On your mark.....

The wall between the living room and the stairs being removed

It's been a hellacious three days.

Saturday, we took out the wall between the living room and the stairwell - it looks great, with the stairwell restored to it's original connection with the living room. We took off most of the fire escape - a huge job, involving heavy metal plates, rusted bolts and lots of danger. Tom tied a rope to one section of the fire escape, and after he had undone the bolts, I pulled it over on its support post. We took off baseboards and removed pipes, wiring, plumbing. We were at the house for about 8 hours.

Roping the fire escape

On Sunday, there was a torrential rainstorm. Despite this, we worked on taking off exterior trim - which mostly comes off very easily. We also pulled out the old wheelchair ramp at the back of the house - in the pouring rain. And we finished taking out the interior plumbing and wiring.

Then today, we met with Kevin and Noel from UC Berkeley, as well as the parking officers, Eric Angress and Phil Joy. Phil started the conversation by saying, "There's no way this can get done this weekend" We all freaked out - the University expects the house gone by Sunday, and we have been working with that as our goal.

But after some conversation (and some freaking out), it seems we're still on track. Phil and Eric are back at the site tomorrow, to start really getting the house ready. They will begin the process of inserting steel beams into the second floor. Later this week, they'll lift the second floor off the first floor, and slide the first floor forward to be put on dollies. Then the second floor is lowered, and put on dollies, and taken away.

By Monday, the Cheney Cottage will be in Albany Village.

We're exhausted, stressed out - and still enjoying this in some bizarre way. We must be crazy.

The Weekend Before the Weekend

Tom and I took yesterday (Friday) off, and spent the day at the Cheney Cottage.

Next week, Eric Angress and his crew come to make the cut between the first and second floors, in preparation for the move (which happens in 8 days). So Tom and I are prepping the house for the cut. We're removing the fire escape, taking off all the trim that crosses the line of the cut, and stripping off all the second floor baseboards. We're also taking out all the plumbing (useless) and wiring (all surface mounted in conduit - awful looking).

So now, there's a growing pile of debris in the front of the house. Conduit and plumbing pipes, mingled with pieces of old indoor/outdoor carpet, vinyl tiles and acoustic ceiling tiles.

Tom had to go meet with Building Officials with the City of Berkeley twice yesterday, so I was left alone in the Cheney Cottage. Despite clonking myself in the head with a falling florescent light, it was a good day. One of the things we both like about working on old houses is getting to know every part of the house. As I crawl along floors, unbolting the conduit, or climb the ladder to the ceiling, I get to know every part of the house.

As I pulled the conduit off the baseboards in the dining room, some of it took the paint with it, and I could see the original shellaced redwood trim. So the heat gun will again be getting a lot of use, and we'll be using the dental tools again to strip yet another two rooms (the living room has nice trim too).

Today, we're finishing the trim and fire escape, and starting work on the baseboards. We also want to take out the wall that was added between the living room and stairs, which will have the effect of lightening the load and making us happy. And we're bracing the porch roof so we can take out the porch steps, deck and posts.

We also found that, near the house, there is an electrical outlet - so we can plug in our sawzall and our chop saw. So today's work will go a lot faster than yesterdays.

Stay tuned for today's injury report.

The Joy of Showers

There is nothing like a day at the Cheney Cottage to make one appreciate the pleasure inherent in taking a shower.

Today was a cold, rainy day in Berkeley.  Yesterday it was sunny and beautiful, but today the clouds rolled in and a strong rainstorm hit.  

Because of the demolition of the main Cheney House, there is mud everywhere around the Cheney Cottage.  It is California clay, and sticks to your shoes no matter how much you try to scrape it off.

On top of the cold weather, we spent the day working finishing the chimney - getting all the debris and soot out of the house.  I also took down the ugly florescent lights that had been installed in the dining room and living room - lights that were covered with dirt.  With every screw and bolt, I was showered in dirt and grime.  By  the time all 5 lights were down, my hands were black as coal.

Tom loaded a huge number of bricks into the truck, and at the end of the day we gathered our tools and headed home through the storm.  We got back to the house and brought in all the tools, including the 35 foot extension ladder.  

Then I took a shower.  There are no words to describe it.  I had to wash my hair three times to get all the grime out, and the water turned black as I scrubbed.  I washed the day's soot and dirt and grime and blood off my hands, my arms, my legs, my feet.  

And 15 blissful minutes later, I am again warm, clean and, though tired, mostly content.  We're both exhausted from all the work, but we're happy - the Cheney Cottage is getting ready to leave its foundation and start its journey to 62nd Street.  

We still have more prep to do.  We have to remove all the baseboards on the second floor, and the exterior trim, to get the house ready for the cut.  We have to pull out more wiring and plumbing pipes, and take down the ugly fire escape on the front of the house.  And we'll have to make at east one dump run with florescent light fixtures, ugly carpet, etc.  

But the house is getting ready.  We should be doing the move in two weeks.  It's going to be a nerve wracking time, but it seems like all systems are still go.

