The Gibbons House

Rooftop Deck

2011-06-29T21:46:00.000-04:00

In the Fall, we had a posting about the building of our deck. Here is an update... a look at the completed deck and miscellaneous outdoor projects.

Sam stained the railings with Olympic Maximum Tinted Waterproof Sealant in shade: Canyon Brown, from Lowes.
Rumor is: the darker the stain, the more sun resistant it is. That's not our only reason for picking a darker stain but it should help, since the sun in Baltimore is brutal. Bleached, brittle, grey rooftop decks are a common site around the city- a sure sign that we will have to re-apply periodically or the sun will get the best of us, regardless!

Just like the clock in our previous post, these vintage dinette chairs belonged to my Great Uncle Matt.

A little old, a little rusty.. but a lot of potential. I disassembled each chair, sanded and spray-painted the pieces. The seat was simple to upholster but since it was going to be outdoors, I used a water-proof fabric and placed a thin sheet of vinyl over that.

This next chair, we purchased at Ikea some years ago and was looking very weathered. I discovered rub-on stain (it was on sale at JoAnn's) which was very easy and not messy at all.

an instant improvement...

a view of Baltimore's skyline and a few more neighborhood roof decks

Spring Projects

2011-06-04T12:59:00.002-04:00

Ever since the weather began to warm up, we have been doing projects every weekend. It is time for the blog to start catching up with us...

Clock

This clock belonged to my great Uncle Matt, who has been very missed since he passed away last July. There were several items that we have from him and his house that we are excited about refinishing and using in our home. This clock is the smallest of the items and the first one Sam tackled.

There is no "before" picture, unfortunately, but this is one I found online that was similar:

Sam replaced the original clock face with a slightly larger, battery operated clock (purchased at Ikea). Then, painted it white.

Mirror

We spent a long time without a mirror in the second floor shared bathroom. Most mirrors that I liked the size and simplicity of were in the $300-$500 range. In early spring, we were walking in Fells when I saw a refurbished, vintage mirror at Stony Run Home that was $150. I thought that was the one... Sam thought that he could do better.
He came home an starting building this monstrosity of a mirror:

It measures approximately 3' x 4', is made of solid wood and painted dark brown. It is similar to the mirror that we did see but nothing beats a custom job! Plus, the total cost came in well under $100.

Happiest Holidays!

2011-01-07T13:58:00.003-05:00

We were very excited this year to have a real house and be able to get our first real-sized Christmas tree! We did imagine driving to the county and, amidst Christmas carolers, cinnamon donuts and the smell of hot apple cider, cutting down our own tree with our neighbors. Well, we all lead busy lives and... we bought ours already cut and wrapped at the Home Depot. It turned out to be a great tree nonetheless...

In addition to the tree, we picked up a few strings of white lights.

We didn't have many ornaments to start with, so we made a trip to Crate and Barrel and hit the Christmas jackpot. We bought cranberry garland, a star tree-topper, and a bunch of ornaments. Here are a few of my favorite ornaments...

Also, to help add to our humble collection, Sam and I agreed to make each other a Christmas ornament as part of our gift exchange.

This is the one I made Sam... for obvious reasons :)

Sam made me a Ginger Cat Elf. so cute.

This little angel was a gift from our friends (and Bank Street neighbors!) Chris and Jess...

As for the rest of the house, we didn't purchase any new decorations. We still really like our old thrift store finds from years' past.

Most of you will remember Santa and the reindeer... considering we had them on display 365 days a year at our old rental :)

Cards on Display...

Pine Cones, Ceramic Trees and, the very necessary, homemade Cookie Assortment

Our outdoor decorations were pretty simple too. We found these snowflake lights and the red paper star at Ikea. The fresh Wreath was purchased at the same time as our tree and lights, at the Home Depot.

Sam and I really enjoyed having the house decorated. So much so that we haven't taken one thing down or put anything away yet. There is something so warm and homey about Christmas... even when the tree has lost the majority of its pine needles and has seen way better days. I know that clean-up day will have to come soon but we can at least say that we really enjoyed, and had a very memorable, first Christmas in our home!

Sam and I even hosted a quick, last-minute holiday party with a few of our friends before the majority of us traveled to see our families...

We hope that everyone had an enjoyable Holiday season! It was a great first one at the Gibbons House!

Productive Weekend

2010-12-07T23:01:00.000-05:00

This weekend was a very productive one in the Gibbons house. It is amazing how much housework can be accomplished when (1) We stay in town for an entire weekend and, (2) Ohio State doesn't play a football game on Saturday.

Here's a picture of our two biggest improvements:

We painted the living room Behr Classic Silver and, more importantly, we finally replaced our cardboard window treatments with real blinds.

We also found the time Saturday to enter a photo competition...

If you recall, we purchased all of our bamboo flooring from Ambient Flooring. In mid-November, Ambient announced a photo competition asking contestants to take pictures anywhere there is ambient flooring in their homes. Sam and I snapped a few shots on Saturday afternoon, sent them in and won third place! I'm not sure yet if they plan on using the photos for their website, or not. If so, there is a possibility they will send a professional photographer to take a few more (better) pictures. That would be very exciting but, if not, we still have a promise from Harper to come and take some great pictures for us one day :)

Here are a few of the photos that we submitted:

Finally, we did some Holiday decorating this weekend too. But, I haven't blogged for weeks so I need to save something else for a rainy, or possibly a snowy, day.

Some Curb (and Roof) Appeal

2010-10-26T21:47:00.000-04:00

Time for a little curb appeal...

The blind in the front window is a definite improvement over the brown paper bags. We ordered it online from www.selectblinds.com and are really happy with it. The way it was made/mounted we are able to still have privacy but allow light to come inside.

And, finally, a door!

I have blogged about Crestview Doors in the past, when we ordered the kit for the front door. Sam installed them in the flush steel door and they really look great. Huge improvement! It was exactly want I wanted... but couldn't find at a reasonable cost. This custom kit was the perfect option.

Here's what it looks like from the inside:

We still want to paint the door (inside and outside) and get a new door handle.

Up on the roof...

The deck has been finished for a few weeks but I haven't posted any pictures yet.

Sam used composite decking for the floor but then built the railings with treated lumbar. We have plans to stain the railings soon.

The Great Outdoors

2010-09-18T11:03:00.000-04:00

After months of working inside, we have finally started tackling some outdoor projects. I will be the first to admit, it never seemed like we'd get to this point!

First, the garage.
This is going to save us a lot of stress! If you are driving home to Fells, glance at the clock and it's after 6:00, your palms get sweaty, your heart rate goes up and you hope that luck is on your side... you need to find a parking spot.

We had to let the concrete dry for 48 hours before we drove on it. We spent that entire time hoping and praying that our car would fit. It does.

Next project: Deck

We had the framework for the deck built. The plan is for Sam and his dad to finish the rest next week. We are going to use tech-wood after seeing how brutal the sun can be to roof top decks in the city.

The final, but biggest, project that we started this past week: Painting.

We used a Home Depot Behr Paint + Primer Ultra Exterior satin. The shade is "Dark Cavern."

It was difficult reaching the 3rd floor so Sam opted to paint from the roof.

The best part about working on the exterior is that the neighborhood really cheers you on. We met a few more of our neighbors and everyone who passed had something really nice and encouraging to say about our progress.

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

Cole Joshua Gibbons

2010-08-31T20:52:00.000-04:00

The Gibbons House in New Jersey just got a little cuter!

My brother-in-law, Josh, and sister-in-law, Nezie, brought home the most adorable baby boy on Friday (dressed in full-on Ohio State gear). Cole Joshua Gibbons was born on Tuesday, August 24th and I couldn't wait to meet him! We went to visit Friday night and, needless to say, I am absolutely in love with him and really excited to be an aunt!

with Mommy

with Uncle Sam

with Daddy

Aunt Lori

And don't think that we got away with a weekend sans renovations. Sam and Josh finished up Cole's nursery on Saturday. Josh had finished all of the painting previously but the guys still needed to mount the chair rail. Mystery of the miter box...solved.

Stairs, Part 2 and 3...

2010-08-27T14:09:00.000-04:00

I've noticed that many things get lost or misplaced during a move. This was the case with my camera USB cord. So, while I have continued to take photos of our progress, I've been unable to post them. I ordered a new one online and, we're back!

There has been a lot to blog about in the last couple of weeks but, I suppose I will just start where I left off. One major development has been the (relative) completion of our staircase. If you recall, we've had the stringers for quite some time but had temporary treads on them during construction:Stairs, Part 1

With such large, industrial looking stringers, we really couldn't buy the standard 1" treads at home depot. Henry had the treads cut at a mill. We decided on poplar wood, 1 3/4" thick with a square edge. They came back pretty rough:

It took about a day to sand and cut all of the treads down

After they were placed and screwed on we covered them immediately with cardboard. Because they are raw from the mill, the wood hasn't been dried in a kiln and we have to let them rest for a while before we stain and/or varnish them. We really don't want to get any footprints on them or else we would have to sand them another time.

Then, the railings were installed...

...and the banisters upstairs that match

We are very, very happy with how it all turned out. Thank you so much to Tom who fabricated the custom stairs and railings. I will have his information available soon but if anyone was interested in contacting him, please just send me an email.

I look forward to blogging again and keeping everyone up-to-date!

Moving Day

2010-08-08T13:14:00.000-04:00

The day that we have been anticipating for a very long time finally came. Because we had to be out of our rental, we moved everything over to the house yesterday. We would have preferred to have the house 100% finished before we started loading all our things in there but, since when do things go according to plan anyway?

Two things you learn when you move:

(1) You always have more stuff than you think you do

(2) How great your friends are!

Sam and I really thought that we would be able to do everything on our own but we have a few very ambitious friends who texted us at 9:30 am that they were "on their way to our house to move." We even tried to kick them out after we finished with the heavy stuff and they refused to leave. Thank you Bill, Mike, Chris, Jess and Glenn! We can't thank you enough. Although nothing says "Thanks!" more than a selection, or two, from the tub o' fun at Spirits Tavern so consider this your I.O.U.

Goodbye, Duker Court...

We had a good 4 years but we are ready to move on :)

Countdown

2010-07-30T17:24:00.007-04:00

3...2...1... 7...

If you saw the original countdown, you know that tomorrow (July 31) was our target move-in date. Absolutely NOT happening. But, we are getting booted from our rental Aug. 7th so that is our new move-in date... ready, or not.

There has been a lot going on in the house: most of the light fixtures are mounted, sinks and toilets are in, kitchen appliances are hooked up, the moulding and tile work is close to finished.

My favorite lights are these pendants hanging over the kitchen peninsula. We ordered them from AllModernLighting.com

(That is a tag that we left on. That's how classy we are)

We bought a handful of light fixtures from AllModernLighting.com and LightingDirect.com. Both had a really good selection and free (really quick) shipping. At Lighting Direct, promo code SPRING10 gets you 10% off.

Here is another pendant light (this one is from Ikea) and a peek at our custom railing. The railing for the stairs will be similar and should be getting installed soon.

Here are some updated tile pics...

This is the 3rd floor shower. We are still waiting for the wall tile to come from BuyTile.com. While they have a good selection, I don't recommend using this website...we ordered the tile over 2 weeks ago and it just shipped yesterday. Also, they aren't very good at keeping you updated on the status of your order. It would probably be fine if you don't wait until the last minute to order what you need (cough, sigh).

This is the 2nd floor shower. I think it turned out well... I like having something here that is completely unexpected.

And, I am sure you all remember the sink cabinet that Sam built back in March (Sam's Sink). Well, he didn't stop there. We purchased another sink from Ikea last week and, in record time, Sam built a second custom cabinet. They both look really great:

This first one went in the 2nd floor, master bath.

This is the one Sam built this past week. It's in the 3rd floor, master bath.

Many of the other changes are difficult to get pictures of. It's either because they get covered up with paper or plastic so quickly or because it's detail/finishing work that you just have to see in person to appreciate. Nevertheless, I will try my best to keep posting photos! Thank you everyone for hanging in there with us, we are getting very close.

Kitchen Countertops

2010-07-22T23:01:00.000-04:00

Wednesday morning, LUKE WORKS came to install the countertops. They took about 3 weeks to fabricate at their studio, here in Baltimore. They look amazing and exceeded my (already very high) expectations!

This L-shaped section weighed 500 lbs.

Closer to Home

2010-07-19T20:55:00.003-04:00

We came back from the beach and were welcomed home with some new additions...

A Transom

Shower Wall Tiles

Interior Doors

Steps to the (Future) Deck and Door

Moulding

Things keeping us busy since we've been back...

We placed an order for this 4x16 matte grey tile. To make sure that the size would look good in our 3rd floor shower, I cut out paper replicas and taped them up in the shower in a few different patterns. This seemed silly at first but turned out to be very helpful. We were originally planning on 3x6 grey subway tile but this little exercise convinced us that we could get a similar, yet more unique look, with this tile.

Lots, and Lots, of Painting:

(Dad Gibbons)

We've been putting doors and drawers on/in the Kitchen Cabinets so that they will be fully assembled and ready for the countertop install on Wednesday morning:

A few things on our TO DO list this week...

more painting

order flooring for the laundry room area

pick up transition pieces to match our floor

pick up our washer and dryer

look at, and hopefully decide on, bathroom sinks

start to look at/pick out light fixtures

and

Mad Men, season premiere

Floor Installation

2010-07-14T22:56:00.008-04:00

When the UPS man was nearing our home he called and politely asked, "Do you have ANY idea what you are getting today?!" I became a little nervous. What I expected were bamboo floors. What we received were 3 large pallets and 6,000 lbs. of bamboo floors.

Here's a look at some of the boxes after they were separated and opened.

And, a close up... to refresh your memory.

The guys started in the back bedroom on the second floor...

Here are a few more pictures of various places in the house. Some of the spots were completely covered with protective paper before I could snap a photo. Nevertheless, it is proof that our floors are in.

We've been spending all week at the beach with our family and taking some nice deep breaths of salty sea air. It's been great to get away but, of course, not all of our house responsibilities have ceased.

(Bethany Beach, DE)

This week, our contractor is planning on finishing all of the moulding throughout the house, getting as much of the tile work in the bathroom showers done as possible and installing the interior doors.

Our responsibility this week is to order the last bit of tile that we need. We didn't mean to procrastinate, it's just difficult making the decision for 2 big reasons:

(1) being worried that what looks good in your head will actually look good in real life... especially, since the bathrooms involve combinations of different tile.

(2) being this far into a project and constantly looking for a way to save a few pennies (without sacrificing quality). Seeking out that "great deal" sometimes takes longer than you think.

It may be the salt in the air, the ocean breezes and our current state of relaxation, but check out this tile that we ordered yesterday, from modwalls.com:

It's just slightly different from the black/grey/white color scheme (check it out) that we've been pretty consistent with! We will just have to all wait and see...

We also placed an order for our front door window kit. Hint: it isn't the one with the 3 square windows. (door options)

Be prepared for a rally since we need to be out of our rental soon! I am looking forward to seeing all of the progress when we get back in town. Plus, Wednesday should be a big day because our countertops are scheduled to be installed.

Summer!

2010-06-21T22:52:00.002-04:00

We haven't had much to blog about lately but today, on this first day of Summer, the sweet smell of progress is in the air!

All of the kitchen cabinets have been put together and, rather than using the plastic legs that came with them, Sam and Chris built wooden bases.

The tile was laid in the three full bathrooms and is waiting to be grouted. We chose grout colors that correspond to the tile colors and 1/8" joint sizes to make the finished floor look as seamless as possible.

The front and side doors have been installed. Because we couldn't find a single exterior door that we liked, we decided to get a solid door and modify it using a Crestview Doors custom kit. This will be much more cost effective than having a door custom made. We had Lowes give us a quote on our ideal door and it was $5,000- 6,000 and would take 6-8 weeks. Really? A door? What I find hilarious is that almost every home in my parents' midwestern neighborhood has had a mid-century modern style door at one time. Many homes, including theirs, are still sporting one. But, for us to find one has been a real struggle.

The side door and the front door, installed.

Here are some of the options that we are considering:

Prime Time

2010-06-08T23:00:00.005-04:00

Ikea delivered our cabinets and some appliances on Saturday and now we have even more boxes. Add that to our boxes of tile and to our hardwood floors, still waiting in storage. Sam and I aren't the only things patiently awaiting their move in date.

We should be able to start assembling the cabinets once we finish priming and painting the kitchen so, get those allen wrenches ready. I am making a promise to myself (and, mostly, to Sam) that I will read each and every line of the directions... and take my time. I think this will be the key to stress-free assembly and a stress-free husband.

The good news is that were able to start priming on Monday and hope to be finished by the end of the week.

While Team Gibbons recorded some minor victories this week, the spotlight belongs to the Baltimore Orioles who, on Sunday, managed to win their 16th game and end a 10-game losing streak. Despite hosting a strugging team, Camden Yards is a great place to watch a baseball game. We have been to a handful of games already this season; Here are a few pics:

Camden Yards was the first of the "retro" style major league ballparks to be built. It opened on April 6, 1992 when the Orioles hosted the Cleveland Indians (Go Tribe!). Cleveland fans, how about this fun fact: The Baltimore Orioles moved from St. Louis in 1954, where they were originally called the St. Louis Browns. Baltimore: you just can't help yourself, can you?

Our part in Orioles History:

On April 12, 2010, we were among the 9,129 fans in attendance at this record setting game. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-04-14

Not a ticket stub I think I need to hold on to.

Shopping Sprees

2010-05-30T11:05:00.004-04:00

There isn't much at the house to blog about this week. The walls are still in the process of being finished. Here are a few pictures of that:

Sam and I, however, have been making a lot of purchases. We will be ready for those, hopefully not-so-distant days, when it is time to prime/paint and install the kitchen, floors and tile.

Our floors have been patiently waiting in storage and Ikea should be delivering our kitchen any day now (it was due last Monday). A bunch of our tile came in and we picked it up from Chesapeake Tile, in Federal Hill, on Friday.

I may have mentioned this quickly in a previous post but, Chesapeake Tile is an amazing place to find tile. Mitch and Lauren are great and can help you find the perfect tile that fits your budget... which, judging by the showroom, may (for some people) be $300 per square foot. Luckily, if you are looking to spend more like $5-10 per square foot, they still have plenty to choose from. We were getting bored with Home Depot's selection of tile which is why we chose to look elsewhere. I was very hesitant to go into a specialty store but was happy to find a very relaxed and non-intimidating environment there.

I guess I can give you a sneak peak of some of our bathroom tile...

First Floor, half bathroom:

As you may recall...

Second Floor, communal bath:

Second Floor, Bedroom:

Third Floor, Bedroom:

In addition to the tiles, yesterday we purchased a dishwasher, washer and dryer. Let me just say, after all of the things I have bought for this house, the washer and dryer is what really made me feel like a grown-up. About time... 30 is just around the corner (duh,duh,dum).

We went to the Sears outlet in Perry Hall and got an amazing deal. Sure, a dent or two. Both the washer and dryer were reduced, then 50% off, then an additional 10% of for Memorial Day. The dryer alone was originally $1500 and we got both for $1000.

Aren't they pretty? At the very least, they have a multitude of buttons, lights and dials. They are the Whirlpool Duet. After reading a million-and-one epinions about front-loading washers, I have come to the realization that I will either absolutely love this or despise this.

