away from home couldn’t be more perfect. It has a private bedroom (berth in boat speak), full kitchen, dinette area and upper lounge area. The back deck has a beautiful view of the harbor and the upper deck catches some nice breezes. Inside the cabin can be air conditioned so that I can enjoy every channel cable offers, plus the previous owners installed a flat screen with full cable hook-up. Nice, considering we didn’t even have full cable at the house.

I have been bouncing back and forth from the house and houseboat while I get more of the house construction ready and more in need of a place that isn’t so construction ready. Last weekend, I had some of our neighborhood friends stop down and check out the boat. Ferris and I kicked the evening off with our favorite boat beverage and he quickly became the party animal. I should have known it would be a late night, but I can always expect a great time with our neighborhood friends. Ferris was not so chipper the next morning.

No news...

2008-07-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well I am sad to say but there has been nothing new to report on the home. It has been a quiet week around here, although outside of the house has been very busy.

Monday night, our neighborhood baseball team had a game, which I subbed for our starting pitcher and I got shelled. We lost 18-1. It taught me a valuable lesson; never boo the pitcher because it is harder than you think. I will be returning to Camden Yards with a new perspective.

Tuesday was a post-work meeting and I had great intentions of catching the concert in Patterson Park but decided I was hungry and cooked dinner. Yes, even though Marisa is gone, I must fend for myself. I did run into some friends afterwards and chatted outside from 9:30-11:30 PM. That's what I love about this neighborhood. I intended to take Ferris out for a nightly walk and instead ran into several friends that had been at the concert and were walking home. After some discussion I ran into another friend/neighbor and we spent a while strategizing how to guerilla garden (placing of plants/flowers on another's property) our neighbor/friend's front stoop as a gift for when he returns from a trip to Europe. Implementation is set for Saturday.

Wednesday is our neighborhood Citizens On Patrols (COP) Like Police Academy 4, but we are not issued weapons.

Thursday, tonight you get views from the homestead. As I mentioned, we are staying in the front room during construction. This means me, the dog, and the cats. Locking the cats in the room means adding a litter box, gross, but it is what it is. So as a pay back for locking them in the room all day, I returned home to this nice mess...

On a side note, happy birthday to my great brother Jon and amazing nephew Nathan.

ET or our house?

2008-07-07T02:41:00.000-07:00

What could easily serve as a movie set for ET, our house has moved to the next phase of demolition; preservation. The zip walls will help contain the dust and debris and the protective floor coverings will limit damage to the wood steps. Although the movie ET terrified me as a kid, especially when the house was surrounded in plastic, I gladly welcomed this next step in our process.

Greetings from Ottawa

2008-07-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

What a nice surprise to come home from Chicago to find that Steve had finally gotten his stuff together! Sorry it’s been a while since we've updated. We were busy with more moving and more packing. You haven't missed much. We thought walls would be coming down last week but they didn't. They did however, prep the house for demo. We now have zipper walls to protect the non-demo parts of the house from the dust and additional protection on the stair case, which is one of our favorite parts of the house…except at 2:00 am after a few too many!

Steve will have to keep everyone updated on progress at the house because for the next 6 weeks, I’ll be in Ontario at the World Nuclear University Summer Institute (nuclear charm school as the Vilardos have taken to calling it)! The timing could not have worked out better. With each delay we experienced this winter/spring, I kept looking at the calendar thinking, “Wow! This could work out quite nicely!” And so it has! Most of my time will be spent in Ottawa with a week spent in southern Ontario in Niagara Falls and Toronto. I just arrived last night but I already think this is going to be a really great experience. 100 fellows, all under the age of 35, all involved in the nuclear industry, from 37 countries all over the world! Oh, and I’ll be living in a dust-free, construction-free, box-free, 4-star hotel room the entire time with a view of Ottawa's Parliament building...

No Packer fan here

2008-07-01T19:48:00.001-07:00

Blah. No this is not a football post about the NFL Green Bay Packers, but I might as well hate them because it is in their name. I hate packing. I hate packing for weekend trips; I hate packing for vacation, worst of all I hate packing up an apartment to move to a loft to move to our first house and now to move out of the first house so that we can renovate. We have spent nights, weekends (plural) and what feels like any other waking hours packing the house. Needless to say I am behind on my portion of the packing. I need to catch up and quickly. Marisa left Baltimore tonight for a business meeting. With my free night, I decided to make a couple of trips to the storage unit for the remaining bulk of stuff as well as clean up the space once free of the items. Check out the before and after. I hope she is surprised when she gets home. I still hate packing.

