December 2007

Renovation // Transformation

Merry Xmas from PG+E

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One of the things about the renovation is the monetary hemorrhage we’ve been experiencing. While we’re spending as wisely as we can, putting money where we hope it will pay of sometime (kitchen and bath) and doing much of the work ourselves.

During the process, we’ve been keeping our eyes open for the many rebates available — either from manufacturers or utility companies. For instance, our kitchen appliances carried a pretty hefty rebate from Bosch combined with a number of Energy-Star-esque rebates (plus the credits for hauling off our old, inefficient appliances — which was great: a hauling service and small rebate in one).

The most recent (and one of the most significant) rebates came from PG+E for our foam roof. Since we had the HVAC equipment installed before the roof went on, PG+E offered a rebate for the white foam roof that Abril installed (PG+E calls it "a cool roof")… while less than a half-percent, it offset the cost of the dishwasher. or siding. or flooring. or windows. or…

Thanks PG+E… thanks, too, for the crazy cheap CFLs we found as Sam’s Club for less than 10cents each (an 8-pack for $0.86) — we’ve installed them in all of our globe fixtures. Save the initial flicker, it’s hard to tell the difference.

Check

This Modern Life

A Blog By Any Other Name

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Our friend, realtor and fellow Eichler-owner, Sam Benson started a blog a short while ago. A few weeks ago he linked to this site.

One of the comments alluded to the "redneckmodern" name, so just for the record (as I noted to Sam):

"… as to the title of the eichler blog, it took two kids from virginia to move to california (and buy a modernist house) to justify the purchase of an old pickup… nothing more."

This Christmas, we’ve something to be thankful for: redneckmodern… and the house that goes with it.


This Modern Life

8050 Shay Drive

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We took a break from the renovations to stop by a local open-house. This home is in the Oakland hills in one of the smaller, "lost" Eichler developments of Sequoia Hills. As the story goes, it’s been sitting empty and vacant, (save the silver ’78 Camaro Z28 in the garage) for the past 7 years. The home is a one-owner and was bought by a woman and she lived there with her son.

While I’m not a fan of this pagoda-style roof, the chance to step inside was amazing. There were literally no modifications to the home save the replacement of a few doors. The floors were original, the baths, the kitchen… there was even a lack of multiple coats of paint. Even more amazingly, the oven and dishwasher had never been used… seriously… not light use, no use. That’s the original punch-card warranty slip in the bottom rack.

It’s like a car that had been bought and put into storage for 45 years. However, in that analogy, you’d still be dealing with dry-rotten hoses and belts… and that was the case with this house. Don’t try to fire up the dishwasher without a few towels handy. While all-original, some of the tiles have shrunken with age. The rubber welting on the windows had dried and cracked and there was some overall "yellowing"… but, wow, what a specimen. It was a joy to take a peek and will hopefully be bought by someone who appreciates the period-correct specimen.

Since it was a 3 bedroom model, all rooms were noticeably larger which was kind of nice… not sure which I prefer: more or larger rooms. The garage was even larger with a nice laundry/boiler-room configuration.

Since we’re in renovation, I was focused on the details on how this-met-up-with-that, but here are some images that hopefully show the overall lightly-used condition of the house.

 

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Renovation // Transformation

Block and Tackle

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It’s been hard to get motivated since the weather’s turned colder, but we’re making slow, slow progress — albeit in a bit of a random fashion.

This weekend found us tackling the office and finishing off the closet in that room. We’re not a fan of the textured walls (reminds us of the more modern tract homes in the area) and are smoothing and patching (and replacing where necessary) all of the wallboard and trim… even in the closets. With this closet finished, it leaves us only one more closet to finish off which is good.

We’ve also planned on a wall of shelves in that room. A great system from Rakks is on the way (odd name, great shelving) which will pair well with the modern aesthetic and keep us out of the ebay/vintage shops looking for parts and pieces to older wall units.

We’re planning on bringing a bit of the paneling back into that room by veneering the wall behind the recessed supports and making shelves from matching mahogany. Since the supports will be recessed into the wall, I wanted to reinforce the area (and the studs are not where the supports need to be), so we scrounged the spare wood pile (and headed to Big Orange) for some 3/4in plywood to block out the area to add the necessary strength for the system. Hopefully, there’s plenty of support in there now.

We also took the opportunity to update the electrical in that room (more grounded plugs, woohoo!) and cut in the box for cable/data/phone and while this was not the planned weekend chore (we’ve still a kitchen/garage door to install), it definitely put a dent into the to-do list and gets one more room closer to completion.

BlockWallShelving

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