The day we bought all our appliances and attacked the chimney.

The day started out fairly normal. We fought the alarm, and then remembered that Pili was waiting patiently for her morning walk. We left without breakfast and made a beeline for the Sears Outlet, hoping that the items we picked out yesterday were still there with a hold ticket on them. When we arrived, we were compelled to seek out all of our appliances. We found - get this - a dishwasher, refrigerator, washer, dryer, and range. So, by eleven in the morning, we had wrapped up a major part of designing the kitchen. It's so inspiring to be able to envision the end-product, so that we can see what we're designing in to. Yay appliances!

We made it to the house by 1:00, and Andy started set-up for the chimney work. Our faithful and loyal friend, Dan, came over to help out. Here are a few pic of prep and our progress for the day:

Andy climbing up the chimney with rope in hand to tie-in.

Andy's task was to take the chimney down brick by brick, and drop them through the flue. As the flues were revealed, he'd lower them to Dan and the chimney would shrink.

Dan was manning the main floor. When the bricks fell through the chimney, they'd often get plugged up in the fireplace. Dan would shepherd the bricks into the basement.

Jessica hung out in the basement. In this picture, you can see how the bricks would fall through the chimney in a pile of broken brick and mortar dust. Lot's of dust. She was there to ensure that the bricks were piled up as they came off the top of the chimney and landed in the basement.

By the end of the day, the chimney shrunk into the attic, and Dan and Andy were able to cover the hole in the roof. Tomorrow, we start in on the attic! And yes, the palm tree in the background is the palm tree namesake for the house.

The rest of the chimney, below the roof, is completely unsupported. It's a big, unstable pile of bricks and mortar. A slight movement of the chimney moves the whole house. It's unbelievable that the house made it through the Loma Prieta earthquake without taking down the whole house. We'll have to be careful not to topple it so that the bricks don't go through the ceiling of the main floor, or through the floor into the basement. The good news is that the brick removal happens very quickly.

A week of firsts...

We are now the proud owners of an actual...brace yourself...

DISHWASHER!!!

We also purchased a totally functional and awesome refrigerator. That's a first, too. We've never owned appliances like this. It's so exciting! We got awesome deals and feel good about our purchases.

The best news? Our amazing savings are now justifying the purchase of the even MORE exciting wallpaper (as seen in previous blog post). This is all coming together...

Barberini Bee!

We found it!

For years, we've been enamored with the large damask wallpaper pattern that lines the hallway of the Art Institute in Chicago. Anyone that's used the restroom on the first floor between the modern wing and the old wing will recognize this pattern. It holds, in its secret and deceiving folds, the Barberini Bee. The wallpaper at the AI is a dark red on a gold background. It's stunning, but perhaps too much for our little home. So, we found a grey and white version that will be p.e.r.f.e.c.t.

I'll leave it up to you to discover on which wall we put it once you visit the house in person.

Okay, okay...

We've had enough people badger me about the mythical magical baby "bump". Though I haven't paused long enough to get in front of the camera, the little fetus had his/her first debut about a month ago. To commemorate making it through another month of pregnancy, here's the little guy/gal at 11 weeks:

In this sonogram, (s)he is facing the camera, with his/her chin into his/her chest (so you see the top of his/her head). On the side are little arms, and his/her legs are sitting cross-legged. In this sonogram, the little one was wiggling around a TON and at one point we got to see his/her hand splayed out with all 5 fingers. Pretty breathtaking.

I just returned from another check-up where I got to hear his/her heartbeat (166 bpm). All is well according to my NP, and I'll find out the gender (hopefully) on August. 26th. For those of you just tuning in, we're due on January 18 and I am now at 15 weeks. That's all for now!

Goodbye bathtub!

Sometimes this blog post seems like the kid's book "Goodnight, Moon". We're ready to start saying "hello" to some of the new kids on the block. New floors, new layout, new kitchen.

One important step in the right direction was discovering the Sears Outlet. Yay! Discounts! I suspect we'll fill our kitchen with appliances that are dented, scratched, or otherwise perfectly perfect. Right? Hmmm.

In the meantime, we're back at demo stage. Mitch took out the bathroom. It didn't have a chance.

