Feral Cub Scout

Austin versus the ceiling...

2009-07-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

today while working on the house i demoed the front bedroom ceiling, the back bedroom and bath, and half of the middle bedroom ceiling. i was removing the plaster and lathe from the ceiling when i got to the light in the middle of the ceiling. instead of just smashing it with the crowbar i decided to remove it first so i wouldn't have to sweep up broken glass. i stood under the light and started to unscrew the screws that hold the face plate to the ceiling, but i couldn't see what i was doing because it was so dusty in there. i took off my goggles to see better. i removed the screws and gave the face plate a gentle tug when basically a large section of the ceiling came crashing down right onto my upturned face. most of it fell away from me, but the wallpaper on the ceiling held strong where it was and basically clocked me in the face like a trap door. i saw STARS. the impact knocked the respirator off of my face and ended up around my neck. once i got hit in the face i immediately leaned over and put my hands to my face. when i straightened up i looked at my hands and realized that they were covered in blood. i could feel the warmth running down my face, but i wasn't sure where it was coming from because my face was black from the soot of the ceiling dust... i ran down the garden where i had a stack of mirrors saved for the mosaic i saw where the cut was. right across the bridge of my fucking nose. i was a little panicked. i'm a vain gay boy who likes his face the way it is.. so after realizing what i needed to do i grabbed some toilet paper, pressed it against my nose, grabbed my keys, my bike and biked over to my house a few blocks away. i had to take a shower to get the soot off of my face, and the warm water on my nose was like getting hit all over again.

here's what i looked like after i got out of the shower....

and here is what it looked like after i got it all cleaned up.

thankfully it was only a half inch gash across the bridge of my nose, and not a gash across my eye. although i do have some scratches on my eyelids. plaster corners are friggin' SHARP.

so tomorrow when i go to TLA to work, ill have a slight shiner, and a butterfly stich across my nose... hopefully people wont think im in some kind of fight club or worse.

but all in all, i consider my self lucky. and from now on, im going to keep my goggles on when working, even if i cant see.

i probably should have just smashed that light with a crow bar. that might have been more fun.

debris haul out number one.

2009-07-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

On wednesday, my good friends Aaron and Tom helped me haul out the first phase of demolition debris from the new house. i rented a uhaul truck to schlep it all up to the richard burns trash transfer station. It was a very exciting day. I picked up the Uhaul at around 11:30 and got to the house by noon where tom was waiting for me. we got to work hauling all of the old crumbling drywall that was stacked in the back yard out to the truck which was a tricky job because it literally crumbled in our arms. we made a mess of it, but it was probably the easiest part. when aaron got there we were just getting started on hauling out stuff from the house. I tried to make it as easy as possible to haul it out before wednesday by bagging everything up in contractor bags and stacking them in the living room. The first few bags i loaded were way to heavy as i was a little overzealous filling them. i didnt think about having to move them. after about 6 bags, i started half filling them since plaster weight adds up quickly. we had one bag mishap when it got caught on the trailer hitch and spilled out into the street. it was a mess of wallpaper, linoleum, cotton insulation and drywall scraps. we got it cleaned up and swept up the dirt in front of the house and we were on our way to north philly to unload it. i couldnt help but remark to tom and aaron that it was odd that we were taking the trash from our middle class neighborhood to a really run down neighborhood in a part of town i didnt know existed. it was kind of terrifying. the houses up there had bars across their porches and steel security doors. it was very bizarre, but probably out of necessity. it made me think about things a little bit more than i have before. anyway....we made it safely in and out of there..

the trash place is awesome. its totally contained in a cirty block by 25 foot high concrete walls.. its full of huge piles of trash and lumber and there is a large backhoe which made me think that the whole place is sort of like a post apocalyptic coin operated claw machine.. it was cool to see the bulldozer drive over refrigerators and lumber with ease. watching all of the philly roughnecks hollering and cursing and spitting was fun too. aaron and i agreed it would be fun to work there (i said i would probably only last a day before the novelty wore off).

here's a shot of tom sweeping out the last of the crap...

here is aaron handing me the keys to the truck to pull it up a little. he was just as amazed at the place as i was. we were like kids in a candy store... i think he really dug that place...

we all guessed in the truck how much stuff we had. aaron said 3800 pounds. i said two tons (4000) tom guessed a ton and a half, and when we were weighed again on the way out we realized tom was closest. 3260 lbs. the whole thing only cost about $60 for the truck and $120 for the debris. not a bad day. we started work at noon and we had returned the truck and were sipping iced coffees at the gleaners by 3:30.

it was awesome....

now im finishing the demo work, and bagging it all up for one more trip. maybe this week, but maybe the week after that...

