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Moving! All the actives (who went directly from finals to moving), a pile of alumni and a bunch of friends spend Friday afternoon until Sunday evening of Memorial Day weekend moving everything out of the house. 24 (of a total of 34) moving vaults were filled with furniture and boxes to be truck to a warehouse for the summer. 6 vaults were filled in early May and the last four were filled by professional movers on Tuesday. Two dumpster loads of trash were disposed of and much stuff was given away to whomever would come by the house and take it.
Actives who were staying the summer moved to Burton-Connor where they had a couple of suites for the summer.
Since the moving was completed a day earlier than expected, a celebratory barbecue was held on Monday to thank everyone who spent three exhausting days packing and moving a house full of stuff.
Demolition has begun! First the electricians and plumbers came through to shut off power and water to places that were scheduled to be demolished. Demolition followed starting with the soffits in the dining room and living room. Guest Head was stripped, including removing the wall between the library and Guest Head, along with the Chapter Room. The parquet on the first floor was also removed.
Demolition continues! The rooms that will see major renovation have all been stripped of all finish. The kitchen, chapter room, and men's, wommen's, and guest's heads are all bare. Women's head now connects into the rooms behind it, since it will be extended into that space. The floors on all floors have been stripped of parquet and vinyl. Sections of ceilings have been opened up to allow installation of new sprinkler lines.
On Thursday there was a bit of excitement when the demolition people accidentally set off our kitchen haylon system. Apparently there was an electric box in the kitchen near the haylon system that was not fastened to the wall which fell off and caused the discharge of the system.
This week there was a lot of prep work for construction. The electricians and plumbers have planned and prepared for work. The floor of women's head was cut up in preparation for demolition so new plumbing can be run. Framing of new walls is just starting.
Construction is underway! Lots of activity has been happing this week. The concrete floor in Women's Head and the ex-work room has been demo'd to provide access to the plumbing. Wiring is going in around the first floor (dining room, living room, and chapter room). The wall between the library and Guest Head has been framed. Also, the kitchen infill into Cook's porch has been framed (the porch was demo'd and a new exterior wall started). The old wall was cut at the floor to allow the new floor to be filled in and was left to provide some security to the site. The old sprinkler valve has been removed and a backflow preventer has been installed.
Electrical and plumbing work continued throughout the house, including waste water lines in Women's Head and new electrical service for the first floor. New sprinkler lines are run in the kitchen, dining room, living room, chapter room and front hall. Some sprinkler work is happening in other areas of the house.
The Massachusetts Architectural Access Board denied our exemption from handicap accessibility requirements on the basis of the small size of the single sleeping room. Now we are applying for a variance to allow us to not have to conform to the rules. To support our application, we met with the Brookline Commission for the Disabled and the Boston Center for Independent Living to obtain letters of support and have letters of support from our neighbor, Mr. Berliner, and MIT.
We are proposing making the first floor completely accessible including some modifications so we do not have to make the other floors accessible. the following changes to our original plans: incline part of the front porch so a wheelchair can get into the house, expand guest head into a full bath, add a "kitchenette" in the dining room to avoid having to make the kitchen accessible, and add book cases in the chapter room to make up for the lost shelving in the library.
The meeting on our application is Monday. Unfortunately, the outcome of the meeting is uncertain and the Access Board could rule anything from accepting our variance to requiring full compliance (which would include an elevator and accessible bathrooms and study rooms), either immediately or within three years. However, due to the support of the two disabled advocate groups we've met with, the chance for a ruling in our favor is greatly increased.
Due to the costs of the accessibility changes, and a bunch of unexpected items (mostly plumbing and electrical related) we've had to eliminate some projects that we had originally planned on doing, but had held back on until we knew what unexpected items came up. These include, redoing the personal room floors, new solid core doors for the personal rooms, AC in the dorm, a railing on the roof over the front porch, and shoring up Big Back's bay window (which is apparently structurally sound)
The MAAB should have a decision, but they haven't been available to tell us what it was. Meanwhile, with support from our neighbor, Mr. Berliner, Brookline has agreed to grant us a "provisional" building permit until a decision from the MAAB has been rendered which will allow construction to continue.
Work has been able to proceed, however. Lots of plumbing has been done in the kitchen and Women's Head. Also drain lines that were cracked that drain water from the roof have been replaced along with a rotted pipe under the floor of the hall in the Pit. Sprinkler work continues with more lines being installed and new sprinkler heads everywhere. The new wall between Men's Head and Pansy has been started.
Sprinkler work continues with a lot of sprinkler pipe installation in the pit. Men's head has been framed for the new wall with Pansy and the new shower stalls. Plumbing work continued in Men's Head. A leaking steam pipe was discovered under the floor of the pit and was dug up and replaced. Remnants of the floor were exposed in the process (see historic pages).
