Now this is a house....(non-political)

[speeder]

In the spirit of the great Vince Lombardi and his "This is a football" speech, I title this thread.

I have voiced my preference for pre-war construction on previous housing and construction threads, so I thought that I would share some pictures of the house that I am working on. This is a painting job w/ some repair and restorative carpentry, not the whole house but just the parts that have not been done in recent years already. With a place this big, the owners will frequently do the restoration in phases as needed, sort of an ongoing maintenance project.

Anyhoo..., they don't make 'em like they use to and even in the good old days not all were made like this. This is a house.

[Don Ro]

And that's a LADDER!!!
.
.
Helluva house.
I love solid old houses.
.
Edit: 'Take your pup to work w/you, I see.

[speeder]

Here are some pics showing what I'm doing:




As beautiful as the house looks from the street, when you get up on a ladder some of the windows look like this, w/ god-knows-how-many years of bad paint on them. (House is ~80 years old).


So basically the only way to do it right is to burn off the old stuff and start fresh:



The wood underneath on this one is near mint old growth redwood and pine(?), no termite parties or hack painters w/ dull scrapers have ever visited:

[speeder]

Originally posted by Don Ro
And that's a LADDER!!!
.
.
Helluva house.
I love solid old houses.
.
Edit: 'Take your pup to work w/you, I see.

Don, that's the small ladder. I'll post pics later of the big one next to it. And yes, that giant rabbit loves to go to work w/ me when conditions allow, he just sits at the bottom of the ladder all day watching the world go by.

[kycarguy 935]

Cool house your working on. Is that in BH? I love those old houses too. My home town here in Kentucky is pretty old and we have a nice historical area. I will try to get some pictures and post soon.

[speeder]

The window re-glazing portion of this job is going to be huge, we're talking gallons not quarts of DAP 33. For some reason there are a real shortage of people around who know how to properly glaze windows, so I'll detail it here as I do it. I'm assuming that someone here might be interested, if not to fix their own house then just because it reminds me of working on a 911 w/ the great craftsmanship of this place and the PIA but reward of doing a repair job right.

The first step is to remove all of the old stuff that is junk, some of it will come out easily and some will need quite a bit of heat from a heat gun. This is one of the trickier operations because the glass wants to crack from the heat and the scraping. I am careful, but if one is cracked already it will go like the one in this picture:


This picture shows one that still needs more removed, but you get the idea. I will post more in a few days showing the whole frame primed in oil-based primer including the inside of the sash, (under where the glazing goes), and then how to glaze.

[Don Ro]

Taking all 3 on their own terms...
Big House, Big Ladder pale in comparison to...
Big TAIL!!!

Sweet pup.
.
That building must be awfully solid to survive decades of local quakes.

Refreshing to be reminded of genuine artisanship.
You were sought out, I assume.

Edit: I was just about to ask about the massive glazing job.
I need to do that on my home prior to selling. Ugh!

[bigchillcar]

sweet, speeder...agreed, that's a friggin' house a man could be proud to call his own. so when am i movin' in..?
ryan

[Wrecked944]

I love dogs.

[Scooter]

Where's the garage?

[dad911]

you burn off possibly lead paint?

[speeder]

Scott, I'll get a picture of the garage next time I post pics. It's a 3 car w/ the original 1920s doors in excellent condition, w/ one of the nicer carriage houses on top that I have seen. Most every house around that neighborhood has a carriage house over the garage. I would be happy to live in that if I got the garage underneath.

And Dad, it is definitely lead-based paint, at least the bottom layer. I have removed a LOT of this stuff in my career, and I capture and contain over 99% of it, then dispose of it at a household hazardous waste collection site in town here. Not sure what they do w/ it(?) I do NOT put it in the trash or leave the chips on the ground, etc...

And if you are wondering, there is no legal way to do what I am doing in CA. anymore, that is why people hire me, the bad guy of painting.

[azasadny]

Denis,
Thanks for the pictures, please post more and explain how to do the glazing. I have a few old windows that I need to reglaze... Great work!

[CarreraS2]

I've loved those old houses since I was a kid.

Looks like the Beverly Hills, Camden, Rexford, Hillcrest street area?

[speeder]

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
Looks like the Beverly Hills, Camden, Rexford, Hillcrest street area?

Nope. Much better, (IMO), Hancock Park, 4th & June.

Not Hollywood, not West LA, not BH, not the valley......, just Los Angeles. A place that outsiders swear does not exist.

It is hands-down my favorite part of my favorite city, the mayor of LA lives 2 blocks away, (in his official residence), and I just can't stand BH or the entire west side of LA.

Here is a sample of the architecture of the neighborhood, and why it's my favorite place:

[BGCarrera32]

For speeder...

Some houses from Summit Ave. in St. Paul, MN

The W.W. Bishop house...one of the best ones:

[BGCarrera32]

Its funny; seems like 2/3 of the people on the street can afford to maintain them and enjoy the houses...the other 1/3 need work and are for sale because the owner has been bled dry...

Best lot/yard by far...I snapped these on the 4th last year:

[CarreraS2]

My ex-GF's family used to live in Hancock, in Muhommad Ali's old house. What I remember most was the crazy red velvet curtains that Ali had put up, that were still there. It supposedly was also used in Rocky IV, or something like that.

Hancock Park is super nice, for all the reasons you say, but I'd still rather live on Rexford or around there - it's what I remember from seeing when I grew up in LA and has always been imprinted on me. (Although I'm sure it's changed since then, maybe not for the better. I remember it being so old school LA elegant and quiet).

[speeder]

Hey BG, I know that street well and it is magnificent! We belonged to the University Club at the eastern end in the '60s when I was a kid and my Grandma lived in a townhouse right below. I revisited the UC in the '90s looking for the famous F. Scott Fitzgerald initials carved in the bar and could not find them but I found my grandparents'! (Who used to drink w/ them in the '30s).

Thanks for those.

[nostatic]

only downside to Hancock Park and adjacent environs is lack of fwy access and lousy traffic if you try to get anywhere. The number of "secret streets" for getting around has shrunk over the years. We looked in HP but decided against it.

I still like Pasadena...and if yo'ure talking houses/architecture, yowsa!