Srry for no posts

Sorry, I've been doing lame things that need no documentation. Small amounts of framing such.

Corktown was mentioned in Forbes.com recently! They documented 10 of the oldest neighborhoods in the united states! Can be found here.

I have this week and possibly next week off to get some good stuff done. So i'm hoping to have more to report in the coming days.

That is all.

Full Circle

The blog has gained some local attention. A development website called Model D recently contacted me to run an article on the house. You can find it here.

So it seems things have come full circle. When I living in Toronto in 2006 deciding where move, I heavily read sites like Model D, DetroitYes, DetroitBlog.

I really like the article. It highlights and captures the scope of the project well. It almost makes me forget about the dozens of hours i've spent loading 40yard dumpsters in the late night of the winter.

So i'd better step up the quality of the blog here with all my potential increased traffic!

But sincerely I do hope that the blog and the project brings inspiration to others to move into the city of Detroit. We can't do it alone. While there are droves of young people flocking here, I think we need everyone in the tri-county area to support the city.

Everyone in southeastern Michigan can benefit from pumping life back into Detroit. Remember, say nice things about Detroit!

Sunburned

Progress is steady.

The plumber finished his rough and passed inspection friday. Awesome. And the fact he did it all with Pex tubing water supplies instead of copper makes me all the happier. Take that scrappers.

I had a friend who is a city inspector walk the house with me for tips in preparation for my framing inspection. He brought a couple things to my attention that I had missed and validated some things I wasn't sure on. I always learn something from Frank.

Whoever designed this house did some weird stuff. and I had this crazy
canilevered bearing wall on the second floor that could of easily just been a set of stacked bearing walls. Anyhow when i built my 'addition' I had a set of valley rafters that essentailly replaced this bearing wall....except for one square foot. Anyhow it had to be framed out and was essentially open to the outside.


Although this detail isn't original, it's acutally not uncommon in colonial/revival and victorian styles. So i'm cool with it today.

Jodi my rose came out and helped me with some exterior insulation and the house skirting.


Speaking of roses one of the former owners had at last 4 rose plants that still bloom beautifully. I'm not much of a botonist, but I can enjoy them.


In other news the 'toolkit tours' began last week. Basically an all inclusive tour to show perspective buyers historical properties in Detroit that have been renovated, properties available for sale, and resources such as the NEZ tax break tips and contractors that have experience in the historical districts.

I've been asked to be on the Corktown portion of this tour on October 12....so I'd better stop blogging and get back to work!

oh and here is a cool Corktown video starring my man Ryan Cooley of O'Connor Realty.

Various Things

Roof is done.

Andreas and I framing ceilings upstairs.

Plumbing has started. The long blue and red plastic tubes are Pex tubing. A type of plumbing water supply line that has been kicking around for many years but never caught on until the price of copper skyrocketed. The flexibility of the tubing greatly reduces labor installation time. Builders like me in high construction theft/scrapping territories like it too because it's useless to scrappers.

Now we need to find an alternative to copper electrical wiring. Needless to say I won't be wiring the house until the security system is in.

Contingency Plan

News about Detroit this week:

"Redwings Win Stanley Cup"

"Ford, General Motors improve in quality survey"

"Ford to cut salaried-worker costs 15 percent by Aug 1"

You may or may not know but I work for the Ford Motor Company. The largest family run business in the United States. I program the computers that control the engines on the hybrid cars....at least I do for now. This recent announcement stated that up to 15% of salaried workers at the Blue Oval could be let go involuntarily by August 1.

Details included that the cuts were to be made to the 'low performers' and 'low seniority'. While I'm a pretty decent worker and get reviewed well, I only have 5 years in at the company, much less then anyone else in my section. Could be cause for concern.

I'm also one of the few single/without family people of the group which may weigh in. But I don't mind taking one for the team in that respect.

While FoMoCo quality is now within a negligible amount with it's strong japanese competition, decades of poor quality and low fuel economy have been engraved in American consumers minds.

Surging commodity prices, a truck heavy portfolio, high gas prices and union labor costs have not helped the company stabilize either.

How does this reflect into the house? Well it's driving me into a contingency mode. I must do what it takes to ensure survival of the project.

What that means is I will refocus my efforts to obtaining my certificate of occupancy and to let luxury aspects be pushed aside for now. I'm going to plug the chimney hole in the floor and start eliminating other things that can be done later that will not impact my CoO.

One characteristic of people and organizations that I really admire is the ability to adapt and have quick recovery from obstacles. I hope to enact and refine these skills if needbe.

What is the best aspect of a contingency plan? Not having to ever use it.

Second best? Having a solid one that works.

Out of the Jungle

You may or may not know about my backyard, but it was a mess. At some point somebody was a gardener in recent history, but then the following owners weren't. So it went wild and things overgrew. It was a mixture of beautiful flowers like roses and trupeter vines, mixed with a nasty broken chainlink fence with at least 6 ingrown tree stumps, scraps of concrete and brick, random garbage and stepping stones. There was also mounds of dirt from where i had dug out the crawl space, chimney footer and basement stairwell.

So my sewer line was bad. Built in 1889 it didn't last. I suspect a 40ft crab apple tree in the backyard had something to do with it. I didn't even bother to try and fix it with routers, or foaming chemicals or cameras. I bit the bullet and replaced it.

Anyhow this is before:
And this is now:

I was so happy when I saw it, almost gitty. Should be digging the garage foundation soon.

oh and the roofing is 98% and I got all 3 skylights in.