1700 Vine Street: Visions of a Sustainable Over-the-Rhine

Painting the storefront (continued)

2011-11-13T18:57:00.016-05:00

The last week of August, Reid and I took some vacation time to rent scaffolding and finish painting the storefront details. It was tedious work and took much longer than anticipated, but worth it in the end. Our storefront is rich with detail. .
But having a baby makes working on the property more complicated...fortunately, Mabel was content hanging out/sleeping in the storefront while we worked.

We also painted the building on Hamer Street, but were unable to reach the tallest corner. Incidentally, the unreachable part of the building is also home to the bricks that are in the worse condition on the building. They required some tuck pointing in order to really get this wall into an acceptable state.

So, with Winter approaching, we rented a lift and finished the tuckpointing, priming and painting this weekend.

Meet Mabel, our new addition

2011-08-09T09:21:00.008-04:00

It's been a few months since I've posted, but there is good reason. Reid and I are now the proud parents of a healthy little girl, Mabel. She was born June 1st and has been keeping us busy ever since.

Although I haven't been able to work as much on the rehab site (lead paint = bad), Reid has still been working. He installed a skylight over what will become the 4th floor bathroom and has been cleaning out construction debris.

And our neighbors have been enjoying our newly landscaped lot. Thanks again, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful Future Blooms! Since our lot was landscaped, the amount of trash has greatly decreased and the neighbors can be found grilling in the greenspace!

Cincinnati's getting a Streetcar!

2011-05-04T17:49:00.005-04:00

Click on the title to see the updated project plan...

In 2008, Reid & I decided to take on the rehab/restoration of this condemned building on one of the worst blocks in the city because we believed in the impact the streetcar would have on this section of the neighborhood. We knew that the block would improve, crime would decrease, and blight would be replaced by other rehabbers like us. Adding the 24 hour presence of people on the streetcar would force the open air drug markets indoors and help create a more mixed income neighborhood. It's incredibly reassuring to hear Mayor Mallory's announcememnt yesterday that the streetcar WILL happen! We're counting on it at 1700 Vine Street!

Our Future Blooms Tree is Blooming!

2011-04-25T00:01:00.002-04:00

Thanks again Future Blooms & Keep Cincinnati Beautiful! Our new tree is beautiful, filled with tiny pink flowers!

New Old Windows

2011-04-24T23:35:00.006-04:00

De Timmerman is working on restoring the original 2nd floor windows.

Not only are they restoring & rebuilding the original 2nd story windows, they are also building the 3rd story windows from scratch, using lumber that we've saved from demolition of other parts of the building! (The 3rd story windows are currently vinyl replacements, presumably installed after the fire that occurred on the 3rd floor sometime between 2003-2005). De Timmerman is also creating molding to match the original molding found on the 2nd floor.

This is a sketch of what the interior and exterior will look like for all 6 windows.

We can't wait to see the final product as Reid and I think that even the temporary windows they've installed are better than a lot of the replacement windows we've seen!

Remnants of a ceiling mural uncovered in the storefront

2011-04-09T11:00:00.006-04:00

This past month, Reid has been completing demolition of the storefront in order to prepare it for white-boxing and, hopefully, rental.

While removing the last remnants of plaster ceiling, he uncovered what appears to be a mural, painted on the old plaster ceiling of the storefront.

Most of the mural had been painted over and then covered in a skimmed coat and then painted several times again. Only parts of the ceiling had been exposed to enough indirect moisture that the layers of paint had peeled off from the original ceiling, unveiling its history.

The mural appears to have a deco border around the perimeter of the storefront with a large painting of a landscape in the center of the room.

Unfortunately, the plaster ceiling is beyond repair and saving the mural is impossible.
This is probably a blessing though, as current building codes will require increased insulation and fire suppresion between the storefront and living space on the 2nd floor, which would be nearly impossible if we were to preserve the original ceiling.

Maybe someday we'll cross paths with a creative Art Academy or DAAP student who will be interested in recreating a ceiling mural- something that might reflect the building's more recent history.

2011-03-03T13:09:00.004-05:00

Well, Cincinnati has thawed and it finally feels like we can spend more than 5 minutes in the building without freezing to death.

Although, at some point during the winter, Reid ripped down the living room ceiling, which was a mix of drywall and plaster, partially replaced after the fire that occurred on the third floor (sometime between 2003 & 2005). The patch job was not stellar and left the ceiling wavy with visible tape lines between drywall pieces. It had to go.

Last night, Reid replaced the two outside lights on the front of the building. Water had infiltrated the system and shorted out the previous lights, which (of course!) are now discontinued at Lowe's and not able to be replaced. Fortunately, our local electrical shop, Graybar in Queensgate, was able to order some better quality fixtures that should perform much better with regard to the weather.

Now the building is lit up again at night, just in time for Bockfest!
Enjoy a tasty bock beer this weekend at one of OTR's local establishments!
www.bockfest.com

Kitchen wall is gone

2010-12-14T13:37:00.003-05:00

The load-bearing wall separating the kitchen from a small 4' hallway is now history. This opens up the future kitchen space to the lightwell, making the room feel much more open, even though it only gained 4'. The room is now 19' x 19', plenty of room for a huge kitchen island!

The wall of the future kitchen comes down & the storefront gets a subfloor

2010-12-05T20:14:00.005-05:00

The crew finished laying the subfloor in the storefront this week. The rotted floor joists were ripped out and replaced and then topped with new plywood subflooring. The crew is now ready to rip out the load-bearing wall above and install new LVLs for support.

The start of the load-bearing wall's teardown on the second floor/future kitchen: This weekend, one of the guys from Jim Martin's crew tore out all of the plaster and lath. He saved the trim from the door and windows so we can reuse them in the master bedroom/bathroom.

It's difficult to know if this wall is original to the building. It is definitely an old wall, since it was constructed out of plaster and lath. However, it is load-bearing but has no support below it. There is nothing supporting this wall one floor below in the storefront. So LVLs will need to be added to shore up the 3rd floor floor joists and carry the load to the basement/foundation.

2010-12-05T19:52:00.001-05:00

The details of the storefront...

2010-11-22T08:53:00.003-05:00

Great weather this weekend! We were able to make a little bit of progress on the storefront, but paining in the detail is just so time-intensive. I finished the basket weave on the pillars, which really looks sharp! Reid scraped and primed the wood trim around the doorway/transom.
There's still so much more to do...

2010-11-20T17:39:00.002-05:00

The floor in the storefront is really coming along. This past week, Jim Martin replaced all of the rotten floor joists and will be laying the subfloor next week. It's always so nice to see progress!

And we're still painting...
The cast iron details on this storefront are certainly what drew us to this building, but they are grueling to paint in detail. I managed to get the insets painted on one of the basketweaves of the pillars but there's still the other side to be done.
I know it will be beautiful when it's all done, but it really is a lot of work.

2010-11-16T12:10:00.003-05:00

The painting has started....there's still A LOT more to go!

I'm hoping for some nice weather after Thanksgiving!

Storefront facade restoration has begun

2010-11-07T21:41:00.003-05:00

After spending several weekends scraping paint from the storefront's metal facade, we have finally reached a point where we're ready to prime and then paint.

With a spray can of Rustoleum rusty metal primer in hand, we finished what we could of the left pillar. I'll be back tomorrow to finish the rest...
Before priming, I found myself stressing a little bit about what paint colors to use to highlight the different details of the storefront. After priming, I see how much better the storefront looks with just an ugly coat of rusty metal brown primer! It obviously doesn't matter that much what paint color goes where. A fresh coat of paint, no matter what color, will look great!