Dry Basement and Dry-Wall

2010-05-19T20:10:00.009-04:00

We avoided addressing our basement issues for as long as possible but, about 2 weeks ago, we had to give up and give in. We had a lot of water that our sump pump just wasn't able to get rid of. There were several attempts to fix it before we were advised to get a French drain installed. To install this kind of drain, the perimeter of the basement floor is jackhammered down to the footing and the cement is removed. A layer of stone is laid down, and the drain is laid on top of it. Water is collected from the basement wall floor joint as it enters, and a sump pump is installed to pump the water out of the house and away from the foundation.

Once completed, the area is cemented over leaving only a gap around the perimeter. The gap exists in order to allow water in from the basement walls.

The entrance to the basement from the street

Most of the basement is only 5 feet high. There is a section in the back, about 6 feet high, where there will be an area built to house our HVAC units.

Here is a close up of the pebbles lining the perimeter of the basement.

I am happy to say that the French drain system has worked and our basement has been staying dry... even through the last few thunder storms.

I am also pleased to report that we have hit a major milestone this past weekend... drywall!

The house looks a little messy but here are some pictures of what it looks like with walls:

On our agenda:

Tomorrow: finish ordering all of the bathroom tile

Friday-Sunday: Beach!

Monday: Ikea delivery (kitchen cabinets and appliances)

Next week: We will be able to begin priming as soon as the walls are finished.

Kitchen Plans

2010-05-02T14:57:00.005-04:00

I clocked about 8 hours at Ikea this week and Sam, even more. We set out to design our kitchen while they were having a 20% off sale (ends today). It was a little stressful only because, although they answered all of our questions, the design is ultimately the customer's responsibility. So, we plugged everything into the computer checking, and then double checking, that cabinets will fit, drawers and doors will be able to function, and that the arrangement will ultimately look good.
Friday night we left feeling drained, but pleased, with our purchases. We ended up buying all of our base cabinets and a few of our appliances.

kitchen layout:

our color scheme:

dark cabinets

chrome handles/ accents

porcelain sink

gray countertops

white subway tile backsplash

Everything will be delivered in about 3 weeks. Lets just hope that we are ready to start assembling and installing the cabinets at that point... there needs to be drywall, floors and painting first.

Just in case you were curious about IKEA, the World's largest furniture retailer:
Ingvar Kamprad started selling matches from his bicycle as a boy in Sweden. He slowly expanded to include fish, christmas tree decorations, ballpoint pens and pencils. When his father gave him a cash reward for doing well in school, Ingvar used that money to improve his business and establish what would become IKEA... at age 17! Now he is the 11th wealthiest person in the World. Glad we could help, Ingvar.

IKEA stands for:
Ingvar Björn (first name)
Kamprad (family name)
Elmtaryd (farm he grew up on)
Agunnaryd (his home parish in south Sweden)

My favorite Ikea product: vanilla frozen yogurt, $1.

Lukeworks

2010-04-25T12:08:00.003-04:00

Back in February, I held a poll regarding countertops. It was very helpful and forced me to research many different countertop options. While granite was the most popular choice, 16% of you voted for concrete. I also voted for concrete, so concrete wins.

Last Friday, Sam and I visited the Lukeworks studio, here in Baltimore. Mark, the owner, showed us the process they use to fabricate custom concrete countertops. There seems to be no limit to what they can create. We are keeping things pretty simple ourselves. Here is the sample of what we chose:

Although Lukeworks uses white concrete, and they must add dye to make this gray shade, I like that it seems very natural. Most people, myself included, associate this shade and texture with concrete. I also think it will look great against dark cabinets and a dark floor.

The process cannot start until we install the kitchen cabinets. Once that task is completed, Mark will come and take all of the necessary measurements. It should take about 4-6 weeks from that point for them to fabricate and install the countertop. I cannot wait... I am very excited for this.

Stairs, Part 1

2010-04-16T20:17:00.001-04:00

We have been faithful Dwell magazine subscribers for the past 5+ years. So, of course our house plans include the must-have feature of all great dwell houses... an amazing, modern staircase.

We found that you can't just pick one of these off the shelves at Home Depot. Henry, as always, had a guy. We met Tom and, once we saw the type of metal work he could do, we came up with a few ideas.

Here are a few inspiration stairs we found on houzz .com :

A couple of Sam's ideas:

At the house now are the two stringers (the part of the stair that supports the treads). Tom installed them temporarily but they still need a little bit more soldering and a coat of paint.

I am looking forward to seeing them come together piece by piece.

Tiles and Tribulations

2010-04-11T21:41:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, I finally placed the order for our bamboo flooring. Right after the posting on March 22, I found out that we would be faced with additional installation costs. Because hardwood needs to be either glued or nailed, it involves extra labor costs of $3.00-$5.00 per square foot. That put us over budget so we started at square one and began looking into click-lock floors instead. We came to the same conclusion the second time: while we could find great bamboo click-lock floors, they only came in a light, natural shade. CaliBamboo made several dark, high quality, click-lock floors but they were $10.50/sq.ft. After a lot of back-and-forth and (Sam claims) talking in my sleep about floor samples, we went with our original choice, Ambient Chocolate Strand Woven Bamboo:

I felt better immediately so I am confident that we made the right decision. The last thing I want is to stress over what shoes guests are wearing in the house or be afraid to drop or move anything on the floor. There is nothing in the house that will be used more than the floor...our families helped to convince us of that last weekend in Ohio.

With that behind us, we need to move on to bathroom tile. Here are some samples that we ordered from modwalls to get an idea for sizes and colors that we might like.

The only tile I was 100% sure that I wanted in the house is Metro Hex White with Black Dot porcelain mosaic tile from Home Depot. We ordered it this afternoon to use in the first floor half-bath.

I anticipate the other baths being much more difficult because we'll need to coordinate the floor and the shower tile ...I can see some restless nights and sleep talking ahead.

This week, we are hoping to have the stairs fabricated and installed. The inspector will not go upstairs to check things out until we have real steps. Hope to have some pictures soon.

Trees in bloom on Bank St.

Daffodils at Patterson Park

Happy Spring, Everyone!

Sam's Sink

2010-03-31T21:53:00.006-04:00

The first purchase that we made for our house was a bathroom sink. We couldn't pass up that big, bright, cheap sink sitting in the "as is" section of Ikea. It was September 4th, 2009. I embarrassed Sam by making him pose for a picture...

In my defense, it was our very, very first purchase.

Fast-forward six months: Bathrooms are framed out and we are beginning to plan for floors, tile and sinks.

