Google SketchUp

I found this cool program from Google called SketchUp. With it I am able to put my house plans into 3D. I'm just an amateur on it, but I got it figured out enough to draw up and model the house I'm going to have built. The smaller structure I'm building is going to replicate one of the original homes in Glendale built by the Sine family in the early 1900's. Below is a picture of the original house and my sketchup rendition of it. Go to this LINK for more 3D images of the proposed Blue Myrtle House and floor plans. There are a couple of photos of houses at the link that I got my idea for the Blue Myrtle House. Lemme know what you think!

I sent the house plan and model I came up with to several professional Draftsman for quotes. Hopefully I'll get these drafted soon and get a permit to start building.

Grass is Growing

Well the grass hasn't spread as much as I had hoped. I know I said it would be almost all grown over by now, but I've had a couple of problems with the irrigation. On two separate occasions the timers shorted out and didn't shut off. Both times the valve box filled with water and ruined the battery-operated valves. I was perplexed as to what the problem was because there was water everywhere and I couldn't find any leaks in the system. The entire side yard was flooded with about 3 inches of water. Man I was not looking forward to the next water bill. BUT that was where the mystery started. The bill was actually not that much. Long story short I finally figured out what happened. The lot next to me has monthly irrigation flooding and it leaked over into my lot and filled my valve box. I had to build up a berm where it was coming through. All good now.

Picket Fence and Bees

With the help of my father-in-law, Mike, I was able to get the picket fence erected around the driveway. I built the fence off site and then disassembled it into 8 sections for transport. We began by reassembling the sections and placing them in the holes I dug earlier in the week. We started about 8:30am and were in the shade.

Carol from the Cottage Garden II came over as we were setting up. She let us know the beekeeper was coming by at 11:30 to take care of the bees that were in the tree between my yard and hers. The only way to get to the bee-side of the tree was from my yard. Mike and I wondered how that would effect us since the tree was only about 20 feet away. By 11:00 we had the fence all in place, all that was needed was cement poured into the post holes. We decided to take lunch and come back in about an hour and a half to finish that part.

When we got back from lunch we didn't notice anything different around the bee tree. The bees were buzzing around more that normal, but they weren't really swarming. It didn't look like the beekeeper came so I went next door and asked Carol if he came. She said he did and that he said to stay away from the area for a couple of days. Well that was not an option since the last time I left my picket fence unsecured it walked off. I told Mike what she said and we pondered it for a few minutes as to what to do. We decided just to keep one eye on pouring concrete and one eye on the bees. Long story short we didn't have any problems. We got all the cement poured and called it a day.

House Idea

These two graphics should give you an idea of what the house will look like inside and out. I'm only at the first stage of planning. I sketched out the floorplan and googled "two story craftsman". I came across this house and it looked very close to the house I tore down. I liked the balcony especially on this house. I originally thought about a semi wrap around porch, but I like this better. Just imagine this house blue and this is what you can expect to see. Click to enlarge.

Variance Approved

I went before the Board that has the authority to grant building set-back variances. The hearing began at 6:00, by 6:30 I was approved for the set-backs I requested. The Board members asked a few questions about the plans for the property. I gave a brief overview of what I was planning to build and what I'd like to do.

Rio Grande Fan Tex Ash

With the help of Matt I finally got the first tree planted . I got up early and dug the hole. I was planting a 24" box so I had a lot of digging to do. Even though it was in the high 90's it wasn't too bad out, there was a heavy overcast sky. The tree is a Rio Grande Fan Tex Ash. It should look real nice once it matures.

Plugs and Pickets

Okay, I got my buddy Chris to fix the pipe I busted - thanks Chris! Fortunately I was nearly done trenching before calamity struck so I was able to start right into installing all the PVC pipe and sprinkler heads.

Everything went in pretty well. I got all the valves working too. Since I don't have electricity to the property I have to use battery powered valves. Home Depot has em' that run on a 9 volt battery. I set them to turn on a 5:30 am and run for 30 minutes. Not to bore you with the details but something went wrong and water filled up the valve box and shorted out the valves and one didn't turn off. Fortunately my good neighbor Dean called and alerted me to the flooding. I drove right over and shut the main valve off.

I stood there for a good 10 minutes scratching my head. I could not figure out what the problem was; no leaks, broken pipes, or overflow. The only thing that I should have done different was put the valves above ground level. Anyway, the valves were ruined and I had to reconfigure my orignal setup to get the replacements above ground level.

Everything is working fine now. I plugged the front yard of the Blue Myrtle House (Lot) with grass from the front yard of our house. Once I'm sure the sprinklers are going to work like I want I'm going to plant a tree in the west side of the front yard.

I've been working on a picket fence to replace the one that was at the end of the driveway. The original fence was pretty old and falling apart, besides that someone decided they needed it more than me and walked off with it in the middle of the night. All 22 feet of it! The old fence wasn't secured into the ground either. The fence I'm working on now is being constructed out of the old 2x4s from the house. I ripped and cut for a few hours to get the pickets the size I wanted.

These are pics of the where grass isn't in our front yard and where grass is in the front yard of the Blue Myrtle House (Lot). The holes in the front yard of our house should be overgrown in about a week. The Blue Myrtle House yard should be almost covered by November. I'll keep you posted!

Irrigation = Irritation

My goal has been to do has much as I can myself. In other words, not have to pay anybody to do something I am able to do myself. When I say myself that includes family and friends. It has been the help and prayers of family and friends that I am as far as I am. Without them I'd be nowhere.

Okay, having said that. Even though there are things I can do, I really really don't want to do them. For instance lawn irrigation. I am so tempted just to hire someone to do this, but I want to do it all. I'm not above renting machines and tools to help me in this endeavor which is what I did for this job. I started out with a pick and shovel, but the heat was too much. I decided I'd rent a trencher from Home Depot. One of the better decision I've made. It saved major time and effort. Todd helped me trench out about 100'. It was still grueling work, it was 100 degrees out, but we got it done. The only bad part was when I hit the main water pipe to the house. GEYSER! Man was I "unhappy" about that. Fortunately Dean and Charlie from across the street saw what happened and came to my rescue. I didn't have any tools with me to turn off the city valve. Dean was able to shut it off pretty quickly but there was water everywhere, mud too. The only good thing about it was I got cooled off from all the water raining down on me.

All right where we at; cost of renting trencher and cost of having pipe repaired. Hmmmm, what would have been cheaper me and Todd doing this or hire a professional? I'm still not done with this job, I've only got the trenches dug. I still gotta lay the PVC and put in sprinklers. I got the valves done, at least those are all ready to go.

Have you ever noticed that Todd is usually wearing a red shirt and I'm wearing a yellow one?

Before and After

The Demolition Permit has been closed on this project. Next step is having the Variance approved. I had to apply for a Variance since the house will be closer than 10 feet to the property line. I plan to use as much of the original foundation as possible. I guess in 1926 they didn't have the 10 feet from property line code. They do now and it cost me $1,300.00 just to ask permission to have the house rebuilt where it already was - go figure. I also sent out 93 letters to neighbors and "interested parties" for feedback on this request (part of the process). Hopefully I'll get the go-ahead in August after the final approval step by the commision. Once that is done I'll have the architect start drawing up floorplans for the new building.

May 2009






May 2010

Final Collapse

Todd and I knocked down the final part of the house today. Before we could push it over a window and door needed to be removed. I managed to break all the glass in the window as I removed it. There were actually two windows on this addition. Both were of the old metal frame type. I think I'm going to keep and restore both of them. I'm probably going to sell the door.