living room

2009-07-20T23:38:00.000-07:00

some demo work has begun on the front living room. next week.. that plaster ceiling gets ripped out.... oh yes... i predict more exposed beams in the near future...

more demolition updates!!! - The KITCHEN

2009-07-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

after chipping of over 156 square feet of wallpaper over plaster over brick i finally got to see some interesting things.. like one of the MANY (at least 7) layers of wallpaper. i actually like this wallpaper... a lot. it's very satisfying and much cheerier than the drab beige layers over it.. but sadly.. it's long gone...

my good friend Sterling helped me rip out the old plaster ceiling in order to clean up the wiring and have some nice exposed beams instead of a collapsing ceiling that probably had a half ton of plaster dangling from some very precariously placed "helper screws". this was someone's last ditch attempt to keep the ceiling from falling on them.. the better solution... was to just rip it out.
here's a shot of the plaster removed from the brick walls.. you can see the channel that was carved long ago to run copper knob and tube wiring up the wall and to the overhead kitchen light. (all gone now...) that's the original sink by the way, and after a good scrubbing and raising it four inches from where it is now, it will be pretty damn awesome... maybe you remember the pictures of the kitchen in the before post....
the photo below is looking into the kitchen from the dining room.. all of the plaster rubble and dust is now in about 20 contractor sized garbage bags awaiting a trip to the recycling center..

that is wednesday's job. more on that later..

oh, and that shop-vac... that's the best 50 bucks i've ever spent...

Demolition updates!!!

2009-07-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

First, i have to apologize for not updating this site in a while. Ever since i bought the house, i've been soooo busy cleaning it out, and starting the demolition process that i havent had time to sit down and write about what has been going on. I also havent really had much of an internet connection, so uploading photos has been "out of the question"...

i started demolition of the horrible 1950's pink and black tile in the front entryway. as soon as there is money in the budget for replacing the tile it will be all new beautiful white subway tile in a brick laid pattern.

before:

After:

so far i have only taken one side of the tiled foyer down.. it took all day, and my hands were blistered from chipping tile and over and inch thick of concrete off of the masonry wall... i'm on to other projects right now, like ripping out the wiring and sweeping and bagging all of the crumbled plaster from the kitchen's recent demolition overhaul...

more crap about the house

2009-05-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

i realized i never posted any pictures of the upstairs of the house... so i figured i should probably do that.. scroll down to [older posts] to see more of the house.

this is the upstairs hallway.. it will be a lot less cramped when that tub isn't leaning up against the bedroom door..

one of the original doors... it's in pretty bad shape... so it will probably be replaced. it goes to the smaller bedroom (my future room)

this is my new bedroom... it needs some serious work....

yeah... that ceiling is a pretty scary sight. It's got to be ripped down and replaced, which is actually pretty good because it gives me access to the attic and the wiring. (always the optimist)

i warned you!!! its pretty bad. but hey... its a clean slate !! hahah.

anyway, here is a photo of the front bedroom. this will be kristen's room for year or so, and then ill probably move into it and use the smaller room for an office or a drafting area.

the floors are random width pine planks, but there's no telling what's under that plywood...

this is the back bedroom, its too small for habitation due to the fact that the bathroom was carved out of it, so in the future this is just going to become the whole bathroom with some wall closet space..

i think the previous tenant is a "disposaphobic" (that's the fear of throwing anything away)

here is the existing bath. mind you, i didnt pick that wall color!!!

the bathroom has no sink. it never had a sink. they brush their teeth in the kitchen. which is Totally unacceptable to me! Im not going down to the kitchen in the winter to brush my teeth!!

it will be a lot nicer to have a large spacious bathroom. something i dont recall ever having!

well. hope you like them... that is if anyone ever reads this stuff.

dreaming...

2009-05-09T13:17:00.001-07:00

of some tiny houses...

nice use of local materials:

the spite house:

Shanty cabin:

and my favorite:

God.. i want to move back to new england....

house updates...

2009-05-08T14:15:00.001-07:00

Earlier in the month i made the decision to walk away from purchasing the house here in south philly. it wasn't that i was really going to walk away from buying it, basically it was a sales ploy to get the sellers to stop trying to nickel and dime me for more money.. the whole thing with buying this house is pretty much a clusterf-ck anyway. it's a divorce sale, so i think the husband and wife are spiting each other over the sale of it. he wants out, she wants to stay (with her new live-in boyfriend in her ex-husband's parents house). On Tuesday, i got a call from Brian (my realtor) saying that the listing agent contacted him to let him know that the sellers were going to court on friday (today) and that he wanted to present a sale to them, so brian and i met yesterday at the gleaners for coffee and to sign a new dated contract. The contract expired today at midnight which we were hoping would be a stimulus to the court appointed judge to sign off on the sale, and after signing the papers i just had to wait another 24 hours for an answer.

