Greetings to all from Valerie (a.k.a. Bobbie Vila) Blake! Yes, This Old House is now on target to become Someone’s New House. It is now affectionately known as “The Job Site.” Karen also has a new title – The Queen of Riggs Street. Yes, Riggs Street at 14th in Logan Circle. We finally settled on February 27th and I’ve barely had time to take a breath since.
In the past two weeks we have accomplished the following:
* Obtained permits,
* Completed demolition,
* Finished about 15% of the plumbing,
* Finished 50% or more of the electrical,
* Designed the kitchen & baths,
* Ordered gobs of materials & supplies, and
* Spent an obscene amount of money.
The general idea here is to make a profit while using high quality construction techniques and materials deliver a superior product. I know we have the latter well in hand, but I will reserve judgment on the former until we have finished the purchasing phase of the project and see what the spring real estate market has in store for us.
The construction crew is a cast of characters. Our general contractor, Luke Stewart of Luma, Inc. (lumainteriors@comcast.net), refers to working on my projects as “creating art with Valerie.” Luke has done tons of projects for my clients and me over the past eight years. He is also affectionately known as “Sweet Baby Luke,” lead crooner of Black Sheep, to those of you who moved to the island beat at my welcome back and anniversary party last summer. Although he has lived in this country most of his life, he can still break into his native Jamaican patois at will.
Mack, the electrician, originally from the island of Greneda, is a man on a mission. Give him a plan and he’s the executioner. Bobby, our Jamaican plumber, says, “Tell me what you want and leave ma alone, Mon.” He’s a perfectionist who works his magic based on photographs and specification sheets.
David is our Demolition Man (and framing and drywall guru). He is Hispanic and supervises a small contingent of equally talented construction guys. Luke refers to him as his “right-hand man,” an inside joke if you haven’t yet met David, who his left arm below the elbow years ago. It’s simply amazing to watch him heft construction debris onto his left shoulder and balance it all the way out to the dump truck. This is one man who has not let anything stand in the way of success!
Lorrie Addison (ladesigner1@verizon.net), our kitchen designer, has done 8 kitchens for me in the past 10 years. She switched companies just as we were beginning this project and now works for Stuart Kitchens in the Lorton area. Lorrie’s best asset is the ability to take a semi-custom cabinet product and add just the right touches of glitz to make the entire project look high-end. We thank you, Lorrie, from the bottom of our pocketbooks.
Donald Williams (billiboix3@hotmail.com) and his partner, Johnnie (the Stand-up Comedian) are in charge of landscaping and a variety of other tasks. Donald is a local, my neighbor in Brookland, and a jack-of-all-trades who runs both Williams in Brookland Landscaping and D. L. Williams Auto Detailing (a must for real estate agents).
Our suppliers are numerous, ranging from Barron’s Lumber in Rockville, to Lumber Liquidators in the College Park area to a host of Internet vendors. I know we’ve come a long way when I can sit in my home office in my jammies and order faucets, cabinet knobs, lighting fixtures and, yes, toilets at 3 a.m.
So far, I have learned three new lessons.
Don’t bother with fancy moulding on the inside of closets. We spent money on demolition there and now have to replace in kind at additional expense.
Expect things to be delivered to the wrong place. I sent three notes to the vendor to use the job site address for delivery and yet I still have three toilets sitting in my garage at home, looking like a series of plywood-encased thrones for the Royal Family of Riggs Street.
Expect the wrong things to be delivered. I returned home last Tuesday to discover that my husband had kindly accepted delivery of a package for me. Well, it didn’t look like anything I had ordered, so I opened it to find a very nice air nail gun for attaching moulding. Not that it wouldn’t be handy, but it was supposed to be a jetted shower fixture. I’d rather be sprayed with water jets than nails anytime!
Karen, I think, has had the toughest job this week – trying to get signatures from the neighbors in support of our exterior renovations that must be approved by the condo board. Luckily, there seem to be several retirees among the neighbors and she was successful in time for us to submit the request to the condo board tomorrow evening. She’s a trooper and now knows most of the neighbors.
