Tuesday, May 20, 2014

It Could Be Worse

There is a house on the other side of the property. It is totally precious on the outside. It's two stories, and was built sometime in the 1800's. I believe it to be the oldest structure on the property.

A man lived here for almost 30 years and paid something like $100/month, sometimes, for rent. He also occupied the "recording studio" (which is pretty awesome) across the road.



Ready for the tour?

Kitchen/Bathroom:


Living Room (totally digging the concrete blocks):

  
Shower:


HVAC:


Upstairs Loft (check out the hardwods):




Well insulated:


Pet Accommodations:


Tuesday, April 22, 2014

One project begets another project

So probably a normal person, after finding a house full of dust would probably just clean it, right?

We decided it was a prime time to get it even filthier, by opening up some walls we thought might be holding in some light.

We also felt like the traffic flow was a little jammed, getting in and out through multiple doorways between the kitchen and other rooms.

Halfway through the demo, the former homeowner came by for her mail. Interestingly enough, she mentioned that she had seen in some very old pictures that the room openings had actually been larger in the past. Halfway through demo, we realized that. Wow, it really must have been a long time ago, because the moldings and doors are in amazing original shape! I hope we don't find out the hard way why they had to close off those rooms! 

Just in case, we didn't open it up all the way. There is still a partial wall on each side of the main entrance. An entrance that is rarely used.

I think after this, we will have 5-7 old doors that will need to find a home elsewhere in the house. There are some pretty damaged doors in the attic that could be replaced, and the rest...future project?

Front hallway: dark, with two closets that were used only for storage. Nobody enters through this grand entrance, sadly, and the closets crowd the space and ends up as a pass-through room. The floor is damaged right by the front door, and had been covered up by asbestos tile.


Inspiration: "Interior Portraits" by Victoria Hagan. I purchased this book last year and didn't feel very inspired when I first read through it. I was encouraged to give it another try, and WOW, I was so wrong. This book is genius, but if you're looking for something flashy, you will miss it. It's all about the details...


In progress:


I'm pretty happy with the way this is turning out. There is an incredible amount of light coming into the house now!

                                *****


Living room: The living room had an odd shaped entry. It had at one time had a larger opening, but it was closer to the front door than the staircase. With the asbestos covered ducting removed, it seemed an appropriate time to open it up.


Inspiration: "Remodelista" by Julie Carlson. Currently, my bible for remodeling this house. Her credo: keep it simple. The remodelista website is my go to for fixtures and recommendations for everything from light fixtures to flooring. I am absolutely, completely, in love with this living room, and it was this picture that told me, "it's ok to take that wall down, Leah" (pp. 80-81, Living in Black and White). After finding this picture, I googled Architectural designer Elizabeth Roberts for more of her work (this is her townhouse in Brooklyn, NY).


Before:




In progress:




Even though I'm happy with the expansiveness of the new space, I can't help but be a little sad about before and during. Before was looking pretty darn good! And now with the ceiling out as well - eeesh. 

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Attic Gut

The attic is officially gutted. Which is a little sad. The plaster wasn't able to be saved, it was too far gone. Also, the attic is responsible for a large percentage of the heat loss of a house. So proper insulation can really up the efficiency of the entire house.

I asked the general to save the lath. Saw a great house project involving reused lath. It looks labor intensive, but if nothing else, it will eventually make great firewood.





The coolest thing, would be to leave the ceilings as is in the attic bedrooms, and just plaster or beadboard the walls. In this climate, though, that's not going to work.

My second thought was to beadboard over the rafters right up to the roofline. It's labor intensive, but form over function, right? Leaving some airspace over the horizontal boards would help prevent mold by preserving airflow above the insulation.

After reading a book on feng shui, I decided to beadboard over the horizontal boards. Rafters cutting across the bodies of sleeping children doesn't seem like a recipe for a restful sleep, and everyone wins. We also get a cozy little sleeping space. Sometimes those sexy pinterest photos just don't equal practical.




That stain is bat poo. Or bat guano, as my contractor likes to call it. Bats in the rafters, and oh so glad I wasn't here for that.


He also found much more abandoned bee hive. Stretched across the entire wall and all over the chimney. Wish I could have seen that in person before he removed it.







Monday, January 27, 2014

In Search of Heat

The road to a new wood stove was an unnecessarily long one. The first go round, I was told I would have to remove the entire mantel, because of clearances. I researched about a dozen models offered by one local company before I went on my own internet search.

Then I contacted another company that mentioned that fireplace companies are only associated with certain products, and I wouldn't get the whole gamut from one company.

I eventually ended up going with the second company, because not only would I not have to rip out my mantel with the brand they offered, but the heat output was the highest of any fireplace I had seen. In addition, it came with an additional feature called the GreenStart, a button you push to light the fire with a spark and hot air.

I decided not to be present because I had just spent the day at the house, freezing, while asbestos was removed from the basement. Just in case, I removed almost all the furniture from the room, left a key, and headed back to Portland.






