the palmer house rehab

our gated commune-ity

nobody@vox.com(thepalmerhouse) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:14:12 -0500

Slowly but surely, we are eliminating and replacing the last vestiges of the old fence in the backyard. Yay! The last two weekends, we worked on installing a new gate on the back edge of the fence. Ben designed and built the gate, and we had already installed the new posts, so all we had to do was cut down the old one and hang up our new one. Sounds easy, right?

Well, after we cut down the old gate (demolition is kind of fun, actually!), we shimmied the new one into position only to see that it was just a little bit too wide! Grr. The gate was already assembled, so to get it to fit we had to run the circular saw down the entire length of the door.

new opening, new gate

let see if that gate actually fits...

just a little last minute adjustment

Once that was done, it fit great. All that was left was to screw in the hinges and it was ready to use! Christina and Katherine also exercised their locksmith skills and transferred the old gate lock to the new door. This is the third lock they have installed in the last couple of years, and it’s becoming second nature to them!

old hardware, new gate

the gate is in place

One great advantage to our new gate is that we reversed the hinge side of the door. Whereas before the door would swing into the backyard, this swings away, against the fence. Now it should be easier to bring larger items through the gate. Also, we will be able to install a latching mechanism on the fence so we can easily keep the gate held open when we are using it a lot.

Finally this gate has a very advanced feature that the old gate did not have…. HANDLES! Seriously, we don’t know why we didn’t just install handles onto the old gate. Now that we have them we don’t know how we lived without them for so long. Actually we do know how we did, but we are trying to forget. Anyways, so our first fence gate out of three has been installed. We may not get to them in the near future since they are not critical to the space (they are on the sides of the backyard, facing the front of the house), but at least they’ll be easier to do now that we’ve completed one!

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looking good!

nobody@vox.com(thepalmerhouse) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:43:06 -0500

Over the last two weeks, the backyard has really started coming together! We are finally starting to see some payoff for all of our hard work!

One major milestone is that we completed the masonry and soil prep work for the second planter. Ryan finished up the third course of bricks and gave them a good cleaning. After that, Ben sealed them against water, and then lined and insulated the inside of the planter.

scrubbing down the last of the bricks

We had a little bit of leftover soil from the first planter that we were able to fill the second planter with. Anxious to get the apple tree into a more roomy environment, we planted the tree first thing. We are going to get the remainder of the necessary soil this Tuesday, and then the plants will finally be able to go in! You can see some of the staging already – those are grape vines that will climb up a wire trellis that Ben is going to build. Across from the planter, you can see we also built a pot shelf out of the leftover pavers from the front yard. How wonderful to find a nice use for leftover materials!

now we just need a bit more soil

our modest plant stand

The last big achievement to report is that we have just about finished the garage door. Yes, we know it was installed months ago, but we'd put it on the backburner to focus on the planters and fence. This week Ben and Ryan finally got around to painting and installing most of the wood trim around the edge of the door. Katherine and Christina also installed the door handle and lock – they are fast becoming old pros at this.

painting the last part of the door

the finished product!

You can also see that we installed another fence panel – this one was very gratifying because it actually starts to cover up the view from the street. The last bit of the opening will be covered with a gate which we still have to build. Once we do that, our backyard will feel much more intimate and secure.

view out to the street

Once the second planter is all filled, we are really going to enjoy hanging out in the backyard! It's already so much nicer, we have a good time just hanging out, sitting on the planters, and grilling back there. Ah, summer is so great in Chicago!

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planter complete!

nobody@vox.com(thepalmerhouse) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 20:26:18 -0500

Sometimes, we find ourselves working very hard on the house with very little to show for it at the end of the day (for example, doing boring prep work, sanding wood, masking, etc. – all things that are very important but not very satisfying to complete). Other times, like this weekend, we work very hard AND there is a nice, visible reward for our labors.

It started on Friday when we got a big delivery of top soil of our first planter. It came in a big dump truck and was dropped off on our front driveway. Ben, Christina and Katherine spend 3 hours moving the soil by wheelbarrow back and forth until almost all of it had been moved and compressed into the planter. (Ryan got a free pass on this one since he was flying back from a business trip in Copenhagen at the time). It was very exhausting labor, but oh wow, what a great feeling when it was done! Finally, our backyard planter is actually a planter!

soil time!

soil looking so good you could just swin in it

the cherry tree goes in

These backyard planters are Ben’s little babies . If you don’t already know, Ben is very passionate about plants and gardening, so he has been waiting almost 3 years to be able to plant something into the ground in our backyard. Very exciting! He already had the bulk of the plants he wanted to add in there, but to round it out, he also made a trip to the nursery for some additional annuals and groundcover.

one happy gardener

the finished product, plus another fence panel

looking down the driveway

You may have noticed that another bit of progress we made was that we installed another fence panel on the west side of the house. Thanks to all of Christina and Katherine’s ongoing and dedicated staining work, we are now seeing even less of the overgrown property next door to us. As you may notice, we are planning on returning the fence back across the house so we will be able to block the view into our backyard from the street. We will build one more panel that cuts across, and then we will install a locking gate against the house. Soon we will be all buttoned up on that front!

Finally, we are almost done with the masonry for the second backyard planter. Ryan finished most of the third course of bricks. Next weekend we should be able to finish this bricking, and then once Ben lines the planter with waterproofing and insulation, we’ll be able to fill it with soil and have all of the plants in the ground! So exciting!!

scrubbing up that third coarse

It’s great to know that we are more than half-way done now with all of the backyard projects. We can’t wait to relax and enjoy all of our hard work!

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planter progress

nobody@vox.com(thepalmerhouse) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:14:55 -0500

This week we battled some hot and steamy weather as we slaved away some more in the backyard. The most major piece of progress was that Ryan got another course of bricks finished on the second planter! It really looks great; it's amazing what a difference the brick walls make. They help give the space some definition, and because the bricks are reclaimed, they add a nice vintage quality to the backyard.

IMG_3619

IMG_3621

Ben has also been busy prepping the first planter for planting. He applied sealant to the bricks to protect against water damage. Then he lined the interior walls with a tar-based waterproofing material. He had to use a blowtorch to adhere the lining to the brick... scary! Hopefully this coming week he can finish the prep work by applying insulation and a root mesh. Then, the planter will be ready for soil! Best case we'll be able to get soil delivered next weekend. We have to order it from a landscaping service to be delivered by dump truck because there will be so much (3 cubic yards!). It will be really exciting once we get some soil in there!

IMG_3623

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Katherine and Christina also contributed by staining more wood for the fence. Katherine even learned how to use the chop saw so that they don't have to rely on Ben and Ryan to do some simple cutting tasks. Hopefully this week we'll be able to assemble one more panel for the fence!

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happy fourth of july!

nobody@vox.com(thepalmerhouse) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:13:31 -0500

In between Fourth of July gatherings and celebrations, the Palmer House team was able to make some solid progress in the backyard over the long weekend. Now that the concrete curb for the second planter was nice and set, Ryan was able to take everything he learned from his dad - mixing the mortar, creating level guides, soaking the bricks, placing the bricks - and lay his first course of bricks all by himself!

lay'in down the first coarse

cleaning up the mortar joints

one layer complete after a long weekend

Things were certainly slower going with only one bricklayer, especially since Saturday was bit of a wash because of some thundershowers. But the end results looked great! One course down, two more to go.

Once the first course was finished, Ryan also cleaned up the first planter so that Ben can begin prepping it for soil. Ryan used diluted acid to clean up the exterior bricks of any residual mortar.

when using acid, always use protection

Now that this is done, Ben will move on to sealing the bricks and then insulating and lining the inside of the planter. Hopefully in a couple of weeks we will be able to get a big top soil delivery for the planters!

Ben has also been working on the first of two gates we will need for our new fence. This week he stained and built a frame for the door. It will look similar to the other fence panels in design, but eventually we think we are going to need to fabricate a steel framing system for the door since it is going to be a bit too heavy for the post that will support it. We hope we can finish constructing the door this week.

almost complete back gate

Finally, we got a new addition to our backyard... a composter! We've been wanting to get one for a while now, and since we are doing this backyard project we made sure that we had a little nook reserved for it to reside in. It's sitting at the far end of the side planter. Eventually once the rest of the fence is assembled, the fence will cut across the driveway and enclose the composter in the corner.

composter

We made sure to get a composter that is raised off of the ground to avoid problems with rats. We just need to give it a tumble every few days and that will keep it mixed up and happy. We have a LOT of inputs for the compost since we all eat so many vegetables. This summer we are participating in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). If you haven't heard of this before, it is like subscribing to a local farm. Basically we pay a subscription fee to a farm, and every week they provide us with a box of seasonal and very fresh veggies which we pick up at our neighborhood's farmer's market. Our farm, which is called Radical Root Farm, is a small, organic farm run by a young couple, and we absolutely love it! We have never had such wonderful and fresh produce. We split the box between all 4 of us, and we highly recommend it to anyone. The produce is so tasty and encourages us to eat different types of food (for example, we have gotten kohlrabi for the last two weeks which we had never eaten before!).

