I'm resigned to the fact that I'll be spending at least another 6 months (possibly more) with The Dump as is, so I decided it's time to commit to some infrastructure. Late last week I called AT&T and signed up for home phone, DSL and wait for it... DISH TV! All bundled together gives me a pretty good discount.
Now, for those of you who know me quite well, you know that I don't watch TV. The only reason I own one is because it gets connected to the DVD player. However, there are some show that I've come to enjoy, and I'm setting up the house for winter hibernation, so I went ahead and ordered TV for the first time in 10+ years.
The friendly (and chatty!) Dish technician came out on Saturday and installed my dish and DVR. I now have 200 channels, which is somewhat overwhelming, but considering that I can record it to watch later and then fastforward through commercials, I think I can handle it. :o)
Since I had to commit to being at the house for the Dish installation sometime between 1 and 5 on Saturday, I decided to bake a cake in my newly accepted oven. Armed with an oven thermometer, the cake came out decidedly better than the cookies (the oven temp is off by about 125°). However, this experiment told me that I have a cold spot on the left side of the oven as evidenced by that half of the cake collapsing into squishy under-doneness after I pulled it out. Hopefully that is easily resolved by setting a timer to rotate all baked goods halfway through baking time.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Another step in the right direction
After several months of inactivity, things are picking up again. However, it's a lot of "spend money, then wait several weeks for reports, then move on" sort of action.
In July, I authorized Architect Pete to get some soil engineers out to The Dump (Redwood City soil is problematic) to drill some holes in the property at each end of my house. Their initial findings: "you have very dense, spongy, clay soil." Duh. I could have told everyone that after spending a season trying to get my garden moving in the right direction. Next step: wait four weeks for the official report before moving on.
The official soils report has now been sent to a structural engineer who will analyze it and determine what sort of reinforcement needs to be done to the foundation. I signed his proposal and sent him a check yesterday. Next step: wait four more weeks for his official report/foundation designs (Pete is going to try to prod that to completion a bit faster).
I've already booked some house jackers/foundation specialists to come out to estimate the job, but to do so, they need Pete's site survey, the soils report and the completed structural report/design. I tentatively booked them for 10/8, hoping I will have all the necessary components in my hands at that time.
I'm guessing it's going to take them four weeks to complete their estimate. That seems to be the going timeframe. :)
Whatever the case, I'm now feeling the pressure to complete the foundation and drainage work before the rainy season starts to avoid the flooding issues of last winter.
In July, I authorized Architect Pete to get some soil engineers out to The Dump (Redwood City soil is problematic) to drill some holes in the property at each end of my house. Their initial findings: "you have very dense, spongy, clay soil." Duh. I could have told everyone that after spending a season trying to get my garden moving in the right direction. Next step: wait four weeks for the official report before moving on.
The official soils report has now been sent to a structural engineer who will analyze it and determine what sort of reinforcement needs to be done to the foundation. I signed his proposal and sent him a check yesterday. Next step: wait four more weeks for his official report/foundation designs (Pete is going to try to prod that to completion a bit faster).
I've already booked some house jackers/foundation specialists to come out to estimate the job, but to do so, they need Pete's site survey, the soils report and the completed structural report/design. I tentatively booked them for 10/8, hoping I will have all the necessary components in my hands at that time.
I'm guessing it's going to take them four weeks to complete their estimate. That seems to be the going timeframe. :)
Whatever the case, I'm now feeling the pressure to complete the foundation and drainage work before the rainy season starts to avoid the flooding issues of last winter.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
An experiment
Lately I've been feeling the lack of an oven quite acutely. I have an intense craving to get my bake on and can do nothing about it. The toaster oven just will not cut it this time as I cannot fit a cake pan in there.
On Sunday I made pancakes and used the central griddle of my 1953 O'Keefe & Merritt. I quite like the retro-funk it offers but I have two fundamental problems with it:
1) The oven is teensy-tiny, and there is no insulating seal around the door, so I'm sure it cooks horribly.
2) The oven is "match light" which scares the crap out of me.
