Rear Siding Finished

Today we braved the 104 degree temperatures in Baltimore and were able to make some great progress. The siding and fence in the rear of the house is complete, and the windows are wrapped and installed. The electrician, Glen, spent the morning mapping out the locations for each outlet, fixture and light switch. We determined that the house will have a total of thirty-two recessed lights, which will provide a ton of brightness for the roughly 1200 SF house. We also worked out some minor issues with our plumber to get everything to fit in the master bathroom. In the end, we opted to mount the shower head in the ceiling and use a rain shower instead of the standard wall mount.

Over the weekend we had another unwanted visitor. A burglar was nice enough to help out and relieve us of two new windows. It just comes with the business of rehabbing houses. We're actually lucky that there was almost nothing in the house- it could have been much more expensive if we had already installed any cabinets or appliances. After today, the house is now even more secure and should hopefully deter any criminals until the electric is up and running and we can put in an alarm system.

Here is a picture of the new vinyl siding. It's a slightly darker color than the standard tan option that matches really nicely with the tan boxes that outline the windows. We were able to fit a good-sized window in the kitchen, which is directly above the sink. Here is the rear view:



After the fence was installed, we realized that it would be easier to enter the parking spot if there wasn't a cumbersome rear gate. We had originally planned to put the doors on a wheel system to help them open easily and to keep them from sagging. However, we ended up deciding to leave the gate off and allow whoever buys the house to decide if they want a rear gate versus a bigger parking area. Here's a better picture of the fence:



This is what the window wrapping looks like in the front of the house. In this picture, the windows haven't been placed back in the openings. We still haven't figured out what to do with the cornice- you can see the terrible formstone at the top. We left this part because there are five courses of cinderblock at the top, which left no brick to repoint.



Our kitchen cabinets have arrived from the manufacturer, but we decided to leave them in the warehouse until we're ready to install them. With all the problems we're having with break-ins, we didn't want any more valuables put in until the house is totally secure. By the next update, we should have the HVAC, framing and electric finished and inspected, and possibly even the drywall hung.

Thanks for stopping by.

Day 43- HVAC and Plumbing Started

After a few days rest for the 4th of July holiday, we're back to work as normal on the rehab. We've made several important advancements since the last blog posting, such as framing the basement, finishing the HVAC duct work, installing the rear doors, finishing the parking pad and installing new steps to the basement. The kitchen cabinets have been ordered and will arrive in two weeks, and we started work installing the new windows throughout the house.

On a slightly frustrating note, we had our first break-in last night, although nothing was taken. It appears that the would-be robber knew the combo to the lock on the front door (rather disconcerting), entered the house and removed the hinges off the front plywood door. He then put the hinges back on incorrectly, left the lock open and left the house without taking anything. My only guess is that he took the door off in preparation of removing something large (such as a washer or jacuzzi), didn't find it in the house, and then attempted to cover up his entry by trying to put the door back into place. We're actually lucky that he (or them) made it apparent that they had broken in, because otherwise we wouldn't have known to change the locks.

In this picture below you can see the new concrete parking pad. Our house is the one wrapped in the white HomeWrap, which will be covered in vinyl siding in the next few days. We're really pleased with the way this turned out- often times in Baltimore sellers will advertise a parking pad, but it really could only fit a Mini Cooper, if even that. Ours is large and easily accessible from Orleans Street. There will be three large windows in the rear of our house, but we just covered the openings up until the windows are installed.



This is the new basement. It has a rec room, a large full bathroom, a work station with a desk and several closets. You can also see the new oak stairs on the left. These will look amazing after they are painted and stained. We covered them will cardboard to protect them for the time being. This picture is a few days old- there's already all new duct work throughout this floor.




These are the new ducts on the main floor. We were able to use the thin ducts that run behind the framing and eliminate large bulkheads. This also allowed us to fit the two bathrooms on the second floor. Other projects on this block were only able to fit one bathroom upstairs because of the large return necessary with traditional ducts. We felt the extra expense was far worth the convenience of having another bathroom.



On the next post, we should have pictures of the new fence, new installed windows, siding on the rear of the house, plumbing and electric. Thanks for checking the blog!