by bungalow101 | Jan 11, 2023 | Bathrooms, Doors & windows, Kitchens
If you should be fortunate enough to have a bungalow, architectural salvage can be your BFF. Merriam Webster defines salvage as “property saved from destruction in a calamity (such as a wreck or fire).”
Cambridge adds, “to try to make a bad situation better.”
Not surprisingly, the derivation is from the French, “to save.”
Personally, I consider the destruction of a historic building, by Mother Nature, Father Time, or the hand of Man to be a crushing calamity & I have spent my adult life trying to get people to understand their value.You can read my story here.
There are so many arguments against it financially, culturally & aesthetically that it both puzzles & pains me that our built heritage is destroyed so casually. Whether by neglect, natural disaster or ignorance & short-sighted greed, the stories of our communities are turned to rubble & to dust.
Making lemonade, making “a bad situation better,” out of this sour mess, are those who are involved in architectural salvation. Architectural salvage involves carefully removing materials from a historic (or even a newer) structure that is going to be remuddled or completely destroyed. Instead of ruining these materials, & sending them to the landfill, salvagers give them a new life. Here’s a page of recommended by my Facebook followers outlets all over the U.S.
ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE IS GREEN
The footprint of architectural salvage materials is generally only that of transportation, from the original site, to the warehouse, to the new home. (hm-m-m.) I don’t think transportation is figured into the numbers for the turbine or for the panels.) This of course varies considerably so I’m not going to give you any figures on this but I think you get it!
My buddy, Doc, of Doc’s Architectural Salvage and Reclamation Service, outside of Nashville, who provided me with all these gorgeous images, (including the PG one, is a master of the art. His well-ordered, abundantly stocked shop, Architectural Salvation is 38,000 sq. ft. of fine salvaged materials from homes, churches & commercial buildings & even ships. He & his crew have meticulously extracted these items from doomed structures, hauled them to his shop, cleaned & repaired them & offer them for sale to those who understand & appreciate their value.
I’m not going to try to ‘splain about Doc or Doc’s Architectural Salvation to you here when his website & social media do a good job of it. However, in the interest of full disclosure, Doc allows me to use his images for my blog & social media & buys me tacos when I visit him for the mention. I love tacos.
Please visit the BUNGALOW ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE RESOURCES page to see outlets from all over the U.S. that were recommended by my Facebook followers. I encourage you to add the ones that you like the best too. Just scroll on down to the comments section.
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by bungalow101 | Jan 6, 2023 | Doing it the right way, Random Musings
Once upon a time, I was standing in line at a Japanese take-out (great place!) & stepped back when I noticed the grungy guy in front of me. He was wearing a t-shirt that had seen 1,000 better days. It was a bit hiked up in the back, & I could almost see his heinie protruding from his well-worn, baggy jeans. His hair, was long & tied back in a raggedy ponytail.
Imagine my surprise when, after ordering, he turned around to display the twinkliest blue eyes I have ever seen (Yes, that includes Santa.) & the biggest most beautiful smile. He grabbed my husband in a big hug & they both bounced up & down exclaiming their extreme joy at seeing one another.
Turns out that this raggedy guy, who upon further inspection was spotlessly clean & fresh, was an old house contractor for whom my husband often worked. Garrett enjoyed a stellar reputation in Los Angeles & with our company because he consistently delivered beautiful work, & ran his business- scheduling, communication, legal, etc. – meticulously & heartfully. After this fortuitous introduction, he performed a great deal of work for me at the Hare House & I was always happy to see him & glad to pay him. Upon further acquaintance, I learned that he conducted his entire life in this fashion, being an extraordinary husband & a loving, enthusiastic father. I only wish every contractor I met had been even similar to this wonderful man. He was just not a fashion plate!
HIRE THE OLD HOUSE CONTRACTOR WITH THE NICEST SHIRT
Maybe not. I wrote the E-book, 7 VITAL Things to Do Before You Hire a Contractor, after reading terrible & sad stories on the Facebook, old house, group blogs. In every single story I could see the exact moment at which the project fell apart, the money got ripped off, the house got ruined, the heart got broken. Looking at my own heartbreaks, I could see the same pesky factors at play.
After 45 years as a specialty contractor (wood floors) & old house restorer (5- here’s the most awful one!) I have seen my share of horrifying surprises, so I decided to write a little book in hopes of making someone else’s path a wee bit smoother.
