Chronicling my adventures restoring and updating a quirky old Philadelphia rowhouse
The title references a city ordinance cracking down on blight by requiring owners of vacant properties on occupied blocks to install doors and windows and make them look occupied. More info here if you’re interested. I’m a big fan. I love it that the city is doing something effective to prevent vacant properties from being…
Read more
With a new floor plan sketched out and handed to my plumber, I turned a few minor repairs into gutting half the second floor. In other words, I had my work cut out for me. But what was the next thing I worried about? Doors. The interior doors upstairs in my house were a bit…
Read more
Yes, the Crooked House and I have been together for a full year now. I’ve seen some bloggers commemorate their anniversaries by listing the most popular posts, but my top two were popular because for the key words “Open Concept Bathrooms” “The next big thing in interior design” and “Minimalist bedroom” that I used sarcastically.…
Read more
I’ve been waiting a really long time to say that! But I’m going to wait one more paragraph because I also want to talk about the washing machine. My stairs are really, really narrow, particularly heading down to the basement because the foundation walls are rubble stone and much thicker than the brick that was…
Read more
Before we get to the basement, let’s resolve the insulation issue. The contractor fixed everything I complained about without giving me any trouble at all. I have to hand it to them for that. It’s still lumpy, but there’s now a good air seal everywhere, I think. And if not, they’re coming back a fifth…
Read more
So last week the insulation was to happen Tuesday and Wednesday, which means that Tuesday night was to be very busy getting some drywall up. The good news is that we ended up having more time than anticipated. Now for the bad news…. On Day 1, the contractor showed up, circled around looking for parking,…
Read more
But it’s not nearly as terrifying this time.
Well first of all, happy holidays everyone! Yes that photo was staged. And I heard it for even having the trash can there long enough to take it. Now the trash can population on the screen porch has been in flux, reaching a maximum of 9, then declining to 4. There are two more ready…
Read more
My big upcoming insulation/chimney/windows contract is taking advantage of the EnergySense program from Philadelphia Gas Works. I’m getting an extremely low interest loan to finance anything that improves my house’s indoor air quality, comfort, or energy efficiency. Air sealing and insulation will give me a much, much bigger bang for my buck than window replacement,…
Read more
was that so much of the original woodwork was intact. Here’s the last time you’ll get to see it: