Where the heck is Humphrey House?

We've been noticeably absent for a month or two from updating our blog. I'm starting to feel quite guilty about it, but the fact is there hasn't been a whole lot of time to write.

We've been busy with a wedding of our close friends Scott and Julie, hosting family, coordinating a 10k race, studying for the LEED AP, teaching classes, and occasionally, Jen and I have actually been able to have a date nite with one another!

Sadly, there are many stories about some of our recent house work that is just waiting to be told - and we have the photos to prove it! We'll have to get back on our blogging horse soon. In the meantime, be comforted to know that we haven't forgotten about humphrey-house.com; life has just gotten in the way a bit lately.

Green Home Tour Coming Up Soon

We've been working oh so hard over the past few weeks to whip Humphrey House into shape in preparation for the Green Home Tour this weekend.

It's been a nearly murderous pace as we tackle all of the exterior painting, finally fixing Scott's hole and other repairs to the dining room, and finishing the woodwork and stairway trim in the kitchen/family room. I'm sure I'm missing a few things here, but we have been documenting the work and will post individual stories in the weeks to come once the dust settles (literally).

In the meantime, if you are in the area and want a tour where the money goes to a good cause, be sure to check out our home (and six other green homes) on the Seven Generations Ahead green homes tour.

Our Cabinet Decision

Trying to be green isn't always as easy as it sounds, especially for remodeling homes. Although there is research that shows that green building adds only a marginal cost to a new building (commercial construction), it's not necessarily the case for home remodelers. We've discovered this the hard way, especially when selecting cabinets for our kitchen.

See, for our cabinets we did the traditional 3-estimates approach, but one of the estimates we did was from a local Chicago manufacturer, Urban Prairie, getting their feet off the ground at GreenMaker, Chicagoland's green building supplier. They offer cabinets made from sustainably harvested wood (not a clear-cut forest), minimizing wood waste, assembled with formaldehyde-free glue and non-toxic finishing, resulting in low-VOCs. The owner was really hip to our green remodeling efforts and tried to work with us as much as possible, but ultimately, the expense was still almost one and half times the cost of other estimates we received.

The second estimate was close to the "green" cabinets, but still a bit much for our budget. But before we went with the third estimate, cabinets from a big-box home store, I did want to know the manufacturer's sustainability practices. Specifically, where they get their wood from and how is it harvested, and whether their adhesives used formaldehyde. When I called American Woodmark, I got a first flustered rep who clearly had never been asked about this before. She took my information down, and I was called back a few days later by Bryan Earl, the vice president of marketing and communications.

Although American Woodmark doesn't score very high on the eco-friendly scale, Mr. Earl was fairly forthright and not ignorant on the topics. He explained that while the wood was not FSC-certified, trees were not illegally logged in some foreign country, but came from Appalachian mountains. One negative was the statement that they don't really replant, they just "let the trees take care of themselves" in terms of repopulating.

As for the adhesives used in the particle board, American Woodmark uses glue that does contain formaldahyde, but their products exceed HUD's air quality standards of .4 parts per million (ppm). Mr. Earl then proceeded to tell me that wood gives off formaldehyde naturally. While I don't doubt the veracity of the statement, I do think it might not be at as high a rate as formaldehyde-based glue.

Anyway, despite these issues, we are limited to a shoestring budget and unfortunately were not able to go with green cabinets, electing for other green features in our kitchen remodel. So a few weeks ago we placed an order for mission-style cherry cabinets from American Woodmark. The cherry is at least a quick growing tree, and more importantly, we have the satisfaction of letting manufacturers know that consumers are starting to pay attention to these issues.

Much to our surprise, our new cabinets arrived earlier than advertised last week. Ah! They're piled up in our living room now, and it have lit a fire under us to get the kitchen ready for them. It's amazing how room utility comes and goes as building supplies find a space in unexpected areas of the home!

Maybe I'm Crazy ... Possibly ...

