Lizzy Proposed

Harris and I were brainstorming this past weekend about what Lizzy was missing and what we have not decided on.

We have a really tall crawl space. We're currently investigating whether or not we can pour concrete and finish part of this space for a laundry room and climate controlled storage. This would also enable us to put the water heater here if we decide to go with system with a tank and let us keep the panel box there. We have to investigate code for these decisions.

We're going to ask the preservation office if we can remove the fireplace that has collapsed. This has been a plan for awhile now, but we had been thinking that if we are able to remove the fireplace we would then place a half bathroom in that space. Now we are thinking that if they let us remove the fireplace, we'll put a staircase to the basement nee' crawl space in that location.

We still have not resolved where we will put closets. The house has been...altered...in such a way that there are really no straight lines or consistent walls. Once we remove the existing closet and full bath off of the bedroom, we'll have a better idea as to the dimensions of the hallway. However, we will also then have a house with no closets.

Then there is the question about access between the bedrooms. Do we want all access through the hallway or to retain the access between the two bedrooms? This access point was originally the rear door, so I think we have a lot of options.

So before we submit the proposal to the preservation office for comment we have some details to work out on our end. Thoughts and opinions appreciated...

I give you Lizzy Proposed!

trash removal costs

Harris and I had planned on doing all of the demolition ourselves. However, we didn't count on how little light there is at night and how dark the house is (charred wood) now that we've removed a lot of the white surfaces (drywall and painted paneling). Our Craftsman lantern does absolutely nothing against the darkness that inhabits Lizzy.

She wears white on the outside and is black on the inside.

We decided to hire Bill to fill the dumpster. All told, we paid him $135 cash and agreed to buy his next amtrak ticket (we would have anyway...) to carry the detritus we've already removed, and he paid someone else $20-30 (unclear) from that money to remove three ceilings. Apparently the guy is 6 foot 3 inches tall and in under 45 minutes had three drywall ceilings removed and all of the junk in the dumpster...without a ladder.




Later that evening, I got the wild hare of "oh man, this dumpster is leaving tomorrow and there's still room in it. Bill and I went back to Lizzy and removed carpets from two rooms. This work was gross and disgusting and very hard on Bill. I was there mainly for show it seems as I couldn't get a good grip on anything. I tried. I supported. In the end, Bill removed two carpets, but not the padding. Here's what's under the padding.







Wood Floors!








It's also difficult to see because of the char, but there is a wood ceiling in the front room. Once the drywall was down in the other three rooms we found attic. There are two rooms remaining where there might be wood or plaster ceilings left and one room we're pretty sure is going to have attic. The hallway is attic.



Next steps include getting the floor plan drawn (as is) and then creating our proposed plan that includes creating one central entranceway and moving the kitchen out of the hallway.



This image of our hallway kitchen shows some of the best plaster remaining in the house. You'll notice a drywall patch that is incomplete, water damage, and smoke/fire damage.


We have dawdled a little in drawing out our plans. First we couldn't get the measurements right, then we had moved so much junk around we couldn't measure right, but we need to get back to work. Now that the house is relatively clean again, we'll get to drawing.

We are also waiting for new estimates for the foundation work. We're toying with the idea of doing this house without a loan and the cost of the foundation repairs will determine if that's a realistic goal. We're really not sure if the foundation work will be $5,000, $10,000, or $40,000. We know we need new piers and to rebuild skirt wall, and jack the house, and replace girders. Once we get the foundation stable, we'll focus on the roof and walls.

Wood Ceiling!!!!

Ceiling cat? Are you there?

There's a wood ceiling!!!! Pictures coming soon.

Harris has been sick and the weather so cold he hasn't been able to get over there to get good pictures. By the time I get home, the light is minimal and pictures just don't capture the beauty.

It's beautiful in a charrded why did they leave it but so happy they did way.

Wood ceilings are a fantastic find. It means we most likely won't have to go with smooth surface ceilings in all of the rooms since we have evidence that there were wooden ceilings.

Preservation folks

We had some folks from the State Preservation office out to the house last week to help us figure it out. To give due credit- they are the ones that discovered the evidence of the previous fire. Harris and I had been looking at the walls going, damn, it's odd for a slumlord to paint the wallpaper black, but hey, we've seen weirder things.

Yeah...that was soot.

They did point us to the Sanborn maps for Durham. In 1913 the house appears on the maps in a different form than what is there now. The preservation folks were also able to point out that the room we were in with the dropped ceiling- yeah, that was an addition- couldn't we see the wallboards behind the drywall?

And the drywall, they can look at the wall and in under five seconds tell if it's plaster or wallboard. I thought I was good; they are amazing.

Nothing really new this weekend. We had a fun guest in town and hung out with her instead of working on the house.