The Beginning of the End

Now for some garbage removal, wood filler for some of the bad parts in the floor, light sanding, priming, and miscellaneous work.  We looked into new flooring but with putting in a subfloor and inexpensive laminate it just isn't a priority considering our finances, much like sand blasting the paint of the original brick or redoing the ceiling.  Any of the options required more time, more money, or both.  A self leveling option didn't seem like a good go either since I would still need to purchase and install a new sub floor all the while not really knowing the load capacity on these old warehouse floors.  $150 gallons of deck paint will suffice.  Keeping that in mind, this isn't our home and we do not own it, thus not worth the extra mile.  I could have and should have just ripped up the problem area up however I'll cross that bridge at a much later date.  

 

Ladder I got from an old warehouse in TriBeCa.  Just screwed in some hooks so I'd have a catch on the steal plumbing pipe I above the door and just below the storage doors.

I searched high and low for some functional or decorative barn hinges but was blown away by the price.  Again, I ended up at home depot and purchased a box of decorative hinges for garage doors.  I think it did the job.

Custom screen for the heater:

Mapping out the closet.  The steal piping wasn't cheap but I've always liked the aesthetic and it's rock solid.  Between Lani and I we needed to be creative with the use of space.  I developed a two tier rack for my size and her, which accommodates the low interior height.

There is still a ton of work to be done but now we're moved in and slowly weeding through what we need and what we would like to have.  Going to start electrical over the weekend and or next but in the meantime we have a few operating sockets that we can live off of until then.  Once complete I'll finish the inside of the closet and post photos as well as the storage area.  That is, if I resolve the issue of form and function.  Otherwise it's outside shots from here on out.  Electrical may set us back another $200 or $300 plus another tool aquisition that I should receive in about ten days.  Next project will be making her a MakeUp station, a DJ cabinet, and a dresser.  All in all, having purchased the tools and done the work myself I saved a shit ton of money.  Having spent the evenings looking for contemporary furniture or used mid century furniture I've realized that I have three options:  

A) Buy low-end modern designed stuff which isn't built to last such as Ikea

B) Purchase Mid Century or new furniture that will last much longer and meet our aesthetic but kill our pocket book.

C) Purchase the tools I need to make custom pieces that are built to last but with only a few hundred dollars of material that we can take with us or leave behind after our five year lease is up.  By then the tools will have paid for themselves and then some and our quality of life will be much better in the process.  I'll gain valuable experience in the process and also have the necessary instruments to further my endeavors and continue to work freelance and have a much more enjoyable schedule.

Fucking option C, dude! 

Making Due

Putting trim on the door and chiseling out the bits and pieces to accommodate where the hardware is going to go.

 

Trim is up and door is rehung:

Now I need a closet door.  I rummaged through the garbage down stairs and found an old window and a good sized 2" x 8" x 10" and got to work.  I ripped the board in 2 3/4" strips then planned them down individually to square everything up.  Once that was done I started with the assemblage.  

Door is hung with only a few minor adjustment.  Since I don't have any good hand planers I had to take the circular saw to it and shave a 1/4" off the bottom.  More than I need but I'll put a threshold in later.  

Staining complete.  I used Classic American.  So fucking patriotic:

Putting in a door catch on the closet:

Cash Rules Everything Around Me

We had a small Ryobi Miter Saw in the space for communal use but when the previous occupant left she took it with her.  That said, I decided to get the saw that I have been wanting for well over a year or so.  This would help expedite some of the work for this job, as well as future jobs.  I ordered it on Acme Tools and got a new one, not refurbished, for under $550 with free shipping.  I had seen this priced at a few other places for nearly $700 after tax so I decided to make it happen.  

Bosch 15-Amp 12" Dual Bevel Glide Miter Saw:

I wanted to keep the rustic aesthetic as my last two places so I labored over how I would accomplish that with a low budget and time frame.  A friend upstate told me about Build It Green so before going to Home Depot I rented a van and headed out further into Queens to check it out.  I had high hopes but upon arrival I realized this wasn't gonna be the solution I had hoped for.  A majority of the items were severely over priced considering the condition of them, the labor hours into retrofitting and reclaiming them, as well as since most of the materials were from older buildings I had health concerns about stripping, planing, or sanding them.  Old doors were priced between $100 to $500 depending on the condition, quality, and style.  Lumber was nearly $4 per LF up to $12 per LF.  It was junk.  Expensive junk.  Without the ability to buy in bulk at a discounted price this was not a feasible option for me and only set me back in budget and in man hours.  I went to Home Depot instead but only after returning to my van and found that I got a $45 dollar parking ticket.  B.I.G. was a bust and I won't be going back.  Ever.  

Three hours or so later I walked away with about $300 dollars worth of lumber, stain, hardware, and a few incidentals.

 The mess:

 Starting to come together:

My roommate was generous enough to let me borrow his pneumatic brad gun, which helped speed this up tremendously.  Yes, I would have done it by hammer and hand if I had to.

Decided to make a custom screen to go over where the heater is in the hallway should a repair man ever need to access it from this side.  I mulled this over for a lot longer than I wanted because of this concern but instead of ripping out the wall and redirecting it or building the soffit entirely out of wood I bit the bullet and went with the materials I had.  It'll chaff me something awful a year from now if I have to rip it out anyway.  

Growing Pains

There were a lot of gaps along the previous drywall job so we used about seven cans of expansion foam to fill it up.  Afterward we prepped and spackled over the foam to make it a little more pallitable to the eye.  By the end of it Lani got pretty good as mudding, taping, and sanding.  It was a lot of help since I hate that part of the job.

After doing some math and figuring out what we needed to accomplish in the immediate I rented a van and made my way to a local building supply place.  I put in an order along with some additional materials that I needed to purchase for an upcoming job.  $560 dollars later I had $300 worth set aside for the build and the remainder for the job due the following week.  If you order more than $300 they deliver for free so it just made sense.

Framing out the closet:

Framing out the old bay doors:

Put up some drywall and Lani began putting on the compound:

Dragged up a spare piece of 1/4" play to prevent any storage items from smashing through the other side.  At some point I had to decide form or function and with little time I made some cuts on corners.  I figured it wasn't worth putting in the extra week worrying about the aesthetic on the inside of the storage area.  I'll address that at a later date with some woodworking or shelving.

The start of the soffit:

Get Busy Living...

So the previous occupant moved out in August and left the space pretty much as it had been, with some minor renovations over the years.  Looking at it was a little daunting considering I had spent time, money, and labor on creating another more comfortable space in our 4,000SF loft.  It was a much smaller footprint, roughly a 150SF but had all the luxurious trimmings like electrical, that a majority of the loft doesn't share.  Anyway, while it wasn't the best timing we decided to go for it anyway.  Paying rent on two spaces, buying materials, putting some jobs on the back burning, and building out a space that would be ready to move into with only 15 days to do it made it a little overwhelming for me.   It was going to take a lot to make this space cozy and comfortable as well as functional.  

Front entrance:

Previously built loft bed:

Haphazard existing drywall job:

Another view of the space:

What was once a huge warehouse load in sealed from the outside.  The two bay doors were visible but sealed: