TO WINDOW OR NOT TO WINDOW
A Few Good Bones in Boyle Heights
Our latest project is a buy and hold 1920's four-plex in Boyle Heights. She has a lotta potential. Original whimsy lives in dramatic plaster coves and original moldings. 100 year old (almost) real wood doors , high ceilings, original oak floors and a large lingering footprint are strong charm statements.
Day: 1. Tile Tile go away. Hardwood floors hide under intense tile, concrete and metal mesh.
Up with the tile.
With a lot of muscle and a few days of intense chiseling, the original wood floors get exposed. Luckily floors are better than expected. There is some water damage and a few soft spots, but they are repairable and can be refinished. Major Savings!
Opening up the wall to a "bonus room" for a more open feel.
Mistake #1:
I found a whole bunch of salvage wood windows at one of my favorite secret spots. The Casement style wood windows are in good shape. A window like this new can cost $700 new. These are 25-50$ each. Of course I take a couple of truckloads, my plan is to figure it out later... It's hard for me to say no to wood windows.
"The budget didn't really allow for replacing Windows... But I got a such a great deal... This is Mistake #1."
Yuck Right? Aluminum sliders... They work pretty well, but they are 30 years old, pitted and look so janky. Seems like a good idea still.
Let's remember... Windows are only a good deal if they fit... Of course we can make anything work, I just kinda forgot that it's not just re-framing and patching.... It's a lot more work than that... The whole wall needed to be dry-walled and textured. The apartment is plaster... so when you cut into it... it mostly comes loose and walls start to crack apart. Drywall is easier. Im a purist, but even a purist like me says YES to drywall instead of Plaster in an rental apartment. Exterior Stucco needed to be broken and re-patched, re-textured and re-painted, full wall framing fixes become realities when you start opening up walls. It quickly became apparent my "Good Deal Windows" were really blowing the budget. We vowed the other 3 units would not get newer Windows. There was no way... This one unit just set us back about 10k we didn't budget for. Just say no.