Wades Beach: Out of the Ashes

We made a visit to the house a little after the second anniversary of the fire. On Friday afternoon last week, with the weather at around zero and a fierce wind, we stood on the porch of the new house for the first time. It was a great feeling.

The progress is more noticeable now. On our previous visit we could see some of the plumbing, but now we can see the plumbing is pretty much all in and the electric is going in. There is a lot of the utilities installed now, and soon the heat will be turned on. There are inspections to be made of the framing, then the insulation and drywall/sheetrock can commence.

If you see the photos, you'll note that the exposed beam ceiling in the living room area will look amazing. The rooms are all pretty much ready to be covered in the drywall soon.

The exterior looks amazing too. A small part of one outside wall had a few shingles attached. These are going to weather over the years and ultimately turn grayish. Right now the wood is pretty bright, but they will be looking a lot different over the years. Currently there are stacks of shingles in the sun room.

We have picked out the fixtures for the bathrooms, and some of these will be installed soon. We're still on the hunt for a few more things. And we have not even started on the major appliances yet. The basement looks great: a highlight for Chrissie was getting the key to the basement door. The old house didn't have a door to the basement, so this is a first.

Stay tuned!


This is the sunroom, with the exterior shingles stacked up on the right.


Living room with the exposed beam ceiling. Note fireplace.


Front guestroom.


Guest bathroom; tub is in place.


Rear guestroom (twin beds were once here).


Future kitchen with the stainless steel counter we got from salvage place.


This is the upstairs and master bedroom.


New key to the basement door!


Chrissie and Tor our contractor, making an inspection of new plumbing.


The small porch off the upstairs master bedroom.


Shingles starting to be put on the exterior.


Porch on front of house.


View of porch of front door on left and sunroom doors on right.


View of the back of the house; windows in center are kitchen.


The backyard is taking a beating.

Labels: Construction

Chrissie is back with another installment of the video series. If you watch this one, she takes you through the house, which is now all framed out. Some of the plumbing is in too. I like that she goes from the first to the second floor. Have a look!

Labels: Construction, Video

Chrissie has been hard at work editing her video clips (now that she is not working on Avatar any longer, I think), and her skills are great. We have not posted any video since the first one in April, when we were at Demolition Depot. These two were shot at the house in early October and mid November. The October one shows us at the house the day we inspected the foundation being poured, which was an amazing site to behold. Then the other clip was from six weeks ago, when we trekked out in the rain to see the frame up. The progress since then has been dramatic. We have more videos to post this weekend, so keep checking back…

Episode 2, the foundation and a tour of the pod:



Episode 3, the frame is up, but not the roof. We get a look at the upstairs for the first time:

Labels: Construction, Video

We made a visit to the house yesterday, our first in six weeks, and it was an amazing scene to behold. We were able to ascend a staircase to the second floor for the first time, and the new master bedroom and bath are all framed out. We stepped out onto what will be a small patio on the second floor. The view is terrific.

Probably the biggest surprise was walking downstairs to the new basement. The old house only had a dirt basement and was a scary sight. For the new house we dug it out and poured a new basement. The storage space down there is incredible.

We had a great meeting with Rob (architect) and Tor (builder) to get a progress report. We are still looking good for a March completion, believe it or not. We had to pick where the washer and dryer will be located in the basement, a big decision. We met Mike the Plumber too, he’s doing the work on the three bathrooms this week. All of the windows are installed except the two round ones we got from Demolition Depot; hopefully they will be ready next week. We also have to choose a front door. Tor recommends steel since the weather out on Shelter Island by the beach is so fierce.

The deck hasn’t been started, but that will come in about a month. The exterior will be underway too, installing the wood shingles to the sides of the house. It looks kind of naked without them. The roof is on and the chimney is in place. I can’t not mention the other highlight of the trip: we now have a Porta Potty sitting on the front lawn!

For our part, we are visiting plumbing and lighting supply stores to look for fixtures. We go out to the house again next week to meet the electrician.

On the last day of the year, and with the two-year anniversary of the fire looking in a few weeks, we could not be more happy about the progress out there. Stay tuned!


Chrissie at the side porch door.


The front of the house with the sunroom.


The future kitchen. Note bay windows.


