I Took the Plunge!

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Ober51
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Re: I Took the Plunge!

Post by Ober51 »

You really should post the window restorations you have done up to this point. It is impressive. :thumbup:

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MJ1987
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Location: Westwood, NJ

Re: I Took the Plunge!

Post by MJ1987 »

Ober51 wrote:You really should post the window restorations you have done up to this point. It is impressive. :thumbup:


I actually posted twice about the windows under the "What I did on my house today" thread. I'm beaming with pride :D
Matt


I built a chimney for a comrade old;
I did the service not for hope or hire:
And then I travelled on in winter’s cold,
Yet all the day I glowed before the fire.


-Edwin Markham

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MJ1987
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Re: I Took the Plunge!

Post by MJ1987 »

Soooo...after a long, snowy winter (which will not end and dumped another 6" on us yesterday), I've been out and about trying to address the driveway retaining wall issue. The biggest problem is the width of the driveway. I have some straggly plantings (rose bushes and other forsythia-like plants) on the right and ground cover on the left. But the bottom of the driveway is extremely narrow and I drive a Chevy Silverado. I can just squeeze in, but cannot open the driver-side, nor passenger side doors. Solution: hack down/relocate the plants and demo the old wall.

The old wall is probably original, but was built without weeping holes. Thus, it has bellied out over time and continues to lean. PLUS, is was hit once, badly, when an erratic driver jumped the curb and crashed into the part closest to the sidewalk. It's been patched and repaired many times, but really needs to go. It's poured concrete, however, so it's not going without a fight. Once that goes, we can bring the wall back about 36", which will widen things substantially. The same landscape contractor that did Ober's patio and walk came by last Thursday to take a look and give me an estimate. It should come in any day now.

The most exciting part of this whole situation is the reclaimed stone. I was able to salvage a ton of hand-cut red/brown sandstone from a historic property in Bergen County, not too far from Westwood. It had been part of a Colonial-era foundation, long ago abandoned when the stone from the ground level up was salvaged over 100 years ago for use in the foundation of the rebuilt house on the same property. I trucked something like 10 short-bed pickup loads to my house and then rented a lift gate box truck and some reluctant helpers to grab the last of the large pieces. The photo shows about 1/3 of what I ultimately got--and those are the smaller pieces. Most of the stones have a nice patina with green lichen. The landscape contractor agreed to use the stone to do the job, which also might include a couple pillars, if the price is right.

Though it might not show right now, spring is definitely in the air!
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Matt


I built a chimney for a comrade old;
I did the service not for hope or hire:
And then I travelled on in winter’s cold,
Yet all the day I glowed before the fire.


-Edwin Markham

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Manalto
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Re: I Took the Plunge!

Post by Manalto »

Matt, it looks like your salvaged stone is brownstone - the material of the eponymous New York row houses and probably quarried here in central Connecticut (Portland). It's going to look great as a retaining wall and posts. Do you plan on including any lighting? Keep us posted (*groan*) with photos!

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MJ1987
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Re: I Took the Plunge!

Post by MJ1987 »

Manalto wrote:Matt, it looks like your salvaged stone is brownstone - the material of the eponymous New York row houses and probably quarried here in central Connecticut (Portland). It's going to look great as a retaining wall and posts. Do you plan on including any lighting? Keep us posted (*groan*) with photos!


Yes--I think that's it. Funny enough, there was an article about it in this month's Old House Journal. It's also native to Bergen County and I've heard that most of the early settlers quarried the stone not far from their houses. There's still a few spots that I drive past on my daily commute where the stone is exposed, after being carved into in order to accommodate the modern roadway.

I've been thinking about adding lighting, especially since the ground will be exposed to bury pipe. At the very least, I'll lay PVC so I can pull wire more easily in the future I'm in the midst of a negotiation for sandstone capitals that would match the other stone. They apparently came off of the "Bebe Estate" in Englewood, NJ--once the site of another colonial homestead. They, too, are hand-cut. They measure about 24" square and are shaped like mini pyramids. Though it might be cool to add a light to the top of those, I'd have to drill them out. I don't think I could bring myself to drill into 250-year-old hand-cut stones. There's something about modifying historic materials that seems so unjust. Also, the choices for historically appropriate/friendly-looking landscape lights leave something to be desired. Maybe I just haven't looked hard enough. Suggestions/recommendations would be welcome!
Matt


I built a chimney for a comrade old;
I did the service not for hope or hire:
And then I travelled on in winter’s cold,
Yet all the day I glowed before the fire.


-Edwin Markham

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Manalto
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Re: I Took the Plunge!

