This Blog is Moving!

The new address is www.lock7development.blogspot.com

Please find the explanation below. Thanks!

Dear friends,

When I started this blog three years ago, I did it to show my friends and family what I was doing every day when I went to work. The blog has grown beyond what I ever could have imagined, and to date almost 15,000 unique visitors have stopped by learn about our projects. Our projects have followed a similar trajectory- they've grown from small houses in working-class areas of Baltimore to high-end development in DC's most desirable neighborhoods.

Although I'm still a licensed contractor, I've been working with one business partner- Patrick Conway- for the last several years. Most of the projects shown on this blog have been projects where him and I have teamed up to buy, renovate and sell houses. We've decided to formalize our partnership and incorporate our new development firm. Our new venture is called Lock Seven Development, LLC. You can learn more about it at www.lock7development.com.

The blog will remain the same, it just has a new name and a new web address. Thanks to everyone to all the support over the last few years, and I hope you'll update your bookmarks to keep tracking our new projects on our new blog.

Sincerely,

Dave Gorman

308 9th St SE- Done!

We finished the house in Capitol Hill, and it looks incredible. The construction took about three months, which is impressive in relation to how much work we did. We had our first open house last weekend, and we had 50 groups come through, which is a solid turnout.

The front is fully restored. This is what the house would have looked like 125 years ago, except even nicer.



This is what greets you as you walk in the door. The custom built-ins match the kitchen cabinetry and surround a gas fireplace.







Here is the upstairs hallway. We put the biggest skylight we could find in order to bring lots of natural light into the house.



The master bathroom has tons of glass and dual vanities.



In the master bedroom, we were able to bring in a lot of light with the new patio doors.



Here is the basement in-law suite. This is currently attached to the main house with interior steps, but could be made totally seperate if the new owners decide to do so.



The backyard has a huge new patio with flagstone pavers.

308 9th st SE- Almost Done

Were into the final push to complete the house at 308 9th st. It looks awesome, the spaces are much bigger than we'd even hoped and the space just flows really nicely. We're planning on staging the property at the end of next week. This would be a pretty amazing feat because our target completion date was November 15th, and we'd be hitting that day almost exactly on the spot.

Outside all the framing is done and now it just needs to be caulked and painted.



The granite company came yesterday and installed the countertops. In this picture they're drilling the hole for the new Kohler faucet. I bought the new "Simplice" model that has the control on one side and the faucet on the other.



Here's the main floor. Lots of activity! The hammers are like music to my ears. We don't have the lights in yet, so it's hard to tell the wall and trim color. The walls are off-white and the trim is brilliant white.



Here are the built-ins in the living room. They look really sharp, and will look even better once the tiling is complete around the fireplace and the logs are installed.



Upstairs, the plumber came and set all of his fixtures. The glass company measured and is putting in the first piece tomorrow.



Here's the upstairs hallway. The floors will be sanded on Saturday, and then both the floors and railings will be stained and sealed.



Next week I will post the finished product. We also found our next project, a five-unit condo conversion. I'll post new pictures as soon as I have them.

308 9th St SE- The Day Before Drywall

Here's the project on Friday afternoon. The A/V team is coming in over the weekend to run the wiring for the video entry system, speakers, alarm, cable and internet. Then on Monday the sheetrock crew comes in to close-in all the walls. We already have all of our inspections and we're ready to go. I can't wait to see the project after all the walls are up.

The front is painted and the new trim is going in. We used an original house from the 1880's around the corner as a model, and replicated it here. The steps are down but will be rebuilt this week.



In the back, the balcony got covered in metal and the steps were completed.



Here's the current state of the top floor. The new floors are in. They're unfinished, but come with a watersealer for shipping. After the walls are completed, the floor will be sanded, stained and sealed.



Here's the floor installers working in the kitchen.



This is the master bath upstairs. You can see the liner in the stand-up shower. We also have plumbing for double sinks.



Here's the basement. The ceiling height is great and this will be an amazing in-law suite for the new owners.

308 9th St- Starting to look like a house again

Our renovation in Capitol Hill is coming along extremely well. We've reached the point in the project where the frame is up- both interior and exterior- and now it's just a matter of filling everything in. First the HVAC ducts, then the plumber, then the electrician all do their work. This should all be done tomorrow. The last person through is the A/V, who does alarm install, cable and audio wiring. Next week we'll insulate and install the sheetrock. After that, it's just trim, paint, flooring, tile, cabinets and hardware and we're done! It sounds like a lot of work but with enough people and some hard work we should be done within 6-8 weeks.

