The awning has finally been taken down! I have been waiting to see the house sans-awning since day one...
I hope that nobody gets the wrong idea now that our delicatessen sign is much more visible. In this vegetarian household, there would be more than a few disappointed customers.
The weather this week was also favorable for installing some of the new windows:
There are going to be three additional windows on the first level. The first will be where you see the glass block. The other two windows will be added in this section, below...
This week's Drama...
The guys arrived early one morning to find a pile of bricks in the street next to the house. One of the chimneys on our roof collapsed. There are several chimneys that were to be removed when the roof gets redone. Since gutting the house, they were left unsupported. In addition, the chimneys would get in the way of the rooftop decks. The picture below shows the damage it did on the interior of the house. All of the chimneys are now gone to prevent this from happening again.
(where the wood beam has buckled)
We have been ordering many flooring samples online and are trying to come to a decision soon. We both like dark bamboo floors best and have found one online for $1.99/sq.ft.
But, I have a few concerns. I was told that bamboo is manufactured to be harder than oak flooring. This made me confident in its durability, at first, but then I ordered the samples and they seem to scratch so easily. This would be a bigger issue with the dark floors because the scratches reveal a natural, yellowish color underneath. They would be VERY noticeable. I don't want to have a house where everyone has to take their shoes off to come in and I don't want to be paranoid to move furniture around. I have read a few horror stories online but the consumer report gives them a very high rating and I've read plenty of positive reviews also. It may be possible that different companies manufacture their floors differently so maybe it is a problem for some and not all.
If anyone has had any experience with bamboo floors please report your findings. We did find one solid oak floor that is within our budget so we may consider that one as well. I do enjoy the eco-friendliness of the bamboo floors, though.
We just recently installed new bamboo floors in our rowhouse (Feb). We originally liked the very dark stained bamboo but when we ordered the samples, we had the same concern. We have a 60lb. Boxer and knew we could not live with seeing all the scratches like that. We settled with, and LOVE, the carbonized bamboo. Because the carbonization process heats up the natural sugars in the bamboo turning them brown, if/when it is scratched, there is no 'yellow' color revealed like the dark stain that is topically applied. We have definitely worn in our floors with the dog, but you only notice the scratched if the light hits it a certain way- they still look great and we're really happy with the variations in the brown tones!
ReplyDeleteWe ordered ours from iFloor. We've ordered flooring from them in the past and have been very happy with their prices, service, and products. (we got our bamboo on sale for $1.49/sf and with freight costs it totaled about $2/sf- still a great price)
The carbonized sounds good, but solid oak flooring with the right stain is something that is classic, will always look good, and can easily be refinished if the need arises. Personally, I love oak floors stained a dark brown.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it is good that you already shored up the roof prior to the collapse. It probably helped avoid even more damage to the roof.
ReplyDeleteAs for your rooftop deck, do you need to increase the size of any of your roof joists to handle the load? I'm surprised that 2x4"s are enough to handle the load.
The deck will be supported by vertical posts coming up through the roof that run down alongside the inside of the walls next to the interior studs. Then we will run beams and joists off of these posts to support the deck. There won't be any part of the deck being supported by the 2x4 roof joists... and hopefully no more things tumbling off the roof, ever.
ReplyDelete