Lynn's Rebuild & Restore

Gutted Kitchen

2007-04-10T00:42:00.000-05:00

Here is my kitchen now.

Gutted and turned into a workshop.

p.s. Take note of the window on the left. It is a small aluminum 70's window in part of the original window frame with plywood in the bottom section. The bottom half of on the interior was covered by paneling along with the kitchen sink & cabinets. This will come out and a new "old" style looking window will be placed in the original frame.

Get that Wall Stabilized!

2007-04-10T00:21:00.001-05:00

Well, I may not have done it exactly proper or perfectly. Or it may even be overkill. But I tell you..this wall is NOT moving!

Before, it was not only moving back & forth but a couple of the studs were also moving side-to-side.

Goodness! It certainly helps to have the studs tied in to the proper places.

All that is left is to get a little bit more lathe up in order to keep the sheetrock even in the kitchen. The backside of the wall is to the former porch/backroom that will become my laundry room. More on that later.

Kitchen Work Continued

2007-04-10T00:05:00.000-05:00

In previous posts from September, I showed Marie and Mary helping me take out the last of the flood damaged cabinets and dishwasher.

Here are a couple of pic's of more work being done.
Mary is helping take out the last of the junk and nails between the lathe. The plaster was too damaged and much of it missing to salvage the original walls.

The lathe has to stay up. This way, when you put up sheetrock, the wall will be the right fit with the frames of the doors and windows for your trimwork. You take out the lathe and then the wall is too "shallow".

Here's another mystery uncovered. Once we took everything off the walls, there was this whole section with no plaster and no lathe??? Plus they changed the pattern/distance of the studs in the wall.

Unfortunately, why they did this in the 70's I don't know??? Plus, they did not nail this "new" section of studs into the floor joists below and this part of the wall could be moved. It was basically just floating in there. UNBELIEVABLE!

My next step? Getting this load bearing wall stabilized and prepped for new electric, plumbing, sheetrock and future kitchen cabinets!

The Great Tile Search Begins

2007-04-07T19:54:00.000-05:00

After much searching I found the bathroom floor tile I wanted.
It is known as basketweave and found it at a small specialty tile store on famous Magazine Street here in New Orleans.
Kudos to Stafford Tile and Stone for carrying a lot of old & classic styles.
I am so excited to find it and it was affordable as well! Take a look...

My next tile adventure--to figure out a border to go along the edges and a marble threshold for the bathroom doorway. Then on to find old style subway tile for the bathroom walls.

A Little Shopping?

2007-04-07T19:40:00.000-05:00

I wish I could say it was a little shopping, but it ended up being a lot of looking around. Not just stores, but the internet as well.
Even though my bathroom will be new, I want it to look old.
As close to the period the house was built.
I do love the Art Deco design and also the Arts & Craftsman look of the 20's & 30's and am using a little of both here and there in the house.

I definitely have a vision of what I want, it is just a matter of finding it and then what's affordable in the insurance proceeds budget.
But WHO KNEW? there were sooooooo many choices in toilet styles alone??
Much less sinks/lavatories. It's almost mind boggling and information overload.

Well here is what I picked out. These pictures are more for Mary in Atlanta than anyone else, because I knew she would have a good laugh. (Plus she has been down so many times to help, I have to thank her again!)

[For everyone else, Mary has a great love for Elvis. Is this how I ended up with Presley fixtures....because of her influence???]

Bathroom Continued & A Little Detour

2007-04-07T18:59:00.000-05:00

Here are some more pictures of the bathroom in progress.
Remember, you can always click on a picture to make it bigger to see details.

For whatever reason, the lathe was gone when I took the walls down in the bathroom, as you can see here. The lathe that you see still up is for the kitchen wall. At least it gives me the opportunity to do a little insulating.

Now the old 70's tub is out and the wood plywood floor that had linoleum is gone. Here you see the concrete board that has been put down in preparation for a tile floor.

Now a tub has been placed in by the plumber. That was a surprise when I walked in. I did not pick it out. After looking it over, it is not what I really wanted. It has a very rough surface that is like sandpaper. Not conducive to a comfortable bath on the rear! LOL
So I end up having this new tub removed later with something I really wanted. Go figure....

Anybody out there want a new tub? I have one I can give you now.

What Did I Do Next?

2007-04-06T20:48:00.000-05:00

How about the bathroom?

I am rummaging through the pictures trying to figure out what I did next on the house in order to start posting on the blog again.

I know people are probably sick of the wall paper stories, but the house was covered with it! How about some boring bathroom and plumbing?

