Renovation

Image via wikipedia

“Dear PoP,

Has anyone has hired a landscaper to do French drains? We’re hoping to do 3-4 small ones (the longest about 10 feet) to move rainwater off our property. Recommendations for landscapers? Expected cost?”

I had to look up French Drain on Wikipedia:

“A French drain, drain tile, perimeter drain or land drain is a trench covered with gravel or rock that redirects surface and groundwater away from an area. A French drain can have perforated hollow pipes along the bottom (see images) to quickly vent water that seeps down through the upper gravel or rock. French drains are common drainage systems, primarily used to prevent ground and surface water from penetrating or damaging building foundations. Alternatively, the French drain technique may be used to distribute water, such as that which flows from the outlet of a typical septic tank sewage treatment system. French drains are also used behind retaining walls to relieve ground water pressure.”

Anyone have one put in? Can you recommend a contractor and give a basic ball park of cost?

A couple of weeks ago I showed a Bloomingdale house that had a killer roof deck for a morning cup of coffee or mojito. After that post I must’ve got 2 dozen requests for the contractor. (And no, because I have no business savvy, I’m not receiving anything for posting this.) Well the owner of the house got the ok for me to post the info so without further ado:

Abdul Alim. 202-510-1096

“Dear PoP,

We removed all our security bars from our windows and doors of our townhouse. These things are heavy and high quality. I would hate for them to go to waste. Do you readers have any suggestions on where we can donate or sell them so they can be reused?”

“Dear PoP,

I’ve got a question for you… where would your readers recommend going to get a custom address plate for the front of the house? Home Depot has about 10000 varieties, but I can always tell the ones from home depot on other houses. I want something unique, but I lack any creativity to come up with any ideas. Any other ideas for posting the address? Not on the transom, I have a transom that I like that will soon be put up.”

Any ideas?

Photo by PoPville flickr user pablo.raw

“Dear PoP,

I was wondering of you or your readership have any referrals for this:

I have a typical 1905 DC Victorian brick rowhouse. I am looking for someone who can install a pull-down stairway/ladder to my attic in the hallway ceiling. I know there are sets you can buy at Home Depot, but I will need someone who can enlarge the existing (small-ish) hole in my upstairs hallway ceiling and do the necessary framing to support the stairs. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good company that does this kind of project? (One renovation company told me the job was too small for them to consider.) Thanks!”

Any suggestions?

“Dear PoP,

There is something about fireplaces and old, turn-of-the-century homes. We have recently opened the one that was bricked in the dining room of our house and received an estimate from ‘Priddy Clean’ on what it would cost to fix up the chimney to make this one work and also to fix up the second chimney to put an additional fireplace in our master bedroom. We need help with some choices and deciding on whether estimates are reasonable:

1) we were quoted $3.5k and $3k so $6.5k total for two chimneys. is that inline with market pricing (you have to pay between $50 and $100 for each estimate so getting several isn’t as appealing as in case with other contractors)

2) now the exciting part due to necessary chimney work- we can apparently have either wood or gas. So we are thinking wood in dining room and gas in the bedroom (cause its so nice to wake up and turn on the fire!)”

It’s funny you mention ‘Priddy Clean’ as they came up a few times when another reader asked about a chimney sweep. I remember when I had to have my chimney fixed years ago (nearly totally rebuilt from the roof line up) it cost around $4,000 (sadly I can’t remember who did the work). Anyone else have major chimney work done – do the prices above seem reasonable?

And I’m also very curious what you’d recommend with the wood for one and gas for the other. Personally, I’d vote wood for both. I just love the way the wood smells and crackles, that’s part of the joy for me. What do you guys think?

“Dear PoP,

I recently moved into a house (mt pleasant) with no parking & a large lawn. We would like to put in a driveway, but keep a grass surface. Since this is the case, we don’t even have to worry about DC restrictions on impermeable surfaces. It looks like it is easy enough to put in, but a google search (and a craigslist search) comes up with no contractors specializing in this type of driveway.

It seems like these are showing up in places like Cleveland park: Does anyone have recommendations on installers?”

Anyone put this type of driveway into their house?

“Dear PoP,

We’re looking to re-do our front lawn, and to be consistent with the style of our block and the neighborhood, we’d like to re-build our mostly destroyed retaining wall at the front of our lawn.

I’ve attached a photo of what you’ll find to be a pretty ubiquitous retaining wall style throughout the whole area. I’m looking for 1) where I can find the materials to construct this and/or 2) names of contractors/landscapers who people in the neighborhood have used to do this work before.

Please help me keep our neighborhood’s style and character!”

and

“Dear PoP,

My friend and I are moving into a one bedroom apartment and we’re hoping to split it into two bedrooms with a fake wall. I know this is popular in NYC and many companies there put up these walls, but I’m not finding any in DC. Can you ask your readers if they know of any companies who set up fake walls and if they’re any good?”

Anyone know where you can purchase a good fake wall? Is it different from drywall? Is this like a pre-assembled wall that you just slip in?