It’s been a crazy last two weeks. And very productive. Here are the biggies.

• All of the beams for the addition are in place and welded together.
• The roof & ceiling was completely ripped off of the original house. Can you say rotten ceiling?
• The new tongue & groove ceiling was installed in the addition and the new house. It is beautiful. Also, it is officially how we are over budget for the project. But, we think it will be worth it!
• I ripped out the nails from the original hardwood floors so we can re-use them in the new closets.
• The framing is done!
• Rough electric is done!
• HVAC rough is almost done and the heater & A/C will be installed next week.
• Stripping & sanding hell CONTINUES!
• Lots of nit-picky finish trim decisions have been made
• The fence is ALMOST finished. They are working on the punch list.

Check out the pics & let me know what you think.

All of the pics can be seen over at Flickr by clicking on this picture.

I keep finding great blogs featuring midcentury modern design and remodeling. My list got so long I decided to move it to its own page. Just click on the top navigation bar at the top of the page. Whenever I add a new link, I’m going to add a blog post announcing them!

The blog is back up and running after temporarily destroying my database. oops

I’m playing with formats, but I’m using the Wordpress Thesis theme now. I still need to create my header & play with pages, etc. Hopefully, I’ll have everything up by the weekend.

I had to rebuild my database today…everything went very funky when I tried to upgrade to WP 2.8. So, now I have a flower header. I’ll finish the upgrade tonight.

I sort of remember someone mentioning asbestos testing, but it sort of flew out of my head. I forgot about it until Tim removed the luan mahogany panels in the living room (soon to be 3rd bedroom) and saw the very gnarly insulation. Tim wondered aloud if it might be asbestos.

So, I hit the Google. Lo and behold, there is a state and federal LAW that requires asbestos testing for any remodel of any material that is to be disturbed. Seriously? Shouldn’t I know this? I’m sorting thinking that if there is a law somewhere, that it should be stamped about a million places. I had to do some serious googling and then call the Colorado state assistance office to get clear.

So, yes, we had asbestos testing. I figured it was based on the year that materials were used in my house. Oh, but no. Apparently, asbestos is still used in various construction materials. There is nothing illegal about using asbestos in products. BUT, it is illegal to disrupt and remove it without a professional and certified abatement company. Cha ching…Big money. My sister-in-law had to pay for asbestos abatement in her house a few years ago to the tune of $5,700. yikes!

Ugg…we had our insulation, plaster walls and kitchen floors tested. Basically, we needed to test anything that was going to be disturbed. I was sort of naseaus about the worry of expensive abatement. Fortunately, the tests came back the same day—-NEGATIVE! I felt like I won the lottery.

My advice—test early in your project so you don’t have heartburn like me worrying.

Please help us save two important MidCentury Modern buildings—both Usonian architecture. One is a Victor Horbein building and the other is built by Ed White. The City Council is voting tomorrow on this. Shannon Stanbro at 5280mod is helping get out the word.

I believe there is a hearing tonight in Denver per the Westword.

Here is the email that I wrote to the city council:

Dear Council,

I am writing to ask you to please vote to KEEP the Victor Hornbein and Ed White buildings in your meeting tomorrow. These two buildings are precious and excellent examples of MidCentury Modern Usonian architecture.

Not only is preservation the right thing to do for historical significance, it is also the GREEN thing to do. Why must these buildings be torn down, dismantled and thrown into a landfill and simply replaced with new buildings. Keeping these buildings as an integral part of the city helps maintain Denver’s rich architectural history WHILE being environmentally responsible.

Thanks so much for reading my email!

Sincerely,
Lesley Anderson

#####

IF you’d like to write the city council, here are all of the email addresses. You don’t have to live in Denver to write them.

Peggy.Lehmann@denvergov.org, Marcia.Johnson@denvergov.org, Charlie.Brown@denvergov.org, Chris.Nevitt@denvergov.org, Carla.Madison@denvergov.org, Judy.Montero@denvergov.org, Jeanne.Robb@denvergov.org, Michael.Hancock@denvergov.org, Carol.Boigon@denvergov.org, Doug.Linkhart@denvergov.org

My brother, Kirby, and my Dad came out from Louisiana for the week to help with the demolition. They gutted the kitchen and removed the kitchen cabinets with the most loving care possible, since we want to re-use every last drop of our mahogany. We knew the frames (outer parts) were made from solid mahogany and that the exposed sides were mahogany veneer. Because the cabinets were done on-site in the neighborhood at the “woodshop”, the cabinets were custom for each house and built right on spot. All of the cabinets don’t even have backs.

When we were taking the cabinets down, we realized the the mahogany is in great shape, but the boxes themselves are made from pine and beaten down. So, Tim is going to rebuild the boxes and reinstall the mahogany frames.

We started out with about 150 random rocks in our backyard. Some were over a foot in diameter, but most were about a foot. My parents took about 20 to Louisiana. I sold a few barrel loads on Craigslist. My neighbors took a few of them. I started to get a bit more desperate, so I listed the rocks in the FREE section on Craigslist.

About 60 emails later, two people agree to come and get the rocks asap. Now, the rocks are all gone. The excavator would have taken them, but I hated to see them at the bottom of a large pit or landfill if someone actually wanted them.

Love Craigslist.

I really love Craigslist. I used to see Craig Newmark at the Reverie Cafe in Cole Valley in San Francisco when we lived near him. I’ve had great luck buying and selling lots of things on CL.

Just this past week, we listed our Furnace, A/C, Hot Water Heater, Microwave, Oven/range, dishwasher and sold it all!

I also gave away old paint, broken cabinets (cheap Home Depot ones, not my cherished mahogany) and other random stuff.

The great thing is that I don’t have to pay to have these things hauled away or dumped. They get to live a bit longer with someone else. I still cannot believe I can give away old paint and I will get multiple emails from people. Love it.

Yea, we got our remodel financing earlier this month. We have already “closed” and we officially have a construction loan now. I officially LOVE the City of Englewood!

We moved into our house on Halloween. On November 1st, I got a newsletter from the City of Englewood. On the back page was a very short blurb about the City’s Rehab Loan program. I figured it had income limitations or was limited to energy efficiency, etc. But, I called because it doesn’t cost anything to be told no. Well, that call was worth it!

The City gave us a construction loan for 90% loan to value of our future value of our house. The money is held in escrow, but we can request reimbursement any time we need. The money will be very tight after we finish the project, but we feel good about the timing of our project and availability of subs right now. Also, I wanted to do the work anyway. So, why not help the local economy, right?

I’ve since heard that other municipalities have similar renovation loans. I encourage everyone to check them out. Our loan is 4.2% interest for 20 years fixed. I couldn’t beat that with a conventional loan and they really have no fees, except for appraisal, title insurance, clerk filing fees. I am the City of Englewood’s biggest fan and cheerleader now.