Shaker Heights Restoration

Another month, another entry

2010-01-14T13:06:00.000-08:00

I know it's been forever since I've posted anything here. It might have to do with my utter lack of progress on the house and my lack of desire to work in the cold weather.

It's cold. It's really cold. Did I mention that it's cold? We just used up the last of our firewood from last winter. We've been having fires quite frequently. The fireplace warms up the room quickly.

I ordered three bundles of slabwood, mostly cherry and hickory. This batch, unlike last winter, was debarked, so it should burn better and leave less creosote on the chimney.

Now, I just have to cut it up and avoid saving too much of it for craft/woodworking projects.

Photographs courtesy of the always lovely A.

A finished roof and an update, finally

2009-12-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted here in a while because there hasn't been much going on around the house. The roof repairs are done for this year. I'm really pleased with the job that Dennis Crookshanks did on the job. There was a large section of slate that showed evidence of several different repairs in the past. He replaced it with flat-seam copper and installed ice guards. He also replaced some of the slate on the breezeway and replaced the flashing there, too.

The flat-seam copper really looks great.

Of course, now I'm seeing all the other flashing work that needs to be done - one project at a time, I guess. Given the build quality of the rest of the house, I'm surprised that they used galvanized flashing instead of copper.

There's another reason why I haven't posted on here in a while. I've been working on another project, Cleveland Area History. I've been writing about all sorts of things relating to the history of the greater Cleveland area. I toured the house where Langston Hughes lived during his sophomore and junior years of high school. I've talked about two of the oldest houses in the area, one in Cleveland Heights, the other in Cleveland. I've illustrated a National Register of Historic Places historic district. And there's more. Check it out.

Roof progress!

2009-11-09T06:12:00.001-08:00

I had assumed that Dennis Crookshanks wouldn't be able to start work on the roof until spring. Much to my surprise, I got an email last week saying that he would beginning shortly. He began replacing the slate in the trouble area with flat-seam copper, which should hold up better than the slate.

The copper, it looks so pretty.

My new blog - Cleveland Area History

2009-11-02T07:09:00.000-08:00

I'd like to introduce you to a new blog that I'm working on, Cleveland Area History. It is an opinionated, sometimes snarky, usually rabidly preservationist look at the history of the greater Cleveland area. This will be a group effort - there is far too much to be addressed for me to tackle it alone.

Hopefully this will also serve to move some of the content that is less house-related away from this blog

Tiny attic windows of DOOM!

2009-10-22T07:31:00.000-07:00

One of the last city point-of-sale violations that we have to address is replacing the broken glass in this window. It's a tiny dormer window on the third floor, on the front of the house. Actually, we have to replace the broken glass in two of these windows, as the city didn't note which one (perhaps one has broken since they recorded the violation) and I know that when the inspector shows up, he's just going to see the broken one.

The windows don't look so bad - just another couple to reglaze - until you realize how high up they are. One option, working on them from the inside, was out of the question because of the lack of space to work and the relatively small window opening - the glass is just 8.5 inches wide. Once you take into account the framing of the dormer, it doesn't leave much space to work.

I considered renting or buying a large extension ladder. The ladder I have right now reaches comfortably to the edge of the roof, but not much higher than that. The positioning of such a ladder concerned me. I realized that the angle the ladder would have to be at to get to the window would be such that it would be difficult to properly secure it.

If I wanted to use ladders to get to this window, the best option seems to be to have one ladder to get up to the roof and then a second one resting on the roof, held in place with a couple ladder hooks over the ridge. I don't think that I'd be comfortable working up on the roof like that - while I'm ok with using the ladders, once I'm up high on them and things start moving, I get nervous. I worry that the movement of my tools will jostle the ladder and cause it to fall.

I talked to the guys at the local rental place, Handy Rents about renting a lift. The cheapest one that they had would be $170 a day. Once I heard the price, I suddenly felt a lot more willing to spend quite a bit of time in a small, cramped, space, trying to chisel away at the glass from the inside.

I'm finally almost finished removing the glazing from the first of these two windows. Rather than describe the process I went through, I'll instead describe how I plan to do the next window, based upon what I've learned so far.

First, I'll do my best to try to use the torch to soften up the glazing. This will be a challenge and will likely be only partially successful at best, as I won't be able to see exactly where I'm trying to hit with the torch from the inside. It should help some of the glazing to come out when I break up the glass. Then, I'd tape the glass, on the outside and the inside, with packing tape, because it's hard to catch every single little bit and the fragments tend to bounce down the roof. I'll hold a box lid from a file box underneath it and break out the window with a hammer. Once the glass in thoroughly broken, I'll remove it, to the best of my ability.

Next, the fragments of glass that are left will be taken out with a hammer. At this point, with the access that I now have through the space where the glass used to be, I'll use the torch again, to do a more complete job of heating up the old glazing. Then I'll chisel under the glass, trying to get the pieces out. Part of the trick here is to realize that you don't have to see what you are doing. One can, very carefully, work by feel instead. I'll take a methodical approach, chiseling the glazing out, to the best of my ability to feel it.

This won't get absolutely all the old glazing out. It's near impossible, given the work angles involved, to apply sufficient leverage to do so. I'm ok with this - hopefully the glass will stay in place.

Finally, I'll lay a new bed of glazing for the glass to sit in, install the glass, and then begin to glaze the window, reaching around the frame. The work won't be as clean as I would like, but it's high enough up that it won't be seen.

Leather work gloves are a necessity for this project. A very short chisel would be quite useful, given the cramped workspace.

Midtown Roofing Supply - purveyor of copper goods for roof repair

2009-10-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

Midtown Roofing Supply, at 2695 E 55th St, Cleveland, OH, 44104, (216-431-4545), is an unassuming brick building that you'd probably miss if you weren't looking for it. There are no windows and it only has parking for two or three cars. I certainly wouldn't have stopped there if not for the recommendation by the people at Sutton Industrial Hardware.

Midtown Roofing seems to be the best place in Cleveland to buy the various supplies and tools that one might need to work on a slate roof. This includes slate hooks, in both copper and stainless steel, copper for flashing and valleys, as well as the various tools, like slate hammers and slate rippers that are needed to work with slate.

They might have quite a bit more, too - I'm not sure - most of the stock was back in their storeroom, not out on display.

Re-glazing Steel Casement Windows

2009-10-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

I've replaced the glass in enough wood windows that I feel reasonably competent with it. The old glazing usually comes out easily, because a little bit of humidity always manages to get into the wood. The putty never looks quite as clean as I would like, but it does the job.

Steel casement windows are a different matter. The existing glazing tends to be rock solid and impossible to remove. It was so difficult that I resorted to removing one of the windows and taking it down to my workshop to chisel away at. This took forever and resulted in many small glass chips.

Finally, someone told me to use a torch to heat up the glazing. The heat softens the putty and makes it quite easy to remove. Unless great care is used, the difference in temperature will crack the glass, but since the glass is usually already broken, that shouldn't be an issue.

With a torch, I was able to replace one of the panes from up on the ladder, without having to fear for my life. It is a worthwhile expense, especially given the number of panes that I will eventually have to replace. The fancy new torches with electronic ignitions are quite nice, too.

The library is finally mostly done!

2009-09-21T15:38:00.000-07:00

Remember back in February when the leak from the seal on the toilet in the second floor bathroom led to us tearing down the ceiling in the library? Remember how the project just had one complication after another after another? Remember the scary looking broken joists? Well, thanks to A. kicking my rear end a bit, it is finally complete. Almost.

I still have to make some crown moulding to fit the space, and I have to put the endcaps on the radiators, but that's little stuff. The room is now usable, for the first time since February! One can walk in there without tracking out dust!

It is at this point that I want to give a big shout-out to Perpetual Renovator. In that post, she discusses a product, Restore-a-Finish, which she has had good luck with in the past. I used it on the floors in the library, which were all scratched up because someone failed to properly cover the floor before beginning demolition and also had lots of water spotting from the previously mentioned leak. The floors don't look like new, but they look a lot better - enough so that I'm no longer in trouble. After using the Restore-a-Finish on the floor, I finished it with Feed-n-Wax.

Now I just have to get to work on fixing the table that my computer will sit on.

Photos taken by the always lovely and tolerant A.

Avoid Paul David Plumbing for anything but plumbing!!

2009-09-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

While he is a good plumber, he is horrible as a general contractor! (He also does business under the name "Feldman Mechanical Contractors" or "Feldman Mechanical Contracting".)

When we hired Paul David Plumbing as our general contractor, it was because Paul David had done good plumbing work at a reasonable price. He was willing and able to deal with the old plumbing in our house, and to do things like rebuild our 1920s toilets.

He has proven himself completely incapable as a general contractor. We paid the deposit for materials, about 65% of the total cost of the job, in April. The contract was entered into with the agreement that a subcontractor with experience in slate would be doing the vast majority of the work, and that Paul David would be doing some work to assist them.

Paul David Plumbing provided us with excuse upon excuse upon excuse why the work had not begun on the roof. Last week, Paul David himself began work on the breezeway between the house and the garage. When one side of the breezeway repair was complete, he asked if we were satisfied with how it looked - I was - but this was based on appearance only. There was another slate that he had replaced, with a nail driven through the face of the slate, which I infomed him was improper practice, and that such repairs needed to be done with a slate hook. Paul David was unable to locate a supplier of slate hooks, which should have been a warning.

Next Paul David began work on the rear part of the roof, where there had been considerable damage from ice falling on it the previous winter, and where it was obvious repairs had been performed previously. The slate for the bottom few rows are 28 inches long. The slate installed was only 24 inches long, which did not provide sufficient overlap. Paul David did not realize this was an issue until it was pointed out to him. He further didn't realize that the slate needed to be shimmed out, using smaller pieces of slate, to fit the slightly curved framing of the roof.

It was at this point that we realized that Paul David Plumbing had failed to live up to their end of the contract. A professional with experience on slate had not been brought in, as had been specified in the contract. Further, slate adequate for the job had not been provided.

When Paul David Plumbing informed us that the proper sized slate wasn't readily available, we told him that we expected the exposed area and the improperly slated area to be covered to prevent damage from rain, which is expected for the rest of the week. When it appeared, on Sunday, that it was going to rain, we called Paul David Plumbing, informing him of this, asking him to cover the area. He said that he'd try to be out that afternoon. When we called him again, an hour later, when rain was threatening, he said that he couldn't make it and that his insurance would just have to cover it.

That was the absolute last straw. While Paul David may be a competent plumber, he simply cannot be trusted with anything beyond that.

On further inspection of the breezeway, in the area where work had not yet been completed, I saw that the slate was not installed properly - the nail holes in the slates were not countersunk, so the nail heads will rub against the slate above, eventually wearing through. Further, the flashing at the house is in such poor shape that it really should be replaced. This was not part of the original contract, but something that should have been brought to our attention - it makes little sense to repair the slate now, only to have to take it off in a couple years to redo the flashing.

I took a very long lunch today (and as a result will be working quite late tonight) and met with Paul David to iron out the details of the completion of the contract. By next Friday, he will present us with a list of all the money that has been spent on materials, which will be deducted from the amount we paid, in April, for materials. From his costs will be deducted the cost of a temporary repair on the main roof of the house and repair of the improper work done on the breezeway. If he doesn't provide us with the expenses by next Friday, the amount will be assumed to be $2000. Either way, the amount due back to use will be paid in full by two weeks from that Friday.

I'm not terribly confident that we'll get our money back, but at least now we have everything in writing, and we have some legal standing, I hope.

In good news, Dennis Crookshanks (of Dennis M. Crookshanks Const., Inc.), whose gallery features some pretty impressive work, will be at our house either today or tomorrow to evaluate the situation and install a temporary patch. He clearly knows his stuff - I only wish I'd gone with the estimate that he'd provided when we called him originally. Fortunately, he still has our information on file, so it shouldn't take him terribly long to write up.

Disappointment

2009-09-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

We are presently looking to see what our options are for pursing legal action against Paul David Plumbing. He has failed to deliver on the projects that he was contracted to complete, namely repairs to the roof, the chimney, and our gutters, supplying us with excuse after excuse after excuse.

He had said (and I should have specified further in our contract) that he had talked with a roofing firm who was to repair our roof and that he would only act as assistant. Now, with excuse after excuse, he's begun the work on the roof, himself. First he completed some work on the breezeway, which acceptable. Then he began to work on the main roof of the house. The slates that he had ordered were not long enough for the job, but he did not realize that. As a result, as installed, they do not have sufficient overlap. Further, the framing of our roof curves out, and the proper slate shims were not installed to avoid stress upon the slate.

This guy doesn't know what he's doing. He's taking forever. Right now, there's a big open chunk on our roof and we're screwed.

I bring up these issues and he just comes up with one excuse and then another. It's always going to be done in just a couple days, just a couple days more.

I just don't know how to handle all this. I'm freaking out because I feel I have no options. I'm not going to be able to meet the deadlines that the city has set for addressing the violations on the house, and I'm going to have a big hole open on my roof all winter.

On the plus side right now, and this is really the only thing on the plus side, the first gutter that was sent out to be repaired was returned today, and looks great. The gutter is copper, and they were able to roll out all the dents, thus that it looks like the rest of the gutters, or perhaps a bit better.

Finally, an update!

2009-09-15T13:21:00.001-07:00

It's been forever since I've actually written anything about the house - this is mostly because the house projects are moving forward at a snail's pace. My general contractor has been moving at the speed of molasses and I haven't felt too motivated myself recently.

The contractor has finally started work on the slate, and I'm told that one of the new gutters will be here today, I think - I'll believe it when I see it.

I've finally finished the drywall on the ceiling in the library - I hope to start working on the crown moulding in there tonight.

Further, I've learned something that I wish I knew earlier. It can be just about impossible to get the old glazing out of steel casement windows - unlike wood windows, there seems to be less chance for humidity to get into the space between the glazing and the frame - so the glazing is often rock hard. I learned that a bit of heat, from a torch, will soften the glazing up enough that it comes out quite easily!

Hopefully I'll be able to make a post later this afternoon illustrating all the progress on the house.

Jesse Owens house

2009-08-25T06:23:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to find local sites of historical significance, for use in the programs I run as the Youth Services Librarian at the Hough Branch of Cleveland Public Library. Local history isn't taught much in the schools here - "local history" too often means "Ohio history". Many of the kids have little, if any, experience outside this neighborhood, so when I talk about things on the other side of the county, I might as well be talking about New York or California. I've found that when I can talk about things that happened in their neighborhood - people who walked the same streets that they walk every day - that I can really get their attention.

I knew that Jesse Owens, four time gold medal winner at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, grew up in this neighborhood, but I hadn't been able to find out exactly where. Alll I'd been able to learn was that in 1923, "Jesse Owens was enrolled in Bolton Elementary School, just three blocks from his home." The school was located at East 89th and Carnegie. I'd contacted the Ohio State University archives, which holds Owens' papers, without any luck.

Finally, after it seemed I had exhausted all reasonable options, John Skrtic, manager of the Social Sciences department at Cleveland Public Library, sent me a link to this photo, from the Cleveland Memory Project. It shows Owens sitting on the front steps of a house in 1935, the year he, in the space of 45 minutes at a Big Ten track meet in Michigan, beat three world records and tied a fourth.

Unfortunately, the caption did not identify the location of the photograph. The style of the house looks characteristically Cleveland, but I didn't know more than that. I contacted Bill Barrow, Special Collections Librarian at Cleveland State University, to see if he might be able to provide a higher resolution version of the image so that I might see the address on the house or even just take a magnifying glass and check it out himself. He did far, far better than that and provided me with the address of the house!

The house is located at 2178 East 100th Street, Cleveland, Ohio. It is somewhat worse for the wear, but appears to be taken care of. The house is very close to the Cleveland Clinic, so effort will need to be made to ensure its long term protection, as the Clinic continues to expand.

Update:
There are no records in the Cleveland City Directory for the Owens family for 1930 and 1932. The 1933 City Directory lists the house as "vacant". They are listed at this address for 1934, 1935, and 1936. Further, the 1930 Census lists them at 2212 East 90th Street. Thanks to Michael Ruffing, librarian, History and Geography Department, Cleveland Public Library, for this information.

This is the house at 2212 E. 90, where the Owens family lived as of 1930.

In search of the elusive inner-city Greek Revival house

2009-08-22T11:57:00.000-07:00

I've always had a thing for Greek Revival houses. Their lines and proportions seem so right. For a while I've thought it would be interesting to have an old farmhouse and tiny farm in the inner city. With falling real estate prices, I've decided to look a bit harder to see if I can really find that magical Greek Revival farmhouse.

This is not as a replacement for my current residence, but rather, an additional project. The house would end up as a rental property after I had fixed it up, though I would probably make at least some effort to cultivate the land around it. As a result, I'm somewhat more inclined toward areas where I would be able to find a house with a chunk of land adjacent or nearby - these areas also tend to be cheaper.

My personal interest would be in a smaller house that either had really great lines or retained plenty of original detail. A smaller house would be a more managable project to rehab and maintain.

I've begun to systematically search through the areas where I might expect to find such houses, and will be documenting as I find them, as well as including them in this map. I welcome any additional sites you may be able to identify.

The photograph at the top of the page is of the Dunham Tavern, on Euclid Avenue. The oldest building in Cleveland on its original foundation, it is also probably the best known Greek Revival house in the city.

I often pass by this c.1835 house on Buckeye Road at East 108th Street. It was made from stone quarried nearby. I hadn't noticed the detail work on it before, but it is really quite nice. Replace the glass block windows and remove the vinylcide, and one would be left with a very nice house.

I started looking methodically near my neighborhood, hoping to find something interesting. I came across this house on East 130th Street, just north of Kinsman. Kinsman is one of the oldest roads in the area.

This angle shows the original lines a bit more clearly.

Today, on my lunch break, I found three houses - two solid Greek Revivals and one suspect.

This one is hard to see, due to the trees, but I didn't venture further up the driveway to take a photograph, out of respect for the owner. This photograph shows the lines a bit more clearly. The house is located at Located at 1158 Addison Road, Cleveland, Ohio.

This house, at 1209 East 71st Street, has really nice lines. The windows, in their original locations, would have looked great. For the purposes of this argument, we're going to assume that they're currently ugly vinyl replacements (I actually have no idea) and that you'd want to replace them, so they might as well be replaced in the original locations. The foundation is locally quarried sandstone, and there's exterior access to the cellar.

The addition to the rear, presumably the kitchen, is reasonably harmonious with the rest of the house. The other addition, with the flat roof, should probably be removed.

The addition has the same style of sandstone foundation as the rest of the house, suggesting that it wasn't built terribly long after the main part of the house. I'd almost be inclined to think that the space I've been calling an addition might have come first, except that the pitch on the roof is slightly steeper than the rest of the house.

The other side of the house looks quite presentable, too. Street presence would be improved by a bit of pruning of the tree in front of it and removal of the porch.

The house is owned by Great Lakes Home Remodelers, Inc., which purchased the property on 13 July 2006 for $4,800 from the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). It is one of five properties that they own, four of which were foreclosures. They are delinquent on taxes on all five of the properties as of today, according to the Cuyahoga County Auditor's website - the balance owed on this property is $2719.32. The auditor states that this house is a duplex. It is 1536 square feet.

At this point, I suspect that the current owners would be happy to get rid of this house, even at a loss. There's enough vacant land nearby to have some serious potential for gardening or a yard.

This house, at 6833 Bayliss Avenue, is the last I will mention today. It's a bit of a puzzler to me. The proportions seem just about right, but there's simply been too much work done on it for me to be sure one way or the other.

The arch is falling! The arch is falling!

2009-08-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

or:
Maybe we've just been in denial all this time

When we got back from our vacation, we saw this brick hanging down, which we knew wasn't good.

Upon further observation, the crack seemed to extend to the wall of the garage.

We were sure that this was mostly new, perhaps the result of the big wind storm a couple weeks back, until I looked at this photo, taken in September, when we were first looking at the house.

I think that the loose chunk of brick may have settled a little bit. However, I no longer feel that I can blame the replacement of the garage floor and the theoretical shifting of the walls on this. Nope. Just regular old settling and time.

Since I took these photographs, I've jacked the bricks back up into place, awating the inevitable repairs that will surely come.

In the second photograph, you can see where the section of damaged gutter has been removed so that a proper replacement may be fabricated. Note that the wood underneath the gutter was never painted, yet remains in excellent condition. This is why you want to save the original woodwork when possible - the old growth wood that they used is rock-solid, and can often last forever with minimal care.

Buffalo ReUse - Finally!

2009-08-17T13:03:00.001-07:00

I've written previously about Buffalo ReUse, a non-profit organization in Buffalo, New York, dedicated to salvaging the architectural detail of homes that are being demolished. While on vacation, I visited their retail outlet, and was totally blown away. The inventory was about three times the size of all the stores dealing in such things in the Cleveland area put together. I can't believe how much great stuff there was at bargain basement prices.

We'd planned to make a stop on the way home, too, but decided not to. This means that a road trip, soon, is in order. I'm talking to you, Really Bad Cleveland Accent and Lead Paint Cookbook. Those doors that you desired? That claw-foot tub? Yup. Let's split the cost of gas and tolls and do this!

There were many many bathtubs, with nice ones priced around $200-300. I'd bring something to clean them with before purchase to ensure that there wasn't significant damage or staining, as they are stored outside.

This was but part of their outdoor storage lot. Yes, that's a marble sink slab from the 1880s or 1890s leaning up against the windows there.

Is this the sink you're looking for, Anastasia?

I couldn't believe this great sink with integral faucet for a mere $125.

Or the Case "kidney" toilet sitting next to it for $120.

There were doors, doors, and more doors, interior and exterior. I recall interior doors being priced at around $15-35 each.

Handpainted tile for $1.25 each!

There was plenty of oddball stuff, too, like tin ceiling at $2 a square foot.

Or this electric bathroom heater.

Or these brass shower valves, which I would have investigated further, if not for the hands of my son trying to grab and chew said fixture.

Would you believe the brass switchplate in the center for a dollar?

This wood armchair, the better one, was $15. The one in front was $5.

I'm not sure how much this railing was, but WOW.

Overall, I was really impressed. I can't wait to go back.

Would you rather have our house or another freeway?

2009-07-31T13:04:00.000-07:00

The good folks at the Cleveland Memory Project at Cleveland State University have digitized another gem, Cleveland's Forgotten Freeways.

Of note is the Lee Road Freeway, which would have gone right through our house. It can be seen in bold on this map of the greater Cleveland area.

The introductory letter, dated 4 October 1966 states: The suggested location and design for the freeway are believed to be compatible with the present-day social developments of the communities involved and, more importantly, a pre-requisite to their continued economic and cultural well-being in the future. Read: it'll make it easier to flee to the exurbs.

Another part of this massive highway plan, the Clark Freeway, brought the surrounding communities together in opposition. The freeway, shown in bold above, would have cut right through the center of the Shaker Lakes, ruining this last vestige of nature in the adjoining inner-ring suburbs, Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights.

In this map, one can see the freeway over what would have been the former location of our house, and to the right, the interchange over one of the Shaker Lakes.

This detail map shows more clearly the exact route through my neighborhood. It would have destroyed the walkability of the community. Note the presence of the off-ramp dropping all that traffic right in front of the junior high (now elementary) school. This is a community where the kids walk to school. What the heck?

There was an alternate route that was also offered and which wouldn't have involved the demolition of our house. Here's the detail map. See. Not quite so awful. We'd just be living right next to the freeway. That's what this neighborhood needs, after all. Nevermind that we have better access to light rail service than any other community in the greater Cleveland area.

To me the most interesting part of the alternate route is the aerial photograph of my house. It seems that our driveway and our neighbor's driveway, which are shared, had a fence between them at the time. Also, our patio wasn't quite so big.

Avoid my house

2009-07-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

Yes. Avoid my house. I'm not sure why the Plain Dealer is so certain that my house should be avoided, but that's clearly what they are saying.

Oh. They mean that whole area, not just my house, as they seem to indicate. Even worse.

Cleveland ward boundaries in 1858

2009-07-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

View Cleveland Wards in 1858 in a larger map

To provide better local history to my kids, I've been researching the locations of residences of important 19th century Clevelanders. The problem is that the historic census records only provide the ward of the city that the person lived in. The ward boundaries are totally different today. Further, many of the street and road names have changed, as well as their routes.

The Cleveland Public Library has a wonderful map of Cleveland, showing the ward boundaries and Cuyahoga County, but it's hard to read, and there are also the problems mentioned above. I said to myself, "I wish that there was a nice, clean map, showing the historic ward boundaries." Now, to make my research easier, there is.

All boundaries are drawn to the best of my ability. I haven't been too fussy about the historic river shape nor the historic lake shore. The only area that I'm not completely sure about is the southern boundary of ward 6.

Langston Hughes house update

2009-07-22T05:49:00.000-07:00

Things seem to be moving forward with the Langston Hughes house that I mentioned previously. The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran an article on the house this morning.

The reporter managed to get more of a response than I have from certain involved parties - this may have something to do with actually calling them instead of just emailing - something to keep in mind for future reference.

Things are looking up for this little house.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

2009-07-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

Please join me in welcoming my friends Chris and Melissa to the neighborhood. They'll be closing on this house, just a couple streets over, in about the middle of September.

Because they had to build the house in the most expensive way possible

2009-07-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

One of the point-of-sale violations the city is requiring we fix is the peeling paint on the trim and stucco on the front of the house.

The faux Tudor elements are not in good shape. I've found it difficult to scrape without gouging, due to the slightly damp surface of the wood. Water has somehow been getting underneath the paint, even in places that are a significant distance from cracks in the paint. I'm not sure if this is because some of the boards are bowing up at the ends or if it is because moisture is getting in some other way.

I somehow ended up scraping a nice, clean, dry, area. This was probably to even out some edges and because I had an über sharp scraper. The wood underneath looked great. Further, it looked like it had a layer of varnish on top, which seemed curious, but didn't really register.

The lone bit of good wood appears to be walnut. The color of the varnish would make it about the same shade as the house's interior woodwork. At first, I figured that there had been a leftover board and that they had used it on the exterior. Then I saw that some peeling paint by the windows revealed similarly varnished wood.

I'm now reasonably sure that the trim on the front of the house was originally unpainted walnut with a relatively light varnish. While this might have looked quite interesting, the lifespan was obviously quite limited.

The vertical boards in the first photograph will have to be replaced eventually. There is simply too much damage to the wood. There's no way to bring them back to their original appearance without an insane amount of work.

The question then comes as to what to do when replacement time comes. I'd like to have the house trimmed as it was originally, with unpainted wood trim. I imagine it would look quite interesting, and distinctly different from every other Tudor in the neighborhood. With the heavy duty varnishes that are available today, there might be one that would hold up long enough to keep me from going crazy re-varnishing every few years.

I'm going to look into this. I suspect my search will lead me to a wooden boat supplier. As always, I welcome thoughts on the insanity of this all.

2861 Lee Road - from the Hopper Family Archive

2009-07-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

I like to see what other people publish on Flickr under the tag or description "Shaker Heights". Much to my surprise, I came across this set of photos, all published under a Creative Commons license.

The photographs, from the Hopper Family Archive, show 2861 Lee Road, Shaker Heights, Ohio, in what appears to be the 1950s. All photos are credited to Flickr user jhhymas. Below are some of the more interesting photographs - or you can check out the full set. According to the Cuyahoga County Auditor, the house was built in 1914.

The old dining room.

Living room.

Kitchen. I think that that's a Dishmaster faucet. Any thoughts?

Icebox, with the kitchen sink in the foreground.

The icebox.

Third floor bathroom. Note the tile floor with the Greek key pattern, the tiled walls, the glass shelf over the sink, and the interesting overflow on the sink. Further, I'm pretty darn sure that it looks like the toilet bowl slopes backwards. All this in the servants bathroom.

This photo makes me suspect the preceding caption. I seriously doubt that the servants bathroom would be so well finished but yet this one would have wood floors.

Finally, one last bathroom.

All photos credit to Flickr user jhhymas.

We have a garage floor!

2009-07-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

Today, the cement truck came.

They poured the garage floor.

Look how nice and smooth the garage floor is.

Note the slight grade, so that the floor will drain properly.

Once its dry, they'll cut the stress lines. In a week, we'll be able to drive on it.

Photographs by A.

Because I don't seem to be very good at photographing the house

2009-07-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

The dining room, with my son in the foreground.

Photo by A.

Van Sweringen Demonstration Homes

2009-07-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

The Van Sweringen Company, developers of Shaker Heights, commissioned several demonstration homes. These are not demonstration homes as we think of of them now, but rather suggestions of the sort of houses that buyers of lots might build and might expect their neighbors to build. The build and design quality of these houses is impressive, to say the least.

Five of these houses sit next to each other, on my block. All were designed by architect Bloodgood Tuttle and built in 1924. Most have impressive gardens and a great street presence, the result of double lots.

The five models are shown here, from west to east. To the east of this group is a sixth house, not a model, of similar proportions, also on a double lot.

My favorite is probably the fourth one, with the blue-green windows. I'm not sure whether that color is original to the house, but it was one of the suggested color schemes provided by the Van Sweringen Company at the time that the house was built.

Buy Langston Hughes' house for less than $10,000!

2009-07-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Poet, playwright and celebrated author Langston Hughes lived alone in an attic apartment in this house, at 2266 East 86th Street, Cleveland, Ohio, from 1917-1919. (Arnold Rampersad The Life of Langston Hughes, p. 26). He was in high school at the time, and without much money, his time was spent reading. Some of his first published works were written while he resided here.

Of the five residences Hughes called home in Cleveland, this house, and the one below, on the other side of the two vacant lots are the only survivors.

Langston Hughes lived with his mother in this house at 2256 E 86th Street from early May 1936 - April 21, 1937. It is presently being run as a rental property, though between tenants right now, according to the resident of the house next door to it, who would like to see it demolished to increase the size of his yard.

The house at 2266 is bank-owned, as of April of this year.

Cleveland is at the center of the "foreclosure crisis", and, given some neighborhood comparables, there's no way that this house will sell for more than $10,000. Further, I think that there's a very good chance that if you offered the bank who owns this house $1,000 or $2,000, that they'd take it. No back taxes are owed, and the house, overall, is in decent shape. The street looks good - most of the houses are lived-in and maintained.

Further, there are two adjacent vacant lots, if you should want to have a bit of a yard. One is owned by the city, who will sell it (once you own the adjacent lot) for a mere $26. The other is owned by Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation, who would likely be willing to sell to someone interested in fixing up the house.

The house has good lines, underneath the vinyl siding. Everything that I could see underneath the vinyl looked solid.

It even retains most of the wood double-hung windows. The exceptions are in the kitchen and on the third floor.

The interior appears to be in good condition, with nice original woodwork and doors.

Even the front porch looks good, underneath the awning and siding.

There aren't any obvious signs of major damage.

The kitchen leaves a bit to be desired, but these days, who doesn't want a new kitchen?

What problems do I see?

The roof. There are at least two, if not three layers of asphalt shingles over the original slate. The house will probably be due for a re-roof before too long. The chimney also needs attention.

The replacement windows in the kitchen look awful. The house could use a more historically sympathetic front door.

When was the last time you had a chance to buy a local landmark for less than you pay each year in property taxes? How can you possibly lose with this house? I'd find a way to buy it myself, if only I had the free time to fix it up.

We'll be able to park our cars in the garage?

2009-07-15T16:32:00.000-07:00

The garage floor is all ready for the cement pour. We've been told it will happen on Friday. Here's hoping! It'll be nice to be able to put our cars in the garage. Rather, it'll be nice to be able to put one of our cars and a bunch of junk in the garage.

Photo by A.

Making progress on the guest bedroom

2009-07-15T13:46:00.000-07:00

Before

During

Almost done

The painting was mostly done by A - I did the finish work. The third photograph is the more accurate representation of the color.

We'd peeled up the corner of the carpet during our first walk-through of the house and found that the flooring was in excellent condition. I've pulled up the tack strips and all the staples - now all that remains is to scrape off the remaining bits of padding and scrub the floor.

The padding, by the way, is really nasty.

Yes, that is a near-mint, framed, Star Wars one-sheet, style C, sitting on the bed. Ah, how tastes change.

Photographs, of course, by A.

That electrical supply line really had to go...

2009-07-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

This is the old electrical line that brought the power from the service entrance, through the garage, under the breezeway, and into the house. Note the lack of insulation and the lovely patina. Note that the patina is on the ground. Yes. The ground. Ack.

In this detail, note the frayed state of the ground. Note that it has been arcing against the conduit it is running through. ACK.

Finally, note that these photos were taken by A.

Garage floor

2009-07-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

The garage floor is taking longer than expected. Either today or tomorrow the drain, shown here, will be replaced with one that isn't damaged.

The building inspector also said that we have to run the wiring here, with the lovely exposed ground, through conduit. This means that we will be replacing the wiring from where it comes out of the panel in the garage all the way to the subpanel in the basement. This is another $1500 that we hadn't planned on. That price includes the wiring for 100 amp service and running additional conduit next to it for the future upgrade to 200 amp service.

Photographs, of course, by A.

The End of an Era

2009-07-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

This morning, I took my van in to my mechanic, The Lusty Wrench. It's a little hole in the wall place on Lee Road, near Cedar, in Cleveland Heights. They're the best, most honest mechanics I've ever met.

The airbag light has been on for a while (clockspring needs to be replaced) and there have been some problems of late with acceleration, which I had attributed to the slow demise of the transmission. Yesterday, they became more pronounced. This morning, on the way to the shop, they became really bad. I adjusted my position in my seat, and saw that the "check engine" light was on. It's unclear just how long it has been on and I simply failed to see it, hidden behind the steering wheel. As I drove on, the check engine light started flashing.

They called me back this afternoon, a mere $30ish of diagnostics later, to inform me that my car needed the following items addressed:

airbag clockspring - while airbags are really really nice, even nicer is having cruise control again for those long drives.
rusted out shock tower
misfiring engine
an outer tie rod end or two
rusted out muffler

Further, the transmission probably doesn't have more than 20,000 miles left in it, and the front tires look to be near the end of their lifespan.

They strongly encouraged me to look for a suitable replacement.

I'll pick it up from the shop tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, we can't start looking for a (used) replacement just yet. We'll be waiting until the state legislature manages to put together a budget for the next fiscal year. The proposed budget the governor put forward cut state funding to public libraries in half. As one of the last librarians hired by my library before the hiring freeze, things wouldn't look good if the proposed cuts went through.

The above photograph was taken while I was in grad school and taking a class in Columbus, OH, a 2 and a half hour drive away. I wanted to see just how much I could improve the gas mileage of the van. With the seams taped, window shut, and the cruise control at about 55, I managed 35mpg, a personal best. With the tires inflated a bit more, synthetic motor oil, and a bit more weight taken from the van, 40mpg seems quite possible.

How did I get in? Through the window, of course.

This series of four photos show the van after it was stolen, in Baltimore, Maryland. Note the trail of transmission fluid behind the van and the hole in the transmission pan - I knew that there had to be a reason that the transmission hung so low in the vehicle - I didn't realize that it was a theft-recovery mechanism.

In Shenandoah National Park.

Shortly before we got stuck in snow in the Bighorn Mountains, in Wyoming.

As the über camping van, in Mant-La Sal National Forest, near Arches National Park.

Stalking old milestones on the National Road, near Frederick, Maryland.

And finally, in front of our house, the first or second time we saw it.

I guess I should start looking for an "Obama 2008" bumper sticker now.

The internet is for corn!

2009-06-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

(or: Knee high by the 25th of June!)

Given our very late start, I was quite surprised that the corn reached knee high by the 23rd or so of June. Especially given that my knees are rather higher than average.

Photo by A.

Our Garden

2009-06-25T15:32:00.001-07:00

Our garden is doing incredibly well this year, especially considering how late we (read: A.) planted everything. The corn was knee high by the 23rd of June. This translates to waist high for most other people.

We've got melons and squashes.

There are beans, okra, and onions in the foreground, as well as horseradish, rhubarb, and two varieties of peppers that don't seem to be doing anything. In the midground are four varieties of tomatoes. The back patch includes two types of corn and beans. It also has what I strongly suspect to be garlic.

In this patch are lettuce, carrots, and potatoes. Off to the left, one can see the multi-grafted fruit tree, which seems to finally be doing well.

Most surprising about all this is how late we were in planting - most of the seeds have only been in the ground 30 days, and none of them (except for the two watermelons) were transplants.

Finally, an update!

2009-06-25T15:29:00.000-07:00

Day lillies and our neighbor's garage, at sunset.

Trees!

2009-06-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, A, E, and I went out, looking for a weeping cherry tree to plant in the memory of my late grandfather.

I wanted one with pink flowers, until I found one with white flowers that had very small cherries on it. The pink-flowered trees cost at least 50% more than the white flowered weeping cherries, so the combination of the fruits, the price, and the quality of the foliage sold me on the white weeping cherry.

E seemed to appreciate it too.

Yesterday I also planted the multi-grafted fruit tree I purchased on eBay. It should produce two varieties of peaches, two of plums and a nectarine. The tree is planted on the location of our former tree, which was ground out earlier in the week. I hauled about 400 gallons of mulch from the stump grinding to the community garden site that I'm working on at work. Once the mulch was cleared, I was able to plant the tree.

I also ordered some blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries from an eBay seller - they offered seven of each plant for a total of $16, shipped. I'm starting to doubt that I'll ever get them. While they had excellent feedback, their account is no longer registered with eBay and they haven't responded to any of my emails. The plan was to take the one or two best plants of each berry and use them as replacements for the Home Depot berries, which haven't grown at all. The rest of the berries would go in the community garden.

Now both trees have been planted, close to the location of the two dead trees that have since been removed.

All photographs, of course, were taken by A.

I should mention that our garden is also doing very well. Four varieties of tomatoes, two of corn and beans, melons, squashes, and more. I've never had everything sprout so nicely. The only thing that doesn't seem to be doing well are the potatoes. I credit the garden doing so well to the fact that A planted everything.

Cleveland Craigslist alert - ribcage shower!

2009-06-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

I found this marble enclosed ribcage shower on the Cleveand craigslist. They're looking for offers. You know it's exactly what you want for your house!

The Great Yard Waste Debate

2009-06-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

This week, as in the past, I left my yard waste on the tree lawn, in two large brown paper bags designed for that purpose. However, unlike in times past, the city did not remove them. Instead, a notice was stapled to one of the bags, stating that they were not taken because yard waste must be in city bags, available at many local hardware stores. A and I were quite annoyed about this - for all intents and purposes, the bags are identical - the only difference is the printing on them.

This monring, on my break, I called up the Shaker Heights Department of Public Works to enquire as to why one must use the city bags. I was told that the additional cost was to help defray the cost of the additional pickup, separate from regular waste collection.

This makes some sense. I like that, unlike many user fees, it does not tend to disportionally affect those with lower incomes. People with less money tend to live in houses with smaller yards and correspondingly less yard waste. In a city where large lots were available at more reasonable prices, I might feel differently.

I also like that it incentivizes people to compost more and generate less waste.

However, I have not heard of another municipality in the area that charges to remove standard yard waste. The cost is minimal, for sure, but given that we already pay such high taxes, one might think that this would be included. As the cost of the bags is nominally to cover the cost of pickup, I might feel differently if it was possible to drop off yard waste at some central location.

Our dream farm

2009-06-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

At about milemarker 37, on the north side of Interstate 70, in Maryland, sits this gorgeous farmhouse. A. and I noticed it each time we drove by. We decided that it was absolutely perfect, the place that if we could own, we would, thus the captions on some of the photographs referring to it as ""Our" farmhouse".

The curb appeal is truly impressive, even from a moving car on the interstate, as shown in the two photographs above.

By itself, the house is a nice, solid example of early 19th century western Maryland architecture. Like most of the buildings in the area, it makes use of the local stone.

The outbuildings - the smokehouse, the springhouse, the barn, and associated buildings - are what make this site so visually pleasing. This farm and its associated property, some more than 110 acres, are the embodiment of the western Maryland farm. They are perfect.

Of course, with Maryland real estate prices what they are, this farm and the associated land would probably fetch a couple million dollars. If the current owners ever decide that they'd rather have a nice, spacious house in Shaker Heights, we'd be more than happy to make an even trade.

Books! or: How I Spent My Lunch Break

2009-06-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

I only recently learned that on the days I work the later shift (12:30-8), I get a 45 minute lunch break. (On the days that I work 9:30-5:30, I get a half hour). Today, I took advantage of this and went over to the best used bookstore in the greater Cleveland area, the Two Dollar Rare Book Store.

This establishement, located at East 69th and Euclid, near the Dunham Tavern, seems unassuming at best. Inside, however, is located the most incredible selection of books, including some that people might even actually want to buy. There's a lot of junk, for sure, but there's also a lot of great stuff, usually in condition that other bookstores, even antiquarian ones, wouldn't be caught dead with. I recall once seeing first editions of all five volumes of Jowett's translation of Plato's works, at $2 a volume. They were lacking their covers, and I felt it was better to let some other idiot purchase them.

Today, I purchased five books or book-shaped objects, for a grand total of $3.

Two are books on Shaker Heights history, published by the Shaker Heights Landmark Commission: The Van Sweringen Influence: Shaker Heights (3rd edition, 1983, 56 pages) and Shaker Heights Fences: a guide to fence styles and regulations for residential architecture (1984, 15 pages). Both are interesting titles. I don't know how much use I have for Shaker Heights Fences but it's a welcome addition to my Shaker Heights bibliography. There are many more copies of both of these titles in the store.

I also purchased First Aid for the Ailing House by Roger B. Whitman (3rd edition, 1942). It includes a considerable wealth of information about the repair of houses like my own.

Finally, I obtained the April and October 2007 issues of Traditional Building magazine. I'd heard of this publication, for building professionals, but I hadn't been able to find it at a local library and I couldn't justify the cost of a subscription. It seems worthwhile for the advertisments alone - I don't know where else I'd find such a comprehensive list of suppliers of so many of these materials.

Multi-grafted fruit tree

2009-06-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

I just purchased a multi-grafted fruit tree from the eBay seller mgmg9495. I chose them over a couple of other eBay vendors because they were the only one actually able to name all the varieties of fruits on the tree. I looked at the websites of some nurseries as well, but they lacked the variety I was looking for - most of them offered two or three varieties of a single fruit, and many of them didn't offer shipping.

This tree has, according to the seller, the following varieties:
Peach: Harvester; Contender
Nectarine: Red Gold
Plum: Red Bruce; AU Producer Purple

It was advertised that the tree will grow to 12-15 feet tall. It was further stated that it was suitable for zones 4b-8b - I'd like to believe that we're in 6A, but we're probably borderline between 6a and 5b.

The tree arrived in excellent condition with good roots. I had planned to plant it on the site of the old elm tree, but have since decided not to do that just yet. For now, it is planted in a very large pot, awaiting the removal of the stump of the old tree. Once the stump has been ground out, we will plant the tree in that spot.

Conversation with one of the original residents

2009-06-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of talking with Nancy Tuleikis, whose parents had our house built and who lived in it from the age of 4-9. She lived in the house with her parents and two sisters. He father, John Garbison, was a general manager at the William Taylor Son & Co. department store.

The third floor was finished at the time the house was built, as was the bathroom up there, which I'd been a bit unsure of. She also told me that the house had originally been heated with an oil powered boiler, the tank for which sat under the driveway. At some point, there was a spill, which caused a fire that blackened some of the basement walls.

The construction of the house is primarily brick and masonry on steel, as I'd long suspected but hadn't fully investigated.

All of the downstairs was carpeted at the time the house was built, much to my surprise, with the exception of the kitchen and breakfast room.

The wall seen above used to go all the way to the ceiling, separating the breakfast nook from the rest of the kitchen. The stove was on the wall opposite where it is now. The wall had cabinets all the way to the ceiling. There was, however, a pass-through between the kitchen and the breakfast noon.

The above photograph is of the breakfast nook, which is directly to the right of the space in the image that precedes this one.

She recalls the tile being not yellow, as was present in the small area under the bar sink, but light green. Perhaps there was a combination of the two.

The icebox was in a separate, unheated room, in the space shown here. It had been converted to run on electricity.

There was an electric dishwasher, which spun the dishes around inside. Nancy said that while her father thought this was a wonderful gadget, her mother feared it would break the china, and as a result, it was rarely used.

The floor in the breakfast noon was hardwood. The floor in the kitchen was inlaid cork linoleum.

She described the built in vacuum system as being water-powered and noiseless, which was especially useful given that the entire first floor was carpeted.

John Garbison eventually moved to Fort Wayne, IN, for employment in a department store there. He travelled back and forth to Cleveland once a month.

I promised her that I'd send some photographs of the house as it is today, and she said she'd send some copies of those of the house, if she could find them in the attic. She said she was pretty sure that there were some of the house while it was under construction, which would be especially interesting, I think.

Now, with more paint!

2009-06-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

The following are some photos of the second floor hallway and part of the stairs, illustrating the lovely new paint. I'm so glad to finally have this project done. Mostly. There's still a bit of touch-up work to do - the little blue specks in the last photograph are bits of masking tape I left on the wall so I could see where I needed to touch up. The photographs were all taken by Audrey.

I haven't been able to figure out how to take apart the globe light fixture. The bulb hasn't burned out, but I know it will some day. I may finally have to contact the previous owner about that.

Someday, I'd like to get rid of the spikey plaster on the ceiling. It has never been painted, and comes off with relative ease. The little bit of green showing at the top is an area that I accidentially scrubbed off when I was scrubbing the walls of their wallpaper glue.

My taxes are higher than your taxes

2009-06-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

In Ohio, property (real estate) taxes are administered at the county level. The residents of the individual cities and towns vote on levies that specify the rates of taxation, but the valuation of the properties is done by the county. Further, the tax valuation of a property is based not upon the sale price, but upon the values of comparables in the neighborhood. Thus, if a house sells for considerably below neighborhood comparables, the property owner's taxes will not be reduced accordingly. The property owner can appeal the valuation and likely get a reduction, though probably not to the full amount of the difference.

Shaker Heights was developed with relatively few commercial properties. As a result, the burden of taxation falls on the homeowners. This works well enough for me - we, as the residents, are not beholden to large commercial interests and their threats to leave the municipality for another with lower taxes, the way some cities are. The residents of Shaker Heights have, over time, voted for taxes that support our schools, which are among the best in the area, and the rest of the city government. The schools get 70% of the tax revenue, the city, 10%, the county, 16%, and the library, 4%.

Our annual tax, as a percent of market value comes to a whopping 3.12%. This is the highest rate in the state of Ohio*, and probably one of the highest in the country. While these numbers may seem insane to residents of the east or west coasts, one must keep in mind that the property values are much lower here, and that the high property taxes are simply a part of the cost of buying a house here. The total cost of home ownership is still quite reasonable, I think.

In February or March, I submitted an appeal of my property valuation to the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision, the body responsible for such things. The Board accepts appeals during a three month window each year. This year, with the state of the economy, home values are down, so many more people are appealing their valuation than in the past.

I'm only asking that my valuation be adjusted to reflect the price that I paid for the house. The house was on the market for an extended period of time, and changed hands in an arm's length transaction. Further, I've included several comparable sales that the appraiser for the mortgage came up with. (How he managed to think that those houses are comparables, I do not know, but that's beside the point.) The property is currently valued at an amount that is 50% more than we paid for it. To get even half of the difference back would be significant for our budget.

The backlog at the Board of Revisions seems to stretch on forever. Of the properties in Shaker Heights that filed an appeal through the end of March, a mere 3.3% have had hearings or had them scheduled. For comparison, 41.3% of the same group have had or had hearings scheduled for appeals regarding the 2007 tax year, and 60% for the 2006 tax year. At this rate, it's going to be ages before our hearing.

* There is a small part of the city of Cleveland that falls in the Shaker Heights School District. The residents of this area pay even higher taxes, 3.20% of market value, because they pay taxes for the city of Cleveland, and also for the Shaker schools.

Finally, a buyer!

2009-06-02T06:48:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased to report that a certain house that I was rather smitten with is finally under contract. This is the house that I've referred to previously as "the house with the great tile".

It's an unassuming little French Colonial, brick, with ugly awnings and bushes that take up half the yard. However, subtract these elements and it's really a great house. The wood casment windows are in great shape and still have their original storms and screens. The interior is beautifully detailed, with bright, bold tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. I love it.

Once they get rid of the ugly wallpaper, the worn out carpet, and add a few light fixtures, it's going to be a truly stunning house.

Would it be too strange for me to go over and introduce myself to the new owners of the house, once they are settled in? I have to be sure that they don't get any ideas about, say, ripping out all that tile.

In unrelated news, it secretly pleases me that another house, the one our agent swore would sell really quickly at the price they were asking, is still on the market.

Painting!

2009-06-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

Before:

After:

The front hallway is finally painted. I began this project in, um, November. These two photos showing the completed painting courtesy of the always lovely Audrey.

Stripping the wallpaper glue was a pain in the neck. We managed to complete the removal of the glue in the second floor hallway and about halfway down the stairs before I got completely discouraged. I recalled a suggestion that we could put a coat of Killz over the glue, a skimcoat, and another coat of Killz. What I failed to remember was that this would only work if the glue has relatively little texture.

Skimcoating took forever, as did sanding it. The entry hallway, however, is finally done. Last night, I painted the second floor hallway with the roller. I also did some brushwork - enough to finish up the paint I had in the tray. Tonight, I'll finish the second floor hallway and hopefully clean up this mess, too. Ugh.

In unrelated news, the trap on the paint sink started leaking last night. From the looks of the corrosion on it, this has been an issue for quite some time. Ugh. We'll put a bucket under it for now and add it to the list.

Looking for good multi-grafted fruit trees

2009-05-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

With the removal of the two dead trees in our yard, we have space for two new ones. One will be a weeping cherry. The other will be a fruit tree.

Since we only have space for one tree, a multi-grafted fruit tree sounds particularly appealing. I'm looking for a good source for such a tree. I've found a couple vendors on eBay that offer a couple of trees, but nothing terribly impressive. If you know of a vendor that will ship such a tree, I'd like to hear about it.

2009-05-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

I came to the realization last night that I've been pretty darn lazy with regard to the house. I can't believe I've been moving so slowly.

Hmm. Back to work! Hopefully, I'll be able to finish painting the hallway tonight.

Mapping Shaker Heights

2009-05-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

I've always been interested in maps. The recent digitization of a collection of historic Shaker Heights maps started me thinking again about what I could do with Google Maps that might be interesting or useful.

I used data from the City of Shaker Heights Landmark Commission's Summary and Map and Designation Report for the Winslow Road Historic District to make a more readily accessible map illustrating the district.

View Winslow Road Historic District in a larger map

There are two National Register of Historic Places Historic Districts in the immediate proximity - Shaker Square, in Cleveland, and Shaker Village, which encompasses most of the city of Shaker Heights. I used the maps of Shaker Square and Shaker Village to create the following two maps, which may hopefully better illustrate the exact boundaries of the districts. My maps are based on the boundaries shown on the official maps, with the exact details based upon my best guesses and knowledge of the area. I'd love to have more detailed original material. It'd be especially interesting to be able to illustrate which structures are contributing resources and which are not. Thanks to Kelly Beck at the Shaker Heights Plannin Department for locating the source maps.

View Shaker Square Historic District in a larger map

View Shaker Village National Register Historic District in a larger map

Finally, right now I'm working on a map of Shaker Heights City Landmarks. This map includes all local landmarks, as of the end of 2008. I've begun to include photographs of some structures already. I hope to include photographs of them as well in the not too distant future. I may create specific icons for the various types of structures illustrated. I'm not terribly happy with the house icon right now - there's something less than pleasing about using a blob to represent a distinct spot.

View Shaker Heights Landmark Properties in a larger map

Moving forward on the pond

2009-05-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Chris and Melissa visited and got the basic house tour. They plan to buy a house in Shaker Heights this year, and I look forward to seeing their house and all involved adventures.

Chris hauled away a fair amount of the dirt from the pond, such that it is now empty! I'm now working on scrubbing away all the dirt so that I can see just how much work there is to do on it. I know that there are at least a couple cracks as well as some major painting work to do. This work will all have to wait for a while until I can finish the point-of-sale violations, but it'll be intersting to know what we are up against.

The entire area between the two trellises, shown in this fall photograph, has now been excavated. Further, the light above the pond is now working, thanks to the magic of locating the appropriate light switch and replacing the bulb.

Further, it seems that I somehow didn't kill the row of poppies when I acciedentially mowed them down. The first one has bloomed and looks truly lovely.

Death of one of the previous owners

2009-05-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've been working to document all of the previous owners of our house. Note that this is very much a work in progress. I was spending some time on the topic this afternoon when I learned of the death of one of the previous owners of our house, Richard C. Friedman, who lived here with his wife, Charlotte W. Friedman, and their children, Donna and James, from 1948 through 1958. The obituary was published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on 11 May. I didn't know Mr. Friedman or the family, mind you - this is just another bit of history that has now passed.

Garden and Yard

2009-05-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

I'm making decent progress on the pond. The question remains, as usual, what to do with all the dirt. I've boxed up some of it, but now I'm out of reasonably sized boxes. Amost done, though.

The photographs are all by Audrey.

I can't believe how many beautiful flowers we have in the yard. Wow.

One of my favorite blogs

2009-05-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogs is that of Classic Jaguar, an Austin, Texas based shop that specializes in the restoration and mechanical repair of historic Jaguar automobiles. It provides a detailed photographic look into the craftsmanship that goes into restoring these fine vehicles.

In some ways, it is very much like a house blog, where each car reflects the tastes and sensibilities of the individual owner. Some retain every possible piece of original sheet metal, taking extreme measures to repair the bodywork and interior details, while others utilize more replacement parts. Still others are custom projects, involving many modern upgrades.

Regardless, it's interesting to watch the work and craft that goes into these projects.

Just a few random thoughts, no pictures

2009-05-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

I hope I haven't killed the rhododendron. Like the magnolia in the front yard, it has suffered years of bad pruning. It's also been unfortunate enough to be covered with ice time and time again. I trimmed perhaps half of the growth off of it. The plan wasn't to go quite so far, but that's what it took, and it looks so much better for it.

The magnolia is another matter. For the most part, it is healthy, but again, we have the issue of bad pruning. It is considerably bigger, so it's harder to work with. I've tried to address the branches that are rubbing against each other, but at the same time, not leaving too many open spots. I trimmed off one mostly healthy branch that had some significant rot, only to find that the rot went back into the trunk.

Hopefully, when I get home, I'll find that there has been some progress made on the removal of the truly dead trees. If they're in decent shape, they'll be good for firewood.

I've started looking at the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. While his style is a bit closer to art nouveau than I can afford, I really think that I can gain some insights from his furniture, which was often painted. The built-ins in the guest bedroom and the baby room are both painted white. I've noticed that there's some nice arts and crafts furniture at auction that has been painted, too - and it sells for much much less than it's unpainted brethren.

As much as I'd like to strip the paint off of the woodwork in all these rooms, there's only so much of my life that I can spend stripping paint. There are the places where it simply must happen - certain doors and trim - but there are many areas where it would merely be nice.

Mackintosh did so much great work with wood that was painted white. Yes, he worked into that, with various painted floral and other designs, but I can learn that. My hand is steady enough with a brush. And there's a lot to be said for work that can be done inside, without the worry of disposal of the waste paint.

Preparing for the work to start

2009-05-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

Our plumber/general contractor, Paul, came over this morning and we went over the work plan. We discussed our concerns about the removal of the trees, the work on the roof, and the garage floor.

I thought it might be nice, at some point in the future (when we have money again) to run an electric line and water line out to the turtle patch, so that we could have a little circulator pump and perhaps a slightly larger watering hole for the turtles. Another concern that I'd like to deal with at some point in the future is the electrical service entrance. It's currently on the garage, about seven and a half feet above the ground. With the presence of the basketball backboard in the immediate vicinity, that's just too close for comfort.

I brought up these concerns, and, after first suggesting that it wouldn't be that much more to rough the plumbing out to the turtle patch (I reminded him of our budget) then suggested that it would be better for the plumbing to go through the garage wall near the floor, rather than go through the floor itself. He suggested a similar approach for the electrical - a trench through the yard so that the service would be below ground, and then coming into the garage through the wall. With some sort of planting in front of that spot, it wouldn't be noticable at all. Fine.

I had raised these concerns, I should clarify, because I thought that the likely way to run them would be through the garage floor, and that we should at least address the rough in while we have the garage floor out.

Paul took a sample of the slate from the roof with him to be sure that the color is right. He's going to get the permit for the garage floor at city hall today, and will be dropping off some of the materials tomorrow. The lift will be delivered Monday, I think.

Monday, unless it's raining hard, Paul will begin work on the trees. This, unfortunately, will involve driving the lift through all the beds that I just Rototilled. Oops. Failure of planning on my part. If the wood looks good, we'll cut it up for firewood. If not, it'll be hauled away.

He'll be here with his crew full time for the next two weeks, tearing out and replacing the garage floor, cutting down the trees, and fixing all the issues with the roof and gutters. It'll be nice to finally move forward on all these projects.

While they've got the truck here to haul away junk, we'll be able to throw in some of the stuff that we've been wanting to get rid of but haven't been able to. This will include all the junk concrete that I've pulled out of the yard. It'll also include, once I finish digging it out, all the dirt that was used to fill in the pond. Perhaps some other junk will go in the dumpster, like the mirror from the dresser that I'm using to hold my tools in the basement and the ugly mirror that will never rejoin the mirror in our bedroom. This only matters because I can't put this stuff out in the trash in Shaker Heights.

Historic Maps of Shaker Heights

2009-05-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

I just learned that a collection of thirty historic maps of Shaker Heights has been made available through the Cleveland Memory Project at Cleveland State University. The maps were digitized by Walter Lesch, as part of his practicum for his graduate degree in Library and Information Science at Kent State University.

These maps provide many insights into the history of Shaker Heights in the early 20th century. A few were previously available elsewhere, but involved the use of inconvenient plugins. I congratulate Mr. Lesch on his effort.

Plumbing goodies!

2009-05-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

When I talked to my plumber/general contractor today, he said that he had some plumbing stuff from another job in Shaker Heights that he thought I might be interested in. They had given him permission to do with the old parts as he saw fit. He said that there were at least some good parts there, and that whatever I didn't want, I should just discard. This is what was waiting for me when I got home:

It's almost everything one might need to plumb a 1920s or perhaps 1930s bathroom sink. The parts all appear to be Standard brand.

There are two shut-off valves, both stamped "Standard", with matching porcelain escutcheons. The valves still seem to operate properly.

There's a nice faucet.

Further, there are three faucet valves, of which two should be workable, five handles, two porcelain escutcheons for the handles (one of which is marked "Standard" on the outside, and this:

I'm not sure what it is. I'll have to ask the plumber the next time I see him.

This would make for a really nice setup in the bathroom up on the third floor, to match the Standard sink and tub already present, and the Standard toilet waiting to be rebuilt. The finish shows some pitting, which seems to be exclusively in the plating, so they could all be replated if I really wanted to. My dilemma is this: they look enough that I'd install them if I had the skills to do so, but not so good that I'm willing to pay someone else for all the labor involved to install them. I guess this means that they go into the plumbing parts drawer, either for eventual use in the third floor bathroom or for eventual regifting.

I had told him that I'd be interested in old parts like this - it'll be interesting to see what else he comes up with. I know that it will eventually bring him more work, in rebuilding and installing them.

The plumber/general contractor also says that he'll be able to deal with the dead trees with the lift that he'll be using for the roof, and that it will cost less than what the landscaping guy would have charged.

Finally, I tilled the garden plot. The tiller was quite a beast. I rented the small tiller - I can't imagine how impossible it might be to wrestle the large tiller around. The garden area is mostly well tilled, with the exception of the area between the turtle patch and the tree, which caused much trouble. The sheer quantity of large tree roots was problematic to say the least. It's not tilled as deep as the rest of the garden, but it will have to do for now, until I can cut every single tree root out.

The Garden

2009-05-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we made good progress on the garden and yard. The turtle patch is now complete.

All photographs by A., except for the last three.

The frame is 1x3s, eight by 12 feet. There are four doors providing access to the four quadrants. I had considered making but one door for each half, but it seemed that the they would flex too much. It is screened in with poultry netting (chicken wire), buried to a depth of at least eight inches, to keep the turtles from digging out.

As it is right now, we will be cleaning out the water on a daily basis. When the garage floor is replaced, in the next month or so, I'm going to talk with our general contractor about the possibility of running electrical and water out to the patch, so that we could have a slightly bigger water feature and a circulator pump.

I'm working to excavate the pond in the garage side garden. It is 16 inches deep and has a flat, concrete bottom. At some point in the past it was filled in. My big problem right now is figuring out what to do with the dirt I dig out of it. All of the flowers are courtesy of the previous owner.

These ferns were but some of the many plants here when we moved in.

The berry bushes are all planted and staked.

The PO also left us with some really spectacular dandelions. In this photo, I'm holding two. Yes. Just two.

I hope to be able to rent a rototiller this afternoon, so that we can get to work on the garden patch. I started digging it up with a shovel, but found the soil and work to just be too backbreaking. At least the soil in the planned garden area is not as bad as the rest of the yard, which consists of clay with an inch of topsoil on top. The whole area of this photograph, from the (now defunct) grill to the right, with the exception of the bushy area, which is now the turtle patch, will be our vegetable garden. This photograph is from the fall.

I continue to be surprised by the number of flowers coming up in our yard, in places unexpected. I mowed down what I realized in retrospect were a row of poppies, along the back fence - I had no idea that the plants looked so much like thisles. There are four rose bushes, of which at least three are alive. We have a lovely grape hyacinth that is currently providing many blooms just outside our bedroom window - our second floor bedroom window. Further, I can't believe how many hostas and ferns we have.

I've come to the belief that the problem with our rhododendron is probably the same as the problem with our magnolia in the front yard. While ice may be something of a factor on the rhododendron, the problem appears to just as much be years and years of bad pruning. This is more obvious on the magnolia, where strong growth was cut to leave weaker branches to grow, often crossing over and rubbing against other growth. The cuts never healed, and so have begun to rot. Some are far enough away from the main branch that I've been able to cut again, closer, with decent success. Others I'm just painting over the exposed area and hoping for the best.

I still need to have the two (or three, depending on how you count) dead trees removed from the yard. Once they are removed, a weeping cherry will go in place of the one on the side property line, and on the back property line, some other sort of fruit, perhaps an apple tree. The dead trees can be seen in this photograph. I had hoped to convince the power company to remove the dead tree along the back property line, as they had wanted to completely remove it a couple of years ago, and it was their pruning at that time that had caused its death.

I've come to realize that the large dead area under the magnolia is due to unraked magnolia petals. I'm starting to think about what I can plant there that will either tolerate them or will allow me to rake them up without being damaged too much by the raking.

I'm starting to think about the possibilities of a compost pile in the bushy corner of the back yard, for next year. I feel guilty having the city take away all this good organic material when, with a bit of work, it could be helping my garden.

Dealing with mortar ceilings? Help!

2009-05-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

The ceilings in both our basement and garage are similar. They appear to have been finished with some sort of textured mortar. The basement ceiling has been painted, while the garage has not. The basement ceiling is built on metal lath. I'm not sure whether or not there's anything else between the lath and the joists.

While the texture in the basement ceiling remains reasonably even, the ceiling in the garage is showing cracks in a staggered pattern, not completely unlike the walls in the living room. I can't imagine that the garage ceiling wold have been built on fiberboard like the living room was, as the garage is detached and humidity would has been a significant problem. However, the space did have radiators in it originally (and still does, but they're not connected) so I don't think we can completely discard this theory. Perhaps the pattern on the garage ceiling is the edges of the sheets of metal lath?

I bring all of this up because I'm starting to think about projects that involve me dealing with the ceilings. I hope to finish the basement someday, which, in the most fancy version of things will involve tearing out the ceiling so that I can install recessed lighting. As for the garage, I'm considering the possibilities of hanging some of the kids toys I know will come to fill the space.

Have you dealt with such a ceiling? Any thoughts you might want to share?

Researching our Trenton Potteries Si-Wel-Clo toilet

2009-05-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

I've been using Google Books to do some research and try to figure out exactly when the toilet, a Si-Wel-Clo by Trenton Potteries, in my non-master bath was made. I haven't been able to find anything exactly like it in the literature I've seen for their products in 1925 or 1926, when our house was built. Google Books now allows you to cut and paste from books that are in the public domain (and probably some others, too).

The closest match I've been able to find is the one below, in The Architectural Review, from 1919. The tank, however, looks closer in shape to the one shown in the American Review of Reviews from 1915. While the shape of the tank is right on, the water supply for our tank is at the top, not the bottom.

Trenton Potteries published a hardbound catalog of their complete collection, under the title of The Blue Book of Plumbing. The 1921 edition, Catalogue R, came in at about 350 pages, the 1927 edition, Catalogue T, a mere 200 or so. As for Catalogue S, WorldCat lists no copies, so I cannot be sure, but I expect it would be somewhere between the two. These books, like many trade catalogues of the vintage, are extremely rare. WorldCat lists but five copies of Catalogue R and four of Catalogue T worldwide. There are no copies of catalogues O through Q, nor are there any listed before the letter N. As for their locations, there are two libraries that have all three of the catalogued catalogs - Rutgers University and the US Patent and Trademark Office. It'd be great to sit down with copies of these catalogs so that I could compare and contrast them.

[Note: this post brings to my attention that I really need to adjust the template I'm using to more readily show wider images.]

Architectural record By American Institute of Architects - 1912

The World's work a history of our time By Walter Hines Page, Arthur Wilson Page - 1914

The American Magazine - 1915

The American Review of Reviews By Shaw, Albert, 1857-1947 - 1915

McClure's Magazine ... - 1915

The Architectural Review - 1919

The National geographic magazine By Henry Gannett, National Geographic Society (U.S.), Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, Melville Bell Grosvenor, John Hyde, John Oliver LaGorce - 1922

Wasted space

2009-04-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

During a recent hot spell, A. brought up something that I've been in denial about for a while - namely, that my workshop may not be the best utilization of the basement space.

The basement has seven and a half foot high ceilings, which have been finished with mortar. As a result, the space remains cool in warm weather and warm in the winter. Further, recent plumbing work revealed that the walls behind the paneling are in reasonably good condition. With a bit of work, the space would be a perfect family room - especially once the ugly paneling is gone.

While the basement bathroom does not have a sink, it would be trivial to move the wall out but a little bit and add a corner sink. I see the sink as going on the wall just to the left of the drain line. Tying it into a vent line might be more work, but this seems like a perfect place to use an AAV. I envision a vintage corner sink fitting the job quite well. I'm not yet sure as to the appropriate material for the walls, though if we could afford it, I'd like to see them covered halfway up with recycled bathroom marble slabs from Buffalo ReUse. The existing doorway - the location of this photo - would be made into a wall and moved back a bit. A new doorway would be framed into the wall on the right in this photograph. The changes to the wall to the right would also involve moving it out a bit, so that the wall would enclose the vent line, if code permits.

My vision du jour for the space is as follows. We'd rip out the carpet, the ugly linoleum underneath, and the paneling on the walls. We'd expand the bathroom slightly as mentioned above. The floor would be either some sort of floating laminate, or, if we could figure out how to make it work without having major moisture issues, a light colored hardwood - perhaps white oak or maple. I also still like the idea of doing something crazy, but that somehow fits in with the house, with Armstrong commercial vinyl flooring.

The two walls framing the doorway seen in first photo are not loadbearing - they could easily be removed to open up the space. I see the television, couch, and chairs going in that area - perhaps with built-in corner bookcases to hold the movies. Toward the center of the room would go the pool table. Perhaps we'd even put a mini-bar in, over in a corner.

Along this line of thought, the style of the space would be Tudor Revival-ish. I see faux beams covering the pipes, with a few extra beams thrown in for visual balance. The walls, I think, would be white, mostly. I'm tempted by the idea of wainscotting, but I worry that it would make the basement too dark.

I'd like to take out the wall separating the stairs from the room and install a salvaged railing - perhaps something like this one.

With all this done, the living room on the first floor could become a more formal space, perhaps even with room for the piano I fantasize about, though neither A. or I know how to play one.

The problem is how I will fit all the junk from my workshop into the garage. A well designed table saw stand could easily house all of my tools, combined with a basic toolbox that would remain in the house. Even all the lumber could fit, I think. The problem, however, how all of this fits once our children have bicycles and other things they want to keep indoors. A. has made it clear that she will continue to park her car in the garage, so gaining space that way isn't an option. Perhaps by hanging out-of-use things from the ceiling when not in use.

Seeking feet for Ikea Mammut bed

2009-04-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

Before we moved to Cleveland, we purchased an Ikea Mammut bed, to go in the nursery. It's cute, bright blue - very Ikea. It remained in the box, in storage, until finally we bought the house. Only then did we learn that only two of the four feet required were present. I called up Ikea, I whined, I begged, and the net result is that they don't sell parts, and don't allow returns for products purchased more than 90 days ago.

Do you have two feet for such a bed? The blue color would be preferable, but I think that I could paint the pink ones to match. I'll pay a reasonable sum for them.

Otherwise, my son will just have to have a wobbly bed. When he complains, I'll tell him that that is why we don't shop at Ikea anymore.

Buffalo ReUse

2009-04-28T11:06:00.001-07:00

One day, a while, back, I stumbled upon Buffalo ReUse's account on Flickr. Buffal ReUse is a non-profit in Buffalo, New York that specializes in green demolition and salvage. They appear to have a very extensive inventory at very reasonable prices. This piqued my interest because there simply isn't anything like that in Cleveland. Given their prices and selection, it almost seems worth the drive.

The following are but some of the items that have caught my attention.

Vintage garage doors!

Old marble - perhaps for the basement bathroom.

And this lovely little sink, with brass faucets, but 14.5" square, and for a mere $125

A massive selection of spindles, at $3-8 each.

Interesting tile at $1 each.

Where else would you find window frames like this?

Salvaged dimensional lumber

Even hand-hewn beams!

So many bathroom ceramic bits.

Two pedestal sinks with great faucets.

Lots of misc. hardware.

Many decent sinks. See the purple one in the corner?

Wouldn't this sink be perfect for the paint room?

Prices? You wanted prices? Doors: $10-200, most $40. Tin ceiling: $2/sqf. Ceramic tile - about $1/sqf. Lumber: 2x4s .20/lf, 2x6 .30/lf.

Many salvaged windows.

Antique icebox. Alas, it is sold.

A perfect combination of sink and hardware.

Bannister

Apron, or pedestal bath tubs. When I called to enquire about them, I was told that decent ones could be had for about $200.

The John W. Heisman birthplace

2009-04-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

Historical markers are one of my other interests, so much so that I'm an editor with the Historical Marker Database. Of course, that may be due less to my level of interest and more to get me to shut up...

I'd long heard the occasional rumor that the historical marker for the John W. Heisman birth site was in front of the wrong house, an error which occurred due to a change in the street addresses in Cleveland some time in the early 20th century. Heisman is the namesake of the Heisman Trophy. The house in question is in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland, on the near west side.

The marker is in front of this 1910s Cleveland duplex on Bridge Avenue, at W. 29th Place, where it has been for the past 30 years. I thought it would be worth doing the legwork to determine whether this was, in fact, the site of Heisman's birth.

The Cuyahoga County Recorder maintains a database of all real estate transfer documents dating back to the early 19th century. I was able to locate the deed transfering the property to the Heismans, which included a specific lot number. Utilizing historical maps, I was able to determine exactly which house the Heismans purchased. I came to the conclusion that the Heisman birthplace is, in fact four tenths of a mile to the west, at 3928 Bridge Avenue. I've documented the history thoroughly on the page illustrating the marker at the Historical Marker Database.

This is the house at 3928 Bridge Avenue. Historically, this house is more interesting, as the main part of it was built in the 1850s. This means that it is the actual house John Heisman was born in, rather than merely the house on the site of his birthplace.

This angle illustrates the main portion of the house in a slightly clearer manner

Current projects

2009-04-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of digging out the space next to the garage that used to be a pond. This was a project I planned to address in the distant future, but our plumber quoted us such a reasonable price to get the fountain and hose fixed that I went for it. I'm still not sure how the pond drains or circulates, but I'll tackle that when I come to it. It's 16 inches deep. The soil will be making its way into various raised beds and other parts of the yard.

I'm waiting to get a quote on having a couple of the trees in our yard removed. They're dead. I'd assumed they'd been dead for quite a while, but it seems that the two on our back property line have only been dead a year or so. The utility company wanted to remove the entire tree, but the previous owner said no. As a result of the work they did on the tree, it died. I hope that I can convince them to remove it, as it might fall on their lines. If not, I'll get an estimate or two.

It's Spring!

2009-04-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

So it's spring. Summer, really. Too hot to think. I've been taking out the storm windows and installing the screens. I've found that there's a lot more noise from the street than I'd previously realized.

I met one of the two neighbors who shares our back property line today. It seems that she's been living in her house about as long as the previous owner of our house. (It seems like everyone in this neighborhood has been living here forever. Really.) Further, I learned that she's been reading my blog. Guess this means that I'll have to keep it updated so I don't look like such a slacker.

I've found that many of the windows lack screens. The screens that were covering the window wells, which I had assumed were old, were not. Doh! I've purchased a hundred foot roll of window screen, and I'll be getting to the windows slowly, as I'm able.

Our garden is doing very well. I can't believe how many flowers and things are sprouting up. We've got about a gajillion ferns.

So far, we've planted herbs, grape vines, and a couple of other fruit vines.

I've also been working on an enclosure for our turtle habitat. The framework is done and installed - I just have to put on the top. It's about as big as the area enclosed by the boards and the stepping stones here. I should complete it tomorrow.

And a photo update, thanks to the lovely wife

2009-04-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

New radiator shut-off valves

One of the new bleed valves

The new plumbing for the faucet outside our garage and the fountain. Yes. Fountain. I can't believe it either.

Finally, an update!

2009-04-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

There's been a fair amount of work being done on our house recently, unfortunately, most of it is the sort of stuff that doesn't lend itself terribly well to photography.

We had the previously-discussed plumber provide us with an estimate regarding items on the city point-of-sale inspection as well as a considerable amount of work with regard to our radiators. Many of the radiators, you see, have valves that either don't open, don't close, or are leaking. Further, many of the bleeder valves won't bleed. A couple of the radiators, in the attic, didn't have shut-off valves at all.

His estimate seemed very reasonable, so we decided to go ahead with the work. When I did a final walkthrough with the plumber before he ordered the parts and began the work, we found a few more valves that needed to be fixed, as well as several bleeders that didn't bleed. He said that he could get all of this done, at the price he had estimated originally.

There was some additional work required - the baseboard radiators in the library had to be replaced, as they didn't have a hot-water return line, and had become clogged. This was done at reasonable material cost.

The entire time, the plumber kept us well informed of his progress, consulting us at each step along the way where decisions of aesthetics might be involved. He is quite comfortable dealing with the issues involved with older plumbing systems.

As this work was nearing completion, we had talked about the repairs that I hope to have done on the roof. I thought that the plumber might know someone who could do the repairs on the roof at more reasonable rates, given that his rates were lower than what I might have expected. He talked to a roofer with considerable experience with slate and came up with an estimate considerably lower than the other estimate I received. The plumber would act as the general contractor and would be doing some of the basic work on the job. His estimate was such that it seems we'll be able to get almost everything done this year!

I came up with a diagram of all of the areas of damage that I saw on the roof and discussed this with the plumber. On Sunday, we went over everything again, including my specifications, and I wrote him a check for the cost of materials. He's begun assembling materials and tools in the garage and will begin work on the roof on Wednesday, if weather permits.

I'll be sure to keep posting as the work progresses.

Finding the right words

2009-04-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

As you may know, I'm a librarian. Theoretically, I'm good at wading through the mass of junk to find the desired information. In practice, this is usually true, but there's one word that has been giving me real trouble - antique.

Somewhere along the way, someone decided that "antique" was the perfect word to describe the finish the finish on a bit of plumbing hardware. As a result, when trying to search for, say, antique plumbing fixtures on eBay, in the category Home & Garden > Tools & Home Improvement > Plumbing & Fixtures (because this seems to be where all the good stuff is), you get too many new fixtures with an "antique" finish. Within this category, decent results can be obtained by searching for "(vintage,antique) -new" and limiting to auctions.

However, there are many other areas of eBay where things are not limited so easily. Further, larger plumbing fixtures like tubs and sinks might be better procured locally, via Craigslist, which cannot be limited so easily. The word "vintage" seems to be one generally agreed upon replacement, but it's not so widely used as to be reliable.

What will we do when people start referring to something as having a "vintage" finish?

Another bargain in the Shaker Heights School District

2009-03-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

I was browsing local real estate when I came across this bargain at 13605 Shaker Blvd. While the address is in the City of Cleveland, it is, contrary to what the listing states, in the Shaker Heights School District. This map clearly illustrates the boundaries of the district - Shaker Square is shown at the left edge of the picture.

Yes, this is probably a foreclosure. But it's also 1576 square feet, 3 beds, 2 baths, and a fireplace, with Shaker Schools, for $4900. One can only screw up a condo so much, right? I have no idea as to the condo fees, but I can't imagine that they could be that much of a deterrent.

Even if the condo needs a full gut, the electrical and plumbing are probably still good. The rest of that stuff is cheap. Since it is in the city of Cleveland, one doesn't have to deal with the pesky point of sale inspections required in Shaker Heights.

My wife is the best!

2009-03-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

We're thrilled to bits with our new stove, a Grand model 850 from sometime between 1945 and 1952. You've read enough about this, surely. In my search for more information about Grand stoves and the Cleveland Co-Operative Stove Co., I came across the stove below on Craigslist, locally, for $100.

This stove is similar in many respects to ours: the burner assemblies and grates are the same, as are the knobs; perhaps even the clock is the same, though I cannot be sure of this. Of greater interest are the doors, which appear to be identical, with the exception of the oven door, which has a window. A window for our oven would be nice. I'd have to get around to finding a replacement lightbulb for the oven for it to be useful, but that is a small issue.

Back to the title of this entry. Now, if I were a single man, or had a less strong-willed wife, I would have waited a while longer and attempted to purchase this stove for parts. I would have swapped out the oven door with the existing one on our stove. As it is, A. is a wonderful wife and gave me the Look of Doom™ when I suggested that we purchase it.

If not for her, I would quickly fill this house (or any other house, regardless of size) with mostly useless junk. I appreciate her ongoing struggle in this matter.

Flooring help, please?

2009-03-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

I have a flooring issue that I need to address and welcome any suggestions, thoughts, comments, etc. that you may have.

My workshop is in the basement. As a result, I generate a lot of sawdust and other debris. Presently, the basement is carpeted. Imagine the problems that this causes. It's a lot of work to vacuum all that debris out of the carpet.

My plan had been to simply remove the carpet. It was glued down over existing 12x12 vinyl flooring by the previous owner. The glue texture looks and feels awful - leaving it as-is is simply not an option. I tried scraping it off and while that helped with the texture, the dark yellow of the glue is too ugly for A. to tolerate. Given all that she puts up with, this is really saying something.

I'm looking for some way, any way, to cover the existing vinyl tile on the floor and provide a surface that will be durable and easy to sweep. Durability is important, as tools and lumber will accidentially fall off of work surfaces onto the floor.

One candidate I'm considering is Armstrong Excelong vinyl tile. It's available in a wide variety of colors, looks great, is durable, and is reasonably priced, at 69 cents a square foot. Installation is more complicated than many other floors, however. Further, since so many great colors are available, I'm highly inclined to make some really itneresting patterns, which will involve cutting the tile and the expenditure of far more time.

Another idea was to put an epoxy garage floor over the existing tile. However, this fails because the expoxy requires an extremely clean surface to bond - and I can't get the existing vinyl that clean.

A third idea was floating laminate floor. While this sounds nice, and would work well when the room eventually (twenty years hence) becomes the billiards room, I doubt it would be durable enough for the purposes of my workshop. Further, I imagine that sawdust would collect in the ridges.

Overall, we're talking about 650 square feet of flooring. I cannot remove everything in the space - there are some things, like workbench, which have been built into the space. Ideally, the solution would cost $1 or less a square foot. I welcome any solutions and ideas, no matter how bizarre.

eBay alert!

2009-03-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

I like to browse the section of eBay devoted to antique garden and architectural bits, primarily to see if I can get a good deal on anything nearby that would be too expensive to ship. Today I came across one such listing: 300 linear feet of wrought iron and oak stair railing. It's in northeast Ohio, and starts at a mere $99 with no reserve.

If there was any way that I could justify purchasing this, trust me, I would. I hate to put this suggestion out there, but one could sell the wrought iron for scrap, retaining the beautiful oak, and break even. I could see it working quite well as a fence, too. Heck, the seller is even willing to help load and package.

In related news, another local party is selling 20 stacking grey Herman Miller fiberglass shell chairs for a mere $25 each. These chairs retail on eBay, these days, for around $100-125.

Dorkyness of flashing painted copper green?

2009-03-23T08:55:00.001-07:00

Among the plethora of projects around the house, one is painting some of the galvanized flashing here and there where the paint is peeling off. There are two possible choices for the paint color here: we can either go with the brown of the rest of the trim on the house, which we still have to decide upon, given that there are no fewer than four shades of brown used on the exterior trim on the house, and I'd really like to just have one; or we can paint the trim a patined copper green.

Painting the flashing brown has a certain amount of merit. It will require less work, becuase for uniform results, we won't have to repaint everything. It'll be a little more subtle, too - it won't scream "look, there's copper on this house, come and steal it!". But it'll be boring, and what's the point of having commer gutters if you're going to be boring about them?

In the past, I've tended to think of the idea of painting flashing green to look like patinaed copper was somewhat dorky. Now, I'm not so sure. I've come to realize that there's more copper on this house than I had thought - the gutters and downspouts are all copper, though some have been painted. Would a bit more green look good or would it just be silly?

