Photo from PoPville flickr user hellomarkers!

“Dear PoP,

I’m all set with a contractor etc., but could use some advice on getting appliances at a discount price. I’ll need to outfit 2 kitchens in full [ranges, fridges, dishwahers etc.] and a few flatscreen TVs. Does anyone out there in PoPville have suggestions of some local vendors who are willing and able to make a deal? I’m looking for stainless steel-level stuff, but don’t need “viking” level goods. I’ve investigated DirectBuy, but spending $5000 for the pleasure of spending $10000 more is not quite a “deal” to me.”

Hmm, I’ve never heard from someone who needs to outfit 2 kitchens before. But for those who have done their own renovations – where have you gotten your appliances?

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Image from Hipchickindc

“Dear PoP,

We are thinking about purchasing a victorian rowhouse in Bloomingdale neighborhood. The house itself is move-in ready, and has a lot of original details intact: transoms, woodwork, fireplace (walled off), staircase. But it still needs quite a bit of work done if we are to restore it to its original grandeur – for example stripping layers of white paint from said original woodwork, removing carpets and refinishing original hardwood floors. We really want to restore, not just renovate, the house. We were wondering if any of your readers would have suggestions and resources that we could consult – from books to contractors.”

Here is a talk we had on wood floor restorations. You should peruse the general renovation posts as well.

Do you guys have any other general recommendations fro contractors and/or books to consult?

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The following guest post was written by Amber Wason from Green DC Realty.

Mount Pleasant Solar Coop is born…

In September of 2006, Mount Pleasant resident, Jeff Morley, was dragged to see An Inconvenient Truth by his (then) 12 year-old son, Diego. Impacted by the documentary, the boy and his friend carried the discussion home, and what began as a dinner table discussion resulted in a promise to do something about it.

In response, neighbors, Jeff Morley and Anya Schoolman, and their teenage sons, Walter Lynn and Diego Arene-Morley, founded the Mount Pleasant Solar Coop. It is their answer to addressing the sense of urgency to do something to reduce their impact on global warming.

They were led to the coop model for two reasons: first, they figured if they were going to go through the work of figuring out how to install solar technology, they should include more people and have a bigger impact. Second, they needed a way to bring down the cost, and hoped through bulk purchasing they could share expenses and expertise with neighbors.

They began with ambitious goals and thought it was feasible to have something up and running within a year. While sounding reasonable, the early contributors learned that they would face many obstacles; a steep learning curve around this topic of solar. They resiliently unbundled the prohibiting factors solar presents to homeowners, addressing each one individually and holistically. Their persistent efforts paid off as the group celebrated completing 47 solar installations in the fall of 2009.

The remarkable efforts of this group serve to be an example for other groups in DC, and late in 2008, we saw a second coop model emerge in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Then came the Capitol Hill Energy Cooperative…

In 2008, homeowners, businesses, and churches in the Capitol Hill neighborhood decided they too wanted to do something to address climate change and lower energy bills. Your browser may not support display of this image.

Continues after the jump. Read Full Post

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Photo by PoPville flickr user schmiddi

“Dear PoP,

Have you gotten any comments from folks about Pepco’s phone hold times? I have tried calling every weekday for the past week during business hours just to simply ask a couple of questions about my bill and my hold times are being estimated between about 45 minutes today to over 3 hours last Friday. The other day’s hold times have been within that range and never been lower than 45 minutes. I obviously can’t wait that long as I actually have to work. Any thoughts on why the demand is so high or capacity so low on Pepco’s customer service lines.”

We talked about surging bills here but this is the first I’m hearing of super long hold times. Any else notice this?

“Dear PoP,

I just bought a rowhouse and am thinking about installing a rooftop deck. Is it worth it? The views would be of the development cranes and new buildings in NoMa. Any idea of what the costs are to install the deck and whether I would be able to recapture these costs at resale?”

We discussed roof decks here. How much value do you guys think installing a roof deck would add to a house?