Mitchell also took out a wall. Andy inspected the hole and deemed it acceptable. Bravo, Mitch.

What's next? Well, there's talk of a chimney. Yes, I know we've been talking about this damned chimney since we started. But maybe, just maybe, someone will strap on a harness, climb on to the roof, and take the sucker down brick by brick.

Bravo, brave men.

The chimney! Finally, the chimney is within reach. Brave Andy and brave Jared problem-solved the chimney issue, examined its anatomy, and then took it apart from the inside.

The plan is for Andy to remove the bricks, one by one, from the top, and then drop them through the shaft of the chimney aaaallllll the way to the bottom (in the basement). The only roadblock was that there was a flue and a wall of bricks and concrete in the way. Why, you may ask? Well, the base of the chimney on the main floor of the house consisted of said wall of bricks and concrete. In order to drop the bricks past the main floor of the house and through to the basement, the men needed to muscle their way through that "plug".

There was only one way to do it: brute force + hammer drill = success. Luckily, Jared happens to own a hammer drill.

Tools used:

hammer drill

small sledge hammer

cold chisel

shop vac (to suck dust as the hammer drill drills)

Jared Blanton

pry bar

Now we are ready to ascend to the top of the chimney and commence Project Chimney.

DJ Fresh - Gold Dust (Official Video)

In lieu of a new post about the house, I think I'll dedicate this one to my new favorite video. I come across a new favorite video about once a week, and I think this one will be a long-standing feel-good video for those moments when I need to smile. I hope you enjoy it!

Goodbye bathroom!

Andy has spent the last several days gathering quotes and talking to permitting. Ask us any day and our mind has changed. "We're getting permits for everything." "We're getting permits for nothing." "We're only permitting the structural stuff." Today, we're on the third day of thinking that we're permitting everything. So...maybe that'll stick.

When we removed the kitchen cabinets we discovered MORE linoleum under the existing two layers and half-inch plywood. More asbestos risk. The amazing news? After getting it tested, all six layers of linoleum are asbestos free. It's a miracle!

Andy and Mitch deconstructed the bathroom yesterday.

Then they dressed up to celebrate.

The house progress has moved a bit more slowly in these first weeks. Kimber came over to start scoping out electrical and planning what we'll be doing. We visited IKEA and discovered a sink and countertop that we both like.

We've had two family members go in to the hospital and then come out again. One has answers, the other doesn't. Our minds are occupied with family health and well-being. So, understandably, the house plays second fiddle.

Jessica's belly is finally making it's debut. She's entering week 15, and all is well in that department. Photos may be coming soon. Maybe.

Goodbye kitchen!

Dan and Andy went bananas on the kitchen on Thursday night and took a sledgehammer to the cheap laminate counters. How satisfying to watch those silly cabinets come out one by one!

Dan ended up taking some home for his garage (now we know where we can visit our previous kitchen if ever nostalgia sets in). The rest are waiting, waiting, in the basement.

We found good and bad surprises under the rubble. The bonus were about 12 dole fruit cups and a hearty and functioning Stanley thermos. The worst was that what we thought were two layers of linoleum under the kitchen floor turns out to be about 6 layers. It amounts to nearly an inch of pure linoleum layers. As you may have read, we tested for asbestos in the upper two layers, but these news finds are a mystery. To leave it or to rip it out...that is the question...

We had several quotes in the past few days. A structural engineer came by and must have read "SUCKER" on our foreheads because he gave us the most outrageous and insulting quote we've heard. But to make the world better again, an HVAC guy came by who seemed totally decent and I hope it works out. Andy's dancing the tango with the permitting office and we'll see how far we get this week.

Moving forward, at last!

Kudos to Andy. We'd be lost without him. Okay, to be more specific, Pili and Jessica would be lost.

We spent time in this past week crafting a construction schedule that works backwards from a September 1 end date. When we shared this plan with our experienced and talented friend, Kimber, she scoffed. "More like September 31," she replied. Well, we are optimists, and so we'll use that date as a guidepost. With this schedule, we'll be cranking along with all the work ahead of us.

This week has been a big prep week - calling contractors for bids, visiting the permitting office, visiting the Oakland Tool Lending Library, and getting mentally prepared for demo. Gratefully, Dan and Annie are stopping in tonight after work to help us tear down the c

abinets and other finishings. Yay for friends! Who's coming over next?

