New Neighbor, Before the Snow

As you may have guessed, the snow has slowed down work on the house. Before the blizzard, I took a picture of the new building three doors down from the house, which looks just about finished. I think the building looks attractive with balconies on both the front and back of the house. The developer is a nice man who chats with my father every so often. I think these will be rentals for now, until the market improves.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. NOT.

Happy Holidays to all the readers of this blog! Both of you! :) I hope Santa brought you some nice environmentally friendly goodies. As for me, I'm keeping an eye on the weather forecast. The forecast calls for freezing temperatures and snow on Monday and this does not bode well for finishing the bricklaying in a week.

If the snow happens, then a decision must be made about doing some demo on the inside of the house and other work that can be done indoors. For now, though, I'm keeping my eye on the weather report...

Good Bricklaying Weather!

Santa brought me an early present today: good weather. As you can see, the bricks are coming along. I'm surprised by how slow it takes to lay brick. At least the bricklayers are taking their time and doing a nice job.

The cement below the bricks will support a stoop that is turned sideways. The cement will be dark, "brownstone" brown, like the house next door.

Block and Roll

The cement blocks are going up now. They should all be installed by the end of the week. Next up is a wall of brick, along with windows, lintels, doors, and the cornice.

First Dumpster Loaded with Brick and Cement to be Reused

This is the first dumpster to be used in the renovation. It is filled with old bricks and cement. This dumpster is not headed to a landfill, since the materials are "clean" enough to be reused for other purposes. Luckily, my neighbors didn't decide to put all their old fridges and garbage into the dumpster. This happens often to empty dumpsters in New York, I hear. When the whole neighborhood starts dumping garbage into an unfilled dumpster, it makes reusing the materials for other purposes very hard. Luckily, my neighbors didn't do this, and the bricks and cement can be reused.

The Earth and I thank you, Downtown Brooklyn and Vinegar Hill!

Interesting Spelling

This sign is posted in front of the house now. I'm hoping that the contractors are better bricklayers than they are spellers. Perhaps a parson could stop by and say a prayer for my renovation.