Anyways, we are planning to adding all of our veggie scraps to the compost all summer, and hopefully by next spring we will have a wonderfully fertile batch of soil for the planters!

The next few weeks we hope to make lots of progress on building the second planter and also prepping the first planter to be filled with soil. We have a lot of plants and we are eager to get them in the ground. Stay tuned for more updates!

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another big pour

nobody@vox.com(thepalmerhouse) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:17:26 -0500

This weekend the Palmer House team braved the hot and humid weather to complete the concrete pour for the second backyard planter. Like the first one, we are building a short curb to lay the bricks on top of. Ryan and his dad had spent a lot of time getting the form work built so the concrete will be nice and level.

We started prepping for the pour around 9am and after an hour we were already sweating buckets in the sun. It must have been around a 100-degree heat index. It was SO humid! Ryan and Ben finished prepping the form work and surface while Christina and Katherine constructed another one of their snazzy wheelbarrow ramps so we could access the far side of the planter.

the form work and ramp is ready to go

By the time the concrete truck came around 1pm, we were ready to spring into action. (Literally, we sprang because they charge by the minute.) It was like a relay race! Here are some action shots:

and he's off, every minute counts here

filling up the back section with concrete

are those concrete pies?!

all nice and flat

view from 2nd floor

It was so hot that the concrete started drying out while we were still working with it which made it a bit difficult to smooth out. But all in all it went pretty well, and we are happy to be done with it. This should be the last big task that involves getting outside help – the rest will all be done by ourselves at our own pace. Yay!

In addition to the pour, we also put up one more fence panel. Our goal is to get one panel up roughly every weekend. This one helps to cover up more of the unsightly view of the empty lot next door.

it's harder than it looks

three sections complete!

At this point we've stained and installed all of the wood we have, so next weekend we are going to have to get some more. This week Ben will also be working on building the gate. There's so much more to do, but we are definitely seeing the vision come together a little bit every week. We can't wait until we can finally post that we are done with everything! Some day...

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one planter down...

nobody@vox.com(thepalmerhouse) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:20:12 -0500

After all of the much appreciated hard work that Ryan’s parents put in during their visit to Chicago, the house and yard are making big progress! The last weekend of their stay, Ryan and his dad were able to pretty much finish the first backyard planter. As you can see, we still need to add top soil so we can put all these plants into the ground. But doesn’t it look nicer already with a little green in there?

side planter with some plants 'in'

Ryan and his dad were also able to get the form work built for the concrete curb on the second planter. In order to do so, we had to take down a stretch of the old wooden fence. Now you can see our new fence from the backyard. Since the new one is set up on the concrete pad, we were also able to gain about a foot of space in the backyard which helps make it feel bigger too. Nice.

finishing up form work for back planter

new back fence!

With a lot more staining labor by Christina and Katherine, we were also able to put up one more fence panel on the side of the house. This was very exciting because it hides most of the view of the ugly lot next door to us. It really helps make the yard feel more private and pleasant.

always know how to handle those power tools

Finally, an exciting event – Ben’s cherry tree is producing fruit for the first year!

tasty cherries for mid-work snacking (don't tell ben)

We enjoyed our first delicious, yellow sweet cherries this week. They were soooo good! We are looking forward to enjoying all the other edibles we are growing throughout the season (tomatoes, beans, peppers, apples, herbs, etc.). Yay for green gardens, even in the city!

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with a little help from the kirby's...

nobody@vox.com(thepalmerhouse) — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:02:46 -0500

With Ryan’s parents, Dennis and Lynn, in town for a week and a half, the palmer house is in the midst of some major improvements! As you may recall, they were instrumental in getting the house up and running two years ago when we first bought the house. They helped with the landscaping, electrical system, and other various odd jobs. So we knew we were very fortunate to be getting another visit from them this summer!