We needed to figure out how to utilize our already purchased sink. After searching stores and shopping online, we could not find anything that would suit our sink and/or our budget. I thought for a brief moment that we may had gotten ahead of ourselves that September afternoon... until Sam decided to set up shop in the garage and build a custom cabinet.

his plans

the framework

finished!

(Yes, we have snuggies stored in our garage)

These pictures really do not do the cabinet justice. Sam did a really amazing job! Plus, the sink + materials to build the cabinet came to under $100. We are going to use it in the back bedroom on the second floor. Our official first piece of furniture!

Bamboo Flooring

2010-03-22T21:46:00.007-04:00

Thanks for all the bamboo feedback after the last post! It is really time for us to come to a decision and order our floors soon. We are going to have the same floors throughout the house, in every room, except 3 of the bathrooms. When we were in the early stages of planning, we alloted a very small amount per square foot in our original contract so, unless we want to peel and stick our floors, we are going to need to pitch in a significant amount of money. We do want hardwood and have quickly realized how difficult it is to get a good looking, high quality floor on a budget. The biggest problem is that at any price, 1750 sq. ft. of flooring adds up very fast!

Here are the samples that we have ordered online and have found in stores.

In a previous post, I mentioned that Sam found a couple of bamboo floors for $1.99 but after putting the dark samples to the test, just saw that they scratched and dented very easily. The exception was the carbonized bamboo that Anthony bought from iFloor (I am pretty sure we have the same sample). It seemed like a great floor but it was just a little too light. We have been planning on dark floors from the beginning so, if we can afford to do so, hopefully we can stick to our plan!

Of all of the samples we ordered, Ambient Floors seemed to be, at first glance, the best quality and the most durable. This was all according to my testing methods which were: scraping it with a key, then a penny and then poking it very hard with various things I could get my hands on.

Ambient had 2 darkly stained floors that passed my tests with flying colors so I decided to take them to the house and see how they looked in the natural light:

This is strand woven bamboo. Like the carbonization process, weaving the bamboo under pressure adds a lot of strength. Bamboo of either carbonized or woven types are recommended for households with a lot of traffic, children or pets.

This is a sample of hand scraped bamboo. I believe this technique is for esthetics rather than strength.

In the natural light, the hand scraped sample looked more brownish/red and the strand woven was more of a chocolate color:

Sam was not a fan of the ridges in the hand scraped floor and we both liked the color of the strand woven better. It is still a little scary going with a dark floor but Ambient claims that they put 8 coats of finish on every type of bamboo and they come with a 30 year guarantee on the finish and lifetime structural guarantee. Spending a little more might be worth that piece of mind.

We took all of the measurements again today to double check our square footage. It should be within the next few days that we make a final decision. I really, really cannot wait until this decision is behind us! Your feedback is helpful and, as always, greatly appreciated!

Awning Gone

2010-03-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

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.

Finished Framing

2010-03-09T22:33:00.008-05:00

This past weekend, all of the framing was finished. No thanks to me... I actually delayed the process with a last minute change on the third floor bathroom. After all of the careful planning and hard work that everyone did (which I really, really appreciate), I just strolled in there and said it was too small. I felt horrible and I definitely owe the guys some brownies and/or cupcakes. So, here are the most recent pictures...

This is the second floor, front of the house. Much to my disappointment, there are not any walls in the house that are in good enough condition to keep exposed... except this section above the wooden beam...

There is still some work we will need to do to make this brick more attractive and Sam has already started work sanding and finishing the wooden beam.

Just a close up of that same beam, the other side. It is really starting to look good! Before Sam got to it, it looked like an old piece of driftwood with a lot of nails in it.

Also in this pic, you can see the hallway to the right (which leads to the back bedroom) and, to the left, is a small bedroom.

This is the back bedroom on the second floor.

Sam and I are still planning on living in the third floor bedroom and having that as our master bed/bath but we have also designed this bedroom so that it could double as a master. The framing in the center of the photo is the bathroom and, to the right (on the other side of the window), is a closet. I have a pretty interesting plan for this bathroom door that I am very excited about!

Same room, different angle.

Remember, this is the bedroom with the step-up to a platform.

This is the third floor bedroom. Towards the center of the photo is the railing along the staircase. There is a closet and a bathroom in the right, back corner.

Better view of the closet and bathroom entry. This window will eventually be a door and the access to our roof deck.

Two front windows, third floor bedroom.

You may have seen hints of plumbing in some of the pictures. The plumbing is in progress and that will be followed by the HVAC work. I will keep you updated as each of the trades come in.

A few interesting things I've discovered this week:

1. Crestview Doors

http://www.crestviewdoors.com/

Crestview doors is a website that sells kits to help you take a plain door and give it mid-century modern design. They encourage buying used doors at a second hand store to save money, and the planet. The kits are affordable and come with detailed do-it-yourself instructions. Plus, there are many designs to choose for both exterior and interior doors.

2. Second Chance

http://www.secondchanceinc.org/default.aspx

I learned about this website from a fellow Baltimore home renovation blog, Locust Point Rowhouse. They salvage items from buildings that will be demolished and sell them to the public. It looks like it might be a bit pricy but I think we will definitely check it out. With four warehouses, there may be a gem waiting there for us.

3. Baltimore Renovation Blogs
Two new blogs: "Locust Point Rowhouse" and "My Big Fat Greektown House"
Both of these are blogs about townhome renovations in Baltimore. It is interesting to see what other folks around town are doing and it is helpful as they share info about local businesses. Links to both of these sites are on the right hand side of our page. And, if you haven't already, check out our friend Harper's "bleak to chic" blog as well... she finished the major renovation on her Canton townhouse but is still making improvements.

Range Hoods?

2010-03-03T22:50:00.005-05:00

What is the deal with range hoods?

I've been asking myself this question all day.

When I began looking at kitchen designs, I thought that hoods were just a decorative element. I knew that you could turn them on if something was burning, but I really thought people just liked the way that they looked. If that's not the case why are there vintage brass ones and futuristic space age ones and some that look like fire places?

So, I began looking for one that suits our modern style. When I saw the price tag ($750 to $2,000), I began to wonder, Do I really need this? And, when I found out that installation would add another $400-$500 to the bill, I began to talk myself out of this idea altogether.

Here is what I learned...

It does seem necessary to have a range hood of some type. I found two types:

The first, that I referred to above, is attached to an exhaust duct that directs the smoke/ fumes outside of your home. These are more expensive because the size is larger and the styles tend to be more elaborate. In addition, it requires the installation of a duct system that leads outside.