Believe it or not, but all of the pictures below were taken within a few minutes of each other this afternoon. There are probably 15 people working now at the project. In my book, the more commotion the better, because it means the project is progressing.

The wood tongue and groove siding is complete on the side of the house and its fully painted. We went with a historic beige color and off-white trim. We're then going to use black on the windows and a deep red on the door. It should really stand out.




This picture shows the color a little better in the rear of the house. The steps and balcony are complete.



We finally started working on the front of the building. The old steps came down, as well as the old deteriorated siding. We put up new sheathing, metal flashing, housewrap and siding.



This is the current state of the first floor. The worker on the right is building the bulkhead, and the worker in the back is cutting the vents in the new HVAC duct for the floor above.



This is the view of the master bedroom. The hallway is straight ahead and the walk-in closet is to the left. All four of the people in this picture are electricians.



Here is the status of the basement in-law suite. All three people here are working on the HVAC ducts.



Two carpenters have been working for the last three days on installing the new stringers for the steps. Now we can walk around without having to use the ladders between floors. Much better!

308 9th St SE- Moving Along

It's been too long since my last post, and I apologize. We've been so busy getting our 6th st condos sold and pressing forward on this house in Capitol Hill that I haven't had much time to update the blog. In addition, I just got a new golden retriever puppy, which has basically reduced my free time after work to zero. But she's 100% worth it.

Back to the renovation. We have a good part of the framing finished and I'm hoping to get the plumber and HVAC guys in through the house by the end of the week. The roofers are busy installing the standing seam metal roof, and are making great progress. The weather looks iffy for the rest of the week and I'm hoping that the rain will hold off.

We're busy looking for another rehab project, but finding that every investor in DC seems to be doing the same thing. Properties for sale are once again getting multiple offers, and usually sell for more than asking price.

Here's one of the roofers working with the metal. You can see the front of the building is almost totally unchanged. We ordered the historic wood windows and they're still about 3-4 weeks out, so we have to wait to do the siding until we can install the windows.



Here's the basement. It's a total blank slate. You can see the pipes sticking up where the bathroom will be.



This is the top floor. The roof has two pitches. The front roof slopes towards the front of the house, and the remainder slopes towards the side yard. This was a requirement from the Historic Preservation and Review Board.



All of the brick in the basement has been repointed. It looks so cool and I'd love to leave it exposed, but this is an exterior wall, and from my understanding of the code all exterior walls have to be insulated. I've seen people leave it exposed before, but I don't think it's a good idea.



This is the new exterior siding. It's a perfect match of the old tongue and groove wood siding.

1133 6th St NW- Finished and all under contract!

After a long eight months of work, it gives me great pleasure to announce that our four unit condo project is fully completed. We put it on the market last weekend and had multiple offers on each unit within only a few days. Now, a week later, all of the units are under contract and we couldn't be happier. The condos came out even better than we could have imagined. The timing was perfect too, as we will start on our next project at 308 9th St SE in the next two weeks.

Here's the exterior after the windows were all cleaned up. We had to work very closely with the historic review board on the details, even down to the trim colors and rebuilding the original cast iron front steps. Also, the entryway to the basement is new- there wasn't any front access when we bought the project.



Here's the rear balconies and steps. If you remember, the building was an entire story lower and didn't have any outdoor space. The entire rear wall is new, as well.


This is the unit on the second floor, which was fully staged. When we had the open house, we got the most positive comments on the shelving and the wood floors. For this project, we sanded and stained the floors in place, which I think looks a lot better than the prefinished ones you can buy at the store.



The great thing about these old houses is how much ceiling height there is on each floor. Even though we replaced all the joists, they're at the same height as the original ones.





This is the second room, which is either another bedroom or an office. If I moved in I would probably use it as an office most of the time but a second bedroom when I had guests visiting.



Here is the full bath in the hall. I used a wall-mount vanity to make the bathroom feel bigger, and the dual-flush toilet to save water. I honestly didn't get too many potential buyers who seemed particularly interested in all the green features, but they'll thank me when they get their water and electric bills.



Here's the loft in the penthouse unit. The loft was entirely new construction. This unit when under contract well before the project was completed.



Here is the loft, which the buyer will be using as his bedroom. It's a great size and has tons of light. It also opens onto a large private deck.

1133 6th St- Final Push

After several long months of hard work, this condo project is nearing completion in the next 10 days or so. It will be staged next Weds, which is a big step. We're thrilled with the way it looks and looking forward to replicating the finished product here on other buildings throughout the city.