Chicago Duplex Down Rehab

Once Oct 1 came around, I knew it was time to take care of any last minute jobs that required outdoor work. Derek has been helping Eric stain/varnish all 12 wood windows (3 + 5 + 4). Here's a shot of the 2nd floor work. Hopefully we'll have the trim in the house next week, get some of it finished before install. There's Sabine, one of our cats. doing nothing as usual.

After much shopping, debate, estimates, etc. Eric and I found a 5/8" mosaic marble at Designer Stone Outlet on California that caught our eye. Its being used for both the entrance and fireplace surround. Since the tile is substantially thick, Eric got a suggestion from another tiler to bring the tile right to the edge, giving it a continuous look. We look at cultured stone (imitation stacked slate, etc.), which was nice, but didn't seem to fit in right. I think if the fireplace itself were larger and woodburning, that might have been a better choice, but this is more of a inset TV nook than a fireplace. :) We picked up another laborer to help Eric with the finishing items, particularly the stain/varnish of the windows. Most of the trim will be coming from Wood World and some from Owl Lumber. This is the front entrance and inside 1st floor. The border is onyx. This is the completely stripped pine door we'll be using for 1st floor bedroom closet. Now that the basement ha...

AB Bogdan Flooring came in and put down the red oak flooring. Very nice. It has a double-band mahogany border, and ' Ipswich pine' stain. After some tile work , the doors and trim are up next.

The crew (Eric, Stewart, and now Ken) pulled out the old doors, door jambs, and trim that have been in the garage all winter for stripping. We're keeping the four 84" tall doors (standard door is 80" now), all of which are pine. They'll be used at the entrance and 1st floor bedroom and bathroom. Eric has them pulling the old lacquer off with Citristrip rather than a nasty paint stripper (if you've ever smelt paint stripper, don't!)

I know you've seen something like this outside the MCA before.. I call it 'Chaos and Progress'. Doesn't it look put together with photoshop? it's all real, i'm not kidding. Even the stair steps.

The stark white walls with sunlight make it heavenly! Reminds me of the George Burns film, 'Dear God' from late 70's. I don't think they had movies for kids back then (that i recall), I remember movies like 'High Anxiety', 'Dear God', 'Star Wars' (of course), 'Jaws', 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', and 'Superman' at the Menlo Park Mall theatre in NJ. I digress... Eric and Stewart tried the spray gun on my recommendation for the first day, it worked but was really a pain in the butt, from what I hear. They switched to ol' roller and brush for the remainder of the job. I have to pick up some entrance and fireplace tile today so we can get the floors going.

Stewart is back on the job with Eric. One of his first tasks was to acid (mild solution) wash the exposed brick walls in the utility room. After that the entire place is getting a coat of paint primer while its easy to do so. They'll also paint the ceilings before anything else is installed (flooring, trim, etc.)