That said, we decided today that the residential entrance and stained glass transom frame will be painted red to match the windows. The rest of the storefront will be either gray, blue or red...

Thanks Keep Cincinnati Beautiful Future Blooms Program!

2010-11-07T21:26:00.002-05:00

Over the past week, out vacant, overgrown, garbage-ridden lot was transformed into an adorable park complete with straw to encourage grass growth and a tree!

In only 2 days time, a Keep Cincinnati Beautiful crew was able to scoop out demolition debris and stubborn weeds, add a foot of topsoil, and plant grass seed and a tree...

The lot looks so much better now! Thanks so much KCB Future Blooms Vacant Lot Stabilization Program!!!

Preparing the lot for landscaping

2010-10-25T17:01:00.004-04:00

BEFORE PICTURE

Prior to today, a tall chain link fence surrounded the vacant lot at 1700 Vine Street. Parts were falling down and all of it looked uninviting and certainly didn't keep any trash out.

AFTER PICTURE

Today, the fence was removed in preparation for Keep Cincinnati Beautiful's Future Blooms Vacant Lot Stabilization Project. KCB has contracted a landscaping company to beautify vacant lots around the city with the mission of eliminating blight and reducing crime by beautifying streets and vacant lots.

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, we're excited to work with you. Thank you for selecting our lot for the program. We really appreciate it.

removing rotten floor joists

2010-10-22T11:26:00.004-04:00

You may recall from the December 2009 posts that approx 200 sq ft of floor and floor joists in the storefront were rotted and had to be removed. In December (10 months ago now!) we removed the rotted floorboards. This week, a crew removed the rotted joists and opened up the entire 1st floor. They'll be rebuilding the floor joists and laying a new plywood subfloor over the next week.

The problem of rotted floor joists appears to have originated from the tear-down of our former neighboring building - the one that used to sit on our now vacant lot. I don't know exactly when this building came down, but filling in its footprint with soil is the culprit of our rot. The vacant lot has soil that has been sitting above our rock foundation line, covering several courses of our building's brick. This is 1870s (or older) brick and is porous, as it was originally made for an interior wall (party wall shared with former building). So our porous brick has been absorbing all of the water from the soil covering it, causing extensive mold and rot in our floor joists. This is just another example of why OTR buildings NEED to be preserved instead of torn down.

Back to Work

2010-10-20T13:30:00.008-04:00

After a much needed vacation, which included a beautiful Irish wedding, we are back to work. Before winter arrives, we are hoping to scrape and paint the storefront, clean up the vacant lot with some help from Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, and maybe even paint the east wall of the back building facing Hamer Street. And we still have a few finishing touches to complete on the roof deck.

This past weekend, Reid milled a new piece for the storefront facade. We had removed the old, rotted piece sometime last year when it pretty much fell apart in our hand. The only catch is that we have to remove the metal security grates in order to reattach it without notching it... nothing is ever simple, that's for sure.

Reid and I both scraped paint from the metal facade this past weekend. It's getting there, but it's going to take a lot of time to really clean this storefront up.

Well Deserved Vacation

2010-09-16T17:20:00.002-04:00

Sorry I haven't been posting for a few weeks. Reid and I are on vacation from 1700 Vine, but we'll be resuming work soon!
Right now, we're taking time to enjoy the rest of Cincinnati and getting our current home in order.
Pictured is our dog, Miles, enjoying Bark in the Park at The Reds Game this week.

Detailing the Deck

2010-08-16T12:45:00.006-04:00

This weekend, we sweated through the 100F weather and then the afternoon storm, painting and installing concrete hardieboard siding on the roof deck.

Reid installed the tap. As soon as we run a drain line we're ready for a keg!

2010-08-08T03:01:00.003-04:00

Reid put the paper barrier over the plywood this week, so we're ready to install the hardieboard siding.

We found two recessed lights that will work for the roof soffit.
These two beauties will illuminate the deck with CFLs. And for only $5 from Building Value, they're a reused bargain.

The deck structure is complete

2010-07-26T19:13:00.006-04:00

I've lost track of what "Day" this is of deck building. Basically, Reid and I have spent a lot of evenings - usually just a couple hours here and there - working on this deck. But this past Friday night, Reid and I finished the deck stairs and installed the remaining trex.
We installed an electrical box under the deck and ran a 24' strand of LED rope lights along the stair risers for safety and ambient lighting. It really looks nice and feels like such an accomplishment!
Although it took us until well after dark, we celebrated the deck structure's completion with some local beer and honey sesame cupcakes from Main Street's ForkHeartKnife. There's nothing else like a celebratory beer on a hot summer night on the roofdeck. It's so quiet 4 stories up! Nothing but the moon, stars, and a beautiful skyline.

Now for the details...the hardieboard siding & trim are next!

Miscellaneous Maintenance

2010-07-18T21:13:00.005-04:00

The deck stairs are coming along. Even though they look a little crooked, Reid assures me that it's OK. He says he's got it figured out...(He had to work on them himself this weekend since I worked nights all weekend and had to sleep all day.)

I resumed the miserable task of scraping wallpaper from the 20' tall wall in the window well. There are at least 3 layers of wallpaper, topped with peeling paint. I've found that swimming goggles get less fogged up than safety glasses when wearing the respirator, hence my sexy headgear.

Reid made his way up to the roof of the back building to clean construction debris out of the gutter. Since there is no longer a stair for this building, there is really no way to get between floors. So Reid threw a ladder up to the second floor, then hoisted himself up to the third floor through a hole in the floor and then took the attic stair up to the roof! Crazy. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw him up on the roof with a rope around his waist.

The things we do for this building.

Day 5 - trex are installed

2010-07-12T08:46:00.006-04:00

Yesterday we were able to cut the remaining trex boards and screw them into place. We set up a tarp to act like an umbrella, keeping us from getting sunburned and alowing a nice breeze to blow under. Despite the "umbrella," we were sweaty enough that sawdust was sticking to us!

next weekend, we build the 3 stairs.

Day 4 - beer tap positioning

2010-07-08T12:51:00.004-04:00

We need to build the stair before we can lay any more trex.

Day 3: An early start

2010-07-05T10:25:00.005-04:00

We got up early this morning to beat the heat (and I had to be at work at 10am). We finished the deck's framing, minus a couple stabilizers between boards. (Reid can finish those today while I'm at work.) When I get off work later today, we'll finish what we can before it gets too dark. More pictures to come...

Even our neighbors 2 doors down were out working on their roof! (this is great because they needed a new roof 10 years ago)

Day 2 of deck building

2010-07-04T17:36:00.007-04:00

Of course, nothing ever works out exactly as planned. When we measured the position for the joist hangers, we used a scrap piece of lumber from the 16' long 2'x12'. We assumed it was exactly the same width as the 20' long 2'x12's, but turns out, they're 1/4" wider!!! So we had to shim all of the 18' spans to get them flush for the trex boards...

a minor inconvenience, really. and if this is the biggest glitch we face in this project, we're doing OK!

Halfway there!

Taking in the view from the new (half-finished) deck! We'll be working again tomorrow...

Thanks for all your help today, Alex. We couldn't have done it without an extra set of hands!

Hauling 59 boards up to the roof - click here to see the You Tube video

2010-07-03T19:07:00.020-04:00

Hauling 59 boards up to the 4th floor was definitely the hardest part of building the roof deck. While the deck isn't finished - we might have been overly ambitious in thinking we could complete the entire project in 1 day - we got all of the pressure treated lumber and trex boards up to the 4th floor! Thanks for all your help everyone - we couldn't have done it without you!