I established my company based on the firm policy of always exceeding the customer’s wishes & any time I failed to do this, examined every step of the process to find out how I could make it better next time. It’s always easy to cast blame on the other guy, & with any failed job, there is always plenty of blame to go around. However, there was always some piece of it that I had to call my own whether or not it made me highly uncomfortable to do so. And it did.
So I took my experiences on both side of the contract to see if I could create some advice that would be useful to a homeowner when they leap off the cliff & hire an old house contractor. I’m a big believer in jumping off that cliff & building my wings on the way down, but it helps to at least have a bag of feathers & maybe some chicken wire before giving it all up to gravity.
This article is just to show you the myriad ways you can land in the abyss that it are important to know, especially if you are venturing into restoration for the first time. To get the whole book, I’d love for you to sign up for my mailing list, but mostly, I just want to make sure that you don’t get Bozo’d like I did! So, if you don’t to be on the mailing list, just let me know & I’ll send you the book & disengage you. (But just so’s you know, I send some fun stuff!)
HOW TO HIRE AN OLD HOUSE CONTRACTOR- STEP BY STEP
INTRODUCTION
You have purchased a 100 year old (give or take) bungalow. You have your home inspection in your hand & you want to move forward on your restoration. You are not a DIY’er & do not plan to be one. You have a demanding job, perhaps a family & other responsibilities. You’ll need to hire an old house contractor or contractors, & you’ll be depending on the kindness of strangers to turn your house into a home. So, how do you find the best strangers?
I wrote training manuals for 40 years so I am big on proper sequencing & I loves me a checklist. So here are my suggested steps.
Find out:
- What is a bungalow? What are best restoration practices?
- What are your own needs?
- How do I find good tradespeople in my area?
- What else do I need to know about these folks?
A. Referrals
B. Reviews
C. Go legal.
It’s only at this point that you start talking to people.
- How do you conduct the first interview? What should you ask? What should you request?
- The Proposal- what should it include?
- How do I make sure that the restoration is satisfactory?
I go through each one of these steps in detail, in fact, each step is a section with sub-sections! I like to break it up to make it easy to understand & doable. I talk about your goals, your expectations, your money, & the joys of living life on a jobsite. I spend a great deal of time addressing the contract because that’s the basis of all that will transpire.
(That having been said, I am not a lawyer. Neither this article not my little booklet, should be construed as being legal advice. It is friendly direction- my tale of what has & what has not been effective for me. While I’m at it, I will mention that I have done all the steps I suggest & still gotten a crappy project. ‘Tis the human condition but, when I haven’t done it, I have gotten a crappy project 100% of the time!
I have no training beyond what I got in a ballet studio, no credentials, no licenses, no nothin’ in the construction trades nor in law. I have only my experience from which I draw & I can boast of having lost over $50,000 on a single project because the contractor I hired should have been in jail & ended up there soon after I fired him!)
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by bungalow101 | Jan 3, 2023 | The History
The story of the Chicago bungalow isn’t about the houses, it’s about the humanity. I call it, “Grits & girdles history.”
Because our houses tell the stories of the lives of the people who built them & how they lived, worked & formed their communities- the intimate details if you will. (In fact, I produced a historic documentary film about a bungalow neighborhood in Tampa that was full of the juicy goings- on of the time.)
The Chicago bungalow may be the most striking example of regional uniqueness to be found in the United States, in terms of single-family housing. There is no mistaking a Chicago bungalow which has many character defining features that are simply not seen in other areas of the country because they do not provide the same history or environment.
These features were developed out of the events that happened in the city, the natural resources & challenges, the man-made materials & technology that were available in the area during the period of their planning & construction.
THE STORY
There were a great many influences that resulted in the Chicago bungalow, the first of course, being the Arts & Crafts Movement in England, a pushback against the overproduction of shoddy goods that characterized the Industrial Revolution.
The philosophy & design of the Movement were imported to the U.S. by Gustav Stickley, a furniture designer, writer & innovator. The Chicago bungalow veers wildly from Stickley’s ideal of a log cabin in the woods as they are built of brick & sit on a 125’-by-25’ lot in a city, which by 1910 was the home to over 2 million souls, the second largest in the United States, after New York. Not the low, wide structures of the American West on their expansive lawns, nor Stickley’s rock chimneyed log house in the woods, but bungalows they were-tidy compact brick muffins sitting prettily on the narrow city lots.
The Chicago bungalow provided exactly the modest refuge that was needed by the working class at the time, many of them immigrants, who had come to work in the factories & meat packing plants. Nearly 80,000 homes were built, each one with its own subtly distinctive charm & character.
The next great influence was the Chicago Fire of 1871, which started in a barn & burned for over a day, killing 300 people. Because of the pressure to build houses to accommodate the growing population, buildings had been constructed using quickly assembled, cheaply constructed balloon-framing, with studs running from the foundation to the roof. Fire travels upward & there was nothing to stop it as it roared up the walls & turned the houses to ash, making a third of the city homeless. After this disaster, the city enacted new building codes & rapidly rebuilt the city according to those codes. With brick.
When you think of a Chicago bungalow, brick does come instantly to mind. The area was gifted with an abundance of clay by the glaciers that moved through the area over 10,000 years ago leaving their assorted debris so the resultant, fired bricks are speckled in a variety of colors. To satisfy the demands of the building boom in 1910, nearly a billion of these cheap bricks were produced. When I say cheap I mean cheap, averaging $7 per thousand while the better, more homogenous brick sold for as high as $35 per thousand.
So, builders took advantage of this cheap brick & used it to build areas that were not so visible, like foundations, structural walls, chimney flues & the back & sides of the house. Because Chicago is centrally located & a railroad hub, it was easy to bring all types of brick from all over the country so the front facades of bungalows show a charming diversity of brick types.
THE CHICAGO BUNGALOW STORY-ILLUSTRATED
The images that you see here are created by Wonder City Studio by Phil Thompson & his wife Katie who are obviously in love with their town. He has created many drawings of Chicago buildings of all types, including capturing the sweet, sturdy hominess of the bungalow.
He features prints of his representations of the city, but, he also does commissioned portraits of homes anywhere. When I lived in Eagle Rock we had plein air painters (an Eagle rock tradition, historically) lining the walking tour route, many painting the homes of the tour hosts. The paintings were then auctioned for charity at an exhibit later & the homeowners were always the highest bidders for the paintings of their own homes. A portrait captures the soul of a house much more eloquently than a photograph (well, than a photograph of a mere mortal. You have to allow for the work of Alex Vertikoff.)
But, wait, there’s more! Katie Lauffenburger, wife, mom & founding partner of Wonder City Studio, will sculpt a custom planter Mini-Me of your home. And you can put flowers in it!
Although we may dream of living in our homes forever, sometimes life necessitates change & having either a beautiful drawing or a tiny 3-D model of it could mend a broken heart.
THE CHICAGO BUNGALOW ASSOCIATION HAS THE FULL STORY
What I can tell you about Chicago bungalows is a tiny fraction of the knowledge that the Chicago Bungalow Association posses & teaches. I just wanted to whet your appetite for this architectural form, unique in all the world to the Windy City.
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by bungalow101 | Dec 31, 2022 | Doing it the right way
By attending old house classes, a conscientious steward can learn the basics of old house repair & maintenance. Owning an old house is not for sissies, nor for the uninformed. When I owned The Hare House, my 1910 Craftsman in Eagle Rock, I made some mistakes that I would have not made, & tossed away money that I would still have in my pocket, had I access to any of the education offered below.
Even if you are not a hands-on restorer, by inclination, aptitude (or the lack of) or physical condition, you need to have some knowledge of these skills.You can also use them to educate any trusted tradesman that you have working at your home to expand their skills. This can save you money & provide you with services to which you might not have access in your area.
I suggest contacting the event producer about any classes that appeals to you that might require physicality beyond your own capabilities, to see if they can accommodate you. They want you to learn so they will make it as easy as they can for you.
The best thing about attending is that it gives you the opportunity to meet like-minded folks. I have met wonderful people in my preservation activities & formed many strong friendships. I urge you to participate. It will enrich your life!
I AM FULLY AWARE THAT MY LIST IS WOEFULLY INCOMPLETE! Please let me know what I have missed so that I can add them.
OLD HOUSE CLASSES IN THE NORTHEAST
Craftwork Training Center
Telford, PA
Hands-on workshops are taught by professionals who are looking toward building the resources necessary preserving the future of the trades.
