So it’s more of the same, really.

As we removed the paint, we noticed that the stones needed mortar (re-mortared? is that a word?). Anyway, the appropriate mixture was made (light on the cement, heavy on the lime) so that it won’t dry too hard and damage the stone. The color mixture is a little tricky, but I think ours turned out pretty well.

The cornice got a second coat of paint (matte black, oil based), and it’s looking mighty fine, if I do say so myself.

The biggest thing that happened is half of the scaffolding came down. Continue reading →

(yes this is a bit late, since it’s almost week 3, but better late than never, yes?)

It’s been a hot summer in New York. It’s humid and gross and the simple act of blinking triggers a massive amount of sweat. While I’ve spent the week toiling away in air conditioned office, the hubs has been hanging off front of the house doing all sorts of amazing work.

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Week 1 of the façade project is coming to an end. It still feels slightly unreal that we are tackling this. We’ve known for several years that we would need to do something about our façade, not just because of the ugly pink, but because the ugly pink was actually the wrong kind paint (regular paint, not masonry paint) and it was causing damage to the brownstone. Continue reading →

Today was the start of A Big Project. We’ve been talking about this one for a while, and it really needs to happen. So in order to actually make it happen, this thing showed up today: Continue reading →

Things have been very quiet here on the blog. This usually means that life is getting in the way of house projects – and while this has been the case for the past several months, we are coming back full tilt. Prepping for a massive project this weekend, one that we have been meaning to do for years now, and finally (finally!) getting to it.

Here is the calm before the storm… Continue reading →

Not that long ago, I had the chance to contribute my 2 cents to an article about the historic row houses of Bed Stuy (and the wholesale modernization that is landing irreplaceable woodwork into dumpsters). You can read it here. Continue reading →

You know that feeling when one of the items of your bucket list is soon to be no-more?

By now you probably figured out that architectural salvage is my kryptonite. I suppose I came by honestly, a child of parents who built a house with lots of old parts and who still have unused stained glass doors stashed in the garage.  While my parents are reasonable people and have a few items stashed away, I’m know to be a bit more, uh… impulsive or even hoard-y.

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