So who exactly would be looking for antique water radiators? I thought we are all moving to forced air anyway. So anyone know what’s happening with this building on 14th Street near Cork anyway? Is it just becoming condos or will there be some ground floor retail as well? A photo of the building being renovated after the jump. (more…)
This was an odd sight. It appears the workmen are covering up the brick with some type of smooth material that I guess will be painted. So what do you think, should a brick rowhouse ever be covered like this? If you want to paint your rowhouse, couldn’t you just paint the brick? I’ll be sure to check it out again and post a photo when the job is completed.
Hmm, I’m not really sure what was going on. They were welding some beams on the roof deck. So what does this mean are they going to double deck the roof deck? Add some walls? A roof? What do you think the purpose is?
So for some odd reason I went into a closet the other day that I never go into. I noticed that there was some paint cracking which I thought was odd. I went to investigate and it peeled right off like a warm piece of string cheese. I knew this was not a good sign. It turns out I had a small crack in my roof and slowly water was coming into a closet. Christ, I don’t know when I last went into that closet but it was a good year or so. What would of happened if I didn’t go into that closet for another year, I shudder to think about it. So the roof part was easy to fix. And by easy to fix, I mean it was easy for my contractor to fix it. But the closet, ah the closet. That took a bit more time. The contractor had to completely break it down, take out the plaster, and rebuild it with drywall. You see these old houses have plaster instead of drywall. Let me just say it is a messy business. It has taken the contractor over 12 hours and counting to fix. Crazy. You wake up one morning and the next thing you know you are $750 lighter in the pocket. This great book I’m reading about a house renovation (I plan on posting about it Monday when I finish it) says that home projects will be completed when you are dead or you sell the house. I understand what he means now. I’ve just spotted a new crack…
I thought it would be interesting to do some more interviews with those who have decided to purchase homes that need major renovations. Due to scheduling conflicts (I kept getting too drunk and sleeping too late over the weekends) this interview was conducted by email. The following home is owned by Stacey, 28 and Dan, 30. Stacey replied to the questions and chronicles their renovations in her own blog DC Rowhouse.
1. How long have you lived in DC?
Almost two years, we moved to D.C. in August of 2006.
2. When/How did you decide it was time to buy a home?
Those are really hard questions. I guess it was right for us. We actually lived in the house as a renter before we bought it. We only planned to live in D.C for a year, and when we got the chance to stay, the house went on the market at the same time. It was just the right opportunity for us.
3. What neighborhoods did you look into?
Since we didn’t really do a major real estate search, we limited it to the area around our house to make sure we were getting a good deal.
4. How did you ultimately choose your home and neighborhood?
One of the major perks to our house is that we have rental income from our downstairs tenant. The other amazing part of our home is our gigantic back yard and TWO parking spots. Its really hard to find an 800 square foot yard and two car parking. We love those features and that was important to us.
5. Did you know you were going to have to do many renovations when you purchased your home?
We bought the house knowing it was not exactly what we wanted, but it had potential. Since we only planned to live in the house for a year as renter’s we weren’t so picky about renting. In fact, I didn’t even see the house before we moved in. Since we had lived there for 6 months before it went on the market – we had a good idea of what we could do. What we didn’t know is the “real” cost of things. You can watch as much HGTV as you want, but until you get some bonafide contractors in your house – you are not going to have an idea of how expensive things are. Questions continue after the jump with photos. (more…)
From a reader: “Where the fridge is there used to be a doorway. where the high up window is there used to also be a doorway leading out to a entry/exit area to the backyard ( that space is now a 1/2 bath) Wall between kitchen and dining room knocked out completely (former owners had knocked it out partially, leaving a “peninsula” and part of the wall coming down from the ceiling.)
This was a regular galley kitchen before the redo…sorry can’t find the before pictures. The place where I ordered the cabinets thought I was insane, but I am really happy with the skyline effect, which was what I wanted.
Cabinets: solid cherry with sage stain, Dynasty, where most of the cost went, ordered through The Great Indoors
Counter: zodiac.
Tiles: bisazza, custom configuration, but installed by me island: made from upper cabinets (dining room side), and drawer base units (kitchen side), topped with an Ikea thick oak counter…way way cheaper than any other butcher block counter i found…actually a bargain.
Total cost is really hard to say, i had trouble with contractors ( this was done during the “boom” when contractors could screw customers and not care! argh!)…but definitely between 15 and 20K.”
The submitter is happy to answer specific questions anyone may have just post questions in the comments section. If you have any renovation photos you’d like to submit just email photos and a bit of commentary to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com
Another photo with a different angle after the jump. (more…)
I noticed this application for a liquor license this past weekend. It is located at 1013 U Street and the application lists the bar as “Lounge of Three” a new tavern with entertainment including live music and/or Karaoke. It’s hearing date is listed as June 25th. Looks like the building will need some serious renovations, which is good news that another run down storefront on U Street will be brought back to life. And how can you not love karaoke?
Speaking of U Street’s revival: I saw in today’s Post that Mr. Jeffrey Koenreich recently passed away. The Post says, “M. Jeffrey Koenreich, 54, who helped organize the Cardozo Shaw Neighborhood Association and led efforts to revitalize Washington’s U Street corridor in the 1980s and 1990s, died May 1 at his home in Miami after a heart attack.” Read the full obituary here. I think it’s important to remember those who have made positive contributions to our neighborhoods.
I was able to take this photo from an old rowhouse in Columbia Heights. This is in the kitchen of a reader’s home who is doing a renovation (final photos coming upon completion). This is a pretty cool gigantic wood cabinet that was built into the wall that the owner managed to salvage. Check out another cool feature after the jump.
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Ed. Note: Last set of pictures with the pinkish hue. I promise it’ll be back to normal on Monday. What’s up with the vinyl in the middle?
A reader writes: “When we moved into our row house in Columbia Heights last summer, the bathroom was, for lack of a better word, gross. The floor was covered with generic, white tile that looked like it had been there since 1912 and the tile and grout were nasty no matter how many times we cleaned the floor. The tub was functional, but damaged and had a bad patch job that looked like a big grey splotch in the middle of the tub. The shower tile was small, white tile that made the bathroom look like a YMCA shower stall. There was a mess of tangled, exposed radiator pipes in the corner of the ceiling. All of this sucked because we only have one bathroom in the house.
So, we found a reliable renovator (two man team), spent about $5,000 total in materials and labor, and re-did the bathroom. We put in new floor tile and grout with “river rock” style baseboard decorations, new blue-grey paint on the walls, new travertine tiles with a funky design in the shower, replaced the shower curtain with glass doors, had the exposed pipes dry-walled in, installed new fixtures, and re-glazed the tub so it looks like new.”
Check out some more details of the finished bathroom as well as some before pictures after the jump. It’s also not too late to send me your renovation photos – [email protected] (more…)