musicman

Congratulations! With a flat roof, it's difficult and expensive to make wiring and duct repairs. So don't spare any expense in your initial updates.

when you do start the work esp the services that will be hidden behind sheetrock, you (and your knowledgeable friends) should make several walk thrus determine 1)where you think your furniture may go when complete and 2) what will you need to add (electrical outlets, antenna, cat 5, phone lines, etc) to make the furniture config possible 3) are light switches in correct places ( 3ways needed, nothing on wrong side of doors etc.)

it takes several walk thrus. I did that at my house and others have asked me to do the same for theirs.

once you know what's missing be sure and document it on a master plan. where plugs are needed, switches are needed, etc.

the flat roof does present more of a challenge because if you forget something, then you have to open up the sheetrock to make the additions. the planning is very impt. i know i made one mistake when i wired my house. i didn't factor in that low voltage lighting dimmers require a direct connection to the neutral which isn't always possible depending on the way it is wired. Even though it was wired correctly for just turning the lights on/off from 2 locations, when i decided to put the dimmer that put the "neutral" restriction and i had to run another conductor from the supply neutral directly to the switch. had i not had access to the area above the ceiling, i would have had to open up the sheetrock.

there's a book called "build it right" that can be found on amazon. it was written by an engineer that offers many common sense tips that are very help IMO. it covers all facets of building a home. since you're not doing it from scratch, you won't need to read everything. I loaned my copy to a couple of friends and each thought the author brought up quite a few valid points that they would have never considered.

i must stress that when you hire the electrician, you need to specify where you want the plugs and switches. don't let the electrician make those decisions for you! i know several people who let the electricians make those decisions and then regretted they didn't spend the time. i helped a good friend with her remodel and one of her big complaints was that she wanted a builtin heater in her bathroom. i found her a nice combo heater/ventilation fan by panasonic with low sone rating. The electirician came in and wired the bathroom and didn't wire it correctly for a fan and htr combo. he only wired it for one or the other. luckily she asked me to look at the wiring and i found that problem immediately so it could be easily corrected. with all the modern gadgets that people like, electrical is very critical.

similar things can be said for the other services but for me electrical is the most critical.

The other thing is this--plumber2 hit the nail on the head regarding deed restrictions. Isn't the point of deed restrictions to give nearly all power to the property owners? If this is the case, then I think the City SHOULD stay out of this. Houstonians have made it clear, the city's power ends at the property line. We are all about PERSONAL and PRIVATE rights and responsibilities. It's the neighborhood's responsibilities to fix problems (if they are deed restricted).

With that in mind, I agree that something should be done. I just think that in the Houston persona, we are kidding ourselves to suddenly expect government to do something about it for us when we don't want them doing anything else. In that case, I agree with the mayor. If your neighborhood is deed restricted, YOU come up with a solution. YOU fix the problem.

The irony is that if if this battle (and others like it) ends up in court and the issue has existed long enough without enforcement by the members of the neighborhood, then the deed restrictions could be overturned all together (laches). Then you have NO enforcement tool.

all property in texas is governed by the state property code which states how property can be restricted. it is up to the individual neighborhoods to make that decision. it also says how they can be enforced which is where private attorneys and attorneys employed by various cites come in. they can enforce restrictions as can the individual. but most individuals don't have the money and let some other entity with money do it.

The city's power doesn't end at the property line. i've seen neighborhood protection people go on private property with police escort to give tickets. remember once you buy in the city of houston you are now subject to various ordinances as a result and these are enforceable by the city.

Yes the quickest was is to get the hoods to enforce their own restrictions but many old neighborhoods don't have mandatory fees to hire an attorney and state law says that cities can do it for them.

what makes it hard is that houston has so few deed restriction attorneys with thousands of complaints. they just cant keep up with the workload.

If fireworks are part of an organized celebration, I believe they are allowed. If it's a random guy who wants to fire a firework, then it's not allowed.

permits are required.

The legislature passed some law a few decades back allowing the city of Houston to enforce deed restrictions (private covenants). AFAIK, no other city in Texas can do this....only Houston. The city can and does enforce deed restrictions...its the closest thing we have to zoning. You can see what violations have been reported to the city here: http://cbtcws.cityofhouston.gov/deedrest/

i think the law you're referencing may be chapter 204 of the state property code which is only applicable to houston. Since we are the only big city without zoning, this was developed to supposedly assist houston. there's also chapter 201 which is applicable statewide (specific limitations are found there). I was on a deed restriction committee for 2 councilmembers here to help the councilmembers understand what is/isn't being done by the legal dept deed restriction wise. i remember a deed restriction attorney mentioned that dallas has about 20 attorneys employeed by the city who enforce restrictions while the city of houston only had 3. i'm pretty sure we're not the only city in texas whose legal dept enforces restricitons.