I've been a little loopier than usual lately, which I am going to go out on a limb and say is due to not just burning the candle at both ends but really throwing the candle into a stovepot and setting the whole shebang on fire. Working full-time day jobs, part time night jobs, being in a band (jason only - I gave up trying to find the time), rehabbing the house, going to physical therapy (me only) and trying to retain some semblance of a social life is taking its toll. I find myself succumbing to uncontrollable and sometimes mildly inappropriate bouts of hysterical laughter. Then there's the sleeping thing. I nap whenever I can, except I haven't figured out how to do it when driving yet. (Dad, what's the secret?) Jason, complete in his new Ditka-approved facehair, has a constant pale ghostly tone to his skin, which is worriesome until you understand it's not an illness but merely a stubborn layer of drywall dust that never seems to wash away.

We need a breather. A break. A siesta. A vacay. Whatever. And it's just around the bend ...

How it feels to live in HumphreyHouse

Over the past weekend, we saw many friends and family members, who invariabily asked "How's the house coming?"

Well, sometimes it just gets overwhelming, so much so that it can almost be difficult to express in words. That is, until you find a cartoon that sums it up perfectly:

Also interesting was that the Chicago Tribune devoted an article to "houseblogging" on Friday - yes, there is a term for what we do here at HumphreyHouse. And others who do it too! In fact, for those inclined, you can read (or commisserate) with others over at houseblogs.net

We did it. It’s over. Or just starting, depending on your point of view.

The closing happened at noon today; we’re now full-time residents of Humphrey House, better known these days as The House of Chaos. Boxes throughout the house intermingle with planks of laminate flooring and excavated wood trim with nails still poking out. A fine coating of sawdust and drywall dust covers all the items in the east end of the house, giving even the dishes inside the cabinets a grimy feeling like they’ve just been rolled in sandpaper and ashes. I’ve stopped caring about the dirt on the kitchen floor, and have focused instead on just trying to keep the garbage from getting too full of smashed drywall, broken screws and the endless paper waste a steady diet of fast food inevitably produces.

The second floor smells like a dead pine forest in the dog days of summer after a three-year drought; a single match and POOF! nothing but burning embers.

The residue from the wallpaper glue in the first floor bedroom has begun to stain our bedspread and we’ve had to install a headboard to protect our own hair from becoming streaked with orange like misapplied self-tanner.

The bathroom’s floors feel slightly tacky no matter how many times I scrub them, and the front porch is this close to collapsing under the weight of our picture frames, extra chairs, fax machines, shoes and Christmas decorations.

But, dammit, it’s home.

Our kitty Merlin has come along for the ride as well, and seems to be coping better than Jason or I expected, which is a relief. Merlin ripped the backing material from the bottom of our box-spring mattress in search of the perfect hiding place. Seems he was a bit overwhelmed, too.

Again, dammit, it’s home. He’ll learn.

We’ve not got dsl or even the phone hooked up, so won’t be updating the gallery until next week at the earliest. But it will be amazing when I do. Frankie, Scottie and Jason have been working hard at finishing the drywall and other things.

Expected for completion next week:
- stairs leading up & basement walls
- phone and dsl working
- washer & dryer installed (THANKS AUNT MARGARET!)

adios …

Waiting to exhale ...

The ink is dry on the papers now, so I guess we can begin to exhale. We've (again) gone under contract with the condo. The buyers (new folks, from Chicago, but using the same agency) have until the 27th to get financing, then all should be smooth sailing from there. Provided I don't hang a wet towel on the drying rack again, thereby confusing the home inspector into thinking water is coming through the tiles (gimme a break!). Mmmm, maybe I will hold my breath a bit longer ...

We're supposed to close on July 20th. On the 8th is my band's first gig in Chicago, the 9th is a whopper of a bachelor/bachelorette party for Mike & Sandy, and the 16th is Jason's stepbrother's wedding. So, feeling a bit of pressure to really get as much done in the next three weeks as possible. I think I will take Fridays off from working at the house (not that I think Jason will do the same, he's redefining the word obsessed) so I don't lose my mind. But otherwise, should really get something accomplished there each day.

So far, we've got the painting and framing 90% done in the basement. The electric guys are coming back tomorrow to finish the stuff they had to wait on before (apparently, there's an actual ORDER to the way you're supposed to do this stuff, information I wish we'd had BEFORE they came out the first time, and HVAC should be done before electric. Who knew? Not us) and then we can schedule both the framing and electric inspections with the Evil Village. Scotty is finishing the framing today (YAHOO!) so we should be on schedule.

Now we just have to create the rest of that schedule.