The structure made quite a racket when it fell down. A couple people came over to see if everything was alright. There were a lot of people in the area today because of the 27th Annual Glendale Jazz & Blues Festival. This is the last big event until the weather starts to cool off at the end of summer. It was hovering around 90° during midday. I'm not sure if anything is planned for the Centennial or not.

Tearing Down Last Addition

Now that all the stuff inside this last part of the house is out I can start tearing it down. About the only thing worth saving is the 2 bys (2x4 2x6 2x8), windows, and doors. Most everything else will go to the dump. I took off the back door and side window. I also got the back side and most of the east side of the structure taken off. The trailer is about half full so far, but I'm sure I'll have to make at least two trips to the dump before I'm done.

I sent out a letter for a Variance earlier this week. I want to build two structures on the property and both will be located too close to the property lines. Since I want to go against code I have to have all my neighbors approve. I sent out a letter to everyone within 300 feet of my lot. They have until the 20th to respond. I'll post the sitemap of the structures on this blog once it is approved.

Eggventure in Historic Downtown Glendale

Man I wish I had my camera today. I came down to the house to wait for someone to pick up a few of the doors I sold. I forgot all about the Easter Egg hunt the city was hosting. It looks like another successful event put on by the City of Glendale! There were thousands of kids down here searching out eggs in the Catlin Court shop area.

Eloise down the street stopped by and talked for awhile. She was good company while I waited for the door-buyers to show up.

Yard Sale

The last part of the house to tear down is the enclosed patio. I've been storing a bunch of stuff in here, but now it's time for it to go. I took most of the lumber home to store, everything else like doors and windows I'm selling. It was pretty windy today so not too many people were out walking around. I did manage to sell a few things though, the rest I'm putting on craigslist.

Cottage Garden II Event

Carol next door was hosting an event. There were a number of people selling all kinds of products from clothes to bread. They were there most of the day just like me.

I started off the day by hauling a load of redwood planking back to the house for nail removal. I have all of it in the garage now. Once all the nails are pulled I'm going to start trimming and planing it.

Now that the house is gone I need to prepare the slab. Hopefully I can reuse it. I removed all the tile and anchors today. I got most of the tile in the trailer, but the load was getting too heavy so I had to stop. Yep, another trip to the dump. I'll do that sometime this week. I cleaned up the yard and sprayed for weeds too.

Nothing Left, Well Almost Nothing

Todd and Mike helped me with the last two walls. It was a nice day to work, no rain in sight. We completely removed the actual house structure. The last remnant is the enclosed patio attached to the now removed house. I'm keeping some old wood in here that I want to reuse.

Mark stopped by to see how things were going. He was surprised to see how much was done. I was actually about to leave for the dump when he showed up. He was in the middle of running errands so he left after just a few minutes.

Got Up Early To Beat The Rain

I didn't get too much accomplished today because of the rain. I knew it was coming so I got up early. There was a lot of wood uncovered so I got out the plastic and spread it over it. There was also a lot of debris on the slab that would've been a nasty mess to clean up if it got wet so I picked it all up and disposed of it.

Just The Front

I removed all the floor t&g planks, joists, and wall on the back half of the house. All that remains is the front half. I did leave the west wall on the back up. I did this for a couple of reasons, mostly to prevent alleyway lookyloos. I also took the large debris pile in the yard to the dump. This was the biggest load so far. I actually had to pull over once to even out the load. It was causing the trailer to tip to one side and rub on the tire. Once at the dump I had to wait in line for about a 25 minutes. It's a popular place on Saturdays particularly at this time of day (noon thirty).

Whoa.. A Ferris Wheel!

Today was the second day of the Glendale Chocolate Affaire. There were people everywhere. The event had a ferris wheel erected just 80 feet from the Blue Myrtle House. All day long I could hear the kids whoopin' and hollerin' on the rides. The smell of kettle corn was also heavy in the air. The traffic (foot and vehicle) started just before 10 o'clock and was really heavy at 3 o'clock when we stopped working on the house. I actually had to stop traffic on Myrtle Ave so Todd could back the Tahoe out of the driveway.