Anyway, I'd love to hear some thoughts on the subject.

Library ceiling progress

2009-03-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

We're making progress. Really. Especially now that I understand what I'm supposed to be doing here. My stepfather came over to help today and we worked on the project together for a while. Three of the furring strips are now completely level - 8 to go.

Update: The Cleveland Co-Operative Stove Company

2009-03-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

I've written some about our new stove and the maker of the stove, the Cleveland Co-Operative Stove Company.

Cleveland; the Making of a City by William Ganson Rose provides an excellent early history of the company, on page 337.

W. S. Chamberlain, laywer, offered a tract of swam pland (Central Avenue and East 67th) near the Cleveland & Pittsburgh railroad to a group of Buffalo iron molders as an industrial site, if they would give him an interest in a proposed foundry. The Cleveland Co-operative Hollow Ware, Stove & Foundry Company was inforporated the followin year with Chamberalin as president. For forty years, the company concentrated on makin the massive, ornate, coal-burning stoves of the period. In 1909, it brought out a complete line of gas ranges. The entire plant was leveled by a storm this year. "Grand" ranges, stoves, air-conditioning equipment, and gray-iron castings produced by The Cleveland Co-Operative Stove Company, found profitable markets. James Mitchell became president in 1934.

I haven't been able to dig up much else about the company, so I contacted the appropriate subject departments at Cleveland Public Library.

The Business, Economics, and Labor Department was able to provide the following information, from their Cleveland Corporation Files:

1945: Grand Home Appliances became a division of Cleveland Cooperative Stove Company.

1948: Grand Industries Inc. became successor to Cleveland Cooperative Stove Company and Grand Home Appliances Company became a division of Grand Industries.

1952: Grand Industries Inc. went out of business. Its Grand Home Appliances Division, along with other divisions were sold out to different interests or abandoned.

Cleveland Chamber of Commerce indicate that purchaser of some fo the stove assets when Grand Industries sold out was Sunray Stove Company, Delaware, Ohio.

1982: Sunray Stove Company out of Delaware, Ohio is out of business. It was cancelled by Operation of Law December, 22, 1982, per the Ohio Secretary of State's website.

The Perfect Faucet, Part II

2009-03-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

Oh no! It's the perfect bathroom faucet, on a sink! It's not so terribly far away, either.

This is almost exactly the same faucet that I wrote about a little while ago. It's nice to know that there are more of them out there.

Lighting for 1920s bathrooms

2009-03-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

I love old bathrooms. The beautiful details never cease to amuse and interest me. I was conflicted about removing the light fixture above, but it scared me, somewhat, and it was one of the violations that the city is requiring we address.

I didn't realize it at the time, but this is a fixture that was designed specifically for use in bathrooms. Note that there are no visible screw holes - the fixture is attached to a mounting bracket in through screws at the base of the socket.

While this may have been the best that was available at the time, I was bothered by the possibility of being electrocuted, especially given my long, awkward arms and 6'8" frame. I've had my eye open for something better, something that would look historically correct, but at the same time be waterproof. Then I came across this fixture, in the Oviatt Building penthouse.

The fixture is simple enough and fits the space well. Finding a similar industrial fixture might be quite easy. I came across this one, from Barn Light Electric, which might do the job, if one removed the cage. I've a feeling, however, that something simpler and cheaper might be found at an industrial hardware store.

Of course, the problem remains that the code specifies a flush-mounted fixture... maybe in 30 years when I redo it again, the inspector will be more lenient.

The perfect bathroom sink faucet set

2009-03-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

I never liked the faucets on most of the sinks from 1920s houses, not because the hot and cold were separate, but because they were so close to the edge of the sink. I recently learned that mixer faucets were available in the 1920s, albeit only in higher-end installations. I've been looking for various plumbing bits, trying to piece together the pieces of hardware to make the bathrooms complete. Most of this will have to wait for a while, given the cost of most of these things, but it's nice to know what's out there so that one can plan.

I came across the gem above on eBay recently - it sold for about $125. It's the only porcelain mixer faucet of that era that I've seen - all the rest are metal. It would have been perfect, oh yes. Even with the cost of rebuilding the valves, it would have been worth it. Whether I could convince A of that is another matter. My eyes remain open for the next one to hit the market.

This is all a diversion, mind you, to keep me from ranting about my plumber and general contractor. I've a phone call to make tomorrow morning. Argh.

The Cleveland Co-Operative Stove Co.

2009-03-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

Our new old stove is a Grand, model 850, made by the Cleveland Co-Operative Stove Co., probably in the late 1940s. A comment on my Flickr account regarding the data plate led me to think about stopping by and checking out their premises. The address wasn't so far off the route from home to work, so I stopped by today.

It's not a terribly big factory. I haven't been able to learn much about the company. It doesn't help that "grand" is a relatively common adjective. Still, I'm sure I'll be able to dig up more around here, eventually.

Contractor woes, an update

2009-03-12T11:28:00.000-07:00

I talked to the plumber today before leaving for work. He explained that he was unable to obtain a straight vertical pipe (I forget the technical term) that goes between the tank and the bowl that is long enough. He said that he'll be fabricating an extension, so that it will sit at the right height.

He further stated that he had attached it to the wall so that he could figure out exactly how high it needed to go. When I pointed out to him that this was one more unnecessary hole in the wall, he said that it would be covered by the tank and that he would caulk it in. I countered that this was an unblemished tile that could have been used for a repair elsewhere in the room, and that this was a hole in the wall that didn't need to be there.

I don't know what to ask for at this point. While there may be manufacturers out there that make white tile that the same shape and has a flat glaze, matching the color will be close to impossible. I don't think it's reasonable to ask him to cover the cost of a custom color match for one tile - that would be excessive.

What would you do? What would you ask for?

Stove update

2009-03-11T23:31:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful new stove is now functioning properly. The problem with the pilot light on the one side was resolved by scraping some cruft from the inside of the pilot light and turning the adjustment screw for the pilot light a bit.

Of course, initially I turned the pilot light up too much. I realized this later when I thought I smelled something by the stove. I held my hand over the left pilot light and found it was much warmer than the area over the right pilot light. With some trial and error, I got the pilot light as low as I could without it going off.

Now I'm just trying to figure out how to light the broiler. Right now, I have to use a match and light it in a minimum of two places - and this is for one large burner assembly. There has to be a better way.

Contractor woes, part II

2009-03-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

Earlier, I mentioned some problems with my general contractor and the sub he has fixing our toilet. Those issues were not issues at all, but the result of a miscommunication. There was, however, one major problem.

Look at the previous entry. Now look at the picture at the top of this entry. Notice something different? Yup, they failed to install the ceramic tubes between the bowl and the tank. An error corrected easily enough. Look harder. Notice anything else?

Perhaps this picture will help illustrate things more clearly. See the row of holes in the wall? Those are where the bolts from the tank used to go. See the shiny new hardware going through the tank? Notice that the tank is now bolted into the wall a couple inches lower than it was previously? I'm not happy. There's no way that the lid could sit on the tank like that. How could someone get that far without seeing that he had screwed up?

So I called up the general contractor, left a message, and waited for his return call. He seemed to be familiar with the situation, though he didn't say anything to suggest knowledge of it prior to our phone call. He acknowledged that the tube between the tank and the bowl was too short, and that a longer one would have to be obtained. He said that he would be there tomorrow to ensure that the work was completed properly.

I've little confidence that he'll actually show up.

Right now, there isn't much I can do. The last time I paid him was five weeks ago, for work that was completed in a satisfactory manner. I don't have any problem with the work that he's completed thus far - the rates that he's charged have been reasonable and the quality of the work has been to my expectations. This business, however, of not showing up when he's said he'll show up - and not calling to let me know that he won't be here - it's really getting to me. He's been placing all the blame on the sub that he hired for the plumbing - um, isn't the reason why I'm dealing with a general contractor so that I don't have to deal with the problems of the subcontractors? Isn't that his job? The manner that he spoke about the subs problems was inexcusable. How do the sub's problems change the need for the general contractor to call if he can't keep an appointment?

I'd fire him right now, except that I will have this problem resolved.

I'm looking for a plumber in the Cleveland area who is comfortable dealing with old plumbing and fixtures. I'll pay fairly for good work. If anyone has names that they'd like me to consider, please send them my way.

Contractor woes

2009-03-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

This morning, a text message showed up in my inbox from A, stating that the plumbers had permanently affixed this toilet to the floor.

This was the toilet that had leaked and caused so much other damage previously. We've been waiting five weeks for them to get parts and get over here, which has become more and more frustrating. Our frustration is not so much due to the delay as the manner in which our general contractor keeps telling us that he will be here at a certain time and then not showing up. This might be ok if he called and said that he wasn't going to be able to be there, but to just not show up is unacceptable.

A says that they permanently affixed it to the floor because there was no way to properly secure it otherwise without damaging the tile. What are we supposed to do now if something happens and the toilet has to be repaired? The fixtures in our bathrooms are almost entirely original, and I really really like it that way. Another toilet bowl for this toilet would be $500 or so from a retailer dealing in such things. Is this a compromise that I'm just supposed to make to deal with these issues?

I'll be investigating this mess when I get home, and probably having some choice words with the plumber tomorrow.

UPDATE

The toilet bowl was not affixed to the floor - there had been a miscommunication. Rather, the new flange is permanently affixed to the floor, which is perfectly acceptable. There are, however, major issues, which I will detail later, and which I have been told will be addressed tomorrow.

We have stove! (mostly)

2009-03-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

I picked up the stove this afternoon and lugged it into the house. I even got it hooked up and working, mostly. I say mostly because the two burners on the left will not light. Their pilot light is lit, and they can be lit by matches, but they won't light automatically. I have to wonder if this has something to do with the burner assemblies falling out while I was loading the stove into the van.

As to the question of how many people are required to move such a beast, the answer is two men in decent condition or one idiot with a heck of a lot of determination and mechanical advantage.

Look, there's an oven!

2009-03-07T06:40:00.001-08:00

And there's another oven! And there's a third oven! 'Cause our house has three ovens!

Yes, three ovens, but not for long! The reason there are three ovens is because one of the two ovens in our old stove was DOA. It leaked gas and didn't run. We've been looking for a replacement stove to fit in our kitchen ever since. Finding a 40" wide stove that is still operational and hasn't been sitting in someone's basement for a decade or two is a bit of a challenge. Even more of a challenge is the desire to not have a stove with a massive dashboard.

I found the above Grand stove on my local Craigslist, after an extensive search over a 6 state area. It's not quite the stove of my dreams (I would have really really liked one with either six burners or a griddle in the center), but it's pretty darn good. The seller and I have agreed on a price, so it's now just a matter of negotiating a date and time for pickup.

This leads me to another matter:

FREE STOVE!!!

We will be getting rid of our late 1960s stove made by the Crown Stove Works of Cicero, Illinois. Free to anyone who wants it. Even more free to anyone who will volunteer, quickly, to help me schlep it out of the kitchen!

If you have even a small degree of interest in this stove, say something NOW. If you don't want the whole stove, but just need some parts, let me know and I'll see if I can pull them. I can't promise that removal won't involve a reciprocating saw, but I do promise that I'll make my cuts nice and broad and include more material than needed, not less.

Here are the problems with the stove: three of the four burners will not light; one oven will not light; the springs on the oven doors are completely shot. On the good side, I have a set of NOS burner caps for this stove that I'll toss in free.

One More Stove Item

If you're looking for a wonderful 1950s stove, I strongly encourage you to check out this $400 Kenmore in Parma Heights, Ohio.

I went to look at this stove with A. and would have purchased it on the spot had it not been two inches too wide (42"). Actually, I wanted to purchase it anyway, but the voice of reason intervened. It has four burners with a griddle in the center. Underneath, one half is an oven and the other, a broiler. The top burners have a pilot light and the oven and broiler must be lit manually.

I've never seen another unrestored stove of this vintage in this condition. The oven and broiler looked as though they'd never been used. To clarify: they still had that newish sheen! It was hooked up and in use when we saw it. The only thing that did not work was the clock.

Again, if you're looking for a 1940s or 1950s stove, this may well be the one. I firmly believe that it would be worth driving a couple hundred miles to pick up.

Bathroom naming contest!*

2009-03-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

There are two bathrooms on the second floor of my house. One is slightly larger than the other. It is attached to the master bedroom - thus, it is the master bathroom. Simple enough.

The question is as to what to call the other bathroom.

"Non-master bathroom" sounds too awkward. Some other options are, um, uncomfortable. "The other bathroom" might work, in some houses, in other parts of the country. In Cleveland, however, we were able to purchase this house with a whopping three and a half baths for less than the current median national home sales price. There's a half bath on the first floor, and a bathroom in the attic. The half bath, when greater description is needed, is referred to as the "mirror bathroom". The third floor bathroom is rarely mentioned. There's also a toilet in the basement, which I'll install a sink for, someday.

The two second floor bathrooms are chromatically similar - both are tiled in white. There are few defining differences, at least over the long term. For now, they're "the bathroom with the toilet" and "the bathroom with the sink".

I welcome any suggestions that will allow me to address this bathroom more succinctly on these pages.

* There are no prizes in this contest. All entries are subject to arbitrary and biased judging. Any and all entries may be ignored, disregarded, or appropriated a couple months later, once I've forgotten that you were the one who made them.

My brilliant neighbor

2009-03-06T06:51:00.001-08:00

I've always liked wood shake roofs. The problem with them is that they cost about as much as slate, yet have the lifespan closer to that of asphalt shingles. They do, however, look stunning, especially when crafted to look like thatch.

My next door neighbor (or perhaps his contractor) had an idea that I wish I could take credit for. If it's ok to paint wood shingles on the walls of your house, why not paint the wood shingles on the roof? (I don't think he chose the best color, but that's another matter.) While the visual effect isn't quite the same as the unpainted shingles, I think it's a better compromise than ripping them off and replacing with asphalt. With regular painting, I assume that they will last as long as any other exterior wood.