Prep work for the deck - drawing a level line to show where to attach the structural boards.

Of course, the saw decided not to work today. Reid had cut the cord several months ago and my dad had repaired the cord. Looks like it's going to need another fix. Kristen had to hold ends of the cord together - don't try this at home!

Thanks Alex for helping bolt the deck structure into the brick wall!

One step forward, two steps back...

2010-06-30T22:38:00.003-04:00

After the tornado warning last week, we entered the building to find a piece of plywood missing. It had been boarding up a huge picture window in the 20' lightwell. It must have blown out during the storm but we can't find it anywhere! Hopefully, it didn't do any damage when it fell out and someone picked it up and gave it a second life somewhere else...

On Tuesday, Forge lumber delivered the lumber we're going to use to build our roofdeck this weekend. They dropped 36 20foot 2'x12's in a parking spot on Vine Street at 7am and Reid and I carried them into the storefront, one by one. Counting the 41 trex decking boards that Reid picked up at Lowes last week (thanks Chris for helping to carry those inside!), we have 59 boards that need to be hauled up to the roof this weekend...
Thanks in advance to our wonderful friends who have voluteered to help with the "deck-raising!"

basement clean up

2010-06-06T08:48:00.008-04:00

Just when we thought we were done with trash, we remembered that we hadn't finished cleaning all of the trash out of the basement of the back building on hamer street.
A year and a half ago, we carted 6 trash cans worth of garbage out of the basement and felt so overwhelmed, that we locked it up and forgot about the remaining trash. The tear down of the 1890s addition destroyed the basement stair so we had to use a ladder to get the trash out. The floor is dirt and there are remnants of a homeless camp - scraps of carpet and clothing as bedding as well as plates, plasticware and empty cans of beer and faygo.

The basement is a lot cleaner now, although the dirt floor is still very unlevel and will need to be leveled before a concrete floor can be poured.

My hope is that one day this underutuilized 600 sq ft space will be home to a small wine cellar and Reid's work shop. But I'm getting a head of myself...before that happens, we'll need to install a stair to get in and out of it, waterproof it, and put in a floor. But it's nice to dream....

They needed major surgery...but they pulled through and are looking better than ever

2010-05-16T17:11:00.021-04:00

BEFORE

One of the most amazing of the remaining original details of 1700 Vine Street are the 9-foot tall pocket doors. However, you can see from the before pictures that a frustrated dog had chewed through one door and an idiot had sawn through another. We ended up finding the bottom half of the sawn through door nailed to another door (2nd picture), a ridiculously difficult way to cover a missing panel.

We thought it would be impossible to repair the two doors.

Then we met Richard. Formally trained in carpentry in England, he was able to rebuild the two doors, putting the two halves back together and patching the dog-chewed wood. He still has to replace and reglaze the glass, but they are well on their way to becoming the gleaming architectural gems they were meant to be.

AFTER

Richard and Reid installed the two doors today to determine how well they fit and what adjustments will need to be made. We are now on the search for a replacement track that runs across the floor. It has been cut off and removed, but replacing it will be an important means of stabilizing the doors, keeping them from wobbling back and forth in the pockets.

It's been a while, but we're still at it.

2010-05-09T21:45:00.007-04:00

I had a 4-hour long certification test in toxicology that I had to take for work and studying for it really consumed a lot of my spare time over the past month.
But we're back to work this weekend and made some small accomplishments!

This weekend we rebuilt the broken chimney and tackled the reinstallment of the stone roof caps. These 150Lb+ stones were removed when the roof deck was built and had not yet been returned to their locations on top of the wall (mainly because we pushed off the top 3 feet of the wall). We thought ahead and used the lift (back in November) to bring them up to the 4th floor. Good thing, because some of the pieces are 6+ feet long and must weigh at least 150Lb.

Reid and I were able to lay mortar and place them back on top of the walls. And Reid rebuilt the chimney.

I started vacuuming the mortar joints to prepare them for new mortar and I was shocked to find several brick faces disintegrating into the vacuum! Masonry repair is certain to be the job that never ends...

New roof, rebuilt dormer with a Pella window, roof deck, skylights, and stone caps in place...this last picture actually looks like progress!

Christian Moerlein to move brewing operations back to Over-the-Rhine's historic Brewery District

2010-04-27T15:44:00.000-04:00

Published in SoapboxMedia...This is great for us at 1700 Vine Street!!!

Just months after announcing his intention to open the Moerlein Lager House in 2011 at the Cincinnati Riverfront Park, Christian Moerlein President and CEO Greg Hardman has made another huge step in solidifying the Moerlein legacy.

On April 16th, Hardman announced that Moerlein will bring back brewing operations to Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine Brewery District. Although the company had yet to establish its own facility - Moerlein contract brews its brands at Lion Brewery in Wilkes Barre, PA - since the April 2007 launch of OTR Ale the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company has helped open eyes to the importance of local, craft beer in Cincinnati.

"We are proud to be part of the continued renaissance and economic development of Over-the-Rhine," said Hardman.

Just blocks from the site of the original Christain Moerlein Brewery on northern Elm Street near Findlay Market, the new production facility will be housed in a building that most recently was the Husman Potato Chip plant located at 1621 Moore Street (map) just north of Liberty Street and east of Vine Street.

The company has entered into a lease agreement with an option to buy the former pre-prohibition malt and lager house for the Kaufman Brewery, and plans to bring nearly 25 percent of its "high-end" beer production to the 125,000 square-foot facility by spring of 2011.

Steve Hampton, President of the OTR Brewery District, could not be happier.

"The announcement of the new Christian Moerlein brewery in Over-the-Rhine is a big step not only for Greg, but for the neighborhood as a whole. He has worked very hard and very diligently to grow not only his brands, but also the Brewery District," explained Hampton. "Greg gets the "big picture" that success breeds success, and has been committed to being a part of redeveloping Over-the-Rhine. While there are challenges to working in Over-the-Rhine, there are also greater rewards possible by being part of the history and future of a great neighborhood."

With the recent introduction of locally based Rivertown Brewing, the expansion of Mt. Carmel’s brewing facility and the recent accolades for Cincinnati Rock Bottom’s Brewmaster Mitchell Dougherty, coupled with multiple local micro-brewery projects on the horizon, Cincinnati is poised to reestablish itself as a brewing center once again.

Writer: Bryon Martin
Photography by Tiffani FIsher
Stay connected by following Bryon on Twitter @BryonMartin

The New Pella is in the house!

2010-04-15T08:45:00.004-04:00

Aside from the cheesy title (it's my blog so I can amuse myself with things like this), Reid and I installed a new pella window last night. The pella was purchased from Lowe's and installed in the 4th floor space. Historically, there were no windows on this side of the building (north wall) because another building used to be there. Since the space north of our building is now a vacant lot (that we also own), we deeded the two properties into one and can install windows for added daylighting.

The pictures really don't capture how pretty the new window is...it has a dark red aluminum clad exterior that looks stunning next to the brick. The interior is unfinished wood with oil-rubbed bronze hardware. It's double-hung, historically appropriate, and we even made sure that it was made with one vertical divider down both panes - a replica of the original windows' design on the 2nd floor.
I know this is but a small accomplishment when looking at the whole scope of this project, but - wow! it brings such instant gratification!

the deck is practically finished...