Last night i had some pretty crazy dreams... i dreamt that my next door neighbor (who is crazy and who i've had to call the police on before for threatening me) saw me washing my car and came over to talk to me, but he was drunk and was slurring his speech and being overly nice to me (which has never happened before). it made me nervous... like when a drunk guy persistantly hits on you in a bar and you feel trapped... that's the way this guy makes me feel in waking life sometimes... i'll be glad to get the fuck away from him. the other dream i had was a more positive one. i dreamt that i was sitting at the gleaners having coffee and that the phone rang and brain capone called to say it was a done deal. That's pretty much exactly how it happened today. i was at the gleaners, brian called, "done deal". now all i have to do is wait until june 17th for the closing.

Apparently the woman didn't even show up to court today having feigned some trip to the emergency room (which i understand she has done before) to try to stave off the sale of the house... it wasn't a smart idea, because the judge signed over the order instantaneously. she should have gone and at the very least pleaded her case. nevertheless, i'm not getting my hopes up, because it's not a done deal until the keys are in my hands.

anyway.. here is a photograph of my charming windowsill garden...

only happy when it rains....

2009-05-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

the setting is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Year 2009. A young man sits in his tiny third floor bedroom confused about what to type. It's raining, and he feels lonely. What he isn't aware of is that with one wrong click of the keyboard, he is about to enter the twilight zone...

good news/bad news....

2009-05-02T19:56:00.001-07:00

the last week or so has been an emotional roller coaster for me. there have been ups and downs... but i'm charging through it all like a trooper. since i am a notorious list maker, im going to make a list of things that suck, and things that don't suck right now.

things that suck:

1. the rain

2. the deal with the house fell through

3. i cannot ride my bike for 2 weeks

4. i'm trapped in my house

5. i feel pretty lonely

6. i wish i could better care of amy

7. the neighbors dog barks incessantly.

8. i hate philadelphia

things that don't suck:

1. the rain is watering my garden, and keeping those goddam cats from shitting in my flowerbeds.

2. maybe i'm not supposed to live in the house that i really want to buy

(more on this later)

3. i am recovering from surgery. long story, but needed to be taken care of.

4. i love my dog.

5. Sarah and Rob came over this morning and suprised me with an amazing piece of art that i've had my eye on since i first saw it! they also gave me a tulip that was raised and cut down with love by a local amish.

6. i haven't had a cigarette for a really long time. like (5 days) and its been 12 days since i quit altogether

7. i had a long chat with oliver on the phone tonight. very much needed that.

8. it's spring.

9. the deal with the house might not have fallen through. long story.

10. i love philadelphia

(secretly i just want to run off into the woods and build a little house like this one... then i'll tend a little garden. it will be lovely.)

new piece of art

2009-04-21T16:52:00.001-07:00

i quit smoking a couple of days ago... it's been relatively easy so far. I'm on the patch, and i'm also rather crabby.. i've cheated twice and had a couple of drags off of stolen cigarettes. they don't taste the same, so i imagine that is a good sign. to compensate for not smoking, i haven't been able to sit still these last few (4) days.. i've scrubbed the bathroom top to bottom, (a dirty job) started refinishing a vintage maple table with a new hand saw, potted a windowsill garden, and made a new piece of art. here are a few shots of the art. i made it entirely out of found objects from the trash and free bins from the aids thrift. i do not believe that it cost me any money to make.. so that's pretty cool.

the piece is called "untitled 4" and it is hanging in my dining room. i'm pretty happy with it.

come see my show...

2009-04-21T16:43:00.000-07:00

flier from my art show....

it's worth checking out.... lasts from 4-17-09 to 5-15-09

Austin loves philadelphia!

2009-04-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

about a week ago at the gleaners, kristen, sarah and i were photographed for a magazine in norway by a nice guy whom i've been contacted by for an interview about why i live in philadelphia. its pretty cool. and it's going to press soon, so i'll upload a link when i receive one. here is one of the photo's the photographer Sveinung took of kristen, sarah and I. check it out!!!!!

aren't we sexy?????

2009-04-06T08:58:00.000-07:00

this feral cub scout, is off to work ...

the new house...

2009-04-05T18:51:00.001-07:00

Before you look at these pictures please realize that this house is a total fixer upper, but that it has so much character that i would like to keep most of it intact. There will be some important renovations, like removing layers of wallpaper, scrubbing, sanding and painting, some light demo, some new kitchen surfaces, removing damaged ceilings to expose beams, bringing in a wood stove, and of course the important things like fixing the plumbing and adding some new electrical outlets and replacing some old wiring.. but i plan to do almost all of these things (except the plumbing and electrical work) by myself and with the help of my good friends. i think of this house as a massive project, something so important to me that i want to devote my summer to bringing it back to its 1920's south philly glory. i went to school for interior design and even tried out architecture school (although, briefly...) so i think i have what it takes to bring this diamond in the rough back to its slightly tarnished shine. check out the pictures...

the main hallway:

when you enter the house there is an original mosaic tile foyer, or "airlock" as they say here in south philly. The door to hallway has an original 15 light beveled glass door with original brass doorknob and skeleton key lock. there is a transom window above the door with tobacco stained crown moulding (lots 'o scrubbing there) there is another 15 light matching door that goes into the front parlor with a nice wooden pediment above.. id like to strip that down and stain it..here is a picture of that door from inside the living room. i think that's a bullet hole above the chair on the right...

The living room:

check out those tobacco stains!!! (all of that wallpaper has to come down, too)

in the last post, there is a picture of the french doors that divide the living room from the dining room (where the front hallway leads). here is a close up of the stained glass transom above those dividing doors.

i'd like to strip this entire doorway from top to bottom and sand and stain to its natural wood.

i don't have any pictures of the dining room or the stairway because the seller was standing in the way, and i didn't want to be rude to her. i think you can get an idea in the last picture of the last post. the dining room has a smaller version of the french doors diving the dining room from the kitchen.

The Kitchen:

oh, the kitchen... i really love this kitchen, despite the fact that it's pretty gross and the cats eat off of the kitchen table.. it's pretty much grey gardens in this room, but it has seriously awesome potential. that's the original 1920's farmhouse sink mounted on the wall, but unfortunately it is mounted so low that i'll get a humpback washing dishes if i dont make it taller... the stove is from the 1950's, and i'd like to fix it up and make it top notch! the kitchen is a really large room. it will be the largest kitchen i've ever had, when i finish it! there is a dining room table with 6 chairs in here and there is easily enough room to walk around it on all 4 sides. that's pretty exciting. also, there are no cabinets or shelves in the kitchen at all. it just has a hutch and a dresser that they use for storage. i'm going to bring my hoosier cabinet and build some new open shelving to display all of my vintage mixing bowls/kitchen stuff on them. i'm going to build or buy an ikea island for counterspace and buy a new refrigerator (that one is pretty scary). part of the ceiling was ripped out to get to the plumbing in the bathroom above, so once the plumbing is fixed, i'll have to put up a new ceiling. maybe one of those pressed tin lookalike jobs... might be cheaper/easier than re-drywalling it. we've got to remove all of the wallpaper and lay down a new 1/8" thick subfloor for the new black and white tiles and then everything has to be sanded and repainted... this will mostly be done by me, as i want the kitchen to look like it's straight out of "cottage home" or similar. off of the kitchen is the yard, which is pretty big for south philly.. i think it's 14'x20' here are some pictures:

there is a built in planter in the sunniest part of the garden, and the crumbling ruins of the old out-house/potting shed (im not too sure which). i plan on breaking that brick wall apart and ripping out some of that concrete and replacing it with a brick paved patio floor and some plants... south philly needs less impermeable surfaces in backyards for drainage, as a lot of times, the old drainage pipes get clogged or break over the decades. i plan on building a small pergola against the back wall and stucco-ing over the cinderblocks. i'd like to plant a wisteria vine to grow along the pergola too down the line. there is a nice privacy wall between my garden and the neighbors to the left, and one that isnt as tall to the right.

the scary cellar:

the cellar is by far the creepiest part of the basement. it's full of the sellers pack rat crap and there is even a secret room that has yet to be entered. the door is blocked by a large pile of boxes/bags of crap. the cellar is tall enough for me to stand upright in, and has a new water heater and a washer and dryer. there will be ample space for project space down here, as this room will become the art studio. it will be nice when its cleaned up, but it will always be a cellar. we aren't going to do much down here other than clean and prime and paint.

the cellar stairs:

the cellar looking towards rear of house:

the scary hidden door:

(i know what's behind there. its another smaller room that is pretty much empty aside from newspapers and such.. i took a picture through a broken window pane.. oh, that room has a brick tiled floor unlike the poured cement floor of the front room of the cellar.)

that's all for tonight folks, i'll post photo's of the second floor tommorrow when i get out of work.. as for me, im going to curl up and watch some "my so called life" episodes..

night!

Austin: the future home owner...

2009-03-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

as of today i am currently under contract to purchase this charming fixer upper in south philly. its going to need a lot of work, and i'm going to be calling in a ton of favors! im uploading some pictures off of the real estate site, but will upload some more in the future...

this is the Street side:

amazing beveled glass and stained glass french doors dividing the living room from the dining room

more beveled glass dividing the dining room from the kitchen

i'll add more photo's later when i upload them off of my camera..

so this is...

2009-03-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

my first blog.

i feel slightly intimidated by this entire process.