The very nice PG&E man who inspected my pilot lights last fall says it works just fine and I need to make sure others who may use the oven know not to set the dial to 350 and walk away or else it will blow up and possibly torch the whole house. Mmmm, yeah. that definitely makes me want to try to use the oven...
So, Sunday's pancakes did not resolve my baking craving, but it did prompt another very thorough cleaning of the range. Boy, is it cute when it's all shiny clean! There is still some persistent baked on grime that just won't budge, but I keep working on it.
Last night I stopped at TJ's on my way home from work to grocery shop. I got a box of their frozen oatmeal-cranberry cookie dough. It's pre-formed balls, so I've been able to do one or two at a time in the toaster oven whenever the mood for a cookie strikes. Quite yummy. I decided last night that I was going to attempt to turn on the oven and cook a whole tray of cookies to test the oven.
Four matches later, the oven was lit and preheating! Heating up my house too, I might add, so I'm glad our 90+ degree weather had passed. I spread the dough balls on the sheet, popped it in the oven, set the timer and sat down to wait. and wait. and wait.
I knew it was likely to be somewhat off and heat inffeciently, but I was not expecting the cookies to take twice as long and require cranking up the heat 50 degrees midway into it. But there you have it...I was baking in my teensy tiny 1953 oven! I'm sure the fact that my cookie sheet was covering the rack wall to wall and front to back was not helping the airflow issues, but it's what I had on hand.
I go back and forth on whether I should try to restore the range and see if they can improve the oven function while there at it, and really wanting the double wall ovens I've been planning for my kitchen since day one. Fashion vs function. Those double wall ovens are what has kept me form buying a replacement range until now. I do love the vintage charm of the O'Keefe & Merritt, but I think I love baking performance more. Anyway, this prompted me to do some more research on restoration. I had a horrible experience with a vendor last time I researched it, but there has to be some alternatives out there. Considering I'm in no real hurry, I think I'll look into it a bit more.
In the meanwhile, I will get an oven thermometer to more accurately gauge the calibration of the oven. I may go so far as to bake a cake this weekend.
On Sunday I made pancakes and used the central griddle of my 1953 O'Keefe & Merritt. I quite like the retro-funk it offers but I have two fundamental problems with it:
1) The oven is teensy-tiny, and there is no insulating seal around the door, so I'm sure it cooks horribly.
2) The oven is "match light" which scares the crap out of me.
The very nice PG&E man who inspected my pilot lights last fall says it works just fine and I need to make sure others who may use the oven know not to set the dial to 350 and walk away or else it will blow up and possibly torch the whole house. Mmmm, yeah. that definitely makes me want to try to use the oven...
So, Sunday's pancakes did not resolve my baking craving, but it did prompt another very thorough cleaning of the range. Boy, is it cute when it's all shiny clean! There is still some persistent baked on grime that just won't budge, but I keep working on it.
Last night I stopped at TJ's on my way home from work to grocery shop. I got a box of their frozen oatmeal-cranberry cookie dough. It's pre-formed balls, so I've been able to do one or two at a time in the toaster oven whenever the mood for a cookie strikes. Quite yummy. I decided last night that I was going to attempt to turn on the oven and cook a whole tray of cookies to test the oven.
Four matches later, the oven was lit and preheating! Heating up my house too, I might add, so I'm glad our 90+ degree weather had passed. I spread the dough balls on the sheet, popped it in the oven, set the timer and sat down to wait. and wait. and wait.
I knew it was likely to be somewhat off and heat inffeciently, but I was not expecting the cookies to take twice as long and require cranking up the heat 50 degrees midway into it. But there you have it...I was baking in my teensy tiny 1953 oven! I'm sure the fact that my cookie sheet was covering the rack wall to wall and front to back was not helping the airflow issues, but it's what I had on hand.