2010-04-10T07:10:00.007-04:00

...except for the actual decking (trex), which will likely be installed in the next couple of months by our all-star carpenter, Steve Berger. Steve and his crew proved how awesome they are when they ripped off the roof and raised it to accomodate the roof deck doors last fall. Below is a picture of his work.

Yesterday, Reid and I installed the two closet doors on the roof deck. We ordered the doors from Lowes, frames and all. Unlike the last door installation where we had to piece together the frames, hardware, and door mechanisms, these doors came intact and ready to set in place. And it was so easy! We installed both doors in a mere 2 hours! Prehung, ready-to-install doors really are the way to go. I see why new construction is so appealing.

The architect, Steve Hampton, designed the deck so that I would never have to drag deck furniture up and down 4 flights of stairs to our storage unit. There is ample storage built into the deck, so storing furniture during times of inclement weather is easy! And there's so much space that Reid is already devising a plan to install two beer taps.

The next question is what will be on tap!?!

trial run of the uplighting

2010-04-07T07:51:00.001-04:00

now for a sensor to automatically switch the lights on and off...

a little paint touch up

2010-04-03T19:15:00.006-04:00

This week, Reid and I scraped, primed and painted the stone ledge below the 2nd floor windows. We can reach this area by leaning out the windows, so we didn't worry about finishing it when we had the lift last fall. I also wood puttied the round detail trim piece around the windows, as exposure to the elements has caused some rot. Recreating these round trim pieces doesn't seem particularly easy, so we thought we better putty and paint them before they rot away. Reid is excited to have the ledge painted as he intends to run some temporary electricity along the ledge for uplighting the building. This will add some light to the street at night, improving safety and showing off our paint job!

patio doors installed

2010-03-28T19:45:00.008-04:00

The day after Thanksgiving 2009, Reid and I went out shopping at Building Reuse in Northside. Our big Black Friday purchase ended up being two Jeld-wen patio doors. We picked them up for $50 each, but they did not come with door frame, weatherstripping or hardware. We thought we would save a lot of money by constructing the door frame ourselves and purchasing the hardware separately. Turns out, we may not have actually saved much at all since it ended up costing approx $500 total (plus a lot of time and some frustration) to install the doors to the roofdeck.
Thanks to a lot of help from my dad, we installed the doors today! Though they still require a little tweaking to make sure they open and close easily, they're in place. And they're keeping the rain out!
Miles had a great time watching us and already enjoys the roofdeck. It will be nice when the day comes that Miles can hang out in the building without coming home filthy. Until then, he loves his baths in the clawfoot tub at home on Main Street.

scrap lumber becomes mulch

2010-03-28T19:40:00.003-04:00

...thanks to Irvine Wood Recovery on Glendale Milford Rd.
Reid took an entire truck bed's worth of scrap wood there this week. Now we know where to go for mulch when we need it...

Skylight installation completed!

2010-03-21T17:31:00.005-04:00

Although it took us all weekend, we finished installing two skylights in our 20' window well. The window well is original to the structure and designed to daylight the home prior to electricity. The skylight vents to act as a vacuum for hot air inside, serving as a natural cooling aid. The wood frame was rotted from exposure to the elements. We rebuilt the frame, adding a center support, and then nailed down and flashed them in. It's amazing how fancy the skylights are...they open via remote control and have rain sensors on the roof that automatically close the skylights when it starts to rain.

Thanks Kristen and Chris for all of your help and encouragement this weekend! Reid may have thrown himself off the roof in frustration if you two hadn't shown up!

2009-12-19T17:06:00.004-05:00

This weekend we attempted to better organize the storefront. We restacked the scrap wood that we're just not ready to get rid of, got rid of 2 pieces of carpet, swept up the leftover plaster from demo a year ago, and started ripping up the linoleum and plywood. It's looking like we'll need to replace about 10 of the 20' long 2"x10" floor joists and the original wood floor, which was beneath the linoleum but is totally rotten from years of water. The last picture shows Reid pulling up the original pine floor easily without tools because it's so rotten it's almost dirt. Maybe we can still salvage the floors in the front of the space...? We'll find out once we pull up the linoleum in the front.
Regardless, now the joists are exposed and can dry a bit. Maybe this will help the horrible mold problem...

2009-12-13T17:01:00.002-05:00

Today we installed the new (used) front door that we found at Home Emporium (a type of building reuse store) yesterday for $100. The old front door was steel and dented and rubbed against the brick wall inside. It also screamed "vacant" and "ghetto."
And this past Wednesday evening we drove by and found the steel door wide open. No one was inside and no damage had been done nor property stolen, so we suspect that the strong winds that day had jiggled the door enough to open it! I know it sounds crazy, but the lock on that door had gotten so bad that we had to jiggle it to lock and unlock it...so maybe the wind could have blew it open...?

The new door, while probably not the last door for the space, says "don't sit on this stoop because someone might use this door!" :)

Revisiting the roof deck brick issues...

2009-11-29T13:41:00.008-05:00

After the roof was torn off to reveal the roof deck, we realized that the top 3' of brick was loose and practically falling off.
We had debated whether to rebuild or take it down... Today we took it down!
And man, was it easy to take down. We were very careful on the wall that butts up against our neighbor, Skip's, roof.
But we didn't have to be so gentle on the other walls. Reid and I literally just pushed over 3' of rotten mortar joints.

We tuckpointed the remaining joints and fitted the old stone roof caps back onto the brick. They were no joke- very heavy to lift!

And now we have a really fantastic view of downtown, OTR, Mt Adams, and Mt Auburn! We'll defintely be able to see the fireworks on Labor Day!!!

72 work hours later...

2009-11-23T13:45:00.002-05:00

We finished painting the building (floors 2 through 4)!!!
While we do hope to get some exterior lighting soon to light up the new paint job, it looks like we'll have to wait until spring before installing new windows and giving the storefront a facelift....we're officially broke after paying for the roof, masonry and carpentry.

Minor Facelift

2009-11-17T08:21:00.003-05:00

I HUGELY underestimated the amount of time it would take to paint the facade of our building. On Saturday, my brother and I started scraping, wirebrushing and priming. We didn't quite finish the entire surface, but came pretty close. Day 2, Reid and I finished priming (except for the top South corner which is very difficult to reach because of the powerlines). We started painting in the detail on the roofline and around the windows. This weekend - in total - we spent 40 (wo)manhours on the building. Looks like we'll need to spend at least another 20 hours to finish...

We hope, after this weekend, the building will resemble this one, located a few blocks south at 14th and Vine Streets.

Business Courier: OTR Green Preservation Study

2009-11-10T11:10:00.002-05:00

Reid and I were featured in the Business Courier on September 18, 2009 for our building's role in the OTR Green Preservation Study, a study conducted by the OTR Foundation in collaboration with U.C. DAAP and many architects and green building experts.

Friday, September 18, 2009 | Modified: Monday, September 21, 2009
Study shows Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine perfect place to marry historic preservation, green movementsWhere causes converge
Business Courier of Cincinnati - by Lucy May Senior Staff Reporter

The way local historic preservationists see it, Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine is the mother of all recycling opportunities.

Redevelopment of the roughly 500 vacant buildings there would reuse historic structures, essentially recycling a whole neighborhood. And the properties sit in the kind of walkable urban neighborhood that developers are trying to create in the suburbs.

Now a new study shows it’s possible to renovate those buildings using sustainable, or “green,” design and maintain the historic integrity of the structures and neighborhood without adding substantial costs.

