http://www.westviewbungalow.com/ A blog about the renovation of our historic 1917 bungalow in southwest Atlanta's Westview neighborhood. en-us Nucleus CMS v3.23 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.westviewbungalow.com//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://www.westviewbungalow.com/ http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=207
Speaking of English Ivey, tearing that stuff out was a whole task in itself. One that we had really been dreading! So when we got a fence estimated that included tearing it out we were really relieved. We obviously got our money’s worth too, because the company was working on it a bit longer than they had expected. I believe they commented that this was one of the hardest project’s they’d done. I guess they’re more accustomed to doing business in the ‘burbs where they don’t know what old landscaping looks like. (Ok, admittedly our English Ivey is more invasive than “landscaping,” but ya know.)

Check out some of these before and after photos:

Before privacy fence

No fence

After privacy fence


Driveway view:

Before privacy fence

After privacy fence


South facing view:

Before privacy fence

After privacy fence


Looking back at the house:

Before privacy fence

After privacy fence


Let the planting fun begin!]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=207 Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:53:11 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=206
At first we looked at the internet. You could buy a new handleset from one of the companies that makes reproductions, and spend $600+ for hardware. That wasn't going to happen. Or you could try to buy mismatched handlesets from eBay that may or may not fit once you receive it. After a lot of searching we decided this was not a purchase to be made online.

Did someone mention Scott's Antique Market? Sounds promising! Now if only we can find the time to get down there. A few months passed and we finally made it. We go straight for the outdoor warehouse that has all of the old hardware. There has to be something there. We're armed with all of the measurements, and we're confident that we're going to find something. So we start digging through all of the milk crates of handles, faceplates, and locking mechanisms. My hands are covered with rust, but nothing seems to match up. We find a faceplate we like that matches a lock box, but we couldn't find a matching faceplate (and any faceplate that would fit) for the other side. Grrrr... We just spent what seemed like an eternity digging, but no luck. We decide to give up. We are defeated and will never find hardware for our door.

So we move on to the next stall. What's that over there on that table? Could it be!? It's a complete handleset made of bronze (which means no rust). We're thinking there is no way it will fit our measurements, but it does! It will take some minor adjusting. A 1/16 of an inch here and there, but it fits! And even better it isn't going to cost us an arm and a leg!!

Just a little work on the door and we'll be in business.

Fun with the chisel.

Steffi looking very closely to determine where it is getting stuck.

Steffi problem solving.

A snug fit in the mortise.

Lock box in the mortise.

Using the router to make space for where the knob needs to go. I don't advise you actually have the router on while looking at the camera. Leave that to the professionals.

Fun with the router.

And everything fits. We just have to clean it up a little.

Front door hardware is installed!

Now it is anybody's guess how long it will take us to get the door installed, but at least the hardest part is over.]]> General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=206 Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:21:51 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=205
]]> General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=205 Sun, 17 Jul 2011 14:54:53 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=204
When it was cold outside (aka during the winter) we did some work inside. Such as painting the trim around the kitchen windows.

Painting the kitchen windows

We also put both doors on the bulter's pantry! I still need to paint the right one, but maybe I'll do that today.

Bulter's Pantry Doors

In the early spring we planted some seeds. These plants have now been in the garden for months, and they are much bigger.

Seeds

Our annual trip to Grower's Outlet to aquire new additions for the garden.

Grower's Outlet Trip

All of the plants in the garden in the spring. Note our new fescue lawn that we seeded in the fall of 2010.



Lastly, this is how the yard looked after we installed brick borders around all of the flower beds.



Some of the veggies we grew in the garden. Carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, etc.



Steffi trying a mini carrot.

Last look at the garden

And hopefully the next time we make a post we won't be apologizing about falling behind!]]> General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=204 Sun, 3 Jul 2011 16:44:54 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=203 West Fest and Committed to Communities.

What: Committed to Communities Southwest Atlanta Open House Event

When: May 7, 2011
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.: Walking tours begin at 1052 Allene Avenue for open houses in Adair Park and Westview

Where: Adair Park and Westview

Why: To encourage and showcase the possibilities of home ownership in our communities

Houses in Westview:
409 Inman Street
415 Altoona Place
1679 Rogers Avenue
486 East Ontario Avenue
472 West Ontario Avenue
1517 South Gordon Street

More information]]> General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=203 Wed, 4 May 2011 10:24:05 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=202 tree coming down on our neighbor's shed and part of ours. The remainder of that tree and another tree were scarily growing over our shed, along with a "curtain" of English Ivy (aka the devil plant).We figured it was only going to be a matter of time before one of the trees would decide to land on our shed, so back in February we thought it was about time to do something about it.