We broke bread in our house for the first time last night with Adam and Eliza. With two fuzzy beasts wrestling each other up and down the empty r

ooms, we made a little Burmese food picnic and ate off plastic sporks acquired from the local Chevron station. It was a sign of good things to come. Delicious food despite our circumstances!

Today we have a structural engineer stopping in for a consultation to draw up plans for the

structural changes that need to happen in the basement. And the fun begins...

Weeks One & Two

We established early on that Andy would be the master director. Jessica, due to impending baby-ness and inability to understand space and time, would scout out new materials and interior design. Our renovation is loosely grouped in three stages. The initial stage will consist of ripping out and replacing the flooring in the bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen, and refinishing the dining room and living room. We'll tear out and re-do the kitchen and bathroom, and then take care of basic structural issues (seismic retrofits, foundation improvements, etc.) and HVAC.

Later stages will likely include refinishing the basement to ma

ke it a livable space, and the final stage would be a more major renovation of the main floor that would increase the square footage and add another bathroom. These renovations will likely not happen for many years, if at all.

We will be lucky to move in to the house by the end of the summer, and in the meantime we are staying with Jessica's very generous and accommodating parents.

With the renovation, we expect the unexpected. This was confirmed in nearly the very

first task. After ripping out the carpet in the bedrooms, and starting in on the linoleum in th

e kitchen, Andy reads about linoleum that was laid before the 70's - there is a high probability of asbestos. So...our first delay. We send samples to a lab and move on to some more prep work.

Andy makes several appointments with contractors and seismic experts to get a sense of the road ahead, and to understand what work we can handle ourselves vs. the work t

hat needs an expert's hand. The meetings go great - two contractors are smitten with the little house because they see in it what we do. The house has a great mix of original craftsman features but a lot of natural light. The location is a.ma.zing and the previous owners haven't messed things up too badly over the 100 year life of the house - renovation will be fairly straight-forward and simple. The most bizarre contractor, so far, showed up for less than 15 minutes, guided us to a website about the Hayward fault, and then left without saying good-bye, handing us a card, handing us a quote, or indicating any follow-up. We were speechless when we saw him drive away in his car. I guess he didn't really want our business after all.

Next up, a construction schedule, posts in the basement, and taking a sledgehammer to the chimney. Yeah!

Introducing the Palm House

We bought a house!

This little house is a classic Craftsman Bungalow or California Bungalow, built in 1912, and located on the outskirts of the Rockridge neighborhood in Oakland, CA. Its 986 square feet is full of promise, sunlight, and potential. We named it the Palm House after the 40 foot palm tree that acts as a beacon to our home when walking through the neighborhood. We hope to chronicle our journey to making this house our home with this blog.

Jessica found the house on an internet search in late April 2010. The dutiful parents they are, Mila and Larry went the very next day to the open house and called us that evening to say, "we may have something here..." The previous owners were in bankruptcy and they wanted to sell the property quickly. That, combined with the fact that their real estate agent did a sad job of staging and showing the house, meant that we had little competition with our offer. Our offer was accepted in less than a week and we quickly moved into inspections. Andy and Jessica hopped on a last-minute plane to see the house the very first weekend, and with the combined eyeballs of family and many friends, we gave this crazy project the green light.

In the meantime, back in Chicago (where A+J were living at the time), life was tumultuous. We were moving out of our house on May 13, and in the interim Andy was tasked with finishing up grad school and graduating, and Jessica was wrapping up work. We successfully graduated and moved out of the house, and during a one week trip to Denver we signed our papers via a notary within 36 hours of getting on a plane for a 3 week vacation to Peru.

During our time in Denver, we began to suspect that Jessica may be pregnant. Three positive pregnancy tests later, we began to believe our suspicions. Peru was a stunning vacation, but we were anxious to get home and start our lives as expecting parents and new homeowners. As life would have it, things were not so simple.

After about a week back in the states, Jessica's beloved grandmother Shirley passed away after a long and beautiful 90 years on this earth. A whirlwind trip to New Jersey for the funeral, and finally, finally, we were back in the Bay.