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The great one above is located, of course, in the Forest Hills neighborhood. And a reader writes in about the Petworth Bungalow below:

“Thought you might be interested in this renovation that is going on! Since moving into the 300 block of Rock Creek Church Road, we learned that this single family, detached bugalow has been empty for a while and has been the ugly one on the block. Rumor has it that it was to be a boarding house for troubled girls, but the organizer ran out of funds. It has since been picked up by “We Buy Ugly Houses.” I spoke with the manager of their DC properties and he said it would be a beauty! Originally, the owners talked about demo-ing and trying to build a monster house. They decided against it as it was already quite sizable and they were ablet o avoid major changes to the permits (apparently, when they bought the place it came with approved plans!) Once done, it will be a 5 bedroom, 4.5 house with finished space over 3500 square feet! It was painted last week and is looking quite nice with new windows, a new roof and a new porch. This will be one to keep an eye on for a pulse on prices in the neighborhood!”

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Tyrannous.

“Dear PoP,

I’m in the market to expand the landing/deck on the rear of my Petworth rowhouse to a more useful space. The landing currently goes about half the width of the house with stairs to ground level (basically, it provides access to a the main level of the house from the rear – this seems to be quite common in the neighborhood). I’d like to expand it to the full width of the house and bump it out to the maximum allowed depth.

The quandry I’m in is as follows: Can I use the gray area of the “postcard” permit which states that you can perform:
“Repairs of one of the following items: Front porch and steps in a single family dwelling” (http://dcra.dc.gov/dcra/cwp/view,a,1343,q,634854.asp#1)

Or do I have to go with the full-blown permitting route of getting a CAD drawing signed off by a DC-licensed architect, waiting for the DCRA approval process, etc?

If I go with the former (much less cumbersome and expensive route), is the only risk a $2000 penalty from DCRA? http://dcra.dc.gov/dcra/frames.asp?doc=/dcra/lib/dcra/information/publications/residents_guide_to_illegal_construction.pdf

Given the fact that the drawings and permit will cost about $1200 through a contractor, it seems a calculated risk worth taking. What have people in the neighborhood done before?”

We discussed roof decks here but does anyone have any experience with a regular deck?

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“Dear PoP,

We just received an estimate for a closet renovation that has me bug-eyed, but husband is thinking it’s doable. We would love some marriage-ref-type help on this.

We have the classic Federal rowhouse, with the odd extra door connecting the larger two upstairs bedrooms. We want to convert the doorspace into a closet for the front room, and expand the old closet in the back room to double its size. This may involve some structural work.

The contractor estimates two weeks of work at $13,000.

The green room (rear room) is the one that will get the double-wide closet, the yellow room (front room) will get a single closet made in the space that is the “hall” connecting the two rooms.

Also, talking with hubby found out that the renovation cost also includes repainting both rooms and maintaining some of the historic finishes in the space – e.g. repurposing the floor boards, using the existing doors for the newly-arranged closets – and adding some built in bookshelves along one wall. Still, $13,000 seems shocking to me! Would love to get some feedback from the masses.

Is this reasonable?

All thoughts are greatly appreciated!”

Well if there is structural work involved then I’m thinking that’s really gonna kick up the price. But let’s throw this out to those who’ve had similar projects done. Does $13,000 sound reasonable or insane for this type of project?

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Photo from PoPville flickr user District Shots

“Dear PoP,

I’m sure a lot of people are forking over a good chunk of change heating their home this winter. Me too. I was looking to replace my standard heat pump system with a geothermal system. This type of system can save you a ton on your heating costs and it can be done even on a small dc lot with a ‘vertical loop’ system. To sweeten the deal, the federal government will give you a tax credit for 30% of the cost of the system without a cap.

Here’s the catch. The first quote I got for the system and installation was over $25,000. Even with uncle sam pitching in $7,500, that’s a ton of money. I was wondering if any of your readers have any experience with these types of systems, and if so, did they have a less traumatic price tag.”

This seems like good timing to investigate. Has anyone looked into Geothermal heating systems?

Incidentally how much do you think your Feb. heating bill is gonna be?