The MAAB has not ruled on our variance. A hearing on the variance is scheduled for August 5. The current plan is that we will proceed with the work assuming the variance will be accepted, so we do not fall behind the construction schedule. If the variance is not approved we will deal with it after they rule.
A new subfloor was installed in the kitchen. Soffits to hide kitchen pipes were started. Sprinkler work was completed. Electrical work continued on the first floor with hooking circuits up to the new sub-panel and work started on replacing the damaged electrical feed to the second floor. The first set of repaired window sashes were completed and more were taken away to be worked on. The wall framing for Guest Head was removed and a new wall started to accomodate the bath tub being installed to meet expected MAAB rules.
The plumbing inspector has okayed the underground plumbing with a couple of minor changes.
Behind the scenes, work on the new staircase and porch railings are nearing completion. They will be ready to go in a couple of weeks.
The masons arrived and were hard at work. They poured the concrete subfloor Women's Head, the laundry, and work room. They also repointed the chimney and foundation and installed the chimney cap. Also they cut the new doorway for Women's Head and filled in the old one.
A lot of framing happened. Guest Head was reframed to accomodate a bath tub. Doorways and soffits were framed in the kitchen. Shower stalls were reframed and installed in Men's Head. The small sliding door in the Chapter Room and the new ceiling in the library were framed in.
Electrical work moved up to the second floor where additional outlets and lighting were being installed. Also installation of new electrical feeds for the subpanels were started.
Exterior work started with removing some decayed siding and starting to side the filled in area of the kitchen.
The second floor wired including a new subpanel. Women's Head was partially framed and some more framing happened in Guest Head. A lot of exterior work was completed. Rotted siding was removed and new siding replaced. The exterior was power washed to prepare for painting. More window sashes have been repaired.
The MAAB hearing was on Monday and the results were not good. The board was very skeptical of us just providing accessibility on the first floor and nowhere else. They wanted to see more. However, instead of denying our application, they're allowing us to revise it and resubmit it next week. In general, this means they are going to require us to have an elevator of some sort. It may only have to travel between two floors and not through all four. We are seeking to not have to comply for a few years to give us a chance to figure out how to handle the requirement. Additionally we will explore our options to appeal the ruling. However, at the moment we are concentrating on getting the house ready to be occupied.
Wiring continued, along with additional ethernet wiring. Women's head has been framed and the shower stalls installed. Pit rooms have been framed in. More siding has been repaired and much of the exterior repainted a new shade of yellow. More rotted steam piping under the pit floor was replaced. Many of the window sashes have been reinstalled. Insulation and wall board is starting to go up. Rough electrical and plumbing inspections have been passed.
The house is looking different every day. Tuesday morning front stairs are removed and by Wednesday, the new staircase is in place and useable. Wallboard and patching occured in the personal rooms, dining room, Men's Head, chapter room and living room. Pit floor was patched. The doorways in the pit and dining room were framed out. The fire alarm system was expanded to meet current codes. Electrical subpanels were wired up and pit wiring was started. Housing for the dorm vent fan was installed and the new kitchen fan was installed. More windows were replaced. The dorm floor was painted along with continued exterior painting. The new platform for the wheelchair ramp to the front door was started and the new railing components delivered.
If it isn't obvious from the photos, actives will not be able to be housed starting on Saturday, the begining of work week. We will be able to start moving stuff into the house, but it cannot be occupied. Alternative housing is being arranged for the next couple of weeks. Exterior and finishing Work will continue after the house is occupied.
This week pushed towards us moving furniture into the house and getting rooms ready for finishes. The kitchen walls were boarded, holes were patched, personal room walls were primed and their floors cleaned and waxed. Much of the Pit was wired, including Women's Head. Work was done on the railing for front stairs and the front porch railing was started.
Work week started with actives moving into temporary housing and starting to move stuff into the house. The dorm is holding boxes and beds and anything small enought to fit up there. The second floor personal rooms are holding most of the furniture. Everything will filter down and be put in place as rooms are finished.
Work is rushing towards completion, though we will likely not be able to move in this weekend as planned.
The kitchen, the dining room, and the phone hall were wallboarded and skim coated. Women's Head and the pit rooms were boarded, also. The personal rooms were painted and basically finished off (and furniture mostly moved into place). The kitchen floor was tiled. Men's head was skim coated and the walls mostly tiled. The space under front stairs was filled in. The front porch railing was started. The new fire alarm box was installed. Some finishing electrical work was done.