In the City of Atlanta you have to get a permit to have trees cut down, so after we got the city arborist to come by and agree that the trees were dangerous and not healthy we got our permit to take them down. We then had the guys from Tree Tailors come out to cut them down and haul them off. We also took the opportunity to have them prune the Oak tree in our front yard. The experience felt kind of like a Spiderman movie – David was dangling between trees on ropes!

Spiderman tree cutting

Here are the before and after pictures:

Before cut tree

After cut tree

Before cut tree

After cut tree

Before cut tree

After cut tree

It took some getting used to initially, but I think it feels pretty normal now. It ought to be interesting to see how this will affect the sun coming into the yard. Now I’m just itching to get a privacy fence!]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=202 Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:58:33 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=201
I can't tell you how many times I've mowed the lawn next door, and Steffi and I have both spent hours fighting the kudzu that tries to sneak over the fence. We've even sprayed poison on the kudzu a number of times to try and keep it at bay.

For memory's sake here is a look back at all of the exciting photos...

A Southern Icon

Another spring, and it returns

Growing In

What driveway?

Sneaking in...

What car?

And the best one for last.

Going on safari!]]> General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=201 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:11:47 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=200
Yes, hello. We're still alive. I feel like I need to get out the duster to get rid of the cobwebs on this blog. Once again, not much to report in the home renovation section. Sadly for our home, Patrick and I have been too busy with neighborhood organization and neighborhood planning unit work to focus on renovations. Good for the neighborhood though, I suppose, as we see more and more people buying up the vacant homes!

The only boring stuff I have to report is that we planted some fall/winter plants. The new bed by the sidewalk has Pansies and Dianthus in it. (We got two 18-pack of Dianthus for $2.50! Score!) We had good luck with the previous Dianthus plantings, so we figured we may as well keep going with them. We also planted some Dwarf Mondo Grass along the path. Unfortunately two will have to be replaced in the spring, but I'm looking forward to them filling in next year.

Front yard dianthus


Then we also decided to divide the Hosta's behind the shed. In the process we re-arranged the whole bed. (It was looking a bit of a mess following the tree falling on it.)

Dividing Hosta's


We also worked on a little bit more paint stripping on the bathroom built-in linen closet doors. (Or should I say door - singular.)

Paint stripping


Merry Christmas from Steffi, Patrick, Buster, and Foster!

Buster and Foster
]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=200 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:47:07 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=199
Renovating/restoring an old house is a huge task. There is no doubt about it. However, it is a very rewarding process. In the end, you have a beautiful home that you know is just the way you want it. Here are some "before" and "current" pictures. We're not at "after" yet because everything is always still a work in progress. Hopefully this will give you an idea of what can be done!

The living room. We didn't do much other than refinish the floors, but we plan to strip the woodwork one day.

Bungalow Living Room

The dining room. We refinished the floors and stripped a lot of the woodwork.

Bungalow Dining Room

The kitchen. Gutted to the studs and put back together. Notice the ceiling height. We gained two feet when we tore out the drop ceiling.

Bungalow Kitchen

The butler's pantry. It was disassembled and put back together. We added the granite counter, and then stripped it down to bare wood before repainting. We still need to finish the glass doors.

Bungalow Butlers Pantry

The bathroom. Like the kitchen, it was gutted to the studs. We saved the original medicine cabinet and a large built-in that isn't in this photo.

Bungalow Bathroom]]> General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=199 Sun, 24 Oct 2010 19:44:23 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=198 last year. No rain and 2 straight months of highs no less than 90F will eventually pay a toll, even if you attempt to water every now and then.

Growing seeds

Seedlings grow bigger


Patrick tackled the bathroom built-in drawer again. It got two coats of paint, but I think it'll need a third. Then the drawer pulls can go on!

Built-in drawer


And lastly we've added a new family member – Foster! We came back from a neighborhood meeting and the petite girl sat meowing on our front path. To avoid 10 million more stray babies on the street we managed to catch her and bring her in the house. We named her "Foster" because we intended to find her a new home, but of course one thing led to another and Buster now has a sibling.

Foster cat


There were some serious fights between her and Buster after she got fixed. Little did we know that cats hate anesthesia. Thankfully as the anesthesia/vet scent wore off the two went back to being playmates!

Foster and Buster cats]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=198 Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:17:21 -0400