Friday, September 28, 2007

Thursday, September 27, 2007

winterizing





lovely photo sent to me this morning by Angie Keefer.

The roof here is a mess. They are ripping off the original to replace it with two layers of Polyiso (R38.6) followed by giant rolls of Galvalum. I had my choice of colors from pink to acid green but decided to keep it honest. When I asked Patrick (one of the world's leading 'green' engineers) about 'greening' my place, he suggested the MOST important thing I could do would be to seal the place tight. The roof guys say we'll be sweating inside. Half my budget went into this project, I sure hope they are right.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

road kill


Am thinking this should be my next floor treatment.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Monday, September 24, 2007

magic etc.





As you can see in the opening photo, there was originally a Borges style door (to infinity) on the north side of the building.
The original intention was to reuse my Brooklyn roof deck after agreeing to remove it in a sale contingency. This would be its third application since it was originally the ceiling of a Whiskey factory in the Carolinas. Unfortunately, the Upstate building inspector is no more lenient than in Brooklyn. This Whiskey material is apparently highly combustible and not rot-proof so it's illegal. We ended up building a regular cedar deck (using 'renewed' cedar). Now there is that standard issue design problem; to come up with an elegant railing solution which by code can not have more than a four inch gap between rails. The deck is small, but a perfect place to watch the moon rise from my new/found spring-loaded chair.

Desperately seeking an elegant rail solution.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

dog in question.



Image by popular demand.
Here is the culprit... on vacation/in exile.

under wrap.




Something resembling a cross between the Reichstag and my Grandma Rae's living room....is what I drove home to today. The drive back from Toronto was 71/2hrs after talking my way out of a speeding ticket. I explained to highway patrol that Bob was about to pee on me.

Another new window will replace the plastic soon. To avoid being suffocated by masonry dust, I plan to go back to Red Hook for a few days. I came up here for clean air.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Between Going And Coming



Between going and staying the day wavers,
in love with its own transparency.
The circular afternoon is now a bay
where the world in stillness rocks.

All is visible and all elusive,
all is near and can't be touched.

Paper, book, pencil, glass,
rest in the shade of their names.

Time throbbing in my temples repeats
the same unchanging syllable of blood.

The light turns the indifferent wall
into a ghostly theater of reflections.

I find myself in the middle of an eye,
watching myself in its blank stare.

The moment scatters. Motionless,
I stay and go: I am a pause.

Octavio Paz

Thursday, September 13, 2007

a little bit of twitch.







Today I drove to Canada (my homeland) to help bring in the New Year, 5768. The drive would normally be much easier from the Hudson Valley than it was from Brooklyn. Apparently today however, there was an accident on the Queen Elizabeth Way (a.k.a QEW) so it took more than 9 hours. Toronto traffic is often as bad or worse than New York traffic. It is shocking and disturbing to me that driving over 9hrs has less environmental impact than jet fuel for one. I was pretty hungry for gefilte fish by the time i rolled in.

Here are some images of a shelf clad in leftover plywood. The cheap metal library shelf was wobbly and it needed help standing if I was going to keep it. My general philosophy is that of a gleaner, to throw away NOTHING, so the shelf stayed. Once the ply was bolted on, I realized that the light passing through was most important. The obvious solution was to perforate.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

happy new year.



As you can see in the early kitchen shot, the floor (again) needed help.
I liked the idea of a platform for the appliances, but this one was ripe for serious toe stubbing....or worse.
It was full of pot holes and random rebar dead heads.
This floor resurfacing has become one of those completely unanticipated nightmare projects.
The first time Peter did a skim coat, the concrete cracked too soon.
The second time, his boys dragged the fridge back across too soon (promptly noticing when the door flew open that I did not have enough MEAT in my freezer for winter).
Tonight Bob, my shitzu mutt, walked on it too soon.
The mason spent all day here, on his buck, trying to repair the damage from the last mishap. He warned me about the dog.
I was not worried about Bob since for the past month Bob has not strayed much more than 12 inches from my feet. He is way more neurotic about this move than I am. I trip over him regularly so I could have easily been the one to fall face first into the mud...but I have no clue when Bob could have stepped in it on his own.
I just called Peter, he was not laughing.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

one almost down...





This is the inside of the 'trailer' where i imagine most of the long cold winter was and will be spent.
It was originally the office unit with fake wood floors. My first project was to replace the floors with formaldehyde free and renewable source plywood covered in a 'natural' oil/wax finish. Essentially nut oil. Bad idea.
After having 50 of my closest friends over to test it out, i realized that it is impossible to clean. Bad idea.
Still seeking a solution.
Also in desperate need of some second hand AS4 Shelving.
Atlas Industries

inside...



Monday, September 10, 2007

creamery before i moved in...



My pseudo porn director friend Christopher suggested this would be a nice title for an industry piece. Chris kind of tweaked my whole perspective on this project since I always imagined wholesome cows and milk bottles as the inspiration. We'll see.
This photo was taken in March when I first saw the place. I bought it in July and have been working on making it livable since.
The general idea is to use primarily recycled and renewable material sources to create 6000ft2 of simple yet innovative living space.