Tree Work Day

We're fortunate to be in a neighborhood with mature trees and homeowners who value trees and green space. We have several trees on the property that, unfortunately, grew beyond their spaces or had some health issues. A local tree service arrived to remove some trees and shrubs, several stumps, and do some selective pruning on the larger branches growing over the roof. It took some negotiating with neighbors to agree how to prune some of their larger trees to their satisfaction, especially the 80-year-old oak with a 1-ton branch hanging over the master bedroom. But with VA property laws on our side, we still had the right to do the work necessary to protect our property. It all worked out in the end. Some pictures to capture the fun...

The arborist estimated that the largest branch growing over the roof was 1-1.5 tons. 

We hoped to take the branch off at the trunk, but the compromise with the tree owner was to cut off the  branch at an  elbow section that removed most of the risk of heavy branches falling on our roof. 

We removed 3 large branches from the oak next door. 

The backyard had 3-4 larger trees that kept things damp and dark. The sun is a welcome addition for the southern and western exposure we have in the back yard. 

This looks like a tree, but it's actually a gigantic yew (shrub) that is probably as old as the house. It grew to a beautiful canopy, but it was too big for the space and very dirty. The neighbors thanked us many times for removing the source of daily needles in their driveway (their roof is at left). It also exposed the peeling paint from the back neighbor's garage. I'll be painting that soon...

Getting down to bare bones before we can work on curb appeal.

Free mulch from the pine tree in front. 

Taking back the back yard. 

DAY ZERO: Getting Construction Underway

I took a hiatus from blog posts, but thankfully the construction hasn't followed suit; we've picked up the pace and we're off and running. Arlington County approved the plans in early June after some unexpected redesigns for structural bracing for wind shear. Evidently there are recent state and county code changes since Virginia considers the state to be in a hurricane zone. As the architect noted, no houses in Arlington have blown off their foundation, but Arlington is taking a cautious approach to all new construction in the county. Lucky timing for us...

Our first full dumpster and some free advertising for our architect and builder...

It's official...thanks Arlington County. 

99% Final Plans!

After putting (some modest) pressure on the architect this week, we are almost finished with the design phase. This is exciting progress, except the next phase is 3-4 weeks for Arlington County to approve the plans. Fortunately our architect almost exclusively works in Arlington, so he is well familiar with permitting here and preferences of the zoning board. We're not proposing anything too exotic either. We're hoping it's shorter than 4 weeks.  


Here are some snapshots of the detailed plans. Not the best quality photos. The last few versions have included a front porch design that we have elected not to pursue, so this view shows better how things will actually look from the front. We have been torn about adding anything to the front; we like the modest curb appeal and it remains in line with neighbors. On the other hand, there isn't really a focal point or a usable front porch, so we might find a compromise between making an overly-modern statement and still creating a gathering point that's interesting and in keeping with the house and neighborhood.

Original Pictures

A few friends have asked about seeing pictures from when we bought the house. I've become accustomed to the partially demolished Greenbrier, that I have started to forget where we started. 


I found the picture slideshow from the real estate listing, it was pulled into Zillow here: 
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1320-N-Greenbrier-St-Arlington-VA-22205/12068174_zpid/


We're already starting to move far from the 1966 vintage look and feel that we found when we purchased it just a few months ago. The biggest changes are ahead and will come soon enough...

Recent Demo Updates

The blog posts have been few and far between, but I've been trying to keep up with demolition in my free time. Scott doing more demo = saving money later. Here are some views into the destruction zone lately:

Kitchen. The half-demo'd wall is looking into the laundry room. Apparently this is a load-bearing wall so I stopped there.
The bulkhead around the perimeter of the kitchen was on the demo list, so that was part of the project. 

It's getting bigger: 
now the bulkhead is gone, already creating a larger feel to the kitchen. The new cabinets will go to the ceiling too. The wall on the left in the photo will be pushed back 2.5 feet to widen the kitchen and allow for an island in the middle.











