Neighborhood Pictures

Here are a few pictures we snapped of the neighborhood in October, taken from the street in front of the house. It is a cute and unexpectedly quiet street. We were surprised by how few cars and how many bikers and walkers there are. The bikers and walkers are on their way to or from the bike path entrance at the end of the street (this is the spur of the bike path that goes to Florence).


View of State Street toward bike path
entrance at end of street.

 

View of State Street toward downtown





The houses across the street




Walking to the bike path




Notice that he is still walking, with dog
and kid, in the middle of the street
...gives a sense of how little traffic
there is on this part of State Street.



Pictures Taken on a Fine Late October Day

Toward the end of October, we were busy trying to complete the exterior work ahead of winter. (Of course, with the strangely warm and relatively snowless winter, we have actually enjoyed unexpected flexibility to be able to finish the exterior work.)

New Roof

We selected Energy Star shingles, which reflect more of the sun's rays. This lowers the roof surface temperature and decreases the amount of heat that is transferred into the home. Ultimately, then, the Energy Star shingles will help keep the home cool on hot days.

Around the House Miscellany
We also took some photos of the front of the house and the yard. In the following two photos, you can see the new Pella Energy Star windows, as well as one of the contruction barriers we have maintained throughout the project to protect the front yard from damage and unnecessary soil compaction. You can also see the temporary structural supports holding up the porch roof; the original columns are being stored in the basement, awaiting deleading. The columns will ultimately be repainted and reinstalled.

In the next three photos, you can see the very back of the yard a bit closer up than in previous ("before") photos. This part of the yard gets nice shade, feels enclosed, and is a natural place for hanging out - whether on the grass, around a firepit, on a patio, etc. In these photos, you can also see a construction barrier that is protecting this area.

Rough Electrical and Plumbing Pictures

We've been told that we need to post more pictures. So we're trying to take a bite out of the backlog...

The pictures that follow were taken towards the end of October. After the structural and framing work was completed, and before the drwall went in, the rough electrical and plumbing work had to happen. The electrical work included wiring all lights and outlets, appliance locations, and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. By this point in the project, major design decisions - for example, kitchen and bathroom layouts - had to be finalized in order to move forward.


Downstairs Front Bedroom



Recessed Can Housing

Dining Room

Kitchen: Wiring for Pendant Lights
(to hang from collar ties)

Kitchen

Family Room with Recessed Can Lights



Downstairs Bathroom Vent
and Shower Light



Plumbing in Basement

In the Toilet

After an obscene amount of time spent researching low flow toilets, we finally made our toilet selections, and the toilets have now arrived. We did a significant amount of research on the new ultra low-flow toilets that flush (or have an option to flush) at .8 gallons per flush (gpf). But, in the end, we decided that there were too many complaints about these toilets to feel confident selecting them. It would be a bit vulgar to get into the details, but suffice it to say, we felt like the .8 gpf toilets need a little more R&D before we are willing to take the plunge. Ha!

So what DID we choose? For both bathrooms, we selected an attractive (as far as toilets go, anyway), tried and true Dual Flush American Standard Toilet. The #1 button gets you 1 gallon per flush and the #2 button gets you 1.6 gallons per flush. We can say without reserve that this is a great toilet! In fact, I have had this toilet myself for over two years: It works great, is easy to keep clean, and the #2 button is not even used (was that too much information?). For the downstairs bathroom, we selected a round front "right height" version of this toilet, and for the upstairs bathroom, we selected an elongated front "right height" version of the toilet. The round front toilet is a bit shorter than a typical elongated toilet, saving valuable space in the downstairs bathroom. The "right height" design (also known as comfort height or chair height) is a touch taller than a typical toilet. In this case, our toilets have a 16.5 inch rim height (versus a typical 15 to 15.5 inch rim height). This small difference makes a big difference as far as comfort goes. We also purchased nice wood seats for both toilets.

Here are the specs on the toilets we selected:

Master Bathroom - www.americanstandard-us.com/assets/documents/amstd/spec/SpecSheet_2715.pdf

Downstairs Bathroom: www.americanstandard-us.com/assets/documents/amstd/spec/SpecSheet_2715.pdf

Cute, hey?

New Years Update and Bathroom Details

Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful holiday season!

Work slowed down a bit at 234 State Street over the holidays, but of course a few things have happened since our last blog (which was quite a while ago). The trim installation is now complete, and the interior doors arrived and have been installed. We selected a white, three-panel shaker style door that goes well with the shaker style trim and will play nicely off the antique wood floors. Also, the drywall is now primed (using low VOC paint of course), and the clawfoot tub has been refinished in white, with silver feet. The yard and the basement have been cleaned up a bit, as well.

Work to refinish the existing flooring began this past week. Upstairs, the floors were sanded down to remove the brown paint, revealing rustic wood floors that are beautiful and in good shape. Downstairs, the existing flooring in the front bedroom has also been sanded down and is ready to be refinished. We had originially intended to save the remainder of the original downtairs wood floors and move them to the bedroom at the back of the house, but unfortunately, sanding them down revealed a significant number of stains that cannot be removed, so very little of this wood could be salvaged. So, we're in the market for about 100 square feet of additional salvaged wood flooring...

Meanwhile, all of the kitchen cabinets and appliances, as well as the clothes washer and dryer, have been delivered, and the kitchen cabinet uppers are now being installed. The stacked washer and dryer, which will be located in the downstairs bathroom, are Energy Star Certified, and the dryer is a condensing, ventless style, which is pretty neat.