I go back and forth on whether I should try to restore the range and see if they can improve the oven function while there at it, and really wanting the double wall ovens I've been planning for my kitchen since day one. Fashion vs function. Those double wall ovens are what has kept me form buying a replacement range until now. I do love the vintage charm of the O'Keefe & Merritt, but I think I love baking performance more. Anyway, this prompted me to do some more research on restoration. I had a horrible experience with a vendor last time I researched it, but there has to be some alternatives out there. Considering I'm in no real hurry, I think I'll look into it a bit more.
In the meanwhile, I will get an oven thermometer to more accurately gauge the calibration of the oven. I may go so far as to bake a cake this weekend.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Roses
While I may not be making rapid progress on the construction front, I'm experiencing great success with my roses. If you recall, back in January, I attended a rose pruning & care seminar hosted by my local garden center. I pruned the two out front and pretty much ignored the one on the chimney since I don't have a ladder.
The trailing white floribunda at the end of the driveway will need some more serious pruning next season, but here it is when it was covered with the first round of buds (click on image to get the full effect). Craziness:
It has very densely petaled blooms that are very fragrant. They don't last more than a day or two, but it's certainly prolific enough that you hardly notice.
And the "mystery rose" that had finished blooming by the time I first met The Dump turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. Again, it will need more serious pruning next winter to coax it into a nicer shape, but it's been very rewarding this season. The blooms start as hot pink with orangey-peach centers and fade to pink and cream. I've been pinching off the side buds to force bigger, bolder blooms, and they are really nice for cutting.
Lastly, it seems that ignoring the climber on the chimney didn't deter it much. Here's what it looked like at the peak of the first wave of blooms (mid-April):
Since I haven't gotten up there to deadhhead at all, it's slowed down as the season has progressed, but it still has a few blooms a week. I'm really glad Pete (the architect) thinks it won't be too difficult to repair and preserve the chimney. I quite like the charm it and the rose add to The Dump.
The trailing white floribunda at the end of the driveway will need some more serious pruning next season, but here it is when it was covered with the first round of buds (click on image to get the full effect). Craziness:
It has very densely petaled blooms that are very fragrant. They don't last more than a day or two, but it's certainly prolific enough that you hardly notice.
And the "mystery rose" that had finished blooming by the time I first met The Dump turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. Again, it will need more serious pruning next winter to coax it into a nicer shape, but it's been very rewarding this season. The blooms start as hot pink with orangey-peach centers and fade to pink and cream. I've been pinching off the side buds to force bigger, bolder blooms, and they are really nice for cutting.
Lastly, it seems that ignoring the climber on the chimney didn't deter it much. Here's what it looked like at the peak of the first wave of blooms (mid-April):
Since I haven't gotten up there to deadhhead at all, it's slowed down as the season has progressed, but it still has a few blooms a week. I'm really glad Pete (the architect) thinks it won't be too difficult to repair and preserve the chimney. I quite like the charm it and the rose add to The Dump.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Killing time
Not much to report. I'm still waiting for the Soils Engineers to do their thing. At the rate I'm moving, I'll be lucky if I have foundation and drainage work complete before the rains start. I'm not too concerned since I can overwinter again with no trouble. As long as my crawlspace does not fill with water every time it rains, it will be an improvement over last winter.
My latest improvements to the place are as follows:
1) Big ugly shed is gone! My backyard looks HUGE now! That corner will be the site of next year's veggie garden, so I'm going to keep adding compost to the soil to move it in the right direction.
2) Hmmm.... Well, that's about it as far as improvements goes.
Other excitement:
1) Bought a chipper-shredder to tackle all the leaves my magnolia drops. I was filling my yard waste bin in a weekend and since yard waste is collected only every other Friday, I had a problem on my hands. The leaves don't break down quickly enough in the compost bin, and the volume of leaves was overwhelming (it's a big tree), so I decided shredding them was in order. I haven't used the thing yet, but it's on my agenda for this weekend. It will be great organic matter to add to the future veggie bed.
2) My tomatoes are ready for eating, which has been quite enjoyable.
3) The Blancos needed the twin bed back now that the au pair has arrived, so I got the Tempurpedic out of storage. This is exciting for two reasons--a) it's nice to stretch out again and b) I SERIOUSLY love my bed.
