I have an ongoing project for a guy who lives in this house:
I always forget to take progress pics:
He has a corner in the back yard next to the garage apartment that was totally overgrown with vinelike vegitation and other stuff which hid a previous owners dog pen.
This shows the 8′ x 16′ slab after clearing house-high trash plants:
First, he needed a workshop so the slab was increased to 9′ x 20′. That’s as big as I could go based on the setback and tha amount of room he wanted left:
Again, no progress pics, but you’ll see it in the background, almost completed, as you look at the columns and pedestal lights which were the next project on the list:
The columns are CMU’s, the design mimics the ornamentation on the main house and were hot-wire cut from styrofoam and the whole thing finished with EIFS materials.
The lamps are old units salvaged from somewhere here in JAX and were in storage for at least 50 years before brought to light and restored. They are cast iron and take two men and a boy to move.
The gate was originally to be iron work but when it arrived from China, yes a big mistake, it was too large to fit the opening, the hinges were on the wrong side and the finish was damaged. The company supplying the gate made another, shipped it over and it was still wrong. Price was around $400.
My customer asked if I could get it fixed. “Sure”, I said.
The guy I used for metalwork said he could do it but why didn’t I have it remade out of powder coated aluminum? The cost of brand new vs repairing a monster was only a couple hundred more. Customer liked the idea, completely redesigned the gate and this is what he got. Even I can lift the new gate, whereas it took those two men and a boy to move the old.
The next portion of the project was to do something with salvaged architectural relics from a Louis Sullivan designed building:
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/10726.html
Use the zoom and look at the horizontal design element above the carved busts. And here:
Check out the price of these blocks:
http://www.urbanremainschicago.com/item.aspx?itemID=1470
http://www.urbanremainschicago.com/item.aspx?itemID=1468
So, made a mess of the back yard, what with the masonry and concrete pours, but it’s almost done:
Click on the rest of the pics
Edited 12/6/2008 8:50 pm ET by RalphWicklund
Replies
Thats a great job. The new does blend well with the original, well done.
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If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do.... Bertrand Russell
http://www.drawingwithlight.smugmug.com
That's a really cool project Ralph.
I love those globe lamp thingys.......very interesting.
Very cool project Ralph. Nice when it seems like money's no object...ya know?
http://www.cliffordrenovations.com
http://www.ramdass.org
Good work, Ralph!
Always helps to have a high standard set before you get there too.
Did you find the source for the architectural blocks or was it the client?
7g
Architectural units were acquired by the client. I remember asking if they were on loan when I first saw them. He was/is very active in the historical scene here and has written and co-authored several books.