House Made

You think you’re tired of my writing about rain? You’re one fifty zillionth as tired of it as I am. But I have to write about it because, folks, that is all that is happening.

So, with no actual work going on at House Made, I decided that the next best thing I can do with my time is research. (Beth says I should have been a library sciences major with my love of the research. Oh that’s just in case you had some doubt about just how big a dork I am.) Annnyyway. So I was poking around the Historic Chicago Initiative’s website, wishing that the Bay Area had an equivalent when I came across this great list of dos and don’ts when restoring/rehabbing bungalows. It’s a pretty common sensical little list but looking around my own neighborhood shows me that the sense is not, in fact, common. If you’d like to bury your head in your hands and cry “noooooo” to the computer, check out the first don’t image under “front porch, entry ways, and doors.”

Now all of you, get out there and inform your neighbors! Question their trim choices! Point out shoddy pintucking! And mock the brochures full of characterless crap windows they want to install. It’s for the good of all, really.

dewalt cordless nailer
Originally uploaded by merideth.

So it’s still raining. Still. Raining. In fact, the bay appears to be filling to capacity much like a choppy brown bathtub. Our property should be waterfront presently.

So what does a girl with resto on her mind do when the weather is foul? Well she shops on the internet, my friends. And what does she buy? Clearly a bright yellow cordless, you heard, CORDLESS finish nailer. The reviews on this thing are good and report that it’s perfect for homeowners. And really, do I want to drag around a compressor and hose? No. No I don’t. Do I want what basically amounts to a home-improvement machine gun? Yes. Yes I do.

I haven’t received it yet, but when I give it some field time maybe I’ll get some info up on toolspotting for you.

You know you want it.

bungalow next door
Originally uploaded by merideth.

Okay, so picture those old water towers you see in small towns. Okay. Now picture one built right above your house and breaking open on top of your roof. Now make that happen for over a month. That pretty much sums up our weather and the reason for the dearth of resto work. Good news: sun is forecast for this weekend. Fingers crossed.

In other news, the little bungalow next door to us may soon be improved. It’s languished for eight years. Just last weekend though, the guy who owns the property was walking around the house with a guy who was making sketches, so I ran over and grilled him.

Turns out, he’s had a long-term illness but is now preparing to fix up and improve the house. Hoo. Ray. Now we just have to hope he does it sensitively. Really though, a coat of paint would help markedly.

And yes, for some reason, the columns have been wrapped in vinyl siding. sigh.