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“Dear PoP,

Due to the recent heavy snow and ice, my gutter took a beating and will need to be replaced along with the part of the roof (overhang) to which the gutter is attached. I also need to have my porch roof replaced and elevated, so I was hoping I could find one contractor that is able to perform all of these repairs at a reasonable price.”

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The following was written by guest contributor Fritz Hubig

With Green building seeing measurable growth across the region, the Regan family found a novel way of meeting their own growing needs, picking up a bit of history, and saving a great lot, complete with small rancher house, in the process.

After a lengthy search for a local contractor to do their “dream green” renovation, Jenni Regan and her husband were nearly ready to give up. Contractor after contractor interviewed proceeded to tell her that the design features she wanted, including ceiling-height wraparound windows, would be impossible to do in an energy-efficient way. As a successful business owner, Jenni doesn’t settle for “not possible.” Most contractors had no vision or experience in innovative and high-performance home renovations. To the Regans, there were also signs and indications of “Greenwashing,” or misrepresention of the proposed renovations, as eco-friendly.

When all seemed lost, a chance business contact connected the Regans with John Spears, President of Sustainable Design Group, who has 30 years of extensive sustainability design experience. Continues after the jump. Read Full Post

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Photo by PoPville flickr user oconnicole

“Dear PoP,

I’m wondering if you’d be willing to ask your readers if there are any general contractors that they would recommend for a basement re-model. We have a rowhouse with a partially finished basement that needs more finishing (i.e. sheetrock instead of paneling) to make a really functional family room/play room. There is also a bathroom down there that we’d like to finish, too. Currently it’s our “emergency commode” (toilet only). Any recommendations for who does quality work (at reasonable prices)? Has anyone had their basement finished recently (and is happy with the results)?”

So we’re not talking a basement dig out here rather general contractors for remodeling. If you could share basic pricing that your project cost that would be helpful as well.

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I know folks have been excited about this beauty getting fixed up. I hadn’t seen much progress in a while but just noticed workmen last weekend. New windows are looking good:

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“Dear PoP,

Loved the post on the basement dig out. I think a lot of your readers would love to see a post on the costs associated with building a rooftop deck. There are a lot of great rooftop decks in the city. Are there architecture firms and/or contractors that specialize in rooftop decks? What are their fees? What unexpected costs do folks run into when building a rooftop deck? On the eve of winter weather, it is nice to consider enjoying nicer seasons on a new rooftop deck!”

Does anyone have any roofdeck photos they can share? If so please email me at princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com. But in general does anyone know how cumbersome/expensive the process is to install one?

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“Dear PoP,

I wonder if anyone out there in PoPville has any recommendations… I am in the midst of deconstructing drywall on a 28ft wall in order to expose the brick underneath. I will do the drywall work myself, but I’m reluctant to try clearing the brick because it involves acids and all kinds of things that I don’t care to learn about or attempt on my own.

Anyone out there have recommendations for a mason or handyperson who I could hire for just the brick-clearing part of this project?”

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Last week a reader asked about how to do a basement dig out. A reader was kind enough to share his experience:

“After reading the comments it was clear that no one had enjoyed actual experience and that most of the comments were far from my recent journey from a 7,1 clearance to 9,4. Our house is a three story above grade row house that was built in 1911.

Our entire dig out went from Nov 9, breaking up the concrete, until Dec 30 for pouring the new slab. Underpinning the foundation was involved. New ground works were involved. The basement space is approximately 990 square feet on which sits a three story above grade house. The basement was vacant except for the boiler and hot water heater. Our intent is to turn the space into a 2 bedroom apartment.

All of the work was permitted through DCRA. The hardest part was getting one adjoining neighbor to sign off on the project. One did, the other did not. Because one adjoining neighbor would not sign, it took us an additional 2 months to get our permit. The process of working with DCRA, once you have plans, is straightforward.

The cost from our licensed contractor for all digging out, ground works, concrete, plans, new front stairs leading to the basement and new stairs in the back, was under 25K. We had considered other companies that offered bids of more than twice that amount. With the saving we hired a structural engineer who oversaw our contractor’s work. The SE cost was $1,500. Continues after the jump. Read Full Post

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