4) I started knitting Christmas gifts last night. I'm ambitious this year--there are sweaters involved. Small child-sized sweaters, but sweaters nonetheless.
5) A few weeks ago Kat and I ventured into the world of jam making with awesome results. I'm eyeing my apple tree and all the apples I scoop up every weekend with a new respect. I should have thinned the fruit to yield a better crop, but the thing is COVERED with apples. I'll pick in a few more weeks and see what we get. Apple butter is calling our name.
I'll do some photo documentation this weekend since the yard is shaping up quite nicely.
My latest improvements to the place are as follows:
1) Big ugly shed is gone! My backyard looks HUGE now! That corner will be the site of next year's veggie garden, so I'm going to keep adding compost to the soil to move it in the right direction.
2) Hmmm.... Well, that's about it as far as improvements goes.
Other excitement:
1) Bought a chipper-shredder to tackle all the leaves my magnolia drops. I was filling my yard waste bin in a weekend and since yard waste is collected only every other Friday, I had a problem on my hands. The leaves don't break down quickly enough in the compost bin, and the volume of leaves was overwhelming (it's a big tree), so I decided shredding them was in order. I haven't used the thing yet, but it's on my agenda for this weekend. It will be great organic matter to add to the future veggie bed.
2) My tomatoes are ready for eating, which has been quite enjoyable.
3) The Blancos needed the twin bed back now that the au pair has arrived, so I got the Tempurpedic out of storage. This is exciting for two reasons--a) it's nice to stretch out again and b) I SERIOUSLY love my bed.
4) I started knitting Christmas gifts last night. I'm ambitious this year--there are sweaters involved. Small child-sized sweaters, but sweaters nonetheless.
5) A few weeks ago Kat and I ventured into the world of jam making with awesome results. I'm eyeing my apple tree and all the apples I scoop up every weekend with a new respect. I should have thinned the fruit to yield a better crop, but the thing is COVERED with apples. I'll pick in a few more weeks and see what we get. Apple butter is calling our name.
I'll do some photo documentation this weekend since the yard is shaping up quite nicely.
Friday, June 13, 2008
delays breed good ideas
Last weekend I was working on my computer in the back bedroom which is basically storage with a laundry drying rack and a mini-office when an idea hit me like a freight train.
A few weeks ago, Pete (architect) informed me about some disappointing regulations San Mateo County recently passed that limit the amount of remodeling you can do to 50% of the home's value (calculated at $300/sq ft). If you exceed that, County requires you strip it down to bare studs inside and out and bring the building 100% up to code. That would effectively triple or quadruple the cost of the project. This means I definitely need to phase the project. I don't know the time limitations of how closely the phases can be spaced, so I'll need to sort that out.
My freight train idea is as follows:
Considerations:
1) Foundation corrective work needs to occur first. French drain should be installed at the same time, thereby resolving drainage and damp issues before the rainy season hits.
2) The eventual plan is to insert a door in the back bedroom where there is currently a window.
3) We're going to assess the possibility of preserving the existing bathroom with a few modifications. Pete thinks it's worth a shot since the tile is in exceptional shape given it's original form 1953 and you know how I love the retro-funk.
4) The garage/Kitchen/Living phase is more complicated than the work required in the bedrooms and will take the longest.
With those considerations, I was thinking that once the foundation work is complete, I would next remodel the back bedroom (replace 1 window with door and relocate second window) and then block off the doorway from kitchen to hallway to isolate a small living zone where I would stay while the garage and front half of the house is built/remodeled.
I'd have an entry door from the back yard, bedroom, bathroom and the back room would become a living area. I'm essentially operating without a functioning kitchen right now, so nothing really changes if I move my fridge, microwave, toaster oven and coffee maker to the new mini living area. This would make it a secure area so I wouldn't have to re-home Miss Feline, which has actually been a big concern of mine.
