http://www.westviewbungalow.com/ The story of our renovation of our 1917 bungalow in southwest Atlanta. en-us Nucleus CMS v3.23 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.westviewbungalow.com//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://www.westviewbungalow.com/ http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=191
Solid wood door paint stripping

Solid wood door paint stripping

Solid wood door paint stripping


Another project has been the butler's pantry glass doors. It's been a while since we last worked on the butler's pantry (March 2008 and August 2007). We attempted to pick the project back up in July 2009...

Butler's pantry glass door

...but then got stuck when we bought replacement glass pieces that weren't cut straight. A cheap-o glass cutter didn't fix the problem and the project was forgotten about until now. We bought new glass panes and have been working on glazing. Now we need to wait a week before we can paint!

Butler's pantry glass door glazing


Unfortunately the next project doesn't have any before pictures. There was a return vent in the hallway that looked really ugly. It's a nice sturdy piece, but had unsightly chipped paint and years of dirt and grime. Instead of trying to replace it – which would surely be a challenge due to vent size changes over the years – we decided to try and make this one look good. Patrick scraped away at it to get it as clean as possible. He then spray-painted it with satin RustOleum and we think it looks great! I just wish I could show before pictures so the difference would be visible.

Return vent


And on an unrelated note the winter in Atlanta has been really sucky. I'm not a cold weather person to begin with, but this winter has been particularly cold and rainy. I think there has barely been a rain-less weekend since before Christmas, and the temperatures have been dipping lower than we're used to. I wanted to share one crazy flash flood photo of the back yard. Look at the waterfall coming off the steps by the wall!! Thank goodness we now own a sump pump, otherwise we could kiss another furnace and hot water heater good-bye.

Atlanta flash food rain]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=191 Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:35:07 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=190
*****

The Decatur Old House Fair - March 6th

A day long seminar will feature a number of lectures about living in and restoring old houses. Some topics that will be covered:

- Historic Wood Window Restoration: Did you know that a properly restored historic wood window has higher e-value than most new windows on the market?
- National Register of Historic Places and Tax Incentives: The National Register of Historic Places is our country's inventory of the buildings, sites, and cultural landscapes that are historically significant.
- Researching Your Old House: Ever wanted to know when your house was built and by whom? Who lived in your house and how it has changed over the years?
- "Greening" Your Old House: The greenest house is the one already built. But, did you know that there is even more you can do to reduce your old home's carbon footprint?
- Design Solutions for Additions and New Construction in Historic Neighborhoods: Want to add space to your historic home but don't want it to look like an addition?
- How to Hire a Contractor: Interviewing and selecting a contractor is a daunting task and not having all the information can cost you many thousands of dollars.
- Maintenance Plans for Old Houses: Owning any house means maintenance. Owning a historic home means maintenance and preservation.
- Historic Landscapes for Old Houses: Historic landscapes tell us so much about lives and interests of previous generations. Each style of home and each time period has its own unique landscape associated with it.

Go to www.decaturoldhousefair.com for more information. Advance tickets are $10.

*****

Something I personally love - they emphasize historic window preservation so much that they have TWO seminar sessions about it! Go Decatur Old House Fair!]]> General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=190 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:56:57 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=189 General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=189 Thu, 7 Jan 2010 18:52:29 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=188
I can't pass spring or fall without going to my beloved Growers Outlet, so in late October we went for our semi-annual trip to Loganville to buy some plants. One of my visions was to make the landscape strip more attractive. After the sidewalks were re-done we tried the grass thing, but it didn't look all that great. The earth sunk down too much and the grass was patchy.

Landscape garden strip before

I've always found landscape strip gardens intriguing, so this is our go at it. Closest to the mailbox is the annual winter section – kale, cabbage, pansies, etc. To each side of the red bud tree we planted more perennial plants – sage, dianthus, coral bells, daylilies, petunias, etc.

Landscape garden strip after

Another section we tackled was the left side foundation. We fell in love with the Southern Living plant collection's "Purple Diamond Chinese Fringe Flower"; however, due to our purple-ish brick foundation we decided to separate the purple evergreen plants with the evergreen "Waxleaf Ligustrum". On the left side are some elephant ears. The larger one is supposed to grow up to 6 feet! We'll see next year…

Bungalow foundation plants

And what else have we been up to? Well, with the colder weather we've focused our attention back on interior projects. Mainly stripping...

Paint stripping bathroom built-in door

...stripping...

Paint stripping kitchen door frame

...and more stripping. I don't think we'll ever finish that dining room!

