Thursday, November 13, 2008

By later tonight, I meant tomorrow morning

Here are the pictures of the finished product from this weekend:


That wire hanging down is the switch to the light at the top of the stairs, but you can also probably use it as a jump rope


I am truely looking forward to the tedious task of removing all the small nails in the cross beams


I think this is where there used to be another chimney or a wood stove, still haven't gotten a good look at the hole in the top of the picture, but those bricks (not even real bricks) are just sitting in place with no mortar or anything


Old stairs maybe? and the opening that has been half-assedly (it's a word) filled

That's my neighbor's house, thier second floor to be exact


The craptastic patch job of a master mason I presume

Another angle


Yes ... the walls do appear to have been pink

10 comments:

Siana said...

You got some work ahead of you.

Jenny said...

Wow I remember when my house looked like this....oh the memories of a couple months ago! Good luck and congrats on finishing the exposing of the downstairs brickwall!

Patrick said...

CCB -
What work ... I like the air flow from the neighbors house and the random wires hanging from the ceiling ... it's like an obstacle course

Jenny -
A few things after looking at your blog ... YCP like the Spartans? and I have the same vacuum ... also, if you ever miss it you are more than welcome to help

Jenny said...

Patrick..
Yes-like good old Spartans and Murph's Study Hall. Did you go there?
As for helping you...I will gladly do so if you care to adventure in helping me get lead paint off the beams in the basement! haha

Patrick said...

Yup, graduated in December of '05. I would be more than happy to help with your beams, I love the taste of lead ... it's good for you, right?

Jenny said...

Small world...you beat me by one month of buying a house and we graduated from good old YCP in 05(Spring for me). Last night I had to sleep in the basement b/c I had a bachelorette party and everyone was sleeping all over the house. I ended up having a horrible dream that included me being hazed by mortgage company to eat the lead paint...

Corey said...

Looks like you may need the help of a mason. You could patch the holes in the brick wall yourself, but be careful of using modern (portland) cement. It is much harder, and darker, than the mortar used years ago. A good mason will be able to match the mortar, and if you have the area all prepped they should be able to do it pretty quickly. If the mason is really good they will use crushed oyster shells in the mortar as this was a common filler used in the area years ago.

Patrick said...

Jenny -
My basement is not habitable, and if someone did sleep down there they would most definately be hazed by something but it would probably be worse than lead paint. Apparently, we were both in greek life at YCP.

Corey -
I am strongly considering getting a mason to patch that up because I know newer mortar can be too hard and damage the old bricks, have any recommendations (also, I don't know where to get the right kind)? How did the water in the basement turnout?

Corey said...

I wish I knew a good mason or the right mixture, but sadly I do not. A contractor who did an estimate for me (but didn't get the job due to cost) mentioned using a mason from Locust Point area, but not sure of their name.

As for the basement, water enters the house from the ground around the drain when it rains really hard. This time it left 1/2 of standing water in the basment. Luckily the water is all gone now, but the first and only estimate we received is for about $3k. Not liking this, but not sure what other options I have...

TheDigitalDomo said...

Wow, you make my project seem just a little bit easier. But not by much my friend. At least I can't see into my neighbors...

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