GLENSIDE RENOVATION

Salvage House Renovation

Glenside PA. - summer 2009 -  
- Kitchen 
- Dinning room 

- Powder room

- Living room 

featured in GRID magazine [ Noble Salvage ]

-------------------------------------------------[ Living room mantel ]-----------------------------------------------

Reclaimed oak mantel & slate from Germantown high chemistry tables  

Top and sides are old oak door jambs salvaged from kitchen and dinning room

-------------------------------------------------[ Dinning room ]-----------------------------------------------

Industrial tin tile used as drop ceiling  w/ salvage chandelier 

(2) Reclaimed butler pantries, base converted into desk (left) & by-folding doors 

                          ------------------------------------------------[ Kitchen ]-----------------------------------------------------

                
                   ----------------------------------------------[ Powder & Laundry ]--------------------------------------------------------

Old city woodworking

OLD CITY PA. - Vanity_spring 2010 -

before

   during

  after

-----------Project-----------

 fabricating new double sink vanity

------------Team------------

Estimate: Dave

Project Manager: Niko

Design & Build: Niko

Lead carpenter: Samir 

Assistant: Jon

----------Materials---------

white cedar [ reclaimed water towers ]

white pine_center drawer face [ reclaimed barn siding ]

white oak_counter [ responsibly harvested ] 

white pine_drawers structure [ SFC certified ] 

green-core plywood [ formaldehyde FREE ] 

finished w/ polywhey

-------------------------------

built under Greensaw Design & build

gluing individual boards

shaving for close reveal against the wall

gluing facing together onsite

Mac & Cheese -START-

The day It all started - summer of 2009 -

 -------1976 VW beetle --------

Fuel injection convertible

4 speed manual

color: orange w/ black top

Interior: leather seats & plastic stuff

It all started on a grey nasty day in Philth-a-delphia. Driving down Girard St, one hand on the wheel the other picking out the morning eye boogies. Already late to work by a minute or two, I'm flying down swerving from lane to lane since everyone on the right lane loves to double park. I come to a stop under the Girard L line, and there she was, so beautiful. No not a Snooki look alike standing on the corner smoking a cigarette. My new shinning orange mobile. It was love at first sight. I quickly wrote down the phone number and called the owner. I should have known that it was a manual transmision, but who cares its time for me to learn anyways and the price, $ 3,200. Hell, I have been working my ass off and I need a present. So I drove to the shop and told Brian all about it, blushing like a little girl that has a crush on the backstreet boys. He only added to the excitement. We talked about going there after work and checking it out. Luckily Bry drove a manual, so we headed out and there she was with her top down. We did a 360 view around the body and we both jumped in for a test ride, both nodding at each other with approval. Bry took it around some hard corners and down on Colombus Blv picking up speeds of 50+.

       We pull up to the owner, but Bry was having a hard time parallel parking it. We learned to reverse you have to push the rod down and pull back. I quickly wiped my smirk off and turned on my business face. I turned to the owner and asked " how do we do this $ 3,200 isn't going to work, but $ 2,700 cash right now is feasible". Few minutes went by scratching our heads and the deal was made. We did all the boring steps and the car was mine. 

      Too bad I couldn't drive it yet. Luckily we had just moved to our new shop and there was plenty of room to park it there for the night. Next day my friend Jack came down from the Northeast and drove it to my house. From there on I taught myself how to drive it. Taking the car out late at night stalling on every stop sign. 

Pennsport Corbels

PENNSPORT PA. - Corbels_fall 2010 -

   Before

  During

    After

-----------Project-----------

 fabricating new [old style] cornices 

------------Team------------

Project Manager: Niko

Designer: Niko

Lead carpenter: Samir 

Assistant: Reed & Phil

----------Materials---------

southern yellow pine

low VOC exterior paint

Under every flipper house there is rot to be found. That is the case with this one. Rather than fixing the main problem cover it up. That was the mentality before the current homeowners decided that this house needed the true attention of craftsmen that care about preserving the history of Philadelphia while staying true to the environment. Chest high, the Greensaw fellas jump in to tackle this project. Things sure look easier from a distance of 30 feet. But we know better to judge others work without surgically inspecting up close. So I took our tallest ladder and climbed up with a hammer by my side. Once I swung up to the untreated trim, it all fell apart like a pinata. Most of the pieces never even made it to the sidewalk. From this point I knew this was not going to be easy. So the next day I drove around the neighborhood and studied the houses similar in style and their original brackets. After sketching and taking pictures I stopped at the last house on the block. Parked my car and started zooming my lens to the top of the building. Click, click on the third I heard " yo what you doing taking pictures of my wife". I look away from my camera and what the hell, a lady is changing by the window after I started taking pictures. I turn around and a guy is running towards me like a Spanish bull. He was literally a few inches away from my face yelling my ear off and sprinkling me with what ever he was eating that morning. "Yo buddy why u taking pictures of my house, man". How do I explain myself to this guy that I was taking pictures of the house before his wife showed up in front if the window. All I could say was " I'm an architect students and wanted to document corbels at the top of your facade". Then I had to explain what those meant, and he quickly cooled down and we started laughing and talking about architectural salvage and stuff. Then we shook hands and I got in my car and thought to myself next time Google it. After the clients approved the final design Samir and I started to fabricate the new brackets out of salvage beams we took out from an industrial building on Chesnut St. Southern yellow to be exact, the same wood the old timers would have used. After fixing the roof and all the damage done by the destroyed gutter, we re-framed the structure and installed our new-old style brackets, and now they look like they were there since the house was first constructed.