The Kirby’s arrived on Thursday, and we did not waste any time getting them to work first thing on Friday morning. We have three projects underway that they are helping out with: the construction of two raised planter beds in the backyard, assembling a new fence, and refreshing the front yard landscaping.

Ryan and Dennis attacked the construction of the planter beds. Ben had found a company called Colonial Brick that sells salvaged common brick from historic buildings in Chicago. In addition to the environmental benefit of reusing existing as opposed to buying new, this brick also better matches the brick that our house and garage are made of since they are about the same age. The kind that we bought are called “Chicago Pinks”. Cute, huh?

our bricks ate texas!

Laying the first course of bricks was the hardest since they had to use mortar to make the bricks perfectly level. This required a lot of shifting, tapping and tweaking. Take a look at the progress, from no bricks to the completed 3-course walls. Also check out the side wings that we are going to use for potted plants!

starting the first course

sponging off the mortar

ryan scrubbing away

always start with the corners!

finishing up the third course

finished third course with side brick wall

Katherine, Christina, and Ben focused most of their time on the fence assembly. Lots of cutting, sanding and staining. Over the course of the weekend, we were able to install most of the back fence! We just need to build the gate and it will be complete. In the meantime, we can now cut down the old fence so that we can begin working on the second planter bed (the old fence is kind of in the way).

the staining gulag has arrived

installing the first fence section

the complete back fence (- gate)

back fence in detail

And last but not least, Lynn has been working her magic on our front yard. It was a rough winter this year (very cold and very windy), and we had some perennial casualties. Lynn helped to clean up the planters and added a number of new plants. One change was removing the small sand cherry in the back of the planter and replacing it with a much larger one. The smaller sand cherry never quite took off in that spot for a few reasons, primarily because it got crushed when the construction workers were installing our windows. We had enough of waiting for it to grow, so she relocated that one into the street-side planters and added another for balance. She also planted a few more perennials to enhance the planters. And very importantly, she mixed in some much needed nutrients into our soil in the form of manure and bone meal. Our plants are going to be so happy this summer!

lynn managing the hastas

the revitalized front planter

front planter detail

finishing touches in front garden

As if fixing up our yard wasn’t enough, Lynn even made a little project of the parkway of the empty lots next door to us. She whacked the overgrown weeds and made a little planter out of some concrete pieces left over from our own backyard. She used some extra plants from our yard and transplanted them next door. Not too shabby, huh?

vacant lot weedy front area (before)

vacant lot (after) with concrete-pies for planters

After 3 action-packed days of work, we are all exhausted and everyone is taking a much needed break. We don’t want this trip to be all work and no play for the Kirby parents, so they will be taking the next few days off to enjoy Chicago, do some golfing, and just relax. The kids (and the palmer house) are just so happy to have them here!

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starting the fence

nobody@vox.com(thepalmerhouse) — Sun, 17 May 2009 20:18:18 -0500

This weekend we began to construct the first segment for a new fence in the backyard. Our last few postings have been all over the place (new garage door, pouring concrete for raised planter walls), but there is some method to the madness (or at least an explanation for it).

The high-level goal is to get the planter wall foundations poured in anticipation of Ryan's parents' visit, during which Ryan's dad is going to teach us how to do the masonry for the walls. However, in order to pour the concrete foundation for the second planter, we have to cut down the current fence because its posts are sunk into the planter itself!

the current glorious fence

So this week we have focused on building the back portion of the new fence (which will sit on the concrete pad for our cars, just behind the planter). While we would love a warm, sniffy cedar fence, we decided to go with pressure-treated pine for a couple reasons: cost (obviously) and because some of the old-growth cedar forests are at risk for overlogging. The pine should stand up well to the elements and with some stain we hope to get a nice, warm color out of it.

Much of the weekend was spent buying, cutting and staining pieces of wood. Very exciting, yes we know. As with almost every project we have done to the Palmer House, this is taking a lot longer than we expected. But we hope the results will be worth it.

faux-cedar finish

The design of the fence is a little bit crafty. We wanted something that looked modern and appropriate for an urban setting. After some design work by Ben and some calculations by Christina, we came up with a design for the fence that we are happy with. First we start by installing the main 4x4 posts which are spaced about 6' apart from each other.