Because I'm obsessed with organization and neatness even in demo, I separated the metal, wood and scraps into piles. I'm pretty sure everything will go into the dumpster, so I might have OCD. 

The master bath shower enclosure was on the demo list, so that's now gone. Already feels twice as large there. The wall on the right in the photo will be pushed out a few feet to create a large walk-in shower with three windows for natural light. These windows will face west for evening sun...

The hall closet was lined in cedar. I tried to preserve it to reuse in a new closet, but I was losing patience and the cedar was mostly toothpicks by the time I wrangled it from the wall. At least I tried. This closet will be removed and a circular wall will take its place to create an interesting entry hallway that opens onto the corridor toward the bedrooms. 

The next demo post will include photos from the living and dining room ceiling, which is being removed to raise the roof and create a great room. Stay tuned. 

Springtime at Greenbrier...and other outdoor ideas

Like most of the East Coast, we had a very mild winter, so the grass never really went dormant and the plantings in the yard were ahead of schedule. In about a week's time, the plain landscape got more colorful with the azaleas in bloom. They are large, mature shrubs that bring a lot of color to the front of the house, which was a welcomed sight. But I'm afraid it's time for a new look that is in keeping with the modern direction and clean lines of the design we're hoping to achieve. Stay tuned on that. (Notice the shutters are gone, the first step toward making the house a bit more modern and less adorned...)
Before and after photos here:

We'll be focusing on the construction and interior work for the most part this year, but my amateur landscape design skills are kicking in and I'd love to start on a longer-term plan for the outdoors this year too. We'll see if we have any money left over first, but it doesn't cost anything to sketch and collect ideas.


Here is my Houzz.com idea book for some outdoor looks that caught my eye. Some of these lean pretty modern, but we will hopefully find a balance:

landscape outdoor

Houzz- Kitchen Remodel, Bathroom Remodel and More»

Browse Home Office Products on Houzz- For Example:

Bulletin Board · Cable Management · Desk Accessories · Desks · Filing Cabinets And Carts · Task Chairs ·

Inching closer to launch time...

The process of designing and reworking the plans has taken a bit longer than we thought. We closed in early January and hired an architect a couple of weeks later. We thought we were on a roll, how hard could this be? Now as we approach May and we're just finishing the plans, we're anxious to get under construction, which is expected to be about 4 months. The extra time has been worth it to arrive at a design that will make a great house when all is done (and paid for!). 


The past few months of walking through the house and trying to picture how we'll actually live in it has been great to add little things that we hope will make it more comfortable. Like adding extra windows flanking the chimney to bring in more light at eye level. And expanding the covered side porch off the kitchen to make room for a grill, so we won't have to put the grill next to the outdoor table, take the food through the living room, and grill during the rain and snow uncovered. These things seem pretty important in the end. The rear elevation plan below should be the near-final version showing these things:

The near-final floor plan is included here too; not too many upgrades since the last version, but more detail and measurements included: 

From here, the FINAL plans should be ready within a few days for us to sign off. Then we'll submit them to Arlington County for approval, which we believe will take 2-3 weeks. Fortunately, our architect has been working in Arlington County (almost exclusively) for decades. He knows the officials and understands the local zoning language, so he designs with that in mind from the start. We hope that our modest renovations make for quick and painless approvals.


We also anticipate getting the builder, Steve (SMK Builders from Lorton), under contract within the week. We submitted a 3 page list of changes and upgrades to his original proposal--probably the result of Mike being an attorney and me being a project manager by day. Steve has been great so far and will be showing us the new proposal tomorrow, April 20th. The new proposal will surely cost more than the last one, so we probably should stop making changes after this round. Things only seem to go up in price with time. 


Steve and Bruce, our architect, have worked together on dozens of projects and Bruce hand-picked Steve for our project. I hope this bodes well for the months ahead...