When I got back to the house that weekend, there was a thick layer of dust covering the entire room, and soot hand and foot marks throughout the first floor. When I asked the installer about that, he said, 'yeah, that old thing was dirty. When we took out some brick it was just a big dust storm in here.' Great. And so this was your first time installing? Couldn't anticipate that one? I don't know.... a dust barrier wasn't a thought?

In addition, there was a big black cord coming out of the front of the fireplace. A fireplace that I had specifically had an electrician come and hardware for the blower. When I pushed the button for the Green Start, a very loud sound came out of this big, obtrusive box.

Lesson learned - always be there for an installation!!

So I came back yesterday, and the guy said, "well I've never installed one of these before."
So I said, "drill a hole through the bottom of the firebox and put that loud thing in the basement."
"Well, I will need another guy for this. I'll have to come back."

Arrrrgh!


So he came back, and, long story short, they were bent over backwards to make it right. They offered to clean up the dust, but we decided it would be an ideal time to rip open some walls.

I ended up purchasing a Lopi Large Flush Hybrid wood insert, because of the large viewing area and heating capacity. The website shows an arched door, but a rectacular door is also available (my choice).

www.lopistoves.com

The jury is still out on how well it will heat the house. We've fired it up twice, and only just figured out the blower. I'm hoping that when we start closing the house back up, it will heat a little better than it is now.

In the search for the perfect fireplace insert, I came up with some pretty nice ones. Maybe for another project or the little red shack sometime in the future. 

Aduro stoves are pretty slick, as are the Asgard.

http://www.adurofire.com/asgaard-stoves/stove/

Wittus stoves are equally as sleek and pleasing. My favorite is the Shaker stove.

www.wittus.com


Last but not least, the Morso has a really pleasing line of wood stoves. The 5660 standard is a real standout, but some of the free standing stoves made it a tough decision.

http://www.morsona.com/5660-Standard-547.aspx


Monday, January 13, 2014

Progress

Our temporary cellar door cover...


Gravelmania, an inexpensive landscape option, and the luxury of helping remove dirt from shoes before entering house. Also helps to prevent runoff. Bonus: dry basement!




The rest of the asphalt will go, because we'll be burying the power line, and planting a hedge between the house and road for more privacy.


french drain rerouting water from basement to orchard.


snapshot of the house, shingles repaired and laying in wait for some springtime beautification.


all the concrete had to go somewhere. there were some stones lining the ditch. we added to it a bit. 


Thursday, December 19, 2013

Abandoned apple orchard

Husband wants to take down the giant metal triangles. I think it's art.

What do you think?




Saturday, December 14, 2013

the work continues

We are, like the rest of the country, in a brutal cold snap. Daytime highs in the 20's and lows in the single digits. Meanwhile, we still don't have heat at the farm. But the work continues...

The contractor finished removing all the plaster and lath from the attic, and, aside from the 50 pounds of bat poo he found in the ceiling of one attic room, the rest of the other attic room had even more bee hives. Luckily, just abandoned bee hives and no more bees. I'm glad I wasn't there to see the mess, but kind of would have liked to see a picture. I did take these...




So much for leaving the chimney exposed. What a freaking mess. It's a kittywompus, sticky, yucky thing. Any ideas how to beautify this guy without breaking the bank? A coat of plaster? Brick veneer?


another frozen window...


Also, we are suddenly tasked with figuring out an electrical scheme.

The contractor thinks the easiest route is to leave the sub panel in one of the bedrooms. I don't like the idea, because I don't want a bed placed right next to an electrical sub panel. He suggested rerouting the wires from that sub panel to the living room of the attic, but again, there would still be electrical wires concentrated in that sleeping area. Upon closer inspection, we realized that almost the entire house is being fed wires from this panel. Why? Why would you run a wire all the way up to the attic to a sub panel and then wire everything off of that? We told him, just cut the wires to the rest of the house and have a sub panel feed just the attic. We'll figure out the rest of the house as we go on.

Then I schooled myself on EMF's. Holy cow, I guess sub panels are really evil. Now I am thinking of removing the sub panel altogether and running wire from the basement in an emf shielding pipe. I think that idea is the best. Concentrate all the breakers in the basement. He's on board with that too.

When I mentioned that I want outlets in the baseboard molding, he mentioned that a former client of his read something about the positioning of the outlets sideways causes some kind of electrical current action that is worse than if the outlets are vertical. I found it pleasing that I am not the only one out there OCD'ing on all things electrical, and am now tasked with learning about that. Luckily he gave me her number, so we can obsess together.

Look, I just want a retreat that is healthy, safe, and away from the noise, pollution, and craziness of the modern world. Does it have to be that complicated?

Before we left, I took some pictures of the orchard and pasture. So pretty in the snow.



On the way home, I convinced my husband to cruise down the Old Historic Columbia River Highway. I have always wanted to see the waterfalls in a deep freeze. Here are the pictures I took.

Multnomah Falls:


and Horsetail falls:




Stay warm out there!

Monday, December 9, 2013

A case for double hung INSULATED windows


When ice forms on the INSIDE of your single pane windows, maybe those replacement windows make more sense? Sometimes you have to learn the hard way.