Participants learn a variety of crafts in order to pursue & succeed in vocations in the preservation trades. The Center’s goal is to build the next generation of highly trained artisans.
They offer classes in:
- Historic Preservation Boot Camp is a 3-day workshop covering repointing, plastering, & brick/stone repairs
- Repointing Brick & Stone Using Lime Mortar
- Repointing Special Joint Profiles Using Lime Mortar
- Basic Plaster Wall Repair
- Brick & Stone Surface Repair
- Sash Mechanics of Historic Windows
- Restoring Historic Wood Windows & Doors
- Basics of Building with Hempcrete
OLD HOUSE CLASSES IN THE MIDWEST
Chicago Bungalow Association
“Now serving all old homes.”
The Association offers an extensive menu of seminars, webinars & hands-on workshops, designed to help you preserve & improve the appearance, usability & value of your home.
Though they focus on bungalow, they offer help to anyone who owns an old house of any style or age. They are some of the friendliest people in preservation that I have ever met. I have called them several times with questions regarding bungalow characteristics in the Midwest & they have always gone out of their way to obtain the information requested & relay it to me.
Take advantage of their many educational videos on many subjects, all beautifully & clearly presented.
Sign up for their email list so you can stay informed whether or not you live in Chicago! If you do live there, you’re welcome.
Belvedere School for Hands-On Preservation
Hannibal, Missouri
Bob Yapp, after traveling the country, teaching preservation skills, had the dream of establishing a hands-on trade school, delivering workshops to students of all ages, lasting from 2 day to 8 days. His students come from all parts of the world to learn from this master.
The Beleveder School is lodged in the historic brick, antebellum, 1859 Italianate, Alfred Lamb Mansion which also holds his wife’s bed & breakfast. Known for its delicious breakfasts, the B&B provides a wonderful setting for making lifelong friends.
He also delivers seminars & workshops on many different topics to communities all over the U.S.
Preservation Corps United
Des Moines, Iowa
Founded in 2022, Preservation Corps United offers expert education in historic preservation & restoration to homeowners & construction professionals.
The founder, Tanya Keith, offers some impressive credential& & imparts this knowledge to those who attend her school.
Education:
2.5 years of Industrial Design program at Carnegie Mellon University, BFA Interior Design from Iowa State University with minors in Craft Design: Woodworking and Sociology
NCIDQ Certified Interior Designer since 2001
Belvedere School for Hands on Preservation Certificates:
Passive Wood Floor Restoration, Building Wooden Storm Windows, Restoration of Historic Stained Glass, Historic Plaster Repair, Historic Masonry Repair
Certified in Window Restoration by David Wadsworth.
Rethos
Saint Paul & Winona, Minnesota
“Whether you’re an individual or part of a group or business, if you believe in a future that honors our old buildings, beautiful towns, and our culture, you are a part of Rethos.”
Rethos is a non-profit organization offering hands-on & Zoom classes as well as informative videos to homeowners in all aspects of preservation. They are perfectly amenable to your attending a workshop without physically participating. You can learn a great deal by just watching! They offer classes such as:
Lead, Asbestos & Radon
Old Home Certified for Realtors®, a regional designation
Window Restoration
Drafting a Maintenance Plan
Wallpaper Installation
DIY Plumbing
PROFESSIONAL (OR WANNA-BE PRO) WOOD WINDOW RESTORATION EDUCATION
Wood Preservation Alliance
This group, composed of the most knowledgeable people in the field from all over the country, is a trade organization dedicated to saving old wood windows. In addition to connecting pro’s with homeowners, they assist everyone from those who want to have careers in wood window restoration, to established pro’s.
The WPA provide resources & information on products & materials as well as general information on running a successful business. They also “help preservationists find the tools they need to educate building owners, architects, and other decision makers about the value of original windows.”
If you wish to host a old house classes, contact them to see if they could provide you with a speaker/demonstrator. If you, or someone you know would like to spend your life returning old houses to their former glory, they are standing by to give you the education & assistance you need to be a successful professional.
PRODUCE OLD HOUSE CLASSES IN YOUR AREA
I am working on a manual (It’s pretty close to being done.) for hosting such an event, laying out step-by-step what to do to choose topics, attract craftsmen & volunteers, promote it & make some $$$ for your organization, & run a smooth-running day of hands-on, old house learning.