“Over-the-Rhine was green before its time,” said Margo Warminski, preservation director for the Cincinnati Preservation Association and a member of the team that prepared the Over-the-Rhine Green-Historic Study. “Buildings don’t have to be big, new and flashy to be LEED certified.”

While the neighborhood’s drafty old buildings might seem horribly energy-inefficient, the dense neighborhood and proximity to mass transit give them an edge in the LEED rating systems used in green design, said Chad Edwards, a principal with Emersion Design and a member of the study team. And, in many cases, simple fixes such as storm windows can make the buildings more energy-efficient while keeping their historic character, he said.

“The entire Over-the-Rhine could eventually be LEED-certified because it fits so well with the walkability of the mass transit, the various shops, restaurants, pubs and even offices that are there,” Edwards said. “Over-the-Rhine is a great model for that.”

Four types of buildings
The study, believed to be one of only a few of its kind in the nation, was funded by the Ohio Historic Preservation Office, the National Parks Service and Duke Energy. It examines four typical building types in the neighborhood and provides a road map for renovation using green design principles.

The solid masonry walls common in the buildings pose the biggest challenge to energy efficiency, Edwards said. But when the fabric of the neighborhood is maintained, the buildings share common walls. And those old “party” walls provide good insulation for the buildings that share them, he said.

The problem comes when select buildings are demolished, leaving gaps between structures and walls exposed. That not only damages the historic fabric of the neighborhood but also makes the surviving structures far less energy-efficient, Edwards said.

Understanding that could unite preservationists and the sustainable design movement in fighting to save as much of the historic building stock as possible. That’s particularly critical for Over-the-Rhine, which preservationists estimate is just a few demolitions away from losing more than half its historic building stock.

“If you’re going to take this whole idea of reduction of carbon footprint seriously, you have to start with existing neighborhoods,” said Michael Morgan, executive director of the Over-the-Rhine Foundation and one of the study’s project managers. “It just makes perfect sense.”

You have to want it
That doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Reid Hartmann and Patty Klein bought two adjacent buildings and a vacant lot at 1700 Vine St. for a little less than $18,000 about a year-and-a-half ago. Their goal is to renovate the property using sustainable design with the help of architect Steve Hampton. Their property was selected as one of the study’s four building types because the adjacent lot poses both opportunities and challenges for green design.

On the plus side, the lot allows room for geothermal heating, which most buildings in Over-the-Rhine lack the space to use. But the exposed party wall facing the lot is deteriorating and lacks the insulation that an adjoining structure would have provided.

To stucco the exposed wall, needed both to maintain the historic integrity and improve energy efficiency, would cost as much as $50,000 – an expense Hartmann and Klein said they hadn’t included in their redevelopment plans.

Even so, the couple has saved money on the redevelopment elsewhere. They are reusing nine pallets of bricks that they picked from the rubble of a crumbling, connecting structure on the property that had to be demolished. And they’ve purchased windows at a steep discount from reuse centers.

In all, Klein estimates they will spend between $350,000 to $400,000 to rehabilitate the buildings over the next five years or so. They plan to convert the larger building into their home and lease the first-floor commercial space, preferably to a restaurant. And they have friends who want to lease the rear building once it’s finished.

As excited as they are, Hartmann and Klein have hit some snags. They can’t qualify for a federal historic tax credit, for example, because they want to reuse those old bricks from the demolished structure. Using historic bricks for new construction is against the rules for the tax credit, they learned.

For the most part, though, historic preservation and sustainable design principles are quite compatible, the study found.

The key is being focused less on technology-oriented, LEED certification checklists and thinking more broadly about the lifecycles of buildings and the energy used to create the systems that go into them, said Donovan Rypkema, principal of PlaceEconomics, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate and economic development consulting firm with a focus on historic preservation.

“You can’t have sustainable development without having historic preservation – period, period, period,” he said.

Celebrating 150 Years

2009-11-09T14:18:00.004-05:00

Although we originally thought the buildings had been built in the 1870s, we are piecing together information that suggests they are much older, most likely built in the 1850s. A couple of neighbors, known for their intense interest in OTR history, suggested that there were definitely buildings on our property in the 1850s. We weren't sure if they were the buildings that are still present until this past weekend when we discovered a name and year carved into a windowsill. While pressure washing and scraping in preparation for painting, we found the name "Phill Adolphe" and the year "1860" carved into a windowsill on the back building. Could it be that our buildings are celebrating their 150th birthday?!

2009-11-07T17:21:00.004-05:00

Today, Reid power washed the west wall of the back building, which was filthy from the demolition this past summer. We are prepping the surface - removing loose paint and dirt - so that we can tuckpoint loose brick next weekend and paint the weekend after that (hopefully!)
Alex and Eileen helped scrape and paint the lintels and sills on the east wall of the rear building. You can see the difference between the ones on the left of the picture and the unpainted lintel/sill on the right.
Hopefully we'll have enough time and good weather to repaint all of the exterior painted surfaces while we still have the lift.

the cornices are hung

2009-11-07T17:20:00.000-05:00

2009-11-04T19:03:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday we were so close to getting the roof done! Hinson Roofing had taken a mold of our one intact cornice and hand-crafted 2 more out of metal to replace those that are long gone. They also crafted a missing piece for the other (left in the picture) cornice that still remains.

But, of course, we hit another snag... Apparently roofers need a permit to park a lift on the sidewalk. The permit cost is minimal ($80 or so) but the roofers have to register with the city, which adds a layer of bureaucracy and (worse) time! And so, of course, the city was there to shut the roofers' work down by noontime and the cornices are still not hung. I can't help but wonder how effective it would be to mandate that all drug dealers obtain a permit to stand on the sidewalk. It seems that the city would be there in a flash to shut them down if they didn't have the right permit!
But I don't mean to sound so frustrated. The roofers should have had the permit and I'm sure they'll get it within the week.

We have a roof that actually keeps water out!

2009-10-29T15:41:00.004-04:00

Thr first picture is of the roofing that will, one day, be under the deck.

The second picture is of the new roof, including a new skylight over the 4th floor bath!

Although the new roof is wonderful, the project is not without a few snags. The top 3 feet of brick on the wall with the windows (1st picture) is crumbling and will likely fall down if we push it! While we're still deciding between repairing or simply removing the 3 feet of loose brick (removing them would allow for better city views but may not be the desired action by the historic conservation board), we know we'll need to brick in those 2 windows for additional stability.

2009-10-09T16:01:00.006-04:00

The irony of seeing the deck come together in the last post is the 3 inches of rainfall we had last night, only one day after the roof was peeled back to allow for the new roofline's construction. The first picture shows the water causing the massive bulge in the roof tarp. Reid and I arrived at the property after work yesterday to discover a waterfall running down the central staircase! It was a disaster! We quickly pulled out the green tarp pictured to catch the water streaming through the roof tarp.

The only thing that seemed like it could stop the water was to install the drain for the roof deck. Fortunately, we had already purchased the supplies, we just hadn't thought we'd have to install the drain in the dark & pouring rain.

Reid drilled a hole through the brick on the side of the building and then drilled a hole through the newly laid plywood. This allowed us to connect the PVC pipe to drain the roof deck to the outside.

Hopefully, the weather will clear soon and the sun will help to dry out the new mess. Although I'm certain the building took on more water than this before we purchased it, I'm a little bit concerned that we'll be replacing more rotten floorboards than originally anticipated.

2009-10-07T19:35:00.004-04:00

The carpenters and roofers really got a lot of noticable work done today! The old roof was peeled back. The new roofline was built and it's really looking like a deck and like a place we could live in!!!!