The kitchen equipment has been mostly installed, including fire suppression, stainless steel walls, counters and appliances. Men's head has been tiled, grouted and fixtures partially installed. Front stairs railing was assembled. Hardwood flooring was started. The pit floor was tiled. Painting continued on the first floor and second floor hall. Window hardware was mostly installed. Crown moulding and baseboard installation was started. The new fire alarm system was completed.
Second floor personal room furniture was set up and actives moved their stuff into those rooms.
We've moved in! While the house isn't finished, we have an occupancy permit and are living in the house.
The hardwood floors were installed. Window hardware was mostly finished. Men's Head and the kitchen are operational. Pit Proper and part of the hall is tiled. Women's Head is tiled and nearly operational. Painting continued on the first floor with the living room, chapter room, and dining room. Patching and painting the Pit personal rooms started. Trim work continued.
The house was prepped and cleaned up for Rush. Basement personal rooms were finished. Bathroom stalls were installed, front hall and front stairs were painted, Pit hall was tiled, common rooms were set up, and work was done on the porch ramp.
Construction's been a bit slow, sue to waiting for materials and millwork to come in. The ramp to the front door was completed. Trim and other finishing work was completed.
Not much. Still waiting for subs to prepare materials, though we now have a bit of a schedule (see below). Some work has happened liek putting the message board back up in the phone hall, replacing the rollers on the sliding door to the dining room and other small things like that. Here's an approximate schedule for upcoming work as of this past week:
Construction's still going much slower than we'd like. The door to Guest Head was installed. The roof over the back stairs was started. A few other exterior things also got done.
Mostly exterior work was done. The roof over pit stairs was worked on, the rear column placed on the kitchen infill, siding, sill and other work. Some interior touchup painting was done and smoke detectors installed in a few places as required by the fire inspector.
Exterior work continued. Work continued on the kitchen infill siding, siding and south east corner repairs. New porch railings have started to arrive.
The Guest Head tub has finally arrived and been installed! The porch railing has also arrived and is starting to be installed. Storm windows have been installed. Most of the exterior siding work has been completed.
More porch railing work was done. Fire escape was repaired. Curved crown moulding was installed in the front rooms. Flashing and roofing was put on overhangs that are new or repaired. The roof over the crash porch was replaced when it was too rotted out to reroof. Guest head floor was tiled. Interior punch list items are being worked on. Custom casing stock for the doors and windows was delivered.
Our hearing with the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board will be Monday the 18th. The ruling then will determine how much of the house we will have to make accessible. While making the first floor accessible has been in our plans from the start, it is likely that we will have to provide access to at least on additional floor of the house. We are asking for a variance that would allow for a 1st to 2nd floor lift built as an addition to the back of the house (from the dining room to Big Back). This, in addition to some programmatic changes, would provide a wheelchair-bound resident would provide access to all relevent areas of the house. We are asking to be given until the summer of 2004 to build the lift. All our other options are infeasible for zoning, historic, and cost reasons.
Building a lift addition would require zoning board and preservation commission. The zoning board, in turn, would rely mostly on neighbors' opinions. We have talked with both boards and all our abutters and have reasonable support for the lift, though no official approvals. After the MAAB decision next week we will be forming a plan of action for the lift, assuming it is approved.
More railings were installed. Guest head floor was grouted. Interior casing and door work was worked on. Two new sashes were installed in the front dorm windows, restored to their historical forms.
The dorm vent fan will have to be taken down, because a roommate of one of the neighbors complained very loudly to Brookline about its appearance. We are looking at options that will satisfy his concerns and our ventilation needs.
The MAAB has approved our variance requests! We will be installing an addition on the back of the house that will carry a lift from the dining room to Big Back. However, the MAAB did not approve our request to give us until the summer of 2004 to construct it. They are requiring us to have it completed by 9/1/2003, however we may request an extension if we are still mired in the Brookline permitting process by June of 2003, which our conversations with the town indicate we may be.
The SPUR committee is just starting to plan for getting the lift funded and built. You'll be hearing more about it in the coming months.
Front porch railings were finished except for the ramp section. The last of the dorm sashes was installed. More interior finish work, including door and window casing. Some exterior painting was done. Lots of small finishing work is being done.
Front porch railings were finished. Lots of interior painting and the remaining trim work. Work on the dining room and chapter room sliding doors.
Interior trim and painting were completed. Guest head was brought on-line. The house heat was converted from oil to gas and the oil tank removed. Millwork has been installed in the bathrooms and dining room. Punchlists have been created and mostly completed.
The end is really in sight!
What's left:
The front door is to be replaced soon. Ventilation in Women's Head was not particularly good, so a second vent fan will be added. The front porch and fire escape need to be painted. The fireplace liner needs to be repaired. We are also still working on a solution to the dorm ventilation fan. A proposed solution will be brought to the Brookline Preservation Commission next week for approval.
Construction is finally complete!
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