Living room and new fireplace (bricks & mortar this time)


Second floor with master bedroom.


Chrissie on stair leading to second floor.


New basement: install a bar or bowling alley?

Labels: Construction

It's been a few weeks since we visited the construction site. Today we got a new batch of photos in from the scene of the action, and we are happy to report that there is now a roof, chimney, windows and more walls. Yay! The process has been going on for months, but the construction looks like it's speeding along well now.

These are the photos:


View from the street; there will be a round window in the second level.


Side of the house, the kitchen door is on the left.


View of the back of the house.


This is the view from the new second level balcony. Our pod is still on the front lawn!


This is the interior of the second level; note the chimney on left (bricks and mortar this time)


Upstairs on level 2 interior.

Labels: Construction, Fireplace

We got out to the house for the first time since early October, and the 6 weeks have really showed us a lot. We have a frame! The second story was the best thing to climb up to, and look out at the new view.

The frame is up, but not all of the roof. So rain was coming into part of the house. But now that there is something physical to see, it was so exciting. We are really happy with the progress that has been made so far.

Labels: Construction

We got more pix today from Tor, our builder. Wow, you can almost smell the sawdust! I will put captions underneath each so you can tell what you are looking at...


Above: The view from the backyard. That space in the center will be the kitchen.


Above: This is in the front yard, looking at what will be the new sun room. The old house had a deck there.


Above: Also the front; the places on the right will be 2 bedrooms, same location as in the old house, with bath between them.



Above: The exposed-beam ceiling in one part of the downstairs area.


Above: from the front, where that red ladder is the front door will be nearby. A porch will wrap around the house to the back.


Above: Look at the new top floor going up! Can't wait to see it with Chrissie.

Labels: Construction

Wow, who does not like technology. Just got some new pix in that were taken today on Shelter Island. You can see the second level is going up, as well as the interior. Note the interior beams. This is because we are going to have an exposed-beam ceiling in the majority of the first floor. The living room, sun room, and kitchen. That's why the beams are so wide and nice-looking. We learned that having an exposed-beam ceiling is actually more expensive than just having a drywall ceiling, because you need better wood. It'll be worth it. Enjoy the new pix that are showing progress on South Midway Road!

Labels: Construction

With the nice weather out on Shelter Island, Tor and his team are making a lot of progress with the framing of the house. When we last saw a batch of photos, it was just a few walls, now it looks like they are about to start on the new second level. For the new house, which has a second floor not like the old house, we will be adding one bedroom and a bath upstairs. The views inside the house show where the kitchen and new sunroom will be located.

Our next trip out is Nov. 13, when we actually get to see the house with construction underway. That’ll be a big day.

Labels: Construction

Wow. A big email from our architect, Rob Brown, today. He sent photos of the framing going up on the new house! Check it out!

Labels: Construction

The house burned down in January 2008, and it took to September 2009 for the demolition to begin. On our visit last week, it was quite a shock to see the entire structure completely removed and the foundation in place. A few days ago the foundation was poured and we are now happy to report progress is visible.

The work site is a muddy mess. A massive pile of dirt from the excavation towers about 15 feet high in the front yard. Our pod was shoved to the side, the shed was emptied and moved, and a lot of shrubs and trees were cut down. It looks like a tornado just came in and swept away the old house.

At the site, in the rain, we met with Rob (architect) and Tor (contractor). We got the skinny: the septic system has to be relocated. It currently is too close to the house, and must be at least 10 feet away and buried again. Another additional expense. So that is happening this week. After that, then the frame can begin.

We are looking at March to have a house. We are hoping for that month, but we'll have to wait and see. We are not going back for three weeks or so, so the next update should be even more dramatic.

Labels: Construction

Wow, I can't believe there has not been an update since April. But there really has not been much to say. Since the house burned down in January 2008, and has been a shell since then, we have had many ups and downs. But once the fight with the insurance company was solved, we then had to work on the other financial details. Now everything is in place.

Today we got a message from Tor, our contractor: "The house is removed to the foundation and debris taken away." So I guess that means anyone driving by will not see the ugly site of the damage. That is the best news we could have gotten.

The next update will hopefully come from Shelter Island. We are going there in early October to see the hole in the ground where the house was. The bad memories of the fire are still with us.

Labels: Construction

The team: Chrissie with architect Robert Brown (center) and Tor Torkelsen (builder) inside what remains of the old house.

Yesterday we made the most progress of getting the house built in months. We went to Shelter Island and met with Rob (architect) and Tor (contractor) at the house. We also looked at two other houses these two have designed/built together. We are in a happy state of mind now.

We started the day at the house, which is a burned out shell since the January 2008 fire. It was pretty gloomy, of course, being in the house. Combined with the pouring rain, the cold, and the mucky-muck of the interior, it was not too bad to have a meeting there. We only stuck around for less than 15 minutes. One thing I asked is if we need to move the pod away, to a greater distance from the house. Tor said it could be moved. I am worried I'll have to take all the crap out, move the pod, and then have to load it up again.

Our first stop was a beautiful five-bedroom house less than a half-mile from ours that these two finished recently. The owner showed us around. It looked fantastic. She also raved about how great they are. This was not an entirely new house, it was an addition plus a lot of renovation. It was a good chance to see the way these two worked. Tor explained to us novices about the wood, the materials, the techniques. It was fantastic.

Next, we went to the other side of the island and saw a house that is still underway. It too is a major operation. This house was more our style: a beach cottage. It was a great experience to see how both Rob and Tor interact and showed us what they did on the job, both the things that went right, and things that turned out differently than planned.

We also got to review our Demolition Depot list with Rob. It was so great to hear him say that he liked the things we picked out. I'll write another update about what we are getting from Demo Depot.

Chrissie and I drove back to the city after having a big lunch at Pat and Steve's. We feel really good about the process now, and can't wait for the next step: Demolishing the old house. Stay tuned!

More photos from yesterday:


Nothing is left inside the old house except beams.


This is where the fire originated, the fire box.


"And I want to be in here by Labor Day!"

Labels: Construction, Plans

This is the first video clip I have made about the house construction. And I don't know how many will follow. For our apartment renovation I made six, and that job was about 1/20th the size of this project.

In this clip, we visit Demolition Depot, where Chrissie and I want to get as much salvaged items as we can. This will be both to save money and be "green" by using recycled materials. Most of the stuff you will see in the video came out of East Coast homes and apartment buildings. Maybe you will see some of it in our new beach cottage.

Labels: Construction, Salvage, Video

On Monday this week Chrissie spent the whole day in Greenport at our architect's office. We had meetings with 4 potential contractors, spaced 1 hour apart, at 1, 2, 3 and 4 pm. By the end of the day, we were ready to jump into Long Island Sound.

We got the 4 bids in on March 16. We asked all 4 to come back and revise them, and try to bring the numbers down. Three of the four guys did. So then it was just up to the personal interviews. I looked at the bid process just the same way as I look at my regular job, which is a project manager. But I must say that the architect-builder approach is light years more orderly than publishing projects.

The interviews went well, and for the last few days we waited on the contractors to get back to us. We had it narrowed from four to three, with two favorites. However, the guy we liked the most coming out of the day was the one we went with. I will tell you more about him after the contract is signed. He is from the area and has been building houses for decades.

So now we have the plans and the man to build the house. Chrissie is working on the financing plan. I am still going back and forth with Demolition Depot, to see what exactly we can use from an old house for a new one.

If this proceeds according to plan, we might be able to start the new house in April. The first thing is to demolish everything that is left of the old house: we are starting from scratch. It is sad, but there is nothing we can use from the old house in the new house. Not even the wood, which is fire-damaged.

Since the fire in January 2008, it has been a very long road to even get to this point. But knowing we have a guy who will have a hammer in his hand to build the thing is a huge deal for us.

Labels: Construction, Contractor, Plans

This is one of the windows we liked at Irreplaceable Artifacts.

It is time to pick up the blog again because we have been making progress on the house. Let me catch you up on the past few months and weeks of what has been happening since May. It is hard to believe that January 18 will be the first anniversary of the fire.

We had to fight with the insurance agency for most of the summer about our settlement. We definitely did not get as much out of the claim as we wanted. I feel like we got a pretty fair settlement for the personal property (the contents) but not for the house itself. At some point we just had to move on, or else we’ll be stalled forever. Could we have maybe gotten more if we’d used an independent adjuster to fight for us? Maybe. And maybe not. We’ll never know. But we moved on.