The manual is divided into sections, & I have included a timeline that cross references the sections so that you can go step-by-step through locating a venue, attracting speakers & demonstrators, recruiting enthusiastic volunteers & promoting the event to the public.
Let me know if you or your organization is interested in learning how to host classes & I’ll get working on this thing a bit faster! I’m going to sell it for a whole $25.00 because if you pay for it, you’re more likely to use it.
LOCAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION ADVOCACY GROUPS’ CLASSES
Many preservation groups host classes so if you are interested in attending, contact your local group. I am building lists of such groups, but it’s taking a ridiculously long time to create such a list for all 50 states so if you don’t see it here, Google “historic preservation your city.”
If you are involved in a preservation group, please encourage them to host old house classes. It’s a good P.R. activity, will encourage membership & it also can raise some serious funds.
THE BENEFITS OF OLD HOUSE CLASSES
Even if you have no plans to live the DIY life, it is important to understand how your house works. If any of these topics interest you, but you don’t have the physical capabilities perform the work, most of them will allow you to participate as an observer.
These are also great learning sources for the tradespeople who work for you. You need to have someone you can count on who has these skills & it may be up to you to ensure that they get them.
There are young people all over the United States who would love to be trained in these trades & make this work their vocation. You can do your bit for preservation by letting them know about these opportunities. I have a book in my hip pocket that is about 50% complete, about how to run a successful specialty contracting business. My plan is to complete the dang thing & somehow raise the money needed to have it printed & then donate the books to high schools. So, someday I may be coming to you, asking for a hand-out & for your assistance in placing them!
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by bungalow101 | Dec 29, 2022 | Features
Let’s break down some bungalow characteristics to better understand what makes a bungalow, a bungalow. Character defining features, as further explained in the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation Projects is a term that means the way the visual & material aspects of a particular house style that set it apart from other styles.
My friend Jo-Anne Peck, of Preservation Resource, Inc., & Historic Shed, is a historic preservation professional with a degree in Building Science, a Master’s of Fine Arts in Historic Preservation & licensed Florida Building Contractor with over 25 years experience in preservation. She has kindly provided these photos & this information based her her vast knowledge of bungalow preservation. They are grouped according to how they appeared on Facebook & I will add more from her every month, in a new part.
I am creating this page so that when I am asked, “What is a bungalow?” I’ll be able to point to these pages & after a bit, you’ll just know.
The links are to our glossary of exterior bungalow terms. Please follow it if you see a term that might be unfamiliar to you.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS:
When someone says bungalow, we often first think of Craftsman style bungalows, but in reality, the term bungalow refers to the form of a house, not the style. Here is a Folk Victorian style bungalow with a hipped roof. I have to admit that I am partial to designs with a simple symmetry.
Here you can see some images of a more typical Folk Victorian.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS:
Texture, rhythm, and details. I love how the trim surrounding the windows flares differently on each side of the casing to accommodate the 4 vents. And look at the great cut rafter tails! This house was built by a craftsman skilled at their trade.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS:
A gable dormer with shingle siding and divided lites with wavy glass. What more needs to be said?
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS:
I know it’s a bit abnormal to get excited over foundation lattice, but I love when something so utilitarian and mundane is a design feature worthy of attention on its own. It’s a far cry from bright white plastic lattice, isn’t it?
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS:
One of the most common Craftsman bungalow forms is the front facing gable house with a separate, front facing gable porch. The porch is often 1/3, 1/2, or 2/3 the width of the house. Or, as in the case of this structure, the porch wraps around the side of the house, making the porch roof nearly the same width of the house front gable, but still providing a separate roofline.
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS:
Some homes are so rich in detail that you just have to stop and take a photo!
This house in Tampa, FL has a lot going on from the jerkinhead roofline, to the surplus of eave brackets, porch dentil trim, paired and triple columns on sturdy tapered brick piers, shingled gable, and so much more …
DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTERISTICS:
This bungalow has what is referred to as an integral porch, which means the roof is continuous over both the house and porch. It creates a clean, unfussy look and has no pesky transitions that can often be sources of potential leaks down the road. Shingle siding, exposed rafter tails and groups of 4 slender posts supporting the porch make for a lovely home.
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