I started the day by myself pulling up the plywood that was screwed to the planks of the floor. The floor actually had three sub-surfaces. The first was what appeared to be redwood tongue/groove planks, then linoleum tile, then plywood, and finally more linoleum. The plywood was a bear to pop loose. It was held down with numerous 2 1/2 inch wood screws. I was unable to unscrew the screws because of all the adhesive from the linoleum. Mike showed up after I removed about 4 4x8 pieces. I was sweating like crazy. He brought with him a big steel wrecking/pry bar about 4 feet long. This made the job way easier. I finished the rest of the popping loose in a fraction of the time.

I went home for lunch while Mike continued working. After lunch Todd came back to the BMH with me and we started pulling loose the redwood tongue/groove planks. I won't be able to use them again as flooring, so I plan to do with them the same as the redwood clapboard siding; trim and plane. I can't bring myself to throw away redwood for some reason, or oak for that matter.

Rose, Beth, Austin, Kayleigh, and a friend of Kayleigh's stopped by. They were all at the Chocolate Affaire. Austin stayed for awhile and helped Mike pull nails from the planks, and help me store the nail-less planks.

Oh yeah, I found a 1938 Arizona Chauffeur badge and a 1953 wheat penny! I keep hoping and praying I'll find something that'll finance the rebuild;) You listening St. Anthony?

Timeout To Oragnize

Everything is pretty damp at the Blue Myrtle House so I took the time to catch up on organizing all the material I want to keep. Mike came down and helped me out. The pile of debris on the side yard is a little bigger now. I plan on going the dump next Saturday. I hauled home another load of boards full of nails.

Lots of Rain

The weatherman said there was going to be a lot of rain this week. He was right. On Sunday I bought some rolls of plastic to cover the front part of the house. I got it all stapled down and secured before the rain came. When the rain did come it was really heavy and I worried about all the water that was accumulating on top of the first story. I drove down on Thursday to see how the house was holding up, pun intended. It was doing fine although some water was leaking in.

In the meantime I got to work pulling out nails. It took me about 8 hours to get them all out. I think I'm going to trim up all the redwood clapboard siding instead of just stripping the paint off and reusing it on a shed. I got the idea of making it into 3/8 x 5 inch planks of varying lengths and using as an interior wall/ceiling covering. I think it will look real nice once it's planed, sanded, and stained.

From January 2010

Termite Damage

I started on the bottom back of the house today. As you can see from the video below not much was holding up the back corner of the house. I got a lot done today. I gutted most of the interior walls and removed the clapboard siding from one side and the back of the house. I also removed the studs from the east side of the back.

Instead of going to the dump this week I started a pile of debris in the side yard. I plan to go to the dump at a later date. I needed the trailer to take home a load of boards I want to keep. I'm taking them home to remove the nails in the comfort of my garage. It's suppose to rain this week so I figured I could get something done while it does. I plan to bring the boards back after the nails are removed.

From January 2010

No Mo Second Flo

The second floor is completely gone now. I got the last couple of walls removed yesterday. Todd and Alec helped me lower the two remaining widows today. I was able to extract them from the walls, but they were too heavy to lower to the ground by myself.

From January 2010

Happy New Year | 2010!

I've had lots of help in the last couple of weeks. The Saturday after Christmas my brother Jim and nephew Trevor came down to help fill the trailer and pull some nails. The three of us (Trevor) decided since the trailer was full we might as well take it to the landfill. Trev got a splinter while unloading at the dump and we got stuck waiting for a train on the way back.

My father-in-law Mike came down on two separate occasions, once with Jim and Trevor, and once with Todd and Alec. Todd and Alec along with their grandpa helped me tear down the walls of the second floor. We filled up the trailer again and removed several windows and the top door. As you can tell from the pictures we nearly got the top floor completely removed.