Chronicling my adventures restoring and updating a quirky old Philadelphia rowhouse
Well, the beer tour was fun! Ticket sales were down a bit this year, which meant that the crowd fit into my house better than last year. I forgot to take photos but picture about 3/4 of this. Also look at the unfinished banister and the pig tail! Now, some people said that no one…
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I was all ready to write something boring about getting rid of stuff after a few triumphant rounds to Philly AIDS Thrift and assembling shelves in my basement. I mean, remember my parents’ basement? Not like this you don’t. And I did a decent job clearing out mine. More organizing will be needed. I put…
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Yes, it happened! My parents along with 5 other neighbors. Here are a few little stories. The next town over had a borough wide garage sale event this weekend, starting at 9 both days. I wanted to start at 7. The other neighbors refused. I got in a huff and said it’s not their decision if…
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It feels like it’s 2013 all over again! You’d think I was done with the astoundingly bad repairs that I found all over the Crooked House, but here’s one more. Along with a whole lot of boob lights, the house came with a builder’s special grade chandelier. It stuck around into the demolition, so needless to…
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Amid all the odds and ends and this goal to not work too hard on the house, I’ve been chipping away at the dreaded clutter. And there were some pleasant surprises. First, I had some old kitchen cabinets in the basement but decided they won’t be reusable after all. I was ready to drive them…
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The fever was rather literal. I had tonsillitis last week. Fine time to get it. The plan was that the Irishman would put up corner bead and Zip bead (where drywall meets exposed beams, exposed brick, etc.) while I put up small patches of drywall in the many spots where little bits were missing. Then…
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I just did my Home Depot run. Some of it was stuff I bought shortly after I bought the house… almost 2 years ago. Some of it was stuff I didn’t even recognize… maybe things my plumber left behind. Some of it was visibly dirty, and it must have come from dozens of different receipts.…
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It’s nothing lame like dinner and a movie.* It’s gonna work like this. At the end of the month, Mario comes in. He’ll have another guy or two with him. I hand him a bank envelope. They’ll be in and out in about 2 hours. Wham. Bam. All the walls in my entire house will be…
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You remember I said I had to cut notches for 5 beams at the other wall in my kitchen? Well, the Irishman did it. He did the same thing I would have done, but probably 3 times as fast. I’m not a master carpenter Here’s how it worked. First the piece at the top of…
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