More roof photographs

2009-03-06T06:34:00.000-08:00

I actually got some decent looking photographs of the roof yesterday. This one happens to illustrate the chimney and a couple broken slates as well.

This is the area behind the gutter. Note the utter lack of paint. This appears to be the case all the way around the house. Note also that the gutters are soldered together at the seams, which will make removing them somewhat difficult. Ugh.

This illustrates why it is not a good idea to use aluminum for ridges on slate roofs. Copper or galvanized steel is sturdier.

Finally, here's something that I just don't understand at all. If you look at this picture, you'll see, in the first row of slates, two slates that have a wider gap than might normally be expected. In those gaps, you can see what appears to be a short slate. This does not make sense to me. Kurt? Anyone?

Here's a slightly better detail. It occurs in several spots on this, the west side of the roof, across several rows. I can't imagine that these are the result of broken slates being repaired, but I can't think of anything else that it might be, either. Surely there's something that I'm missing here.

Oh where, oh where has my cricket gone?

2009-03-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

I knew when we bought this house that there should be a cricket to divert the water around the chimney here. You can't see it in the photograph, but the chimney is about 3-4 feet wide. Thus, there's quite a bit of water hitting it when it rains - and some of that water is leaking in.

Today, I climbed the extension ladder to investigate the condition of our roof.

And then...

The site of the missing cricket.

It seems that there was a cricket to divert the water around this chimney, but at some point in the past, some idiot, likely the one who installed this lovely bit of flashing, removed it. Meh.

If there's a reason why this would be a good thing, please, let me know.

Cobalt blue toilet and sink on eBay!

2009-03-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

I was browsing on eBay when I came across this very blue 1920s toilet and sink. They seem too blue to be believable, but I want to believe, oh, I want to believe. And for a mere $100! Surely you need them!

Looking for subway tile vendors

2009-03-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

I'm looking for replacement tile for repairs for both of my second floor bathrooms. Like many of the projects I discuss here, this one awaits sufficient funds. However, being who I am, I want to complete as extensive research as possible.

The existing tile in the two second floor bathrooms is white, 6x6 ceramic, with a flat glaze profile. The floors are comprised of a round "penny" tile.

There are several areas where replacement tile is needed. The most notable is in the shower in the master bathroom, where the bottom 4 rows of tile as well as the floor were replaced with a bad match at the time that the shower pan was replaced. Another large section was replaced with a slightly better match behind the door in the non-master bathroom. Further, several of the trim pieces around the door to the shower stall broke and were replaced somewhere along the way. There are also some other assorted trim pieces here and there in the bathroom which have been clumsily repaired. I'm unsure as to whether I would want to repair or replace them.

The only vendor I've seen thus far that meets my needs is Subway Ceramics. They have several shades of white and all the trim pieces I need. Clay Squared lists the basic tile at $20 a square foot and the trim pieces between $15 and $25 each.

Does anyone know of other vendors who might have similar tile available? I'm especially interested in seeing other manufacturer's tile so that I can compare the color, to find the closest match to the tile that I have.

Stan Hywet Hall

2009-03-04T06:53:00.000-08:00

I've long been a fan of the Historic American Buildings Survey, one of the many projects created in the 1930s to make work for the millions of unemployed Americans. It hired photographers, many with a fine art leaning, to document historic American buildings and structures. Many structures include extensive interior documentation, which should be quite useful for historical researchers. I've yet to find another source that provides such exhaustive documentation of bathrooms and kitchens from the 1910s and 1920s. The downside is that the homes chosen tend to be some of the largest and most opulent of the era, so they are not too representative of what one might call average.

The Historic American Buildings Survey includes extensive documetation of one of the great Tudor Revival mansions in America, Stan Hywet Hall, which was built in Akron, Ohio, in the 1910s by F. A. Seiberling, founder of the Goodyear Tire Company. While the house is open to the public as a musuem, the documentation provided by HABS is especially interesting as photographs are not allowed inside the house. The Survey includes photographs of the house, the carriage house and garage, the gate house and entrance gates, the garden house and garden, the gardener's house, and the lookouts.

The following are some of my favorite photographs of the house, from the Historic American Buildings Survey.

View from the office wing.

Lamp, by the main entrance.

Trim detail, main entrance.

Library

Library fireplace

Removable lamp, library.

Main kitchen.

Coat room. Note the nice original widespread faucets.

Great hall.

Elevator.

Ceiling detail.

Light fixture.

Carved stone springblock.

Mrs. Seiberling's bathroom. I find the use of a tankless toilet interesting - while this would make sense in a smaller bathroom, lack of space definitely was not an issue here.

Mr. Seiberling's bathroom. Note the ribcage shower. It appears that the shower pan is not tile, but a solid piece of ceramic.

Inglenook, Blue Bedroom.

Phone nook, with period telephone.

Second floor room.

Office wing.

Even the gate house is oversized - bigger than the houses of many of the readers of the blog, I would wager.

This is the sort of project, I think, that would be an excellent way for our tax dollars to be spent - this is what we should be doing instead of bailing out banks. The public works created in the 1930s endure today - why not do more now?

Taxes!

2009-02-26T06:16:00.000-08:00

Last night, with all my paperwork in hand, I did my federal and state taxes. I spent a record amount ($130) and completed them in record time (3 hours). This morning, I got an email stating that my federal return had been accepted.

I had seriously underestimated the amount of money that we would be getting back this year. I'd never changed my withholding status from single at my old job, because the paperwork was too much fuss, and we had Everett this year, and moved, with all the expenses involved with that. Finally, we bought a house. While the money from the first-time homebuyer tax credit is technically a loan, it's an interest-free loan, so it's virtually free money.

My jaw dropped when I saw the total amount of our refund. A reacted in about the same manner. All sorts of possibilities started running through our minds. Namely, we'll be able to get all the necessary work done on the roof this year! And maybe even a working stove, too! Perhaps a new boiler could be added to the list! Or perhaps a tankless hot water heater! We're rich, rich I tell you!

Need a book on rehab plumbing and electrical

2009-02-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

There are many fine books out there on plumbing and electrical work. There are even some good ones on how to do things properly when you remodel - I'm especially fond of the ones from the Taunton Press. However, there is a third type of book that I really hope exists.

I'm looking for a book (or any other source) that illustrates how to take the plumbing that is already there and make it work properly. I want to know how to fix the worst of my plumbing and electrical without redoing it all. I want pictures that show electrical situations like mine and how they are resolved.

Any ideas?`

The builders of the house did WHAT?

2009-02-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

I muttered previously about the unnecessarily massive notch that the plumbers cut into the joists in the library when they ran new bathroom plumbing in the 1960s. I wanted to figure out why they would do this. It seems that the original plumbers had a less than brilliant idea - they ran the plumbing through the concrete that was used as a bed for the tile in the bathroom. Doh! While this may have made for a more solid structure initially, it didn't take into account that the plumbing would eventually fail and have to be replaced.

It's not quite David Giffels' house...

2009-02-23T06:16:00.000-08:00

I like to look for photographs of other houses on Flickr for the same reasons that I enjoy reading house blogs - they provide inspiration, ideas, and a way to see other possible solutions to a given problem. I'm especially interested in other Tudors.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this house, 759 N. Portage Path, Akron, OH, a few months ago. The house is about 3500 square feet, on 3/4 of an acre, just across the street from the most famous Tudor Revival house of all, F. A. Seiberling's Stan Hywet Hall.

At the time, the house was for sale, and the photographer didn't seem terribly interested in making others aware of this great bargain. Now that it has been sold (at the beginning of January, for $120,000), I've contacted the photographer, Andy Flip who has given me permission to post some of his photographs of this great house. I love the way the radiator here is tucked under the stairs.

Check out the front door.

The trim in the dining room is really special. If one had a nice art collection, it would fit perfectly in such borders. Heck, this might be an interesting design idea for a room or two in our house.

The basement bathroom, however, was what really caught my attention. Usually, the basement bathroom is lucky to get four walls. A sink, even, is less than common. So this one, with walls covered in structural glass, (Vitrolite and Carrara Glass were two common brands), surprised me.

Another bathroom also had walls tiled with structural glass, albeit not in as good of condition. The medicine cabinet and sink are also quite lovely.

I'm afraid to ask what happened to the sink here.

I should note that David Giffels, who I mentioned in the title of this entry, is the author of All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House. Giffels' Tudor Revival house is also on North Portage Path in Akron, albeit closer to the center of the city. His book is a great read. Given the choice, I'd take this house over his and deal with slowly rehabbing it over an extended period.

Again, I thank Andy Flip for allowing me to post his photographs.

Perhaps I was a little too smug...

2009-02-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

I've gone on and on about how incredibly not messed up our house is. I've talked about how I couldn't find one bit of dodgy electrical work, etc., etc.

Note the massive crack in the joist in the center of the picture. This joist happens to run right underneath the center of the bathtub and the shower pan in the master bathroom. Further, note that there appears to be a chunk missing from the bottom of the joist. At the point that the electrical passes through the joist, it is about 1.5 inches below the next joist over.

I don't have any way to know whether the joist was cracked or if just the piece was missing when the ceiling was replaced and the plumbing work was done, in 1967. Either way, I place the blame on whoever did the work. When presented with a joist that was so compromised, it should have been addressed.

They also saw fit to notch the joists enough to properly insulate the pipes, which resulted in two of them cracking. Further, they stuffed enough fiberglass around the knob and tube wiring to start a good fire, and closed up an electrical box in there as well.

Of course, I shouldn't be surprised by the quality of the plumbing installed by the same individuals. There is corrosion around every single fitting - and in some places where there aren't even any fittings. Not good.

As if this all wasn't bad enough, the framing under the shower pan, which was redone more recently, doesn't look too hot either.

I'd love nothing more than to replace all of this plumbing while we have the ceiling open. However, that simply isn't in the budget right now. What we'll probably end up doing is addressing the structural issues before the ceiling goes back up, use greenboard for the ceiling, and deal with the plumbing when we can.

What was where in the shower?

2009-02-20T12:24:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to determine the original plumbing configuration for my shower. I don't plan to do anything about it in the immediate future, mind you, it's just that it doesn't quite make sense and perhaps a few more pairs of eyes can help.

The shower head and needles are almost certainly in their original location. I feel it is reasonable (though don't have any evidence one way or the other) to assume that the knob for the needles is also in its original location. I strongly suspect (though again, without any evidence one way or the other) that the two escutcheons at the bottom were originally for the hot and cold water. The tile behind them appears to have been removed, presumably when the mixer was installed, so I cannot be absolutely sure of it.

The real question is as to what the remaining knob, the one directly above the mixer, would have been used for. Presently, it is fixed in place - I assume that the knob was placed there to cover the valve stem.

My only guess is that the remaining knob was to turn the shower on and off, so that one might be sprayed by the "needles" alone. I presume that it would have been labeled "shower".

The one remaining original handle was made by Republic, so I presume that the remaining handles would have also been made by them. DEA Bath Machineries has a Republic showerhead in stock, for a mere $145. That's not in the budget right now, but it's not utterly insane, either.

I welcome other ideas as to possible plumbing configurations or insights regarding the set up of this shower.

Drawing up floorplans and mechanical diagrams?

2009-02-20T08:21:00.000-08:00

I want to draw up a detailed set of floorplans. I also want to clearly illustrate where the electrical wiring and plumbing in the house go, both for myself and for future reference for any plumber or electrician I may hire. I'd like to include every outlet and bit of pipe, so that one can see what is on what circuit as well as which pipe is present that is not in use. I'd love to also include the pipe from our old vacuum system, with the hope of using it as a conduit for wiring in the future, but I know that that may be more difficult, given that most of the outlets for the vacuum system have been removed.

This seems like a good time to start working on such a project. I haven't put any insulation up in the attic yet. I have the library ceiling open, which gives me access to a good deal of the plumbing for the two second floor bathrooms.

The best solution I've found so is to just use large format graph paper to draw the floorplan, with a scale of 1"=1'. I plan to use additional sheets to overlay the mechanical systems. While this requires little additional expenditure, it's not as clean as I would like, nor does it allow for easy editing once I've finally inked everything in. Further, short of doing more drawings, it doesn't allow me to show how the plumbing goes vertically through the walls.

The desire to record all this information may seem slightly excessive. Keep in mind that we plan to be in this house for at least the next 30 years, so the knowledge recorded here will build up over time. Given this, perhaps the best way is to just work on paper, as software can change so much.

I welcome any suggestions on the subject.

Library ceiling demolition

2009-02-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

Demolition for the library ceiling is proving to be more of a challenge than expected. This house was built like a tank. While I'm sure that the celing in this room has been replaced, I'm unclear as to the age of the crown moulding. It is so firmly attached to the plaster, using metal lathe, that I suspect they were installed at the same time, however, I cannot be sure.

The problem with demolition is that the plaster moulding appears to have been made in place. It has a backing of metal lathe, which is held into the wall with nails and mortar. The plaster is built up on top of that.

The plaster is just about bulletproof. With a hammer and chisel, I'm able to make slow progress. If the moulding was in any better condition, I'd feel guilty about tearing it out. As it is, it's merely an annoyance that slows me down.

I've uncovered all manner of surprises. The plumbing for the two second floor bathrooms was redone at some point in the past, in copper. Most of solder joints are suspect - they all show at least some corrosion.

There is a joist under the tub in the master bath, that cracked and deflected downward about 1.5 inches. When the ceiling was torn out, they just chiseled a chunk off the bottom of it, rather than supporting it and sistering it up. Ack.

The shower pan in the master bath was replaced by the previous owner. Their choice of tile left quite a bit to be desired. The framing under the pan clearly suffered from the leaking water. Further, a significant part of the shower pan that seems to be supported by a piece of plywood held in place by some randomly placed drywall screws. At the very least, I'll be adding some support there.