Finding a Contractor – Part 2 - Why It’s Not Just a Search for a Contractor

Back in December my search for a contractor began. It was slow going at first. I was still not feeling well, the business was unusually busy, and I had no idea where to start with this process. I had a few companies recommended to me and I began with them.

After going through the house with a couple of the prospective companies it became clear that we have additional work to do. When we originally wrote the proposal for working on the house we were expecting to go to closing much more rapidly and have more time that first summer. In the proposal our first priority was to stabilize the walls of the west wing, remove the debris from the cellar, put in floor joists for the first and second floors of the west wing, and to lay in the subfloor and throw up a temporary stairway to the second floor. The next items were to empty the trash from the front part of the house and get the doors, windows, and roof watertight. All of this was to be completed by fall and over the winter we would begin working on reinforcing the floor joists in the rest of the house. The structural engineer recommended that the joists become a priority. We also planned on doing the work on the Bungalow, get moved, and get the Beech Grove house sold.

(Temporary stairway was intended to protect this wonderful front stairway.)

Needless to say none of those things happened in the proper order and timeframe. Only part of the stabilization was done and that was not completed until early November. Just getting the board removed and the front door replaced was a real challenge with Eric’s broken ankle so we did not get to the weatherproofing or floor joists. The only items we completed on the Bungalow were getting the electricity on, the security set up, and many of the supplies purchased. In the late winter and early spring we had a number of setbacks that just added to the work: the break in of the Bungalow, a major hail storm did significant damage to our Beech Grove house, and then I got sick and was down for several months.

How does this change what we are doing? Well, all of the contractors have pointed out that we are no longer on a crazily tight timeframe with the stabilization, so just throwing up a temporary staircase is a waste of time and money. That means we need to know where I want the stairs when the house is done. Hmmm. That’s not an easy decision and I was planning on getting an architect to help us with that. So, now I need to go ahead and find an architect and get started on that part of the project. Well, when conversing with the contractors pretty much all of them recommend that we have an HVAC company help us with the design for whatever system we are going to put in since the technology is always changing and they are the experts on that. Now we need to decide on a company to work with on the HVAC system, choose what kind of system we are going to put in, and then have them collaborate with the architect on where and how to hide all of the pipes/ducts/whatever else there might be.

Part of the current/remaining HVAC system.

All of this means that I am not just looking for a contractor. The contractor needs to be able to do the work on the Beech Grove house too or at least help me find a reliable company to do that work. I also need to choose an architect and HVAC company, become an expert on heating and air conditioning options, learn about plumbing, and pretty much make my final decisions on where I want everything to be when the house is complete. We also need to finish the work on the Bungalow and get moved.

Wow. Just writing this out is making me think it’s time to stop and go have a drink. J

Next Blog: The Search Begins

National Register of Historic Places

It dawned on me, after posting the last blog, that not everyone may be familiar with the process to have a building added to a historic register. We were certainly clueless when we began this whole process. It turns out that this is actually a rather complex subject. While there are some locations or cities that have their own process, we’re just going to take a quick look at the Indiana and national registers.

 

About the Registers

The National Register of Historic Places (the National Register) was authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The National Park Service administers the National Register of Historic Places  for the nation. The National Register is considered the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. More information may be found at http://www.nps.gov/nr/about.htm.

The Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures (the State Register) was created by an act of the Indiana General Assembly in 1981. The Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology (DHPA) manages the State Register for the State of Indiana. More information for the State Register may be found at http://www.in.gov/dnr/historic/3654.htm.

Eligibility

Just because a building is old does not mean it is eligible for one of the Registers. Generally, it needs to be more than 50 years old and needs to have a degree of architectural integrity. In addition, there needs to be something special about that particular property UNLESS it is in a recognized historic district like Irvington or Woodruff Place. So what would be considered significant at the local, state, or national level? (The following is from the Indiana State Site)

• Events - Properties associated with events that were important to our history
• Persons - Properties associated with the lives of persons significant in our history
• Architecture/Design - Buildings, structures, or objects with architectural or engineering importance. They may be the work of a master, or possess high artistic value. Groupings of properties may share a common heritage, such as a historic district.
• Information - Resources that have yielded, or may yield in the future, important information about our prehistory or history.

Process

The process may be different depending upon the state. Generally in Indiana, the process takes approximately 6 months to a year once the application is submitted. An application is filled out containing the history, architecture and significance of the site. It must then be reviewed to see if it truly meets the criteria for significance and eligibility. Additional information may be requested at this point. Once this step has been passed, the review is scheduled and a letter sent to the owner. If the application is approved, the site is placed on the Indiana Register and the application is sent to the National Register. If the application is approved at the National level, the site is listed on the National Register.

Our Progress

It was 2 years ago this month that Amanda & Eric began looking into purchasing the Horner House. Indiana Landmarks had already started filling out the application and continued to work on it for quite a while. They submitted it to the State of Indiana last year. The application is very detailed and we’ll begin sharing some of the information it contains soon.

Amanda & Eric will be attending the review next month. It is open to the public and anyone may attend. So we’re hoping to have the Horner House on the State Register by next month!

 

Horner House March 2012 - Check out the flowers blooming already

 

Last March, we had record high temps, this year we're having below normal temps here in Indiana. It sure doesn’t feel like Spring yet. But hope you all have a happy first day of Spring!

In the Mail

Look what we got in the mail yesterday.

This is the completion of the 2nd step in the process. If we are approved at this hearing, we'll be on the Indiana registrar and they will forward our application to the national registrar. We keep making progress, even if it is in baby steps. Stay tuned as we hope to improve the regularity of our posts. And sometimes, technology is not in our favor - which was my issue yesterday. (Don't you hate it when the computer implies you're stupid?)

Have a great weekend & we'll have more to post next week!

Finding a Contractor - Part 1

Our current search for a contractor takes me back to the early days and how we never really explained how we found our original person. Going back to the beginning, it was Match of 2011 when we first found out that the house was up for sale. In April, we gave our earnest money to Indiana Landmarks and were hoping for a quick closing. There was a problem with the title and it took until August. In those intervening months we had extremely limited access to the house itself and knew that any upkeep we did on the property could go to waste if the purchase did not go through.

This was a very frustrating time for us. I knew that we would need to act on the stabilization as quickly as possible once the purchase was completed, but we did not have access to the house to bring through the contractors that we might be interested in. Since we stay very busy with our business in the summer this was not something that I spent a great deal of time worrying about.

Once we owned the house, we had a few things that needed immediate attention. There were no keys to the bungalow, so we had to replace the locks, and we needed to get the security company out as soon as possible. We also had to contact IPL and find out what was required to get electricity to the bungalow. Without electricity nothing could be started on the Horner House without significant additional expense.  Then came the overwhelming task of finding a contractor to do the work.

I knew that Indiana Landmarks had looked at purchasing the property for their FLIP Program and obtained estimates as part of that process. (Unfortunately for them, good for us, the estimates came in too high for the fund to cover.) So, I called Chad and asked him who had given them the estimates. I don’t know the history or details, but one of the contractors had been in the house numerous times over the prior several years. By this time, the back wall and floors had been down for months and time was of the essence, so I decided to take a chance and just went with him.

Unfortunately, sometime this past fall our old contractor went out of business. I was unaware that this had happened until I tried contacting him in the early winter when I began feeling better. While this does bring about the issue of needing to find a new company to work with us, I am happy to say that there have been no other problems for us as a result of this situation. We had finished the first stage of the stabilization and not yet begun the second, so even the timing was not detrimental to our project.  Now it’s time to leave that in the past and begin our search for someone new.

To Be Continued…

Next Blog: Why It’s Not Just a Search for a Contractor

Fireplace Tiles

During the last couple weeks of January, things really started to roll again on the Horner House. I have been working on finding a new contractor for the house and we have found that the delay in our initial plan is changing the overall order in which things need to be completed. First it was a few little things, then a few more, until it has become a waterfall of other things that need to be decided, researched, and done. While trying to juggle all of these details, we hit another bump on the road.

Back in early February, I began battling the same autoimmune issue that knocked me out back in August. It has progressed much more rapidly than last time and I am already feeling much better. We are hoping for me to back to functional by the end of the month. This time it has really only knocked me off schedule by a few weeks, for which we are all very grateful. 

Now for the fun things that have been happening! Eric was finally able to gingerly pick his way over to the fireplace in the front parlor. Between the fallen plaster, holes in the floor, weak floor joists, miscellaneous trash in the room and the lack of light due to the boarded-up front windows, it is a risky area to traverse. But it was worth the trip.