2009-10-07T00:31:00.003-04:00

The carpenter started today! We have the start of walls and a plywood floor for the roofers to roof over. Today was like a real construction project at 1700 Vine: the mason was fixing the brickwork, the roofers were working away and the carpenters were building walls!

This evening, Reid and I ran over to Vine Street to install four electrical boxes and wiring for future ceiling lights. We had to get it done before the roof is laid over the back room since it will be so much more difficult to access the area once the roof is completed. Thanks again Sam, for the anniversary gift of 50' of electrical wire! We used a lot of it today!

2009-10-04T08:01:00.002-04:00

The roofer reinforced the roof beams in the front building. Some unknown number of years ago, there was a significant fire on the 3rd floor front of the building and the fire department had sawn through a large section of the roof. Over time, those weakened beams sunk and had to be pushed back up and sistered with new lumber.

2009-10-04T07:54:00.003-04:00

As you can see, the roof has shingles and gutters! and is nearly completed on the back building.

The structural beams were rotten and failing under the old roof, so salvaged lumber from the demolition was used to reinforce and strengthen those beams.

We found the perfect-sized window for the dormer at Building Reuse Center on Gilbert Ave. The carpenter will install it next week! THen we'll be weather tight and ready for winter.

2009-09-29T11:51:00.005-04:00

The roofers have really done an awesome job laying the framework for the roof on the back building. When they first climbed up on the roof, they noticed it was not as sturdy as it should be due to several rotted support beams. In order to maintain the historic character of the inside space, the roofers replaced all of the rotted beams with the salvaged wood we saved from the demolition. (they're awesome!)
They also rebuilt the original roofline that was ripped off during demolition.
Soon there will be a beautiful, new, gray shingle roof that will actually keep water out. Then the roofers can start on the front building.

Reid, my dad, and I started the construction of what will become the new roof - under the roofdeck. It's a complicated job, but after 2 carpenters cheesed out on us, we decided to move forward and attempt the job ourselves. Thank goodness my dad has so much experience as it's very important we get the pitch right to prevent puddling under the new deck.

And now for the Roof

2009-09-23T21:25:00.002-04:00

This might be the most exciting thing we've done so far to 1700 Vine Street...
we're getting a roof!!!
A reputable roofer has returned our calls and given us an estimate for the work (we've found this kind of response to be a rarity). Hinson roofing will rebuild the historic cornice work across the Vine Street facade, replace the rubber membrane roof on the front building, and re-shingle the roof on the back building!
And he started replacing rotten roof beams the day after we hired him! Prompt, quality work!!! It's very exciting.

The New Marvin!

2009-09-23T21:16:00.004-04:00

This week Reid and I fit the salvaged double hung, wood Marvin window into its new home in the 3rd floor bedroom. This window was originally intended for a building in New Orleans, but something happened - maybe it wasn't the right size or the building specs changed (who knows!) - and it ended up in the Convington Reuse Center.

Perfect timing since it rained the day after we put it in place.
We still have to secure it properly and insulate with spray foam, but it's keeping the water out for now!

Let there be light

2009-08-31T08:14:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Reid and I ripped the plywood off of the 6' x 4'6" skylight that is the most amazing feature of the property. This skylight is original to the construction of the house, a true old-fashioned way of daylighting a structure built prior to electricity. It's interesting that now, as society is shifting toward greener energy, the 1870's design of this skylight is exactly what we're looking for: a way to light a home without having to turn on the lights. Brilliant.

Unfortunately, the glass has been long since broken out of the frame and the frame itself it rotted. Having it open to the sun for 10 minutes yesterday was so exciting though. It gave us a glimpse of the grandness of the 2-story tall entry & hallway, lit by the skylight.

Demolition is complete!

2009-08-31T07:56:00.003-04:00

The debris was cleared a couple of weeks ago. Now we have to install windows to keep the weather out of the new openings created by the demolition of the 3-story addition.

North Wall Elevation Blueprint

2009-07-09T21:42:00.002-04:00

This is what the final product will look like. The vacant lot will eventually become home to a garage, greenspace and outdoor seating for the storefront. The structure we just tore down (yes, the rest of it came down today!) will be rebuilt to one-story high with a deck on top of it. We have a long way to go...

Two Floors Down, One To Go

2009-07-05T17:34:00.007-04:00

Thanks so much for all of your help today! Together, we were able to fill 5 palettes of bricks and salvage all of the old wooden beams! The bricks will be used to re-face the new structures so that they remain historic in appearance.
Bringing the middle section of the property down to only one floor is especially exciting since the property is starting to look like what it will one day become. The final plans include a one-story tall structure connecting the front & back building. On top of this one-story structure will be a deck, which - from the inside - will connect to the kitchen.

DIY

2009-06-29T23:20:00.002-04:00

As Reid and I were stacking bricks on palettes for hours this evening, I kept reminding myself of how much $$ we're saving by doing it ourselves...
We filled a second palette of bricks (approx 250 bricks on a palette) despite me having stepped on a rusty nail and splitting open the rear of my pants!

Thanks Eileen and Jonathon for helping us with the first skid on Sunday!

New Electrical Wires

2009-06-27T07:55:00.005-04:00

Reid feels especially proud that the old electrical wires are gone! You can see in the first picture that the wires previously attached to the building through the storefront - not a very attractive option. Now, they attach to the side of the building and Reid removed the old connections to the storefront for a much cleaner look...

Sweet Deal

2009-06-27T07:17:00.006-04:00

Since the demolition brought down the 3rd story of the addition, we had to turn an old doorway into a window. Reid bricked up the old doorway and recently found 2 brand new, double hung, Marvin windows at the Covington reuse store that will fit perfectly into both the existing window and the new window opening!!! And, at $100 each, we've just saved ourselves approx $1800 in windows.

I love a bargain and I love supporting my neighborhood building reuse stores!
We'll install the new windows after the demolition is complete.

The View from the New Window

2009-06-27T07:09:00.009-04:00

The mason cut out a new window on the 4th floor of the building. The new window adds so much extra light and will really make the attic space feel like a bedroom when it's complete.

The new window cutout is on the right on the interior picture.

The building under construction in the far right picture was historically part of the Kauffman Brewery. It was built to house brewery workers in the late 1800s. In recent years, it has suffered from fires and was condemned and slated for demolition. Fortunately, community activists and city council collaborated to save the structure. It is definitely a large and important contribution to Vine Street's facade and history.

one floor down, two to go

2009-06-26T17:58:00.001-04:00

Demolition has begun

2009-06-26T17:55:00.005-04:00

We showed up at the site today to find that demolition has started and most of the top floor of the addition has been removed. Now we have to sort through the rubble, stack bricks on skids and find reusable lumber.

2009-06-18T12:39:00.003-04:00

The mason has started work. As they were attempting to tuckpoint/rebuild a chimney on the back building, the whole thing fell down - along with about 8 feet of the north wall. As we expected, there is a lot of rebuilding to do. I'm so glad we've finally started the work.

2009-06-18T12:29:00.004-04:00

we're trying more paint colors...reid doesn't care for this one but i don't think it's that bad:) But we both like the dark brown for the storefront, and the stone color for the coins along the edge of the building. And we've decided on red windows. It's just a matter of what to paint the building...

2009-06-17T10:16:00.002-04:00

The concrete wall in the very back of the vacant lot is coming down! All it has been doing is collecting trash anyway...

It's coming down!

