Bungalow Mascots

Here are my buddies. Higgins and Bentley. Higgins ran away and got hit by a car last Friday. It was a pretty horrible experience since he was missing for 24 hours or so. We finally found him down at Animal Control at 26th & Western. His hip got dislocated but other than that no other major injuries. He's having surgery this week to have it put back in place. Hopefully, all will go well and he'll be frolicking in no time.

New Windows

The new windows have arrived courtesy of Thermalcraft in Villa Park. The Thermalcraft people installed the windows on the first floor. Installing windows in old masonry openings can be tricky so we figured they would be the best ones to handle that install. Afterall they specialize in windows. Here's the windows they are Alside brand windows Almond exterior and white interior with what they call "master craftsman" grills. Padraig and his crew will be installing the second floor windows.

...and a free plug for Thermalcraft...I'm sure that's worth a window or two :)

Framed

I've been remiss in updating. But here's the latest on the bungalow. The addition upstairs is completely framed, the roofing is completed, and the plumbing work has begun. Oh and along the way we decided to break out the basement floor to make the plumbing work easier and to have a level floor for the basement. The old floor was very pitched and uneven and now since we are moving to an elevated sewer system It would be a shame to have done all of the rehab without adding an extra safety measure to prevent basement flooding. Chicago has a mixed sewer system which means that rain water and sanitary are mixed in the same pipes. And most homes in Chicago have a gravity sewer. Simple. But if we were to get a huge rainfall and have the street sewers back up then the overflow would back up into the house through the basement floor drains. Eeewwwwwwww!!!!! The first house I lived at in the city had this happen. Let me tell you this. There is nothing pretty about that unholy slurry making its way into the place you call home. Nothing.

Anyway, things are moving along again. The plumber will be finished by the end of next week. HVAC will start right after that. Our new windows are scheduled to be delivered and installed on March 10th. We've picked our tile, hardwood floors, plumbing fixtures, kitchen cabinets, and millwork. Now its just a matter of getting it all installed in a timely manner. Easier said than done.