Paint stripping dining room door]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=188 Wed, 2 Dec 2009 23:18:07 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=187
Here is a photo of what we started with. See how bad it looked!
Rusty chain link fence

We had one post that had broken off near the ground, and all of the top rails needed to be replaced. The first step was to remove the top rails. It was pretty easy to do since they were all broken and rusty.

Remove the top rails

Once we got to this point we put the top rails through the old posts and realized we were going to have to first clean out all of the English ivy. The fence had been overthrown by vines, and we were not able to straighten it out without first clearing all of the plants and debris.

Steffi in jail!

Once we got the ivy cleaned out, which took a while, we dug the hole to set the new post.

New chain link fence post

Even Buster wanted to lend a hand with the fence!

Buster helping with the fence

So after a day of hard work the fence is working again. It didn't end up perfectly straight because the posts weren't level to start with, but it is still a big improvement for a little money!

Final chain link fence]]> General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=187 Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:10:01 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=186
Looks like we're making progress compared to two years ago...

Westview Bungalow on Halloween

Westview Bungalow Carved Pumpkin and Mums]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=186 Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:04:07 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=185
Dining room plaster walls

...and pick at it some more...

Dining room plaster walls

...and then you're so far you may as well continue...

Dining room plaster walls

...and then it's all gone. Thankfully this was a case where we didn't need 2 years to finish it. But now we have one panel in our dining room that has exposed plaster with the original olive-green looking color on it. Patrick has told himself he would not touch any of the other panels...

Dining room plaster walls with original paint color]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=185 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:01:44 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=184
In April 2008 we came up with a plan for a path in our backyard. The path was to be the central point for all landscaping, and it leads to our back seating area under the oak tress. We decided to start off small just to make sure we liked the look of it.

Backyard Path

Everything looked promising, and when Steffi's parents visited (still April 2008) they bought her some more pavers for her birthday. We put a few more down and then all of a sudden it was March 2009 (almost a year later). How on earth did that happen?!

With the impeding visit of Steffi's parents coming up in April we felt obligated to get those pavers laid, so we once again got busy! This time my mom came to supervise the project to make sure it was done correctly. Just check out her face in this picture. She really has that "motherly" attitude down. Okay, okay... she actually was helping. She wasn't just supervising, but the photo is priceless. You can also see the path in the background.

Backyard Path

When we finished this time the path made it about to the halfway point. A little progress here and there and we were eventually bound to get there.

When Steffi's parents came to visit they saw what a fantastic job we were doing with the path, so they gave us BOTH pavers for our birthdays! This time it was enough to finish the path! What a wonderful birthday present! (I know what you are thinking, but I’m not being sarcastic here.)

Fast forward to October... the pavers were still sitting in the backyard until yesterday. We finally finished laying them and we had just the right amount to make it to the seating area. Hooray for kind of finishing projects. We still have to remove all of the bricks and put some sand down, so until then we have a not-so-level path. It should at least hold us over until next spring.

Backyard Path

Looking back towards the house.

Backyard Path

And just as a reminder this is what we started with.

Backyard Path

Today we started preparing the garden for winter. We did some general weeding and trimming, and we started laying down fresh mulch to protect all of the plants from the freezing temperatures. Last years we had some success with a few annuals that decided to return, but somehow we lost some perennials. Go figure. This year we are trying to be a little more proactive.]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=184 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:29:01 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=183
Overgrown kudzu backyard

And this is a pretty kudzu flower I picked from the kudzu attempting to engulf our fence. Didn't know what kudzu flowers looked like? Well, now you do. They're pretty purple flowers that smell sweet like honey.

Kudzu flower

So where did kudzu come from, and why is it so well spread? A quick history from maxshores.com seems to answer these questions:

Kudzu was introduced to the United States in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Countries were invited to build exhibits to celebrate the 100th birthday of the U.S. The Japanese government constructed a beautiful garden filled with plants from their country. The large leaves and sweet-smelling blooms of kudzu captured the imagination of American gardeners who used the plant for ornamental purposes.

Florida nursery operators, Charles and Lillie Pleas, discovered that animals would eat the plant and promoted its use for forage in the 1920s. Their Glen Arden Nursery in Chipley sold kudzu plants through the mail. A historical marker there proudly proclaims "Kudzu Developed Here."

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Soil Conservation Service promoted kudzu for erosion control. Hundreds of young men were given work planting kudzu through the Civilian Conservation Corps. Farmers were paid as much as eight dollars an acre as incentive to plant fields of the vines in the 1940s.