2009-06-17T10:05:00.003-04:00

The recent rains (paired with neglect over time) have brought ALL the wooden exterior steps down! It's starting to REALLY look unsafe.

The 1890s addition is peeling away from the main structure in a big way. Time to take it down...

Making room for construction

2009-06-17T10:02:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we replaced the pedestrian gate with an 11 foot gate that can accomodate construction vehicles in the vacant lot. We got a load of gravel to build up the lot to the edge of the sidewalk and we're ready for work to begin! Thanks Dad for all your help!

Restoring the Original Transom Window

2009-06-01T13:46:00.006-04:00

This past weekend we installed the original stained glass transom window above the front door!
The window was hidden behind plywood and several of the stained glass panes had been broken out. But Classical Glass on Main St was able to match the original glass shards and Reid reglazed, scraped and repainted the window! It's absolutely beautiful from the inside and now lets in so much natural light! We did cover it on both sides with plexiglass to prevent accidents during construction.

paint, paint, paint...

2009-04-11T15:42:00.006-04:00

So, I'm back to the drawing board, trying some different color schemes.
The scheme on the left features terra cotta colored brick with stone-colored edge trim, dark green windows surrounded by light green trim.
I am favoring this scheme, although I think I might switch out the light green trim for stone colored trim with light green accents.

The schemes on the right show three different brick colors: navy blue, light green, & dark green, all surrounded by stone colored trim.

Picking Paint Colors

2009-02-15T15:03:00.007-05:00

Which looks better? Both paint schemes include a dark red color for the windows and a dark greenish-blue for the storefront and roofline.

The paint scheme on the left is a light blue for the brick, white trim and light gray around the windows. I originally had planned on white around the windows, but after applying it, thought it looked funny with the red windows. I put the light gray on to make it look more like stone.

The scheme on the right is a kiwi green color for the brick, with light gray trim on the side and around the window. Above the green scheme, I painted the trim white to see what it would look like with a white trim. The green is also a little more bluish in color by the white trim because I reused a paint brush with blue on it :)

There was a stove in the basement...until now!

2009-01-19T10:08:00.009-05:00

Since we've owned the property, Reid and I have been perplexed about the stove in the basement.
We've asked each other questions like, "Why would someone drop a stove down the basement stair?" and "How will we get that freaking stove out of the basement?"
While the first question really has no acceptable answer, Alex & Eileen helped us answer the second question yesterday. From the top of the stair, we dug out 2 feet of trash mixed with construction debris and rotted wood stair (that used to be the basement stair). Then Alex used his sailing/boy scout/Brazilian skills to tie a Bowline knot around the stove so that he and Eileen could pull from above. Reid and I worked from below the stove, prying it up with a 7 foot prybar and 2x4s. After some significant frustration, a rat carcass, trash and more trash, and more cobwebs than a haunted house, we pried and pulled that darn stove right out of the stairwell!
Thanks Alex & Eileen for all your help! We couldn't have done it without you. Because of your help, we just might meet our goal of having the property trash-free by our 1-year anniversary on January 31st!

The Future Wine Cellar

2008-11-30T15:04:00.004-05:00

This weekend, Reid and I attacked the last frontier of the property - the basement of the back building. From the last time we entered the basement, we remembered it being filled with trash to the point that the floor was not visible. There was a carcass at the foot of the stair and scary electrical boxes (that are disconnected of course) in the back.
Well, today the space wasn't too different from how we remembered it. The carcass was still at the foot of the stair and there was an old homeless person camp set up with multiple blankets and empty beer cans. we did find the floor though! It's dirt, so no wonder we didn't see it initially - it just blended in with all the other trash.
Four bags of recycling and 6 trash cans later, we've made a small dent in the amount of trash in the space. We'll be going back to clean this one out several times over the next couple weeks...
We did have one cool find today...an old piece of glass with the words "WELCOME 1700"! I can only imagine that the accompanying window once said "TO VINE" on it...
Although the space is awful and terribly gross, someday it will have a proper entrance/stairwell and be transformed into an amazing wine cellar. It's nice to dream about when I'm down there shoveling someone else's garbage.

it's been a while, but we're still truckin'

2008-11-17T15:00:00.004-05:00

I apologize for not writing in so long, but, after a brief vacation (that included a couple days on safari in Kenya), Reid and I are back to work!

Since my last post, the project plans have been approved by the historical conservation board. This has allowed us to apply for demolition & construction permits...and once we receive the permits we can begin work!
I have to admit, we're getting a little ancy- so we've already gotten roof and window estimates and are tossing aroung a couple new color schemes for the facade. It will really make a difference to have the windows replaced and the facade freshly painted! And a new roof will really move us forward, since we're still collecting the leaking water in a tarp! Before the new roof can be started, we'll have to frame out and build the roof deck. Afterward, our work will really be noticable!

Which color scheme do you like best? I'm leaning toward white brick and bringing out the details with reds, blues and greens. Here's a rough idea of what we're thinking about...

More on Streetcars

2008-09-09T13:08:00.002-04:00

Check out the story that good friend and fellow demolitioner, Andy Smith, produced for the Channel 12 News.
http://www.local12.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=81FAF837-0BB3-4BC6-B523-8408D2221524&gsa=true

Out with the old signage

2008-09-07T22:02:00.004-04:00

This past week Reid and I ripped the old "Used Color TVs" sign off the front of the building! Reid unhooked the sign and tore it from the brick while I made sure noone walked underneath. The result was pretty loud and totally therapeutic. Time for another trip to the scrap yard...

Clang Clang Clang went the trolley...

2008-09-02T12:13:00.005-04:00

Speaking of streetcars, soapboxmedia.com had an interesting article in their newsletter today about the economic impact of streetcars on an area. Below is the article and it's URL.

Downtown - Proposed streetcar plan is economically worthwhile, economist reports
Cincinnati is on the right economic track in considering a streetcar system, says University of Cincinnati economist George Vredeveld. Vredeveld and his Economics Center for Education and Research scrutinized a study of potential streetcar benefits done by consulting firm HDR. The likely average net economic payoff of $315.8 million, as estimated by HDR over a 35-year period, is sound, as is HDR’s most conservative net economic payoff estimate of $186.8 million over 35 years. Even if this most conservative payoff comes to pass, “the proposed streetcar system is economically worthwhile," says Vredeveld.

The current proposal for a Cincinnati streetcar system calls for a four-mile looped system that travels from Cincinnati's riverfront, near the stadiums and the Banks project, through downtown north into Over-the-Rhine, with stops at Music Hall and Findlay Market, and then on to UC. The UC report says the proposed route is a plus because systems that link major activity centers (employment, shopping and recreation) generally experience higher levels of ridership.

Writer: David Holthaus
Source: M.B. Reilly, University of Cincinnati
http://www.soapboxmedia.com/innovationnews/street0902.aspx?referrerID=ba9ee8bf-12e1-47bb-ae54-d5c24dd8cf59

Cincinnati Streetcars

2008-09-02T10:45:00.005-04:00

For all of you history buffs out there, the areas north of Liberty Street (which includes our building) used to be considered the outside of the city, and hence were free from taxes and public services like fire & police.
Over-the-Rhine was built long before automobiles (our building at 1700 Vine was built in 1870) and because of that, is very dense with many living spaces & people per square foot but very few parking spaces. This urban plan was perfect when travel relied solely on your own two feet and maybe a horse. However, attempting to retrofit this model with a car-centric design results in destruction of historical character and feel. Buildings are torn down and replaced with parking garages/lots and the walkability of the community is lost.
To prevent the destruction of Over-the-Rhine's charm, historical significance, and character, it is necessary to preserve walkability and density with compact contruction centered around a vibrant streetscape. To do this, people living in OTR need to be able to get around without cars.
The proposed streetcar will help preserve the walkability and character of OTR, allowing people to move around downtown, The Banks, OTR and Clifton with ease. It will also spur economic growth, as it has done in Portland, Little Rock, Tampa and Kenosha, Wisconsin, revitalizing the urban core.
Cincinnati is such a beautiful city. It's time to prepare it for the future by helping residents to consume less oil by design, promoting a convenient, green, walkable and lively lifestyle.