We've also made some progress selecting the plumbing fixtures, as well as the bathroom furniture and finishes. We are going for LEED Certification points for Very High Efficiency plumbing fixtures. These are the parameters we have selected for the plumbing fixtures for this project:

• Faucets that meet the U.S. EPA Watersense specification and have a flow rate of 1.5 gallons per minute
• Showers with a flow rate of 1.5 gallons per minute
• Dual flush toilets with 1.6 gallons per flush used on the high flush option and .8 gallons per flush used on the low flush option

To date, we have purchased the bathroom shower and faucet fixtures. We are still working on our toilet, kitchen sink faucet, and clawfoot tub fixture selections. All plumbing fixtures will have a brushed or satin nickel finish.

We've made some progress on our bathroom vanity and finish selections as well. In the upstairs master bathroom, a neat old dresser is being refinished and converted into a vanity cabinet by a local business in Easthampton. An ebony stain has been selected, and the matching mirror will be constructed using leftover remnants from the barnwood floors. For the shower, we ended up selecting a round corner walk-in shower with lovely sliding glass doors. It will be a spatious corner shower that is comfortable while maintaing an open feel and good circulation in the bathroom. We have also selected the material for the exterior shower walls, a 12 inch natural travertine stone tile that has been smoothed and polished. What we liked about this tile was that its tan-brown color is somewhat neutral in tone, yet has interesting natural variation, with occasional patches of brown and dark grey. Selecting a neutral (but not boring!) shower wall tile was important: It provides a soft compliment to the unique features in the bathroom, including the refurbished floors, vanity and clawfoot tub, and allows for a wide range of complimentary decorating schemes for the bathroom.

For the downtairs bathroom, we have purchased a pedestal sink in order to maintain an open feel and good circulation as you move from the washer/dryer area into the bathroom area. We found a great old mirror at the Holyoke Flea Market (Pioneer Valley Flea Market), that is, along with an old bookcase, being transformed into a unique vanity mirror and linen cabinet set. This work is being done at Sticks and Bricks, a neat business on Market Street in Northampton that salvages and transforms old furniture into uniqe pieces of art. To see some samples of their work, you can visit the store at 9 Market Street, or check out their blog at www.sticksandbricksnoho.com/ (follow the Photo Galleries links on the right hand side to see examples of finished pieces). Finally, we are right on the verge of selecting tile for the bath / tub area walls. The downtairs bath will have a smaller tile, but we are still working from the same design goals, seeking a tile scheme that features neutral, yet interesting earth tones that compliment the bathroom's unique pieces and allow the future homeowner to personalize the decorating scheme. 

Trim and driveway complete!

The trim installation is mostly complete. We selected a stylish contemporary trim scheme with a bit of interesting flare. That's all we'll reveal until the pictures are available.

The driveway, which has been shortened and widened, is also complete and looks great. We highly recommend Duffy Willard Paving and Excavating for paving work. We shortened the driveway in order to make the usable sideyard area larger, and we widened the remaining paved area in order to be able to accomodate two cars side to side.

We have selected and purchased nearly all of our lighting fixtures and appliances, and we are now finalizing the door, kitchen cabinet and countertop orders. The doors will arrive within 2 weeks, and the kitchen materials will be delivered in early January.

The kitchen design includes natural oak shaker style cabinets, stainless steel Energy Star appliances, and black RecycleTop counters. The cabinets are made by an employee-owned company called Showplace, which is located in South Dakota and has made a strong commitment to environmental practices and products. Its cabinets are certified under the Environmental Stewardship Program of the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association. Oh, and they make beautiful cabinets. Here are links to their main webpage and information about their environmental practices:
http://www.showplacewood.com/
http://www.showplacewood.com/Home/envpol/SWP.envpol.html

The RecycleTop countertops are a neat, 100% recycled "papercrete" product. Here's some info: http://kliptech.com/index.php/products/recycletop

Finally, our antique flooring has been manufactured and is ready to be delivered and installed!

That's all the news for now...

Approaching the finish work!

The drywall is now close to being completed (and is looking great!) and the insulated box in the basement for the furnace and hot water heater has been built. Once the drywall is finished, it will be painted, and then the heating system and baseboard registers will be installed.

We're now well underway with making our finish selections as well. We've been working on the lighting design and selecting fixtures (our goal is for all lighting fixtures to be Energy Star Certified and/or installed with compact flourescent lightbulbs). We have also have selected our window and door trim.

This past week, we visited a neat operation in Springfield called Antique and Specialty Flooring Co, Inc. The business owner, Tony, reclaims wood from old barns, refurbishing it into beautiful flooring. We are still working out our exact flooring plan, but our basic plan is to reuse the existing wood flooring in the downstairs and upstairs of the original home, to reuse the ceiling wood we recovered above the rafters in the first addition (which we may use to box the exposed collar ties, or it could be used as flooring), and to purchase a mix of Tony's red and white oak from two barns taken down recently in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. More on the flooring plan when we nail down the final details...

Oh, and as you may have noticed if you are in the neighborhood, we picked a front door color... and then we picked another one! The new one is much better we think! We are using a red called "Sundried Tomato" to paint both the front door and the coop! This work is underway...

We wish you all a happy and thankful Thanksgiving!