The second option is a smaller, cabinet or microwave mounted hood, that recirculates the air rather than directing it out of your home. They have filters that clean the incoming smoke/fumes. These were priced from $50-$500 and have no additional installation costs.

These are likely our options...

(number one: exhaust)

(number two: recirculating, curved)

(number three: recirculating, standard)

Please, feel free to comment with thoughts or experiences. I will also post a poll so please take a second to vote!

Great Neighbor, Great Stuff

2010-02-28T13:35:00.005-05:00

We would like to introduce a neighbor who hasn't complained about our dust and noise, Church of the Holy Rosary.

These first two pictures show the view from our front door. The front of the church is actually around the corner, on S. Chester St.

The unique thing about the Church of the Holy Rosary is that since 1887, it has been an ethnic church with masses in the Polish language and tradition. Coincidentally, permission to form the parish was originally granted by Cardinal Gibbons. It's starting to sound like I have a lot in common with my neighbor... it's only a matter of time before we are sharing pierogi recipes.

For those who are curious, here is a link to their website: http://www.holyrosarypl.katolicki.eu/

According to the mass schedule, it looks like we will be waking up at 8:30 on Sunday mornings. We can already hear the church bells pretty well from our house, now, a block away.

This weekend, Sam and I did a little work ourselves at the Bank house. We have been trying to do whatever we can to pre-insulate the house. Needless to say, after 120 years, there are quite a few drafty areas... to put it nicely. In reality, there are walls that seem to dissolve at the touch and walls that might not quite reach the roof and walls that have some pretty good views to the outside world. Sam has been filling in cracks with cement and we have both been going wild with Great Stuff Foam:

About this product:

Forms a permanent weather-tight seal to minimize drafts and insect infestation.
Bonds to wood, drywall, metal, masonry, glass and most plastics.
Interior or exterior use.
Water-resistant.
Tack free in six minutes. Trims in 30 minutes.
Foam elasticity allows for movement/shifting within a structure from winter to summer.
Paintable, stainable and sandable.
Cures rigid.
Yields same as 19 to 25 quart tubes of caulk.

Basically, this stuff is pretty amazing.

There are a few options available specific to windows/doors, large holes, small cracks, etc.

It sure beats the current system at the house we rent: plastic Target bags shoved in the spaces around the doors and windows. If this is also your current system, I would recommend you purchase a can for $5.00. Here are our tips: 1. wear gloves. 2. it comes off with nail polish remover and a scouring pad and a lot of effort

The framing is almost done so I will have those pictures up shortly.

It's time for UConn basketball, then to Max's for hockey... U-S-A U-S-A!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Back to Work

2010-02-22T18:59:00.003-05:00

After a week and a half hiatus, the crew should be back to work this week. The mission: to finish framing all of the rooms. The result: our house will begin to look, and feel, like a house... or a 2x4 forest. Here are a few pictures of what is framed so far...

As I walked around the house this weekend, I had feelings of excitement... and impatience! Things seemed to be moving pretty quickly up to this point but, now that the rooms are almost done being framed, I can see so much potential... and I just want to hurry, hurry, hurry! (the rent + mortgage combo isn't helping either) But, after all, haste makes waste... and patience is a virtue... etc, etc.

Sam and I were able to show our brother and sister-in-law, Josh and Nezie, around this weekend. We were like proud, beaming parents as we showed off our skeleton of a house! They will be new homeowners very soon, too... they just settled on a house in New Jersey. It will be a very exciting day for all of us when we can start visiting each other without having to sleep on a floor, air mattress, cot or couch! We are finally growing up. sigh.

Hopefully there will be more to blog about later in the week! If not, I can fill you in on a few more design ideas or another Baltimore neighborhood. Stay tuned and get excited!

Snow Days

2010-02-11T17:15:00.006-05:00

It is snow day number 2 and a half. On our list of things done: video game solving, book reading, online shopping, napping. No work... and that includes the Bank St. house. We have 3 feet of snow and nowhere to put it! Some of us had a little cabin fever last night and ventured out. Here are some pictures...

It was very peaceful walking in the middle of the street without any cars on the road

Thames Street

Arriving at the Horse You Came in On... snowmobiles parked out front

On a warmer note, the polls are closed and the results are in. For the kitchen countertop survey, there was a tie between granite and engineered stone. Following were concrete, corian and stainless steel.

GRANITE 33%

ENGINEERED STONE 33%

CONCRETE 16%

CORIAN 11%

STAINLESS STEEL 5%

LAMINATE 0%

TILE 0%

While the survey was up, a few people asked me, "What exactly is engineered stone?" To which I replied, "I have no idea." I did my research... and then I tried to make a neat, excel spreadsheet... and then I realized that Bob Villa did a better job.

Check out this website:

http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/Countertop_Options-Countertops-A1579.html

or: http://www.taunton.com/inspiredhouse/pdf/kitchencountertops.pdf

Sam and I still haven't made a decision. We voted for concrete because we like the texture and the color of natural concrete. We are planning on darker floors and darker cabinets and so we want a lighter, neutral countertop. I am concerned, though, about the installation and installation costs. Off-site fabrication sounds difficult to transport and on-site sounds messy. I am also a little concerned about the staining. It is easy to say that we will keep up with the sealing and waxing but, once every 3 months is a lot (and we do occasionally eat beets).

I guess our second vote, right now, would be for corian. This is because it is a durable, affordable option and it comes in solid colors.

If anyone has additional input, please comment! (I did change the settings so you can now comment even if you do not have a blogger account)

We would like to dedicate this blog entry to the memory of Bill Marych's car. Bill's car fell victim to the Baltimore Blizzard of 2010 when a tree fell on it. For you, Marych, a haiku:

bill's green dodge stratus,

stolen two times and once robbed,

good riddance cursed car.

Fells Point

2010-01-31T16:42:00.007-05:00

Since we spent most of the weekend in New York, we don't have many new developments with the house... or pictures. So, I thought today would be an appropriate time to begin introducing you to our neighborhood.

I'm not sure where to begin so here is wikipedia's summary:

Fells Point is a neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland, home to a variety of shops, restaurants, coffee bars, music stores, and over 120 pubs. Located on the harbor and famous for its maritime past, it now boasts the greatest concentration of pubs/bars in the city. This waterfront community is a much-visited location in Baltimore, accessible by water taxi, freeway, and several bus lines. The neighborhood has also been the home of large Polish, Irish, and Mexican-American populations throughout its history. In recent years a steadily increasing numbers of middle to upper middle income residents have moved into the area, driving up property values. Fell's Point is one of several areas in and around Baltimore that are listed on the National Register of Historic Districts, and the first one from Maryland.