Progress on Cheney

Today was another exhausting day, as we took down the Cheney Cottage chimney.

The work went faster than on the Delaney chimney - at least, above the roof. We climbed up our 35 foot ladder, and started pulling the bricks apart - 15 minutes later, we had the chimney down below the roof. Before we cane down, we had a good look at the roof shingles, and as we suspected, they are shot.  So a new roof is in the cards for the Cheney Cottage as well.  Then Tom stapled plastic over the hole, and we went inside the house.

We started taking the bricks down inside the attic, and then lowering buckets of bricks through the hatch, but realized that this was going to take us hours.  So we changed plans.

In the living room, we broke open the wall and exposed the original fireplace for the house.  The Cheney Cottage originally had a large fireplace, so once we pulled the wallboard off the opening, we could get access to it. It was full of dust and debris.

Our dear friend Robyn Roberts came over, and we set up a relay: Tom pulled the bricks off upstairs and dropped them, one by one, down the chimney.  I would pull the brick out of the chimney and stack them in the living room.  (After each brick, I would yell "clear" to indicate that Tom could drop the next brick).  Then Robyn took the bricks and stacked them outside.  (Robyn claimed to enjoy the aerobic exercise moving bricks gave her - go know.)

The worst part about taking down a chimney is that, in addition to bricks, you have about 100 years of soot and mortar falling down as well.  Within a very short time, we were all coated with soot and dust.

It took hours, but the chimney is down as far as the fireplace.  As Tom worked his way down, we realized that if we didn't finish it today, he'd be stuck inside the wall.  

Finally, Tom made it out through the fireplace, and we decided to stop for the day.  Tomorrow, we'll finish taking the fireplace down to the crawl space, and will start work prepping the house to be cut in half.  

The other nice thing that happened today was that Daniella Thompson stopped by and took some photos of the Cheney Cottage.  Daniella has been involved with Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association for a long time, and she is their web master and chief photographer.  She took the beautiful pictures of the Parker Street house which are on the BAHA website (http://berkeleyheritage.com/awards/awards2008.2.html).

The City of Berkeley, meanwhile, is still being implacable about the move to 62nd Street, so we scoped out the site at Albany Village with Kevin and Phil.  Phil thinks it can be done (for additional money) and so the plan is still to move the house to Albany Village before we move it to 62nd Street.

Once again, the University is being helpful, and the City of Berkeley has given us very little assistance. Despite the fact that everyone is so happy we are saving the house, we still can't get anyone to bend the rules so we can move the house to our own property. 

The City of Berkeley is an amazing place to live, even though our City government is seriously dysfunctional.

Crossing a Hurdle

Tonight was the Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting, where we needing to get approval for our plan to move the Cheney Cottage.

Neither Tom nor I were worried about it, but we weren't exactly sure what to expect.  We got to the meeting and found a couple of our neighbors there.  Ralph and Karen had gotten the meeting notice and decided to come to support the project.  

We were there at most 15 minutes. The meeting started, and the Cheney Cottage was the first thing on the agenda.  They asked me to speak, and I spoke for two minutes, as they all have seen the plans and the description of what we are doing.  Then the Commissioners talked about how they think this is a great project, saving a historic house and putting it into a residential neighborhood that will benefit from having it there.  They also encouraged us to get a plaque for the building, that describes the significance of the house and how it ended up on 62nd Street.

Then they voted unanimously to support the plans.

So, another step on the road of getting the Cheney Cottage to 62nd Street.  At this point, it still seems we'll be moving it first to Albany Village, then back to 62nd Street (possibly just days later).  The City is unwilling/unable to change a single rule to smooth the way, so we're stuck with the plan of moving the house across town twice.  

Tomorrow, we're meeting Phil Joy and Kevin Hufferd at Albany Village to determine where the house will be stored when it is there, and to discuss difficulties with the route.  The route from where it is now to 62nd Street is pretty straightforward, but moving it to Albany is pretty difficulty, with a route that is nowhere near as simple or safe.  

We have great faith in Phil, that he can move the house.  And we're grateful to Kevin, for securing a site where we can store the house.  But we're still plenty po'ed that the City is making us do this crazy plan, despite the fact that everyone agrees the project is worthwhile, and we have a perfectly good place to put the house.  

So we'll learn more tomorrow. And then Saturday we take the chimney down at the Cheney Cottage.  And sometime this month, the house will leave 2243 College Avenue and begin it's trip to 62nd Street.  Keep your fingers crossed that it arrives there safely.

Prepping for the Move

Today at the Delaney House, we removed the 1904 chimney.

 

The chimney can't be moved with the house. First, an old chimney is a precarious thing, and the chimney would most likely collapse if we attempted to lift it.  It also weighs an incredible amount, so moving it would be extremely difficult. Phil made it clear to us that, if we're going to move the house, we have to remove the chimney.

We started yesterday. Tom was up on the roof, chipping out each brick. After the 1989 earthquake, the former owners had the chimney rebuilt above the roofline (this was a common occurrence in Berkeley), so the bricks were held together by new cement.  It took all day for Tom to chip off the mortar, and throw each brick over the back of the house into the yard.  