Here is the bathroom gutted, except for the toilet (sometimes you need that).
The floor has to be taken up as it is in poor and somewhat rotted condition.
Will be replaced with old style tile.

Note the window frame in the background on the left.
The original frame is there, but in the '70's they took out the old wood window. In its place a small aluminum window and filled in the rest of the frame with plywood. Found a shop that will mill a wood window for me that will look like the other originals ones in the house. It will certainly look better that this!

On the right all of that plumbing will be replaced with new stuff. As you can see there is new electrical wire in place. So progress is being made!

The Urgent Takes Precedence Over The Priority

2007-04-06T20:22:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is April 6th, 2007 and I am just now getting back to this blog to update it. It is hard to believe 5 months have passed since my last post.

As most of you may know, a couple of days after Thanksgiving my Daddy went into the hospital for surgery. We knew he would have a recovery period of a couple of weeks, but we felt all would be fine.

Unfortunately, after surgery he ended up with two infections. One he was able to conquer, the other he almost conquered but it roared back and he had nothing left in order to fight it. He never left the ICU and passed away in January.

His illness and ultimate passing has been so very difficult for all of us, but especially my mom. So during all of this time I was in Mobile, spending most of it at the hospital with Momma and Daddy and then with her trying to help out and take care of many details after the fact.

I started back dealing with my house full time about 4 weeks ago. I am constantly wanting to pick up the phone and call him to ask questions about how to do this or should I do that or is this worker telling me the right thing? As I work, I seem to constantly hear his voice.

I am just now able to write about his passing without totally losing it, although the tears always seem to come. I miss my Daddy, his willingness to listen and give his advice.

I just hate he will not be able to see the house fixed up and finished.
And so, life goes on.....

More Wallpaper

2006-10-09T01:30:00.000-05:00

Ugh....more wallpaper. Will it ever end?
It truly is very long & tedious work removing this stuff.
(I have put quite the dent into the white vinegar supply at the local grocery store).
Speaking of vinegar, I am sick of smelling it! lol
But as you can see, this ugly brown wallpaper has to got to go!
(Maybe they were big UPS fans?)

But the soothing green color of the wall behind it is much nicer, don't you think?

Seems this green color was very popular, I am finding it throughout most of the house. (Although the color is not showing quite right here on the blog!)

Tin Roof!.....Rusted (as the B-52's say)

2006-10-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

Besides the flood, I had some wind damage.
The metal roof on the back of the house came up as you can see here.

I had a temporary tarp but it blew away recently in a thunderstorm.
So with the help of the Atlanta (highway) girls--Mary & Lisa..we got it fixed!
What you see here is the portion that was damaged, is now repaired.

I still need to put down one more coat of the metal roof coating and should be good to go.
Sure beats that $5,000 estimate some guys wanted to charge me!
Thanks girls.

Curious Pattern

2006-09-29T17:16:00.000-05:00

Hhhmmm Take a look.
This is the wallpaper pattern I uncovered in the front two rooms of the house. This first picture is of the entire pattern.

The next two pictures are of the pattern split up so you can see it better. Anyone know what time period this might be from???
Any wallpaper experts out there? Tell me what you might know about this.
Click on the comments button and let me know, because I am curious.

By the way, the wallpaper is too damaged to save (plus not really my taste in home decor). I am saving small sections that I will eventually frame to show the history of the house (great suggestion given to me!)

GO SAINTS GEAUX!

2006-09-25T18:07:00.000-05:00

GO SAINTS beat the Falcons!
Sure wish I was there tonight in the rebuilt Superdome.
The weather is amazing here today and there has been excitement in the air. The city is buzzing!
Another step in our comeback!

PostScript===>We whooped those Atlanta dirty birds 23-3! Looks like the new coach is awesome with some hard-working players!

we all scream...for ice cream!

2006-09-24T00:13:00.000-05:00

My blog is still not caught up with where I am currently on my house, but I am taking a little sidebar here with current news.

We all scream for ice cream!
That was certainly the case today here in MidCity New Orleans! Another step in the right direction for my neighborhood after the devasting flood.
My favorite ice cream shop re-opened today (Saturday, Sept 23rd, 2006).
(My second favorite is Creole Creamery in Uptown).

Angelo Brocato's is an old Italian style ice cream shop and they have been in New Orleans 100 years. They serve more than just ice cream...confections like Bisquit Tortoni, Cannoli, Cassata, Gelato, Italian Ice, Sciallotti, Spumoni, Torroncino, and Tira Mi Su.

