Even Quicker

Back at the house only a couple of days later, you can see the upper cabinets taking shape. The gap between the rows is where the library ladder will be located, and it's a good thing. The cabinets are so high, I'll need the ladder just to get to the top of the lower cabinets. Standing on the floor I can just reach over the lip of the top shelf in the corner cabinet with the tips of my fingers. Here's the current view:

I picked out stone for the fireplace hearth today--a plain black granite, about as dull a piece of stone as you could find, but adding another color to that crazy quilt didn't seem like a good idea. Next week I close on a home equity line of credit to finish some of the optional and unexpected items, and address other items like paint and refinishing some furniture--people told me this project would put me on the road to perdition and it appears to be true.

A Quickie

This entry will be brief, just to note that the cabinets were delivered this week and have more or less filled up the living room.

The material looks great--a dark mahogany that will go nicely with the mahogany furniture in the living room.

As of Thursday night the first few cases had been hung on the wall--just a hint of things to come. This wall is where the refrigerator will be (on the right side of this view).

There will be two rows of cabinets over the counter with a library ladder and rail between them so that I can get into the upper ones. The lower row of cabinets will have frosted glass fronts and one of my jobs this weekend is to pick out the exact glass that should be installed. I'm trying to get a similar translucency as the old etched glass panels in the pocket doors. Alas, each pocket door only has one of the original panes--the other one is plain frosted glass. Another possible mission is to see if I can find a couple of replacement panes at a building salvage place. They were a standard design and chances are there are some still around.

My other quest is the stone for the replacement hearth on the downstairs fireplace. It's a crazy looking thing, a random mix of brown and green stone, and very shallow. These were originally coal burning fireplaces and the coal was burned in a small iron basket that hung on brackets that you can see sticking out of the edges of the fireplace opening. It's hard to believe it did much against the chill of a Boston winter. In those days this would have been a small parlor and all the bedrooms would have been upstairs, above the parlor level in the space now occupied by two other apartments. Unlike the upstairs fireplace, this one will never be pretty, but I like the fact that the original pieces are still in place.

Quintessence of Dust

Whatever Hamlet had in mind, he certainly could have been describing my apartment which now has a fine glaze of dust on every surface, including the keys on which I am typing.

Today the sheetrock and plastering began and the actual contours of the rooms are becoming clear. I’m working on figuring out a way to add links to this blog so that readers can see the architects’ three dimensional rendering of the kitchen in comparison to the actual shapes. Until then, here are the latest views:

Looking into the kitchen area from the living room, you can see the corner of the new utility closet, and a bit of the storage space above it (which extends partially over the powder room).

Looking up you can see the soffit where the range hood will connect to the outside vent and the spots where pendant lights will hang.

This view is into the center of the kitchen. On the left wall will be the sink and dishwasher. On the right will be the microwave and the refrigerator (out of view), and just in back of the low wall is where the range will be. It's a small space but I think it will be a very easy to use kitchen.

The powder room is so compact, it's hard to photograph, but standing inside, it feels like just the right size.

Downstairs the master bath is really taking shape with shower, storage closet and tub on one side.

Bath anyone?

On the other side, space for the medicine cabinet and sink with the toilet on the far wall.

In the guest room, the new wall and closet configuration is clear. The closet space will be limited, but sufficient...

...and the closet situation in the master bedroom will begreatly improved with the conversion of the old lavatory into additional closet space.

Here you can see the location of the recessed lighting in the downstairs hall.

All the electrical work has required an expansion of the circuit box. I'll have to select a larger picture to cover it up!

Lights! Plumbing! Inspection!

I try to get back to the house every few days—partly out of curiosity, partly to pick up the mail, and partly to empty the dehumidifier. I have the window AC going in the basement/garden level, but it’s been so unseasonably cold, I don’t think it can do much. I also take a peek at the garden to see how it’s doing under conditions of total neglect. Not well, but the rose bush is carrying on without any encouragement.

Lots of changes today—especially plumbing and electrical, and I believe the building inspector will sign off on the rough plumbing tomorrow. Also lots of mess. The demolition phase, paradoxically, was the cleanest so far. Now there is lots of “stuff” to deal with.

Here are the sink and toilet hook-ups for the guest bath, and the basement, spared until now, has been opened up to connect the new toilets to the south-side waste pipe.