For your reading pleasure:
New York Times Article: Downtowns Across the US See Streetcars in their Future.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/us/14streetcar.html

CincyStreetCar.com

Speaking of falling through the floor...

2008-08-27T08:58:00.004-04:00

Reid's foot went through the floor on Monday when we cleaned out the 3rd floor of the back building. But the good news is: Reid is ok AND the 3rd floor is cleaned & cleared out!
We ripped the wood paneling off the walls and some of the old wallpaper came falling down too. Behind the old, rotten wallpaper were many creepy crawly bugs running around all over the walls. After getting a couple bug bites and feeling totally grossed out, this experience has effectively ruined the potential for wallpaper to ever be a viable design option in my home. We'll be sticking with low VOC paint :)

More of the phantom stair

2008-08-27T08:49:00.004-04:00

Since we discovered the stairway to nowhere, we realized that the only thing holding up the floor covering the stair is one single 2x4. This seemed a little unsafe, even though it has probably been like that for decades, so we ripped up the floor covering the stair. Now, everyone will see that it's a potential hazard and hopefully won't fall through the floor. Here is a picture from the top of the stair.

Stairway to nowhere...

2008-08-22T20:55:00.003-04:00

While putzing around in the storefront, we ended up busting a panel out of a door that was disguised as part of the wall...and found a staircase behind it!
The stair looks as though it used to lead from the storefront up into the living space via the addition that we're planning to take down. The stair was disguised as part of the wall and didn't come all the way to the floor, requiring whomever was using it to jump out of the stairwell into the storefront. We suspect one of the previous owners wanted a discreet means of connecting his store to his living space.

No more drop ceilings!

2008-08-22T16:17:00.003-04:00

We finally eradicated the property of its drop ceilings! We ripped the last of them out of the back building and took all of the metal to the scrap yard.
To date, we have diverted over 2 tons of scrap metal from a landfill and made over $450 doing it!

Clearing out the back building

2008-08-22T15:40:00.005-04:00

This past week, Reid and I cleared everything out of the 4th floor of the back building. This floor is small - a one room attic space with sloped ceilings - but was PACKED with trash, construction debris, feces, and glass jars (who knows why!)
The windows have been missing for a long time and constant exposure to the elements has rotted the wood floors under the windows. The solid parts of the floor have been layered with 4 styles of linoleum over the years and as we began pulling up the layers, we found some old newspapers from 1955.
It's interesting how much newpaper ads have changed...
The articles in the 1955 paper advertised brand new buicks the size of boats and dedicated entire pages to horse racing results!
It feels good to have one floor cleaned out with the windows sealed in plastic and plywood laid over the holes in the floor. Total, we filled 6 trash cans, 10 trash bags and 4 recycling bins (with all those glass jars!)
We can't forget to celebrate the victories, no matter how small! one floor done, 4 to go - who hoo!

We have water!

2008-08-22T15:28:00.005-04:00

This past week, Reid worked with the water company to resupply water to the property! Now we have a rudimentary faucet connected to a garden hose. And that means we can now mix mortar to tuckpoint the bricks and turn 2 doorways into windows!

Patching and Exposing a Brick Wall

2008-08-03T13:32:00.003-04:00

Today Reid started tearing out a chimney in order to get some bricks that he can then use to "patch" a doorway. The doorway exited to the 1890's addition of the structure, the part of the structure that is condemned and that we're planning to tear down. The doorway will become a window in what is to become the 2nd bedroom.

I attempted to expose the brick on the interior of the same wall that Reid is patching.

The joy of demolition is not just getting covered in filth, but also realizing that everything takes longer than we think it will :) It's a good thing we're having fun!

More Clearing Required

2008-07-08T11:49:00.000-04:00

Reid and I re-entered the back building of the property this past weekend to take pictures & begin clearing out the space. The back building is 4 stories tall but, at only 500-600 square feet per floor, is manageable in size. However, it is packed with furniture, mattresses, clothes, toys, appliances, and half-destroyed bathroom fixtures. A copy of Time magazine, dated from 2003, was sitting on a table on the second floor. It is probably safe to assume that noone has lived there (as a rent-paying tenant) since that time.
The building has water damage, some of the ceilings have fallen in from it, and some floorboards have popped up. There were even mushrooms growing on top of a mattress on the floor!
When Reid and I had first entered this space a couple of months ago (we had never entered the space prior to purchasing the property), we found it to be a rather depressing window into how those with mental illness live. With depakote (a medicine used for bipolar disorder) samples lying in an open, empty suitcase on the floor and a used syringe in the windowsill of the only window that wasn't boarded up, envisioning the space as something we could actually one day live in seemed impossible.

Entering the space this past weekend wasn't as overwhelming.

Green Preservation

2008-07-05T13:16:00.000-04:00

Drawing up the plans for the space is not an easy task since there are two facets to the project: LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification and historic preservation. Combining these two design concepts has brought our building to the center of a broader national debate within the world of architecture - How can current LEED standards be adapted to better suit historic preservation?

The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning (DAAP) is at the forefront of this broader discussion. Although "the greenest building . . . is the one that's already built," retrofitting an old building with new, energy-saving technologies can be difficult and limiting. To learn first hand the challenges involved, the DAAP program used four Over-the-Rhine buildings as green preservation prototypes for a classroom project that allowed architecture & design students to reenvision old buildings through a green lens.

Here are some of the designs that came from the project!
And, because the designs were so incredible and the students worked so hard on building a model of what 1700 Vine could become, we decided to put the plans on display for Final Friday in OTR at Cincinnati's Green General Store, Park & Vine.
The Cincinnati Enquirer even advertised the project on Saturday, June 21st, page F2.

Storefront Demolition

2008-07-05T12:54:00.000-04:00

Although the building has a lot of potential, it's going to require a lot of work. After hauling out trash leftover from previous owners, we have begun to demolish unoriginal walls, drop ceilings, and linoleum floors in order to restore the building's original character. So far, we've filled 2 dumpsters, placed a countless number of trash cans on the street for city garbage pickup, taken 3,000 Lb of scrap metal to the scrapyard, and recycled an estimated 3 truckloads of recycling found inside. The following URL links to a video of some of the storefront demolition.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/soundfillingspace/2565281201/in/set-72157605528512633/
Thank God for great friends and family who are always willing to help bust things up, offer encouraging advice, and share our vision for this project!

Streetscape on Vine

2008-07-05T12:45:00.000-04:00

Our New Hobby

2008-06-19T14:56:00.000-04:00

As many of you already know, Reid and I have decided to rehab an old building in Over-the-Rhine. The building is a beautiful example of Cincinnati's Italianate style, built in 1870, with rounded windows, ornate detailing along the roof, and an old-fashioned storefront, which we plan to keep commercial while designing the spaces above to become our home.
I'm not a person who would ordinarily start a blog, but this project is proving to be quite an adventure and we want our families and friends to be able to come along for the ride.