Post by Manalto »

I'm with you on leaving the old stonework as intact as possible, and it's great that you've found a use for it.

Maybe putting lights down low, recessed into the posts (behind a frosted glass panel?) will help you and maybe even "erratic" (how kind of you not to say drunk) drivers negotiate the turn into the driveway without incident. I'm not much for landscape lighting if it's not practical (although it may help to discourage crime); much of it looks to me like showing off. A soft wash of light on the front door, with the house number visible at night, is my preference. The availability of LED can certainly make overdoing it tempting for some.

Interesting that Bergen County produced brownstone too. Makes sense - I've only heard of Portland as a source, which made me wonder how that dinky town supplied so many builders during brownstone's heyday.

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MJ1987
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Re: I Took the Plunge!

Post by MJ1987 »

Still no estimate from the contractor. We often joke (but not really) that these guys either don't want to work or don't want our money. Trying to get an estimate on even a small project either takes weeks or never even comes at all. SMH. :roll:

I had off from school last week, as we were on Spring Break. I was able to get the second bedroom primed with BIN, with the helps of mom and pops. Then Ober came by one day after work to finish-coat the ceiling. I got two finish coats of Blue (according to the color chips from the National Lead Paint Co--Dutchboy), but it looks a heckuva lot like green in the sunlight. Nonetheless, it's a really nice color that again helps to pop the woodwork. Pops painted the outside part of the window frames with two coats, so they'll be cured by the time I'm ready to reinstall the sashes. I started to stain up the woodwork around the windows and doors, but got a brutal migrane and called it a day yesterday around 5pm.

The PO's stopped by and were really glad to see that the restoration is moving along. One actually got emotional when she could actually see that things were being restored, rather than renovated. She hadn't been by in over a year, so I think it kind of validated why they sold me the house, rather than a flipper.

Finally, a saint friend helped to retrieve some brownstone capitols from a house about a mile away. They're 24" square, hand-cut, and likely 200+ years old. They supposedly came from a long-ago-demolished Colonial-era estate in Englewood, NJ (Bebe [sp.] family), but had been at a garden center in nearby Harrington Park, NJ for decades before the gentleman I bought them from wrestled them away from the developer who turned the nursery into condos. They probably weigh 300lbs each. We rented a trailer and towed them to my house. My friend threaded the trailer up the driveway to get them as close to their landing spot as possible to make things a bit more manageable. Notice I did't say "easier" because NOTHING about it was easy. But they're so cool and I want desperately to incorporate them into the landscape. It was a great week on Clairmont!
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Matt


I built a chimney for a comrade old;
I did the service not for hope or hire:
And then I travelled on in winter’s cold,
Yet all the day I glowed before the fire.


-Edwin Markham

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Manalto
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Re: I Took the Plunge!

Post by Manalto »

MJ1987 wrote:Still no estimate from the contractor. We often joke (but not really) that these guys either don't want to work or don't want our money. Trying to get an estimate on even a small project either takes weeks or never even comes at all. SMH. :roll:


More than once I've said to myself, "I'm chasing this person to give him my money - what's wrong with this picture?"

MJ1987 wrote:I got two finish coats of Blue (according to the color chips from the National Lead Paint Co--Dutchboy), but it looks a heckuva lot like green in the sunlight. Nonetheless, it's a really nice color that again helps to pop the woodwork.


I like the way it looks, Matt. IMO, nicer than a true blue. Blue is OK with painted woodwork, but it can look off next to natural wood.

MJ1987 wrote:Finally, a saint friend helped to retrieve some brownstone capitols from a house about a mile away.


They're great. I can see why you made the effort. Long after you've forgotten the hassle of getting them there, they'll still be there.

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Lily left the valley
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Re: I Took the Plunge!

Post by Lily left the valley »

Thanks for the status updates. I hope you're giving yourself some deserved back pats for progress forward on so many fronts. I think the color combo is soft and wonderful in the pic you shared.

I am envious as all get out at you painting color on walls -- I had to forgo that here so we could get other bits done. ;)

Is the trailer a rental? You might have mentioned prior, and I missed it. It looks rather shiny new.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

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awomanwithahammer
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Re: I Took the Plunge!

Post by awomanwithahammer »

I got confused--I thought you were putting blue on the ceiling, but I finally figured it out! You're right, it looks a little more green than blue, but I really like it. The paint I used for the living room in my house is an Eddie Bauer color called "Beach" that's a blue-gray-green. It's kind of a shifty color that changes with the light, and I love it.

You really have scored with your acquisitions of the salvaged stone and the capitals. They're beautiful. Good job! And you do have a saint for a friend!
Bonnie

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