And with the torrential downpour we've had for the last 6 days the crawl space has flooded again. No wonder, considering Atlanta received 15 inches of rain in the last 24 hours! It makes the last flooding of 6 inches nearly seem harmless. Patrick walked through the water to move some items and we measured 22 inches of water!!! Needless to say our furnace and hot water heater are not working. We just have to keep our fingers crossed that once everything dries off both of them will turn back on.

Flooded crawl space

Flooded basement

In the meanwhile our wonderful neighbors are once again coming to the rescue by lending us their water pump – which we are actually using this time around. It's pumping as I write...]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=183 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:16:05 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=182
As I previously mentioned, since we were on a roll with getting the house painted we thought we might just as well tackle the stairs. I think it was actually a safety hazard. The steps were uneven and pieces were falling off. When you stepped on a certain spot the wrong way your foot could slip off with a piece of concrete. Needless to say it was in dire need of getting redone!

Exterior entry stairs

When one of the painters mentioned that he had an acquaintance that did masonry work we got an estimate and told them to go ahead. They said they'd come at 11:00am the next day, which was fine with us as we’re not early birds.

11:00am came and went and the mason didn't show up. Finally at noon we called our painter, asking about the mason. He said he was on the way. More time passed and still no sign of the mason. We called our painter and asked for the mason's number so he wouldn't have to be the middle man. When I called the mason he said he was on the way and asked where the nearest big box store was so they could pick up the materials.

Finally around 2:30pm the mason showed up – without materials. In hindsight we should have told him "adios" at that point, but of course it is our human nature to give the person the benefit of the doubt. So off him and his two guys went to pick up supplies. They came back around 3:30pm and started taking measurements and cutting up wooden boards to create a form. Additionally they tore out any loose cement.

The forms were placed on top of our historic salvaged brick path and we were like "uhmmmm, those are not supposed to be cemented into the stairs!" So they moved them. One thing that annoyed me about them is that they were so hectic. They were trying to do things so speedy (aside from arriving on time, of course) that it felt rushed. I think the whole time they were here my adrenaline was pumping because I was anxious that they would do everything well because it just felt so rushed.

I want to say they finally started pouring the first (bottom) step sometime after 4:00pm. You know, around the time when all other contractors usually clock out for the day. Then the second step was poured, then the third. I think on the third one they were starting to run low on materials and tried to scrape any last cement out of the bucket. Then we were told we had to wait about an hour for it to dry. At that point they would take the boards off and the cement would be hard enough to stay in place, but soft enough to round off the edges, smooth out the surface, etc.

Exterior entry stairs

Next is the step were I really think they got ahead of themselves. This goes back to what I was saying previously that they just felt so hectic the whole time they were here. They were too eager to get the job done and over with. I don't know if they thought it would be a quick job to get money quickly or what. It was starting to be late in the work day and they probably wanted to get home soon. In any case, they took the boards off. The bottom step was fine. The second step was fine too. The third top step turned into a nightmare. It obviously had the least amount of time to dry, and it was the one were they ran out of cement powder so I think it may have been wetter than the other two steps as well. Next thing we knew the damn step was starting to collapse!

Exterior entry stairs

They kept trying to push it back in, but no matter what they did it kept sagging back down. After various attempts they determined they needed to buy another bag of concrete. Patrick and I had been frustrated with them from the beginning since they already showed up three and a half hours late. Needless to say we were quite frustrated by this point with all the things going wrong. After taking another hour to get the extra bag of supplies they attempted to fix the step, but the cement had already dried a certain degree so that we feared it would not blend in properly. After that they put a small board against it and told us to leave it on for another few hours.

By the time they left it was around 9:00pm. It was too dark to properly see how bad the damage would be. The next morning left us kind of unsatisfied. We were mad at the guys for arriving late, not being ready with materials, rushing through everything, not leaving sufficient time to showcase proper craftsmanship, and mad at ourselves for giving them the benefit of the doubt rather than recognizing the initial signs that this was not going to work out the way we wanted it.

Exterior entry stairs

In the end the stairs are still 10 times better than the ones they replaced. We're just perfectionists, and when you spend the money to hire a professional you expect to receive a good product in the end. In the meanwhile we've hidden the questionable top stair by placing our flower pots in front of them.

Exterior entry stairs

Now we've been debating painting the stairs. Anyone have any input?? For one we're not sure if the "natural" look is the way to go? Secondly painting the stairs would help cover up the mishap. The only concern is that if you paint stairs once you'll always have to repaint them from the wear and tear they'll be getting. So if anyone has any input, suggestions, advice, whatever...please let us know!
]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=182 Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:12:30 -0400