a barrel of this: house

We came, we saw, we cried

Posted by K Sat, 28 Jan 2006 16:45:00 GMT

So we just got back from a trip to DC to see the house, meet with contractors, and, possibly, actually close on the house but that was once again delayed but should happen in another week or so.

It all went pretty well, other than the moments of abject terror I was having randomly, thinking “what in the hell are we doing” and being convinced that we are insane. Which we probably are, doing all this (all the housebuying things say to not buy a house that needs extensive work as a first time buyer) but most of the time I am okay with the insanity and the vodka I consumed each night helped me be okay with things.

Anyway, there were a lot of good things and some bad.

Good:

- structural elements willing, I solved the kitchen dilemma and know almost exactly what to do there
- The old house numbers on the front transom are still there (yes, it is the small things) and we can restore them
- there is a cool old medicine cabinet that needs to be stripped of about 3853 layers of varnish and paint in the bathroom, but it is probably original and very cool
- the contact paper used on parts of the walls will come off easily (it is contact paper over paint over wallpaper over paint over plaster and it is all just falling right off the plaster)
- the original skylight is there, hidden under the drop ceiling, and appears to be intact and in okay shape except for the green paint
- the second floor floors are in pretty good shape. we don’t know about the first floor because of an overlay that was put on top of them and we are not sure what to do about that (try to restore the overlay, which will be hard, or remove it and hope for the best underneath)
- all the original transoms above the doors are intact
- almost all the stair newels are intact and not even painted over and we can have the three broken ones replaced or remade
- we found a great place (hi, Brass Knob Warehouse!) for fixtures, radiators, and stair newels and there is an adorable kitten who lives there who will play with you while you look around
- the tin ceiling in the bathroom might be salvageable
- the front door which is an unusual width (40”) is solid and can be kept once we do some cosmetic things
- there is a huge window in the kitchen that is hidden behind cabinets we are going to reclaim

Bad:

- there is a huge window in the kitchen that is hidden behind cabinets that we are going to reclaim and it will take up approximately 55 inches of precious wall space horizontally and approximately 32 inches vertically
- the dining room floor where the joists below are sistered poorly looks scary but we knew that already
- oh, the green paint. everywhere. except for the pink in the basement
- all the nice transoms are painted over and I forsee a lot of razor blades and Peel Away in our future
- the tile in the basement might be asbestos but we are not sure. I took a tiny sample (and later found out I need a much bigger sample for testing, sigh)
- the floor in the bathroom (which is, under the linoleum, goregous and messed up circular white tile that I would love to keep but it just can’t happen) feels a little sketchy so the joists under there probably have to be sorted out but we kind of guessed that might be the case

We met with a bunch of contractors who ran the gamut insofar as type, from design firm types to local guys who did contracting work, and they were all interesting and had interesting things to say. There are three front runners right now:

J – has a lot of experience (and prices that reflect that, from what we were told: he used to be cheaper but grew) and does nice work (we saw two places he worked on) and has good references. Very thorough and professional and we have estimates from him already. He could probably do this with his eyes closed, and had no problem with sending us pictures and is email savvy and would do well.

CJ – somewhat less experience but had some good recommendations and seemed thorough and knew what he was talking about. We are waiting on his estimate and need to call some of his references. Also says he can communicate with us via email no problem, etc.

Chips – similar to CJ… less experience but very thorough and meticulous and knew what he was talking about. Recently went off on his own to start doing this kind of work, even though he has been in the business a long time. We met with him and need to give him contact info so he can get back in the house next week and do a thorough walk through and take notes and give us an estimate. Also need to get references so we can talk to some people directly and remember how he felt about email and phone communication.

Then we have heart attacks over the prices, but that is how these things go.

Next: update our to-do list. Post pictures.