Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr
Might be making a wrong assumption but you sound like more of a 'knock em up cheap' type builder to me and not having the attention to detail needed to sympathetically restore an older property
What is right to you isn't always right for the customer  |
For the Greene and Greene or Chemosphere? Chemosphere has an unlimited budget, so we brought in all sort of specialist. Some days, it seemed like a crime scene with people and their little brushes cleaning and doing their thing to preserve important things. The Greene and Greene's home owner's plan was to live in it and he had to come under a certain budget, so the amount of money dictated how and where to spend it wisely. For example, we talked from the beginning about having tiles made for the fireplace and all the woodwork would come out of my shop. The baseboard and casing would be purchased, ripped down and edges eased to match existing using 3/4" clear pine and painted. Owner agreed due to the difference of 7000+ dollars compared to using vertical grain Douglas Fir like they did 100 years ago only to be painted over and 1/8" thinker. All were replace to be uniform. From 2' away, you can't tell unless it was measured. A second floor was added on back in the 50s and it was not done very well, so a lot of the money was spend on putting back all the Craftsman details to match the lower floor. Correct hardware were refinished but not many were left due to years of abuse.
Its not a car restoration where the original or correct parts must be used for concourse judges. This is not the gamble house, a museum with unlimited budget. The architect, myself and the client decided to have the tiny kitchen enlarged to modern standard so its usable but keeping or replicating all the original details. There's no way I would rewiring that house with knob and tube, have the toilet in your face as soon as you walked into the bath just to satisfy original details. Back then, having indoor plumbing was for the wealthy, so designers needed to show it off, so it was put near the entry to a bath room. We were not having that, so if you are talking restoring it to the original 100%, no this is not the house. It must flow well by today's standard because people have to live in it. I did, however drove to Las Vegas to bring back gallons of oil base floor finish so it will patina the same as the original over time. We milled the floor for all of the upstairs to match the existing. I made a Craftsman lamp with stain glass, a similar copy from the Gamble house for the Dinning Room.
Its easy for the historical Nazis to say or point fingers but someone's has to pay for it. It sure as hell wasn't them, I can assure you. On that house, another 150k could be sunk into it and it will all disappear into the very minor details where 95% of the general public would never see it. For example, we decided to replace the rotten beams by using an engineering beam instead vertical grain Doug Fir under the house like the original. Oh yeah, the historical folks called me out on that too but its on the approved plans yet they made a bunch of noise about that. We all know its much stronger and it will never be seen unless one goes under the house.
These jobs are never about me, its budget driven, always.