It was quite the celebration today and fun to see some neighbors I had not seen in awhile. Check it out....there was a line down the block and around the corner. I was helping to hand out flyers for my neighborhood organization and people came from as far away as Baton Rouge for this re-opening....amazing.

Hopefully with their opening, that section of Carrollton Avenue in MidCity will come back! (By the way, I had my favorite...chocolate chip ice cream!)
Here is their website for a little cool history www.angelobrocatoicecream.com

One last bizarre item
I was standing on the corner with two of my co-horts from the MCNO (MidCity Neighborhood Organization) after handing out the flyers at Brocato's and we were talking about a large two story house about 2 blocks away.
It has continued to deteriorate and lean since the storm. We were looking at it thinking any day it would fall...well low and behold a strong wind came through and the thing collapsed. We could not believe it. How weird is that?
So as you can see, despite progress, things still are not normal here....

Two More Discoveries

2006-09-24T00:05:00.000-05:00

I have more transoms! Unfortunately the original transoms are MIA. Only the frames are left.
This is first picture is the transom over my side door.

This second picture shows a transom frame between the kitchen and my back room (it used to be a porch).

Now I get to be creative in coming up with something for both of these!

Wallpaper Dilemma

2006-09-19T00:57:00.000-05:00

How do you remove old wallpaper without damaging the plaster walls with harsh chemicals?

WHITE VINEGAR WITH A TOUCH OF WATER!
SHAKE, SPRAY & SCRAPE!

What's up with the reddish-orange color? Pretty wild for the early 1900's wouldn't you say?

More Hidden Treasure

2006-09-19T00:35:00.000-05:00

The back room of my house used to be a porch when the house was originally built.
But at some point in time it was enclosed to create another room.
According to the folks at the Preservation Resource Center in conjunction with the National Historic Preservation Trust who took a survey of my house, they think it was enclosed shortly after the house was built.
Why? Because of these hidden treasures I found behind the paneling and a built-in shelving system.

A window and sidelights I never knew I had!

Kickin' It to the Curb

2006-09-19T00:23:00.000-05:00

Well, there's the last of my kitchen out on the curb with my new favorite ray of sunshine in the foreground.
(FEMA picked up all this debris about a month after it had been put out).

Small Ray of Sunshine from the Debris

2006-09-19T00:11:00.000-05:00

Where did all the sunflowers come from?????
All over the previously flooded parts of the city, sunflowers appeared...rising from debris piles, in the middle of yards, potholes, you name it. Seems the flood waters spread the seeds from bird feeders around town giving us all little rays of hope in the midst of the madness.

Out Goes the Kitchen

2006-09-18T23:56:00.000-05:00

The kitchen is going, going......
Some good out of the flood....my 1970's mustard colored appliances, (except for the dishwasher which was ivory) and dark wood pressboard cabinets won't be missed! :-)
Thanks Marie & Mary for helping me get these cabinets pulled out.

Unfortunately, the plaster underneath the two to three layers of wall (two sets of paneling and then sheetrock on top of the plaster) was too damaged to save.
[I am not kidding...they kept layering stuff on top of the walls in that previous "renovation"]

Hidden Gems

2006-09-05T01:14:00.000-05:00

Look everyone...I have transoms!!!

These were uncovered in the process of taking down the old paneling, picture molding and bit of sheetrock between the paneling and ceiling.

There are three transoms at the front of the house.
One over the front door and the other two over the sidelights.
Very cool.

First picture is from the outside and the other is from the interior.
I have not yet removed the plywood from the outside to keep it protected until I can fix a couple of the broken panes.

Why would you cover these up???
To this day I will never undertand the thought process of the 70's renovation!

click on the picture to see each transom better

The beginning of the restoring after the flood...part 1

2006-09-05T00:47:00.000-05:00

To get everyone caught up with what I have to do....

Not only am I repairing my house from the flood damage, but it has also forced me to get rid of a terrible 70's renovation.
My house was built in approximately 1920 and from what I am finding out, it was basically untouched until the 1970's.
(I plan to eventually hit the downtown library and archives to learn more about this house's history).

The 70's renovation involved, the very popular at the time, paneling.
When I bought the house, I just painted over it and it looked great.
Flood waters enter and you don't keep moldy paneling around.
With sheetrock you typically cut out a couple of feet above your flood line.
Paneling does not allow you to do that, so the entire wall has to be taken out and trashed.

In most of the rooms, I have discovered that the original plaster walls are still there along with some old, possibly original wallpaper.
The paneling in a couple of rooms was nailed directly into the plaster.
In other rooms they nailed "furring boards" directly into the plaster then the paneling was nailed into the "furring boards".
All of this moldy wood had to go.

