New house project

[james]

This feels like the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano. It's something that just keeps happening.

We are nearing the end of summer; the kids are going back to school this week; and we have a new house project. Some things never change. We moved in to our new house about a month ago, and we are gearing up for the renovation. It needs windows, floors, bathrooms, the kitchen, roof, and interior and exterior stucco.

Why do we keep doing this to ourselves? Oh well, I'm sure it will be fun.

I will take some photos and try to document what we do. If anybody wants to come to the Monterey peninsula to help out -- you'll be welcome!

We are hoping to fit in brick ovens indoors and outdoors.

James

[nissanneill]

Re: New house project

Hi James,
Been there, done that!
Over here we have a saying: "no rest for the wicked!"
What have you been doing to earn this reputation.
I know that you will enjoy the oven(s), but those house renovations? Unless you are going to enjoy them and get the benefits for years to come, can be a little daunting, let alone the inconvenience with the bathrooms unless they are duplicasted in the home.
You can always rely on the help, assistance and advice on this forum.

Neill

[james]

Re: New house project

Thanks Neill,

We did 7 big projects on our first house in 14 years. Maybe there is something addictive about the smell of drywall powder? Still, this one is different. With a little luck, we don't be adding on, or moving walls. I think if we could have found the "right" ready-to-go house we would have gone for it, but we couldn't find what we wanted near the kids' schools.

Our other house was farmhouse Victorian. This one is Mediterranean -- so we get to to work with new finishes and materials. That should be fun.

I am looking forward to input on a lot of what we are going to be facing. Particularly how to get an old-world look in a 27 year-old house.

James

[jengineer]

Re: New house project

Humm I just replaced 10 double hung wood windows with single hung by Certainteed. Took two of us about 12 hours. When we were done my friend said the he and his partner can do 28 windows in one 12 hour day. He said I was slow. It was a pain as we had to seal off each room into its own environment and wear space suits as this is the last of the inside lead based paint in the house. What trim was left was scraped and then painted with stuff called Encapsulate. This afternoon I bought $155 worth of Poplar quarter round and trim for all the windows, now to paint this beautiful wood - seems a shame to hide it. Yes I could have gone with MDF but I just don't like the stuff. It helps that the wife calls it "fancy cardboard". So now I have 3 projects running at the same time. Building my daughters first bed, along the lines of modified Mission Style, finishing the windows and moving 30,000 pounds of brick to the back yard. I also found out this weekend that a bobcat will not fit into my backyard. Looks like shovel time to remove the dirts so that I can get a foundation for the brick.

[maver]

Re: New house project

There's something to be said for a shovel and a wheelbarrow. I used a bobcat to remove half my lawn and distribute crushed rock in my backyard so that I could develop a space for my brick patio and pizza oven in the old house. It worked great, but did tear up my lawn and the side of the house where I drove the bobcat. Now that I have used a much larger forklift to remove the pizza oven from the back and have knocked around the brick patio I'm sworn off heavy equipment. I can still feel the stress level rise just thinking about the small margin for error we had in extracting the oven. While hauling brick and dirt in a wheelbarrow is grunt work, it's mentally satisfying. I have the fence out and probably could do my repair work with a bobcat (and move the 2 pallets of bricks), but I think I'll just use the wheelbarrow.

[CanuckJim]

Re: New house project

JE, Jame, Maver,

JE: you just need more exercise to speed up those projects. Suggest loading several tons of bread a day for starters. Or, maybe...

Maver: do enough shovel and wheelbarrow work and the girls will call you hot and follow you down the street.

James: look for a book by Jocasta Innes called Paint Magic. It's available in paperback from Amazon, etc. She's an English woman of considerable reputation, and this particular book details all kinds of paint treatments, faux and otherwise, to perhaps achieve the look you're after.

Jim

[james]

Re: New house project

Thanks Jim,
I just ordered it. That will definitely help. If anyone has leads on good books and a web site or forum that covers design techniques, let me know.
Thanks again.
James

[redbricknick]

Re: New house project

I'd like to conduct a survey to see if making Pizza have a capital P in front of it is feasible. I think it deserves one, and definitely vote yes. Those who oppose it having a P. , obviously don't think pizza is capital material, and don't care if Pizza is honored with the capital accolades it richly deserves for services rendered under delicious crusty cheesiness for centuries.. Wake up and smell the Pizza people. I vote P. not p.