On the way up the stairs this odd arrangement caught my eye—I’m guessing that all the dust was probably setting off the fire alarm—hence a sort of improvised fire alarm condom?

Big changes in the kitchen. Here’s the soffit for the area where the pantry, desk and wine storage will be:

And the soffit that more or less corresponds to the outline of the cabinets and counters. Couple of exciting things—lighting! I think it’s safe to say that never in nearly 160 years will this kitchen have been so well lit. And finally—ah, joy—ventilation to the outside of the building. No more second thoughts about that extra clove of garlic!

Here's the start of the counter-level seating:

The current controversies relate to the detailed design of library ladder and who should fabricate it. Also the heating system that will go in the kitchen. Because the rest of that floor (and the whole apartment) is the old tube and fin style of baseboard heat, we’ve had to set aside the idea of using a more updated style (Runtal) in the kitchen if it is to connect successfully to what is already there.

However, I’m having difficulty putting something so ugly in my pretty new kitchen. I have dreamed of re-doing the entire floor with modern radiators, and eventually the rest of the apartment.

So, will she be sucked into the vortex and go way over budget, or will reason prevail? Stay tuned for the next episode...

Back at Trish’s, her nieces (great-nieces?) Zebedee and Amaia have joined the household for the week—all the way from California. Even Mr. Bo is charmed!

Framed!

Thursday was the first walk-through with architect Steven (left), carpenter and project lead James (center), and electrician Paul (right).

We had a couple of issues to review—specifically:

• We set up the blocking for towel racks, grab bars, light fixtures, toilet paper holders, etc.
• The stairs are in very poor condition, so for now they will be stabilized and re-carpeted, waiting for a future time be rebuilt.
• The under-floor is also in poor shape, so they’ll put another layer of under-flooring down, in the bathroom area.

The framing is nearly done and next week the building inspector will sign off on the framing and electrical work. In the pictures you can see:

• The openings for the master bath shower (nearest in the photo) and the tub (further away) with a narrow storage closet between them.

• The framing for the powder room, opening onto the stair landing with storage above the platform.

• The downstairs fireplace which will have a new hearthstone

• Some of the original forged nails that were used in building the house in the 1850's.

Next week the inspection of the electrical work and framing will be done.

Right now supplies and appliances are arriving almost daily. This picture shows the carton containing the new wine refrigerator!

Meanwhile, Mr. Bo and I have settled very comfortably into Trish’s apartment where Mr. Bo has appointed himself “guard cat”...

(when he’s not resting his eyes)...

…and my solitary, non-blooming orchid (the only one I've managed to keep alive longer than a month) is being inspired (I hope) by Trish’s exuberant orchid garden!

What a Difference a Day Makes

I went over to the house after work knowing that the demolition was done this morning. It’s a physical shock to walk around the space and see such radical changes in less than 24 hours. It’s like high-speed urban archeology—you can peer into the guts and bones of the building, and long-covered details can be seen. I was especially struck by the stairs with their old vinyl treads and worn edges. A reminder of the many feet that walked up and down the stairs during the decades when the South End was in eclipse, a place of inexpensive housing for immigrants and railroad workers.

I have an old Boston guidebook from around 1909 that describes the South End as a “faded district.” Its initial heyday was not very long—a few decades between its construction (the 1850’s in the case of Union Park) and the completed filling-in and development of Back Bay. Many of the buildings in those days were made into rooming houses, though I have a feeling that was not the case in my building, and you could buy a whole building for a few thousand dollars. I guess it’s a testament to the quality and durability of these old buildings that so many came through in pretty solid shape.

It’s also amazing to see how much stuff can be torn out and taken away so quickly. I suppose we measure what’s possible by our own capacities, and because I couldn’t do this myself, it seems it can’t be done. Wrong, clearly! Okay, enough philosophical musing.

Remember the cabinets, destined for the appropriate circle of hell? Gone.

And the peninsula, ditto.

There's a new door in the master bedroom where the access to the new master bath will be.

Remember the pile of plumbing? Gone.

The former closet is ready for its new destiny as part of the the master bathroom, and what used to be the shower has now been turned around to become a closet.

Of course there were a couple of wrinkles--some rot where the shower used to be in the bathroom and the adjacent bedroom. It's unknown how big a deal this will be.

The architect, contractor, and I will walk through the site Thursday and more will be known then. And by that time there will be more transformation as they work on reframing the space for the new configuration.