Taking down some paneling to reveal pink, flower wallpaper on top of plaster. The stains you see to the right are due to the house "sweating" from the flood and heat while we were banned from the city. Thanks to Mary S. for the picture and for helping & to Marie for helping out as well. Luckily, plaster stands up extremely well to flooding and does not mold.
If there is mold on it, well the mold is eating the paint.
In my case, I had mold, but it was eating the old wallpaper
The old paint behind the wallpaper is fine.

To be continued...

Empty House

2006-08-30T01:55:00.000-05:00

This is what it looks like when you unload a house of all it's flooded contents.
This was very hard work, not only physically but extremely tough emotionally.
Lisa's mom's house that you see here had 8 ft of water INSIDE the house (about 1 ft below the ceiling). The house sits about 4 ft or more off the ground.
It is truly hard to fathom that there was 12 ft of water in the neighborhood.

Friends helping Friends

2006-08-30T01:44:00.000-05:00

Here's a couple of shots of when a group of us worked on Lisa M's mom's house in Lakeview and another group on Donna & Carol's house in Gentilly.

Thanks for all the hard work everyone!

Old Bricks for the Patio

2006-08-30T01:11:00.000-05:00

Down the street from the apartment I am living in, some folks decided to raise their house. It is very dramatic.

This house was built in the early 1900's, so I loaded up on some cool, old and best of all, free bricks to use on my patio when I get around to fixing it up.

The shoring company took apart the original brick piers and threw them in a pile to be trashed in the landfill.

The cute convertible was replaced with the more useful and responsible pick-up truck.
As you can see, it has come in quite handy for many things.

Free Shrimp-October 2005

2006-08-30T01:04:00.000-05:00

Despite the creepily deserted streets and quiet...
you gotta have a sense of humor! This is my neighbor's fridge and it had 10 lbs. of shrimp in the freezer. I am smiling despite the smell of it! UGH!

My favorite car...drowned

2006-08-30T00:57:00.000-05:00

Navigating the Apocalypse--Sept 2005

2006-08-30T00:51:00.000-05:00

Pictures say it all.....one of many flat tires.

One Year Anniversary

2006-08-30T00:12:00.000-05:00

Tonight was the one year anniversary of Katrina.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me.
My gratitude and appreciation are immeasurable.

Here are some pictures I snapped the first time I entered the city of New Orleans after Katrina struck (actually "sneaked in" under the guise of being an insurance claims adjuster). It certainly is a pretty day, but it did not prepare me for what I was going to see. I was so shocked I failed to take a lot of pictures.

It's probably hard to see here, but the black building in the middle has brown spots towards the top. Those brown spots are plywood boards covering up broken windows.

This is the first time I saw my house.
Notice the "X" spraypainted on the plywood.
They checked my house on Sept 12th.....14 days/two weeks after Katrina struck to make sure no one was still there.

The higher flood lines are hard to see. But you can certainly see the lower flood lines as the water slowly was drained from the city. Most of us call it the bath tub ring around New Orleans.
The house doesn't look too bad from the outside. What I didn't know was how bad it was going to smell when I pried those boards off and opened the door for the first time. Yuck!
My house was well boarded up and sealed. Ripe for lotsa mold!
I could not figure out for a few moments why this picture of my house looked so weird after posting. Then it dawned on me....the blank concrete spaces on each side of my steps--all my pots with my pretty flowers are gone!

Backtracking--The Siding Gang

2006-08-29T23:45:00.000-05:00

Gee...back in March '06 I had a bunch of people come over and help me take the old 70's aluminum siding off of the house. It was still holding the moisture in and the house was not drying out properly from the flood. Here is a picture from that adventure and thanks to everyone who helped! Oh yeah, and thanks Cindy for making brisket..it was terrific! :-)

Here's a few more pictures:

First Post of an already ongoing adventure

2006-07-17T01:14:00.000-05:00

Sunday, July 16th--Hey everyone. Have just returned from Thomasville, AL where I visited my brother and saw his very first photography exhibit. It was terrific. Check out his work at: www.arthurmclean.com
Many of you know, I too take many pictures....maybe this runs in the family???

In checking out his website, I noticed he has a blog. Several people have mentioned to me that I should start one featuring the repair of my flooded home here in New Orleans. It seems it would be easier than emailing my friends all over the U.S. here and there, then forgetting who I have and have not updated.
Plus everyone can easily keep up with my progress through words and pictures.
We will see.........
Needless to say, this past weekend no work was done on the house, but will gear back up this coming week.
Stay tuned for updates on the past few months of progress.