Old House My House

Since we began blogging when we were already over two months into our renovation, we are sorry we neglected to mention some of the key infrastructural overhauls that the house had began to undergo prior to December―completely new and upgraded plumbing, heating and electrical systems. It was truly awesome (and terrifying) to see our house opened up and exposed, and then to watch the process as Mike Streaman and his subs rebuilt her into a better, stronger, juiced-up building.

As nervous, first-time landlords, we are hugely thankful to Super-Charged Electric's Vincent Verderosa and his dedicated crew, brothers PJ and Anthony, and to Aladdin Plumbing's Randy and Eric Gitli and their tireless crew, including Munchin and Manny (see upcoming post) for making our old house brand-new. We feel very fortunate that within the walls/floors of our house are perfectly installed state-of-the art systems that will be smoothly humming along for many years to come.

From shortly after demolition was complete, PJ and Anthony were constant fixtures at the house.

They worked quietly and steadily rewiring electrical and cable/Internet lines on all the five floors with minimal disruption to the original plaster walls/ceilings. In the meantime, since often the details of electrical plans must be figured out on-site and after framing, we were meeting with Vinnie, then had to have second, third and fourth rounds of meetings with our designer, Carole Freehauf, which brought about further changes.

Through the whirlwind of ideas, Vinnie remained patient and focused, somehow managing to keep every switch, fixture and outlet straight. The cellar is the hub of the house's utilities. Mike calls it the wall of technology, where PJ and Anthony have set up four separate meters--one for each unit in the house and one for the common areas, which is required by building code.

One story that pretty much sums it up, involved our parlor floor foyer light, historically the main, formal entrance to the house. The original position of this probably low-hanging fixture was centered on the hallway mirror, the pocket doors and the large pier mirror in the front parlor or living room and finally, the living room ceiling light fixture. It must have been a beautifully balanced composition of lights, mirrors, doors and wood in 1904. The new reproduction ceiling light we chose from Rejuvenation is gorgeous and fitting to the period of the house, but hangs closer to the ceiling and will not be reflected in the mirror.

Well, there was much indecision over the exact position of this light―should it to be centered in the room or should the original harmony with the adjoining living room be maintained by keeping its existing position. Through all of the confusion, PJ and Anthony ended up having to move that electrical box in the ceiling back and forth between the two locations a total of four times!! Many, many thanks to Vinnie, PJ and Anthony for keeping your sanity and helping us to see the light. I think that we finally got it right! We are looking forward to seeing all of the light fixtures installed over the next few weeks!