I, on the other hand, was able to introduce her to G***, who is the neighborhood “stand-on-the-corner” guy. I always make it a point to meet the local entrepreneurs.
In the past two weeks we have accomplished the following:
* Obtained permits,
* Completed demolition,
* Finished about 15% of the plumbing,
* Finished 50% or more of the electrical,
* Designed the kitchen & baths,
* Ordered gobs of materials & supplies, and
* Spent an obscene amount of money.
The general idea here is to make a profit while using high quality construction techniques and materials deliver a superior product. I know we have the latter well in hand, but I will reserve judgment on the former until we have finished the purchasing phase of the project and see what the spring real estate market has in store for us.
The construction crew is a cast of characters. Our general contractor, Luke Stewart of Luma, Inc. (lumainteriors@comcast.net), refers to working on my projects as “creating art with Valerie.” Luke has done tons of projects for my clients and me over the past eight years. He is also affectionately known as “Sweet Baby Luke,” lead crooner of Black Sheep, to those of you who moved to the island beat at my welcome back and anniversary party last summer. Although he has lived in this country most of his life, he can still break into his native Jamaican patois at will.
Mack, the electrician, originally from the island of Greneda, is a man on a mission. Give him a plan and he’s the executioner. Bobby, our Jamaican plumber, says, “Tell me what you want and leave ma alone, Mon.” He’s a perfectionist who works his magic based on photographs and specification sheets.
David is our Demolition Man (and framing and drywall guru). He is Hispanic and supervises a small contingent of equally talented construction guys. Luke refers to him as his “right-hand man,” an inside joke if you haven’t yet met David, who his left arm below the elbow years ago. It’s simply amazing to watch him heft construction debris onto his left shoulder and balance it all the way out to the dump truck. This is one man who has not let anything stand in the way of success!
Lorrie Addison (ladesigner1@verizon.net), our kitchen designer, has done 8 kitchens for me in the past 10 years. She switched companies just as we were beginning this project and now works for Stuart Kitchens in the Lorton area. Lorrie’s best asset is the ability to take a semi-custom cabinet product and add just the right touches of glitz to make the entire project look high-end. We thank you, Lorrie, from the bottom of our pocketbooks.
Donald Williams (billiboix3@hotmail.com) and his partner, Johnnie (the Stand-up Comedian) are in charge of landscaping and a variety of other tasks. Donald is a local, my neighbor in Brookland, and a jack-of-all-trades who runs both Williams in Brookland Landscaping and D. L. Williams Auto Detailing (a must for real estate agents).
Our suppliers are numerous, ranging from Barron’s Lumber in Rockville, to Lumber Liquidators in the College Park area to a host of Internet vendors. I know we’ve come a long way when I can sit in my home office in my jammies and order faucets, cabinet knobs, lighting fixtures and, yes, toilets at 3 a.m.
So far, I have learned three new lessons.
Don’t bother with fancy moulding on the inside of closets. We spent money on demolition there and now have to replace in kind at additional expense.
Expect things to be delivered to the wrong place. I sent three notes to the vendor to use the job site address for delivery and yet I still have three toilets sitting in my garage at home, looking like a series of plywood-encased thrones for the Royal Family of Riggs Street.
Expect the wrong things to be delivered. I returned home last Tuesday to discover that my husband had kindly accepted delivery of a package for me. Well, it didn’t look like anything I had ordered, so I opened it to find a very nice air nail gun for attaching moulding. Not that it wouldn’t be handy, but it was supposed to be a jetted shower fixture. I’d rather be sprayed with water jets than nails anytime!
Karen, I think, has had the toughest job this week – trying to get signatures from the neighbors in support of our exterior renovations that must be approved by the condo board. Luckily, there seem to be several retirees among the neighbors and she was successful in time for us to submit the request to the condo board tomorrow evening. She’s a trooper and now knows most of the neighbors.
I, on the other hand, was able to introduce her to G***, who is the neighborhood “stand-on-the-corner” guy. I always make it a point to meet the local entrepreneurs.
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