The next part will be mounting a horizontal shelf on top of which the vertical fence slats will rest. The shelf will consist of three pieces of wood. The outer pieces are 4” tall while the inner piece is 3” tall, basically creating a slot. If you're having trouble picturing how this will work, here are some pictures to explain the process:

big 4x4 posts installed

constructing the shelf

Ben getting jiggy with it (the jig saw)

installing the mounting bracket for shelf

resting slats in the shelf

ah... we can see it already!

So you can see how the slats will rest in the bottom. At the top we will basically create another piece just like the shelf to cap off the slats. Unfortunately, what you see is about all we were able to do, just a proof of concept for the construction. We are going to try as hard as we can to get the fence assembled in the next week, but most likely we won't have it done in time for Ryan's parents to help with the planter walls. But don't worry, I'm sure we could find plenty more for them to help with if we need to : )

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new door for our garage

nobody@vox.com(thepalmerhouse) — Sun, 10 May 2009 21:34:56 -0500

This weekend our garage got a massive makeover! As you may recall, time had not been kind to our old garage door (pictured below). It started to fall off the tracks, and for the last few months it was almost impossible to open and close completely. In fact all winter it was partially open, inviting a few different fuzzy friends to seek shelter inside during the cold weather (and in Chicago, that is usually not a good thing)…

our sad garage door on its last leg

Because it is not practical to use the garage to park our cars (it is almost impossible to fit a car back there) we decided to replace the garage door with French doors and turn the space into a multi-purpose gardening, storage, and possibly entertaining area. Since the garage is so old, it was not possible to buy a standard size door, but we found a local manufacturer through Menard’s to make a custom door for us. The door would be assembled into one large piece (that’s the two doors, the two side panels, and one long upper transom) and delivered this weekend!

Expecting that it would be rather heavy and difficult to move, we asked Monica (Ben’s sister and former Palmer House resident) and her boyfriend Conor to help us out on delivery day. And thank goodness they said yes, because there was no way we would have been able to handle it on our own. Take a look at how the door was delivered. The delivery guy was nice enough to help bring the door to the backyard. Each of the four guys got on a corner of the door and carried it from the street to the back of the house. It was VERY heavy (probably 500 or 600 lbs), awkward and fragile. While there were a few moments of panic (like when Ben had to kick the next door chain link fence out of the way to squeeze through, or when they had to carry the door over and into the planter), they managed to deliver it to the garage in one piece. Phew!

carrying the door from the truck

beating back the fence to fit the door through

my what a heavy load!

standing the door up

Once we got the door upright and stabilized, it took a while to remove the superfluous pieces of wood that were attached to provide support for the door. The piece of wood underneath the door was especially difficult to remove since it required that we lift the door while someone used the crowbar to pry it off. Once we got the pieces off, we lifted the door and squeezed it into the opening. Thanks to Ben’s excellent preparation of the opening, the door was almost a perfect fit! We carefully got the door positioned and roughly shimmed into place, and we screwed in a few anchors to the masonry so that we could let go of the door.

fitting the door

ryan wielding the crowbar

masonry drills are loud!

ryan and conor chilling with the new door

installed

and it opens too!

After about 2 hours, the door was roughly in place, and we figured we earned a trip to Fat Willy’s (our favorite bbq place) for lunch. We also figured we owed it to Conor and Monica for their help. Feeling completely wiped out, we spent the afternoon gathering materials for the remainder of the installation for Sunday (more screws, door hardware and paint -- we are planning on painting the door black).

The next day we spent better securing the door in the frame. Ben and Christina did a nice job shimming and grouting the bottom of the door. We also insulated and flashed around the door and started prepping for the painting. Hopefully this week we will be able to start painting and to install the door hardware.

In addition to the door, there are a couple of other updates around the palmer house. First a few pictures from Ben’s project on the first floor. Their bathroom door frame did not match the rest of the house, and instead of sanding and re-staining the wood, he decided to remove and replace the wood with new pieces. It’s still a work in progress, but can see how the frame came together and also how he used the router to cut an area for the door hinge.

new door frame

sweet routing job

And also just a few pictures of the flora and fauna in and around our house. We LOVE springtime in Chicago! Please stay tuned for more updates on our backyard project, there will be a lot of progress in the coming weeks!

spring bulbs are in bloom!

ben's unnaturally large amaryllis plant

duckies swimming in the foundation next door

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