Then today, the work started moving.  We removed about 20 feet of chimney, starting at the roofline and going all the way down to the basement.

Old chimneys tend to have seriously crumbling mortar (part of what makes them dangerous). The Delaney House was no exception - the bricks are deteriorated, and the mortar was easy to separate.  Each brick lifted off relatively easily.

The problem, then, is what do you do with the bricks?  Above the roofline, Tom threw them, but after getting down into the attic, we had two options: lowering them, in buckets, through the hatch into the bedroom, and then carting them outside; or dropping them down the chimney and removing them from the basement.

We opted for the basement drop.  Tom lifted each brick off, and dropped it down the flue into the basement, where I pulled the bricks out of the clean out door.  It sounds simple, but it's filthy work: Tom was coated with dust and soot, and as the bricks tumbled to the basement, they dislodged more soot, more mortar, and often turned to dust themselves.  The basement quickly filled with dust, coating me.  (Nowhere is there a more happier crew than them what sing chim chim cheree chim cheroo)

It took several hours, and the more we dropped the bricks, the more unstable the walls of the chimney in the basement became.  We had to be careful that the walls didn't collapse before we got down below the first floor.

Late today, we finally removed the fireplace bricks, and got down to just below the floor joists.  By this time, the north wall of the chimney was mostly gone, and several bricks were missing in various places around the remaining chimney.  We disassembled two of the remaining walls, and the west wall fell over into the basement.  

Now the basement is full of dust, mortar and lots and lots of brick.  We tried to keep the bricks from breaking, so we can reuse them as planter walls (like we did on Parker Street) or pathways (like we did on Fulton Street).  

Then we went back home and took long showers.  We're exhausted, and our arms and legs are sore from all the lifting (we figured we had to move 1500 bricks today).  But now the Delaney House is really ready to move.

However, every silver lining has a dark cloud: we have to do it all again next week. The Cheney Cottage has a chimney too.

Univeristy of California - 1/City of Berkeley - 0

We have been working to move the Cheney Cottage, and the City of Berkeley has become a major roadblock.

The City staff all agree that this is a worthwhile project: we're restoring a dilapidated house in a low income area, and moving a historic house onto the property to save it.  Seems like a win to everyone.

But the City has it's own requirements, rules that it claims cannot be bent, and they are implacable about this.   And because of this, we are going to put the Cheney Cottage at increased risk, and spend extra cash putting it through not one but two moves.

Here's the story: in order to meet the April 21st deadline, we have to get the city to agree that we can move the Cheney Cottage to our land, and put it there, on blocks, until we complete the permitting process.  This has been done before, by other developers, but now the City is unwilling to consider it.

The City is claiming that these are the rules, that must be followed, but we know this has happened before.  What has changed?  Ryan Lau.

Ryan Lau is a staff person to Councilmember Darryl Moore, and he used to be on the Zoning Adjustments Board (until last week).  It recently came to light that Lau had torn down his garage and built another structure on his lot with no permits from the City.  Evidently, this was not just an oversight on a simple garage remodel - he completely removed the existing structure and replaced it.

This story has gotten a lot of local press, and the City, and particularly the Planning Department, are embarrassed by it. So as a result, the rules have become stricter - there will be no exceptions, so the City is not at risk.

We have tried to talk to Planning Staff, but they remain implacable about it.  They claim this has nothing to do with Ryan Lau, and that these are the rules.  I pointed out that these rules weren't exactly handed down from Moses: they are City established, and the City can be flexible in a situation that is deserving of special consideration.  And, I argued, the combination of restoring the Delaney House, and saving the Cheney Cottage, all on 62nd Street, is a powerful motivation to give this a special look.

But no go. The City says that, if the house is put anywhere within the City limits, we will need the permits first - and the only way to avoid this is to either keep the house on the University's land, or move it entirely out of the City of Berkeley.

Is this any way to treat a Historic Structure??

Meanwhile, up at the University, we have had a very different reception.  The April 21st deadline, which has to be met so construction on the Memorial Stadium can move ahead, has caused the University to put a lot of time and energy into helping us save the house.  Kevin Hufferd has really turned out to be a great ally in all this.  Kevin has helped us identify a piece of land in Albany, at Albany Village (a University-owned housing development) where the two pieces of the Cheney Cottage can be stored between April 21st and when we finally get all the permits from the City of Berkeley.  The University has even come up with money to cover additional costs for us.

Our big concerns now are: that the house has to be moved not once but twice; that moving the house to Albany and then back to South Berkeley will put significant strain on the house (it will probably travel 10-15 miles as opposed to 1.5 miles); and that the house may be vandalized while sitting down at Albany Village. 

But that is now the path we're taking.  We'll spend additional money and put the house at added risk to satisfy the City of Berkeley's processes.  The University is working with us.  But the City of Berkeley, which claims to be a place where preservation is valued, may not exactly be working against us, but they're certainly not a partner in this.  Saving the Cheney Cottage is really up to the University of California and us.