About four weeks ago we went out to Greenport to meet with our architect, Rob Brown. He is so awesome and we left there really happy with the latest set of plans. We are now refining the set we got earlier in the year from him.

We also learned on this trip the sad news that we are going to have to more than likely demolish the remaining parts of the house. Since the fire, it has stood empty, just a frame, the shell of the old house. If you drove by the house at 15 mph you would think there is a real house there, except for the giant tarp on the roof. The windows are not boarded up; the glass is still in them. But if you look closer, you’ll see it is just a ghost of what Chrissie’s parents built in 1977. Rob said that since a lot of the wood is fire-damaged, it wouldn’t be feasible to build onto a damaged house. We also must jack the house up to pour a foundation (incredibly, it only has a dirt foundation, and we are going to pour concrete to have a full basement) and a contractor may balk at raising up a damaged house. So it makes sense to just wipe the lot clean and start from scratch with a whole new house.

However, the basic footprint of the house is remaining the same, it will not get any wider or longer. We are going to go up a level, from a ranch to a two-story. The second story will have one new master bedroom, bath, and a study/den. And a walk-in closet for my T-shirt museum. I would like this lined with cedar to protect my valuable 1980s rock ‘n roll concert tees! A benefit of having a second story is that we will get water views of the bay, something that was lost when the homes across the street were constructed twenty years ago.

We did spend quite a bit of time talking about being “green” and the possible use of solar energy. Even back in February we considered it. Rob told us about the cost, possibly $50,000, to install solar panels on the roof to collect energy and generate electricity. However, there are state and federal tax credits that can knock a lot of that down. How much remains to be seen, but we are still investigating that. We probably will not collect rainwater from the roof, for two reasons: this is a weekend house, and we get our water from a well. But in the coming months you will hear more about us trying to save money and help the environment at the same time.

Probably the best time we’ve had lately was going to Connecticut for an entire Saturday and paying a visit to Irreplaceable Artifacts, the sister shop to Demolition Depot in Harlem. We had purchased several things for our apartment at Demolition Depot, such as bathroom fixtures, a glass-paneled door, and a beautiful mirror. But the location in Middletown was supposed to be much larger and have more stuff. We also got lucky and got a whole afternoon with the owner, Evan Blum. He is a legend in the business, and has been doing architectural salvage in the area for more than 30 years.

We brought our plans into the shop and met with Evan. He looked them over with a trained eye; he knows his stuff. We then went room by room in the plans and looked at possibilities in the collection. It was so amazing—and a lot of fun—to imagine these pieces that at one time were in homes in places like Greenwich that could be used on Shelter Island. Chrissie fell in love with a light fixture that has an owl motif. I was thrilled to hear about an entire oak-paneled room—saved from a house in Queens—for our planned reading room/sun room. We looked over doors, windows, cabinets and more. It was a good exploration trip to see what they had. I posted the finds here.

Our next step will be to go to Greenport and see what the new plans look like. We need to price out the cost of the items that Evan has located, and then start the process of bidding the job out to contractors to build the house.

We hope to have good news soon about when this can happen.

Stay tuned…

Labels: Construction, Plans, Salvage, Solar Heating

A quick update... we have not been to Shelter Island in more than a month. The last time we were there we spent 10 minutes at the house, putting some thing in the pod. The pod is fine. It is filling up.

At the moment we are still dealing with the insurance agents. Still trying to get a good settlement. It is a huge headache. They need to pony up more cash.

As for the plans, we got the first round from the architect. They are amazing! Wow, if we get to build this house, it will be something else. The downside is that we can't go to the next phase, the real blueprints and hiring contractors, until we find out how much we're getting from the insurance. So we can't do anything yet.

With the nice weather here, we are really missing the house.

More news soon.

Labels: Construction

A quick update tonight: Chrissie is taking off work Thursday and Friday, I am just taking off Friday. On Thursday she is meeting with the first architect and contractor. I like these people, who have done a lot of work on the island. Nice houses. On Friday, we meet with someone from the insurance company to talk about the lost and damaged personal property. I am just about done with my inventory of what was lost.

I hope we can hire a contractor and architect ASAP, and start the rebuilding process.

Labels: Construction