Whether or not I can keep the bathroom, the minor mods I'd make in there (or full remodel) could be done later, and updating the small bedroom can also be done later as it is also more limited in scope (basically just new window, upgrade electrical, new drywall and molding).
This approach would enable me to live there and be on hand to monitor progress instead of moving out for phase 1, back in for a while, back out for phase 2 and then back in.
I ran it by Pete yesterday and he thinks it's a realistic and intelligent approach to the project.
Who knew procrastination could lead to such a good result?
A few weeks ago, Pete (architect) informed me about some disappointing regulations San Mateo County recently passed that limit the amount of remodeling you can do to 50% of the home's value (calculated at $300/sq ft). If you exceed that, County requires you strip it down to bare studs inside and out and bring the building 100% up to code. That would effectively triple or quadruple the cost of the project. This means I definitely need to phase the project. I don't know the time limitations of how closely the phases can be spaced, so I'll need to sort that out.
My freight train idea is as follows:
Considerations:
1) Foundation corrective work needs to occur first. French drain should be installed at the same time, thereby resolving drainage and damp issues before the rainy season hits.
2) The eventual plan is to insert a door in the back bedroom where there is currently a window.
3) We're going to assess the possibility of preserving the existing bathroom with a few modifications. Pete thinks it's worth a shot since the tile is in exceptional shape given it's original form 1953 and you know how I love the retro-funk.
4) The garage/Kitchen/Living phase is more complicated than the work required in the bedrooms and will take the longest.
With those considerations, I was thinking that once the foundation work is complete, I would next remodel the back bedroom (replace 1 window with door and relocate second window) and then block off the doorway from kitchen to hallway to isolate a small living zone where I would stay while the garage and front half of the house is built/remodeled.
I'd have an entry door from the back yard, bedroom, bathroom and the back room would become a living area. I'm essentially operating without a functioning kitchen right now, so nothing really changes if I move my fridge, microwave, toaster oven and coffee maker to the new mini living area. This would make it a secure area so I wouldn't have to re-home Miss Feline, which has actually been a big concern of mine.
Whether or not I can keep the bathroom, the minor mods I'd make in there (or full remodel) could be done later, and updating the small bedroom can also be done later as it is also more limited in scope (basically just new window, upgrade electrical, new drywall and molding).
This approach would enable me to live there and be on hand to monitor progress instead of moving out for phase 1, back in for a while, back out for phase 2 and then back in.
I ran it by Pete yesterday and he thinks it's a realistic and intelligent approach to the project.
Who knew procrastination could lead to such a good result?
Monday, May 19, 2008
Apologies
Holy cats! It's been a long time since I posted anything. Don't worry... you're not missing out on progress at The Dump--nothing has happened. Work got, well, to put it lightly, hellish. I gave myself the mental allowance of doing nothing until May 1 and am stunned to realize it's already May 19 and I haven't fired it back up yet.
The worst happening since my last post is that my car got broken into a few weeks ago and my bag with my computer (and phones) was stolen. That means all my remodel files and ideas that were on that computer are gone. So sad. Also lost are the photos I had recently taken of the yard that I had every intention of posting to pass off as "progress" (hey, growing ginormous roses takes work!).
After last week's heat wave, the item "attic fan" is definitely getting upgraded to high priority for the remodel. I don't plan to install central AC (the code regulations on required ductwork are supposedly ridiculous), so a super-premium attic fan will be in order--The Dump gets quite toasty and even with all windows and doors open, it catches NO breeze. Good to know.
The worst happening since my last post is that my car got broken into a few weeks ago and my bag with my computer (and phones) was stolen. That means all my remodel files and ideas that were on that computer are gone. So sad. Also lost are the photos I had recently taken of the yard that I had every intention of posting to pass off as "progress" (hey, growing ginormous roses takes work!).
After last week's heat wave, the item "attic fan" is definitely getting upgraded to high priority for the remodel. I don't plan to install central AC (the code regulations on required ductwork are supposedly ridiculous), so a super-premium attic fan will be in order--The Dump gets quite toasty and even with all windows and doors open, it catches NO breeze. Good to know.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