Thames Street

Broadway

You might not have noticed the cobblestone street in the first picture. This is one of the charming features of Fells... and one that makes walking in heels a challenge.

The Beginning: Shipping

Fells Point was founded by William Fell in 1730 and was mainly a shipbuilding center. One of the first vessels built here was the Navy's U.S.S. Constellation in 1797. She was the first ever U.S. Navy vessel to be put to sea and the first to engage, defeat and capture an enemy ship. However, Fells became best known for producing topsail schooners.

During the War of 1812, Fell's Point built and supported dozens of privateers who preyed on British shipping. Thus, Baltimore became a principal target of the British during the war, which eventually led to the bombardment of Fort McHenry.

Fell's Point remained a shipbuilding center until the Civil War, when it could no longer accommodate larger ship designs.

The Now: Waterfront Running, Shopping, Food, Beer and Fun!

You won't see me swimming in the Patapsco but living a few blocks from it is amazing. The Waterfront Promenade extends from our house all the way to Federal Hill. It takes you through some of the best parts of town: the heart of Fells Point, Harbor East, Little Italy and the Inner Harbor. Best running path ever!

Waterfront Promenade near Harbor East

Patterson Park is only 2 blocks away from our new house. We play in social kickball and softball leagues there and have met a lot of friends that way. It's always possible to find a quiet spot to read or toss a ball around... Important when you have a concrete front yard.

So I mentioned our friends and Wikipedia mentioned the 120 pubs. No brainer. There is plenty to do and everything we love to do (movies, restaurants, art, music) is a walk or a short drive away.

There are a lot of reasons we are happy to settle in Baltimore... these are only a few. I will try to focus on different areas of Baltimore as our renovation continues!

I will leave you with a few things Fells Point is known for:

*The Horse You Came In On Saloon: last place Edgar Allen Poe was seen

*Homicide, Life on the Streets: 1990's TV series

*The Ritz Cabaret: Those who watched HBO's The Wire know this club as "Orlando's"

*Michael Phelps: Swimmer

Interested in Learning More or Viewing More Photos? Check out this Website: http://www.fellspoint.us/

This Just In! Floors!

2010-01-27T20:12:00.003-05:00

Last blog I left all of you with pictures of the house right after all of the old floors were taken out. This week, the guys have been working very hard and have finished building all of the new floors. In addition, all of the exterior walls have been framed. As usual, some pictures...

first beam

working hard on the 2nd floor

1st floor, all finished

space left for a staircase

2nd floor, back bedroom

3rd floor

We are at a pretty exciting stage because tomorrow we can start framing the internal walls. Once those are finished, we will really get a feel for the layout and be able to visualize the rooms.

Regarding the room planning, our weekend trip to Lowes and Ikea was helpful, but very overwhelming. Although any time I leave a store with a cone of vanilla soft serve, I consider that trip successful. I really think it was good for Sam and I to start looking and talking about what we like and dislike about different styles and materials. We are very fortunate that we have similar ideas of what we want our finished rooms to look like... I couldn't imagine doing this otherwise! I wonder how many home rehabs end in divorce?! Now that would be an interesting fun fact. (Meanwhile, Tiger is hoping that his rehab prevents divorce http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hios4-HK4QDWC4NTBQnxtP6ES6PQ )

So, after looking at many, many choices for countertops, floors and cabinets, Sam and I are interested in a few different options. We have been doing our research and are interested in your thoughts. I posted a survey on the right hand side of the blog... take a second to place your vote! When the polls are closed, I am hoping to blog the results and then reveal and discuss OUR vote.

Week End

2010-01-24T10:00:00.002-05:00

Today we are heading out to Lowes and Ikea so that we can start brain-storming. Henry says that one of the biggest construction hold-ups are indecisive homeowners. We need to be ready to make a lot of decisions, very quickly. Anyone who's been grocery shopping with me knows that I could easily spend 15 minutes picking out mustard... so we figure the sooner we start, the better. Today, we'll focus on possible kitchen layouts/designs and check out flooring. I will let you know how it goes but, for now, I leave you with a picture re-cap of the week...

After we tackled the kitchen floor at the beginning of the week (previous post), it was time to address the living area. The plan was to sister the existing joists until we realized that they were water damaged and had signs of extensive termite damage. All of it had to come out, leaving this beauty of a hole.

The reason that it looks so deep is because there is a "basement" in this section of the house. A new floor was built the same way that the kitchen/dining room was and now it looks just as good.

You can all guess where this story is going... ALL of the floors had to come out. At the point we have come to, this information was neither shocking nor surprising. However, the view from the first floor is!

The only other decision we made this week was to put an opening in the ceiling near the side entrance. This will create a balcony on the second floor looking down onto the first floor. Here it is framed out:

Henry and Sam came up with the idea while trying to solve a problem involving ceiling height. We thought this would make a nice, unique feature. Nice work, guys.

Kitchen Floor

2010-01-20T20:10:00.003-05:00

As the previous post mentioned, we have had quite a mess in our kitchen area. We wanted to lower the kitchen floor for 2 reasons: First, to eliminate having to step up from the dining room to the kitchen and, secondly, to make more room for cabinets and/or countertops. With the floor as it was, the windows would be very close to the ground, making it impossible to place the countertops at the right height.

Well, this is what happened...

Turns out, underneath our floor is... the ground. Also, plenty of clam shells and an unopened can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

A pipe was hit in the process causing a light, but steady, stream of water. With daily calls to the city, it took about 2 weeks to get it shut off.

Eight cement footers were poured, new joists and beams placed...

And, once the water was finally turned off, they were able to finish the new floor...

SO MUCH BETTER!!! Our future Kitchen!

And, only because Harper loves my fun facts, here is a PBR advertisement from 1911. Pabst was originally named "Best Select" then changed to "Pabst Select." The current name comes from the Blue Ribbon that they used to tie around the bottle neck, as you can see in the ad:

We found nothing like the vintage bottle above, just a skunky old can of PBR. Is it possible PBR gets better with age!? Our health insurance isn't good enough to find out :)

Plans Revealed

2010-01-09T11:00:00.005-05:00

You have all seen the bits n' pieces but I think it is time that we reveal the plans...

As you remember from the previous post, the arrangement of the load-bearing walls we found after demo was not conducive to our original plans. These are the revised plans and, as I've said before, I think they are going to work out even better than the first ones!

FIRST FLOOR

To orient everyone, the front of the house is the horizontal wall all the way to the right of the drawing.