The parlor fireplace still has ceramic tiles on it! And they look nothing like the tiles in the upstairs bedrooms. Eric was able to remove one and bring it home:

Front of the tile

Back of the tile

The letters on the back side of the tile U S E T W may stand for the United Stated Encaustic Tile Works, but we do not know that for sure. The bluish cast is from the flashlight being used to highlight the raised letters.

In each Preservation Brief provided by the DNR there are resources listed. In the Tile brief one of the places listed is the Tile Heritage Foundation. This is a wonderful resource on old tiles. We contacted them and all they have asked of us is a couple of pictures and some basic information, and they will try to determine the age and manufacturer of our tiles! They also know what companies can make reproduction tiles if additional or replacement tiles are needed. Needless to say, we have emailed them these pictures and are waiting impatiently to hear what they have to say!

-Amanda

Vintage Irvington

Bill Gulde writes a blog called Vintage Irvington that has a lot of really wonderful content on it. Back on November 24^th  he posted a blog called: Film Clip of Charles Dorn's Standard Grocery and the Nearby Horner House c.1933.

This clip has a few seconds of the Horner House shown in the background! We have watched it so many times it’s a good thing it’s in digital form; otherwise it would be worn out already… Here is the link to the Vintage Irvington blog!

http://vintageirvington.blogspot.com/2012/11/film-clip-of-charles-dorns-standard.html

And on a personal note, I likely find this even more fascinating because my father was an independent neighborhood grocer when I was  growing up. In fact, my brothers & I worked for him while in high school. We got to know nearly everyone in the neighborhood. Wonder what the folks at Dorn's Grocery would be able to tell us about the folks living in the Horner House...

Mary

2/6 Addendum

This is a picture of my father, mother, brother & me in front of daddy's first neighborhood store which was newly opened. This was the summer of 1954 on the near southside of Indy near Shelby & Minnesota Streets. Unfortunately, the building was demolished years ago.

Getting Caught Up

It has been almost 4 months since I last posted a blog here, however, we continue to plug along. Back in August & September, we posted several times regarding Amanda's health. It has been a very slow process getting her recuperated enough to come back to work. She is beginning to feel better but each week is still filled with appointments with doctor visits and tests. She now has a tentative diagnosis but has been told that they may never be able to confirm it. They are doing the best to treat her symptoms, one at a time. We're all just very happy she is feeling better and did well over the holidays. Going forward, one of our biggest hurdles will be to prevent overwhelming & stressing Amanda out. The doctor is concerned about even a "normal" stress load, let alone what Amanda has been living with and we all know that restoring an old house is a very stressful process. So, we will be looking for ways to make the entire process smoother for us and hopefully have some tips for others as well.  

During the past 4 months, we've also had more "drama". Our general contractor has gone out of business and will no longer be working with us. Amanda has been trying to find another contractor and has had several good interviews. Hopefully, she'll find someone within the next couple weeks. And their current residence suffered some appreciable hail damage that needs to be fixed prior to going up for sale. Who knew that there are a limited number of contractors willing to do insurance work? We thought we could get a single company to work on both the Horner House & her other house. Not so. This results in a search for not 1 but 2 (yes 2) general contractors. Why is it never as simple as you initially think?

And speaking of drama, there have been a fair number of break-in alarms lately. Although there was some damage late last year (including some new gang signs in one of the second floor bedrooms in the Horner House), it appears that most of the alarms have either scared them off or were false alarms. We've been very blessed that the police seem understanding and have not gotten impatient with the number of false alarms.

Ron has continued to move forward with his work on the bungalow when possible. He has completed a majority of the work required to repair all the damage done when the scavengers broke into the basement last summer. Additionally, demolition on the kitchen & 2nd floor bath are complete. They both need to have cabinets, plumbing, painting & flooring completed. We hope to get things completed to the point where Amanda & Eric can move in this spring.

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg in regard to what all we've been doing. I (Mary) have finally found a new dog. Her name is Summer and she is from the same litter as Amanda and Eric's Hagen. She was placed in a home in Texas, but was not treated well there so she was taken back by the breeder. We feel very blessed to have Summer as a part of our family.

Due to work constraints and other projects, I can only promise to post once a week for the first half of 2013, although I'll try to post more if there is a lot going on at the Horner House. Eric & Amanda will be contributing as their time permits also.

As posted on my Facebook on New Year's eve:  While 2012 could have been much worse, it could also have been much better. So I'm wishing all my family & friends an early but awesome New Year. Praying that your 2013 blessings will be as abundant as last week's snowfall and your heartaches will be as scarce as last summer's rain.

-Mary