Movin’ on Out!

2008-06-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

Eventually, we have to move everything out or to the basement because all the floors will be refinished but till then, we get one large bedroom, small bathroom, and the kitchen. Everything else had to be boxed-up and moved out to Canton Self Storage. I wanted to hire movers to do the heavy lifting but Steve had an even better idea (though I was skeptical at first). We rented an in-town U-Haul and hired 3 day-workers from Casa de Maryland. Pedro, Jose, and Hector were awesome! They were extremely respectful, polite, and they worked really hard. They had all the stuff we had ready to go, moved out and into storage in less than 3 hours! And we were paying them hourly. Communication wasn’t too bad, their English was much better than our Spanish! Casa is a great organization. They provide help and services to the immigrant population of Baltimore and DC and provide a safe way for the day-workers to find work.

The move; however, is not over. My procrastinator of a husband had hardly any of his stuff boxed up and ready to go when Pedro, Jose, and Hector were helping us so we-correction-he- should be making trips to the storage bin to get the stuff out of the way of the contractors. But we’ve been busy with the neighborhood, new godsons, and work. So in the meantime the house is a bit chaotic as you can probably tell from the photos.

Packing

2008-06-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

I hate moving. After moving into this house, Steve and I both swore we'd never move again (Steve even claimed he wanted to be buried in the basement). And yet I found myself packing boxes a couple weekends ago.

A new front door, no packing or moving required. A nearly whole house renovation, you gotta move. Where does all the crap come from? Neither of us are big shoppers and we never bothered decorating or buying furniture cause we new we’d be having renovations done. We took one pick-up truck full to Goodwill, set some old cheapie furniture out on the sidewalk for free (gone in two hours!), and sold couches and a TV on Craig’s List (also gone in a matter of hours!). Yet box after box piled up full of our belongings.

April…May….June!

2008-06-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

So we thought we were in the clear by submitting the tax credit applications in early March. Expecting a 60-day review from the State of Maryland, we would be on track for a May demolition start. Wrong. We overlooked the time involved in one minor step…Financing. Bradford Bank, a local Baltimore bank, manages the Healthy Neighborhoods program. Our loan process was smooth, but it is not an overnight process. Our loan officers at Bradford were great and we meandered the great valley of future debt without any problems. A flawless closing in early June put us well on our way to our June demolition start. So with the Baltimore summer heat upon us, let’s start tearing up this old house!

Money smart

2008-06-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

We didn't buy at the bottom of the market (nor at the top, thankfully) so how are we able to put so much money into improvements??

1. We are fortunate to live on a Healthy Neighborhoods target block www.healthyneighborhoods.org. When I first heard about this program, I, like many, thought it was too good to be true. By putting a minimum of $40k into home improvements, which must include exterior improvements, we’re eligible to roll the construction loan and our existing mortgage into a new 30-yr-fixed mortgage at the published Fannie Mae 60 Day Rate minus 100 basis points (1 percentage point). And there’s no catch...seriously! So we applied and were approved for the program in winter 2008.

2. Next step was to apply for the Maryland Historic Tax Credit. Maryland values its historic properties and Patterson Park is a national historic district. By incorporating some historic elements into the design and maintaining existing historic elements, we're eligible to receive 20% of the rehab (not as in Betty Ford...yet) costs back as a state income tax credit. Words of caution...the application was complicated so we subbed that out to our good friend Todd at Trace; you can't perform any work at all to the house prior to submitting and while you're application is under review; and finally, their website says 30 days to review...they'll tell you they need 60 days, and they'll take 70 days. We were counting on the 30 so this was the first delay...

3. City property taxes, won't dwell on these, but our assessment is "frozen" for ten years such that we're not penalized tax-wise for improving the property. City tax review was complete in 30 days.

Getting you up to speed...

2008-06-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Sometime in late 2006 we began our home renovation project. With the help of Todd Connelly at Trace Architects, www.tracearchitects.com, we came up with plans for the second and third floors that we love! In early 2007 we turned the plans over to a contractor to receive a quote…things were going great! And then, by August 2007 things fell through with that contractor. They couldn’t take on the project! After getting over the sense of frustration of losing 8 months, we went out for new bids in November 2007 and decided to go with Baltimore Green Construction www.baltimoregreenconstruction.com.