The front door will enter into the living room. From the living room, there is a small step up to the dining room and kitchen. There will be a half bath and storage off of the kitchen.

Why a step up, you ask? Look forward to finding out in a future post. The past few days, we've been referring to the kitchen floor simply as, "The Disaster."

I cannot wait until it is fixed and "the disaster" can go back to just being Sam's Jersey Shore nickname. Jersey Shore Nickname Generator

SECOND FLOOR

There will be three bedrooms, two baths and a small sitting area on the second floor.

THIRD FLOOR

The third floor is going to be the master bedroom and bathroom.

I have to give all the credit to Sam who spent hours coming up with the perfect floor plans and then working so hard on these drawings.

Check out www.samgibbons.net to see the drawings and paintings that Sam is more well known for.

Surprises!

2010-01-06T22:47:00.004-05:00

Here are a few updated pictures of the house. It has been stripped down to the bare bones and, as you can imagine, we encountered a few surprises along the way...

Here I am sporting a dust mask on the second floor. I can't take credit for any of this work, but I did provide energy in the form of donuts! Directly behind me is one of the load-bearing walls. When we exposed this wall, and several others just like it, we soon realized that our original plans and drawings were not going to work. Surprise.

Luckily, Sam has since come up with another layout for the second floor that looks like it will be even better than the first.

On the first floor, though, we really wanted an open floorplan. So, we were slightly upset to unveil load-bearing walls that would divide the kitchen and dining room. Rather than work around them, like we will upstairs, we will demolish them. It's going to take a lot of extra labor, an engineer, and, of course, more $$$$! I think it will definately be worth it to open up the space.

Here is a photo that shows one of those walls on the first floor but also, another surprise, a fireplace in the kitchen.

As much as I would love to have a fireplace or even a brick oven in my kitchen, even I can see how impractical and expensive that would be!

Here was a happy surprise...

After the ceilings came down, we found vaulted ceilings in three of the bedroom areas. It will feel so much bigger in those rooms and the spaces will be way more interesting. If you look at the center of the photo above, through the hole in the wall... yep, that would be our neighbor's house.

And finally, this is part of the third floor space that we plan on making our master bedroom. The hole in the center is where the staircase now ascends. Those are just electrical wires hanging from the ceiling now, but we found evidence of gas lighting in the house as well.

Fun Fact: One of the first places gas lighting was sucessfully used in the United States was at Rembrant Peale's Museum In Baltimore, in 1816. And, Baltimore was actually the first American city with gas streetlights. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_lighting

Berlin is currently the city with the largest existing gas lighting network of about 44,000 lamps. Here's Sam and I in Berlin. If this wall can come down overnight, how difficult can ours be?

Sunday Funday

2010-01-03T09:30:00.005-05:00

In just a few hours, Sam and I will be sporting our Browns' jerseys and heading to the bar for what will be the last Sunday Funday of the season. It seems as though it wasn't always Fun on Sundays at 2032 Bank Street. We searched a library database of archived newspapers hoping to learn a little about our house's history...

We found applications for liquor licenses dating back to October 1902 so, it is likely that our house originally hosted a first floor bar with residential apartments upstairs. On October 1, 1903, Mr. Thomas J. Arthur applied for his liquor license and deemed 2032 Bank "The Port Arthur Saloon". There are a few accounts of him getting caught serving drinks on Sundays:

Was there any excuse for this? Let's all be honest, organized football only existed in Ohio in 1903. Baltimore wouldn't see a football team for another 44 years and it would be almost a century before they would steal, ahem buy, one. (haha, so hard to resist!) On that note, let's all be thankful for the National Football League, for NFL Sunday Ticket and for Chad, at JD's, who can legally serve us beer on Sundays!

FunFact: "Sunday Funday" is actually a Christian video game featuring a bible-carrying, skateboarding hero who fights bullies and businessmen on his way to Sunday school. Check it out Wikipedia: Sunday Funday

Chad

JD's Smokehouse Bar and Grill, Canton

Thank You...

2009-12-31T08:00:00.003-05:00

On the eve of 2010, Sam and I would like to thank a few people who we spent a lot of 2009 with! ...and, who have made this project possible.

This is our super real estate agent, Don Langhirt! Don, thanks for never giving up on the Gibbons' house search! It took a really, really long time! You were always patient with us and were always available anytime we needed anything. You were with us every step of the way and took on so many more responsibilities than were expected of you! It would have been great to have found a house that first day (well, I guess we sort of did!) but then we wouldn't have formed such a great friendship! So, even though 2032 Bank was the very first house we stepped foot into, it is alright with us that it took about a year to actually purchase it!

This is Clint Tsao, our mortgage consultant from 1st Mariner Bank. We spent a bunch of time crunching numbers with Clint. Thanks to Clint for always being available for questions and for explaining things to me over and over! We may have had one of the thickest folders at the bank, which included everything short of blood samples... but, only because Clint really tried to do everything he could to get us loan approval.

Fortunately, we get to spend a lot of 2010 with Henry Tiburzi, our contractor! We met Henry by chance one day as we were driving around Canton, with Don. It was that day he offered to help if we had any questions about houses we were looking at. When we took him up on that offer (multiple times), he didn't hesitate. Before we even purchased this house and officially hired him as our contractor, Henry had already spend many, many hours helping us. Thank you for everything, Henry! We are really excited to do this project with you because you are such a great person and friend! ...And, there is no one better for the job!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-29T19:14:00.003-05:00

Happy Holidays, Everyone! We will have some great additions to the new house thanks to Santa. Now our future house guests can look forward to Beatles Rock Band, crepes, a new TV, and many new recipes! We also got a bunch of gift cards that will really come in handy! Thank you to our friends and family for all of the generous gifts this year!!!
The demo continued while we were visiting Ohio and now most of the house is cleared out. We've had some good and some bad surprises (to be expected!) so Sam is going to meet with the architect and contractor tomorrow to work on some new floor plans. Details coming soon!
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Have a safe and happy New Year!

First Day of Demo

2009-12-21T21:15:00.006-05:00

Today was the first day of demolition. This house has been standing for over 100 years but is no match for Sam and the crew!

Inside Photos

2009-12-16T20:21:00.005-05:00

Outside Photos

2009-12-14T19:00:00.001-05:00

3 more days!

2009-12-12T12:02:00.000-05:00

After waiting 6 long months, we are very excited that Tuesday, December 15th is only 3 days away! ...our fingers are still crossed though. It feels like those last 0:08 seconds of the Browns' game Thursday night- up by 7, but the Steelers are getting the ball. We are holding our breath and hoping that there will soon be a reason to celebrate!