Who remembers how creepy the Woodside basement used to be? A failing foundation, giant old boiler, and territorial groundhog were just a few of the gifts bestowed upon us when we bought the house. Full confession – I wouldn’t go into the basement alone for the first few months because I was terrified the groundhog was going trap me in a corner (and then what, … Continue reading Basement Framing
Ah, spring (kind of). The weather has been pretty wacky the last few weeks in St. Louis, and the cold, wet days have led to us delaying and rearranging several projects, including our concrete and basement work. We were lucky to have a few days last week that were warm and dry, which helped us knock out a few things this past weekend. First we … Continue reading Porch & Basement Work
Some parts of a house renovation don’t necessarily have that “wow” factor. Most people are into pictures of new kitchens and bathrooms, but don’t really get that pumped up about things like waterproofing and gas lines. Well, most people aren’t on their second year of a (mostly) DIY total gut renovation, so we are quite excited to announce that we have permanent electricity hooked back … Continue reading Electricity
Happy Holidays! This time last year, Woodside was in the air. A lot has changed over the past year, and we’ve made significant progress during the last few weeks. We built the porches during the weekend after Thanksgiving, and then our concrete company got to work pouring the garage and basement floors, basement steps, and front and back porches. Fortunately our first round of concrete work … Continue reading Concrete
Holy hiatus. It was around this time last year that I posted about how summer is the busiest time of year for both of us at work. Okay, yes it’s technically fall now but since it was 90 degrees here recently, let’s just pretend for a bit longer, shall we? Blogging aside, work at Woodside has been steadily progressing over the last few weeks. We … Continue reading Beams, Bricks & Paw Prints
Old houses have a way of surprising you, sometimes in good ways (“Original wooden floors that are likely in decent shape? Jackpot!”) and other times in not so good ways (“Both of your four-story chimneys completely failed during the house lowering – Congratulations!”). While I’m not officially keeping track, if I had to guess, I think it’s probably around 37 – Woodside vs 1 – Us. Along … Continue reading Demo: Second & Third Floors
I am pretty sure I’m not alone when I say basements can be kinda creepy. Granted, I don’t have a lot of experience with them – I grew up in a house without a basement and our current house is a slab, but the apartment I lived in after college had a basement. The apartment was in a beautiful old brick building in south St. Louis … Continue reading Renovation Plan: Basement
