chasm

kitchen 2

Ahh, the kitchen ... I can't wait until this room is done so I can start cooking myself good, wholesome, healthy meals ... or something like that :-)

The first photo was taken from the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room and facing the doorway to the "extended kitchen" as I like to call it. The second photo is from the same doorway but looking pretty much straight ahead at one of the few remaining pieces of cabinetry (a HUGE lazy susan).

Keen observers might be thinking that the third photo looks like a vent of some kind and if you look in the previous picture, you can see the old range's vent hood hanging off of the wall. The remaining vent will be sealed on the outside and there will be cabinets blocking it from view from the inside.

The last photo is of the corner above the old lazy susan. It was, at one time, a chimney for an old coal stove. Since I've decided to NOT put a coal stove back in (I know, I know ... while it would've been cool to be the only one I know with a coal stove, I had to pass) and I really wanted to move the two radiator pipes (that no one knew where there until demolition uncovered them boxed in what was thought to be a box solely for en electrical outlet), we removed enough of the brick to square that corner as though there was never a chimney there at all.

dining room 2

Moving from the front of the house to the back, the dining room comes after the living room and before the kitchen. The first two photos were taken from the doorway between the living room and dining room. The next photo is of the dining room taken from the doorway between the dining room and kitchen.

If you couldn't tell, the final three photos are of the dining room ceiling. You can see the notch for the former bath tub's plumbing that easily destroyed the integrity of that joist. You can also see the remnants of the knob and tube electrical system that was in place (and in good condition according to the electrican) since the home's initial construction.

What you can't see from these photos are some things that will (or have already) changed and will be documented later but might be difficult to notice unless mentioned. For example, the base molding on the wall opposite the three bay windows has been removed because that entire wall (from kitchen/dining room partition to the front door) will receive a new wooden frame, insulation and drywall. (My hope is to salvage the vintage woodwork to reuse elsewhere in the house.) Also, all of the knob and tube wiring in the entire house is/will be replaced with wiring compliant with today's more stringent electrical codes.

living room 2

Here is the first "in process" section for the living room. The chimney was removed (brick by brick) and placed elsewhere in the living room (the dumpster hadn't been delivered at that point).

As an additional not-so-pleasant surprise, I found that my work had only just begun after the last brick was removed. Laying underneath was about six inches of solid concrete. I destroyed a $20 chisel set removing it all but that seems like money well spent, no?

On one of the early trips to the house by the contractor, the contractor notified me that the floor joists looked as though they were giving a bit from the weight of the newly stacked pile of bricks that were waiting for delivery of the dompster. SO, then I was lucky enogh to move that pile (brick by brick AGAIN) onto the front porch so my living room floor wouldn't collapse.

kitchen extension 1

Finally, the last section of first floor to be photographically documented. The first photo is taken from the back door while facing the kitchen towards the front of the house. (You can see some of the old kitchen cabinets from the doorway to the left of the toilet.) The last is taken from the doorway between the kitchen and the kitchen extension and faces the back entrance of the house.

kitchen 1

These are the last of the first floor photos. The first photo is standing in the entrace between the dining room and kitchen while facing the back of the house. The next photo is standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the extension to the kitchen that houses a pantry and toilet.

dining room 1

Okay, I'm going to finish off the "before" photos for the first floor because that's what I happen to have available to me at the moment. Once those have been posted, I'll proceed to some "in process" photos.

The first photo is looking towards the kitchen and the back of the house. The last photo is standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room and facing the living room and the front of the house.

living room 1

Okay, this is the first of a series of "before" photos. I'm not sure what would be better for people so I'll hold a quick poll. Should I continue (room by room) to cover all of the before photos in subsequent posts or should I alternate before and after photos of each room before moving on to the next room?

first exterior photos

Okay, here's what the house looks like from the outside. It is the left side of this twin. There is a detached "oversized" single-car garage with a storage room separated from the house by about six feet of grass.

Schedule permitting, I hope to get pre-remodel interior photos up by the end of the week. Until then, start with these.

renovation blog

Over the last two years, I've really enjoyed my little corner of blogging space here at CHASM. I'd like to think that it was a place for people to come for, well, pure randomness with friends. While the frequency of posts has declined markedly in recent weeks (months?), I'd like to right the ship, so to speak.

Well, a better analogy might be that I'm rebuilding this ship entirely.

From here forward, this blog will be a journal of my adventures in home renovation. I can only HOPE that posts are more frequent because I can only HOPE that progress on the property is more frequent then my journalistic whims to blog in the past.

I plan to have photos and text descriptions of the project and I'm REALLY going to try to stick to some predefined schedule because it's going to be far too easy to just give before and after pictures.

This project will probably devour all of my time AND money so what better name for a renovation blog than chasm? I can't promise that there won't be a random rant or gripe post but, for the most part, it will focus on the various stages of renovation to a seriously neglected property that I, one day, hope to live in.

ecto 1

Okay, who wants to start getting the cash together?

Ecto 1

and you thought "the donald" did real estate

Ted Turner "owns 15 ranches in seven states, covering 1.9 million acres. That's 3,000 square miles - bigger than Delaware or Rhode Island." Read the CNN article here.

lehigh valley technology

Of all the ways that the Lehigh Valley could be improved with better technology, the Lehigh Valley Crime Finder would not have been high on my list.

I guess that's why I'm not in office. I simply don't have the genius necessary to think, "hey, what could be better for the Lehigh Valley than a way to track crime?" Here, I would have thought that "what could be a better way of STOPPING crime in the Lehigh Valley?" might be a more worthwhile question to answer.

litigious nonsense

Alright, alright, I'm FOR the environment and all but THIS is not the answer.

1000 comments

Congrats to J for making the 1,000th comment on CHASM!

the shire

Alright guys, I've got a plan. It's fairly simple and straightforward so here goes ...

We're moving to The Shire! Who's with me??