This doesn't look good for NO. I'm very disapointed, i thought the city was starting to get back on its feet.

a friend who's 60 is a houston resident now but grew up in nola and he went back for christmas and was almost in tears. stores on canal are closed, most of the city is still in ruins, piles of trash, etc. he said he was amazed that some residents are rebuilding right next to a house that is still as it was after the flood. he mentioned that he thought that some of the areas should be permanently barred from future building because of the problems they had. he also mentioned that news frequently repeats that tourists should stay in the quarter or not venture far.

Good Afternoon,

I am assuming painting an exterior wall of a home by hand brush is costly vs spray ?

What have you encountered for cost of bungalow home about 1,100 SQFT for 2 colors spray or by hand??

Thank You

your costs will vary depending on several factors. paint used, amounts needed to be scraped/sanded(very impt because if they do a lousy job, paint wont adhere), hand vs. spray is probably the biggest thing cause the hand painting takes way more time and or requires more labor so they charge more.

Good Afternoon,

Lets say I do install a drainage and still there are some puddles on the side . Will putting some evergreen plants,

bushes , or flowers help with absorbing some of the water ?

as long as you have grass there i'd say that is enough. it will eventually be absorbed.

Thank you so much for being so positive. Now that everyone has seen what needs to be done let's start fixing it up and getting it back the way it was (or close to).

By the way I am glad to report I just had some NEW neighbors move in next door and they are 100% for helping restore this diamond in the rough area to the good old days! Yippeeeeee!!!!

Having one excellent remodel does inspire nearby neighbors. Have you done your part in the restoration efforts?

so why the 25 yr award when it was built in 71?

If the Astros, Texans, or Rockets knew they couldn't have as high attendance in an another city like Pearland while calling it "Houston", how or why would Dynamo even consider it? That'd be the dumbest business decision in the history of Houston-area sports.

it's all about making a good deal and some of our suburb cities have money to offer that.

I'd like to see the current and future layout of the place, though.

This will most likely go on the portion near/west of bagby that is empty.

I don't know if I want a huge church in that location. We already have 3 churches in midtown fairly close to each other, but as residential starts to get a foothold in the area, it might be needed.

The downtown cathedral is a good example on how it's needed due to population growth.

IMO, the new cathedral is more of a want than a need. The diocese wants to do a premiere project to "validate" the diocese in a sense since Houston doesn't really have a premier one. A cathedral is something that is relatively rare as few are built. It is definitely a coup for houston.

btw ch13 did a nice story on it last night. story is here. there is also a video link

Safety standards might well have been different when Pierce Elevated was built in the 1960s, but there was no excuse for rebuilding it in the same configuration in the 1990s, on the excuse that spending time on a better redesign would have resulted in gridlock. When the Elevated was closed for the rebuild there were few traffic problems as a result.

blame the city. they were the ones who wanted it done in 6 months. since it wasn't a total rebuild (same footings were used) that is how they were able to get it done fairly quickly

And that "Magnolia Inn" over there by Fingers.

and one of the smaller apartment complexes on broadway near bellfort

plastic!!! where have you been??

My buddy finally burned a tape to CD from Power Tools. It was from 1998 when Wax Traxx was all the rage.

i didn't realize power tools was still open in 98. by then they had already bulldozed the back portion. in 87 or 88 i remember the only part that was outside was under franklin the rest was enclosed. i remember there was a couple dressed like tweedle dee and tweedle dum and they pulled us into the restroom so we could help them exchange wigs. LOL

I was deeply disappointed when they did the "replacement" of the Pierce elevated and it did little to the actual design as far as lanes goes, I figured they would at least had a few inches for an emergency lane, but...whatever.

at that time, i believe the city complained to txdot that the project would result in gridlock and therefore it needed to be completed in 6 months. the road was widened a little.

Sounds good to me.

Huh? Seriously....what projects/properties does Weingarten have in the east end?

they have quite a bit. i believe they own the shopping center where the fiesta closed on lawndale for instance.

Hear Hear! Allen Parkway at the Pierce Elevated is both ugly and dangerous with the left-side merges. What is worse it that it was rebuilt a few years ago in exactly the same configuration.

Well this legacy project was designed when safety wasn't an issue. blind spots, curbs, short merge lanes were common as were vehicles that were not capable of speeds that are standard today. The pierce elevated rebuild improved the on ramp situation from houston avenue by a little but the allen parkway entrance to 45 southbound remains the same. The width of the elevated portion was expanded to allow for a better shoulder situation. but yes, it is basically the same.

it's hard to believe that this is already 10 yrs old because i remember skating on it from the allen parkway area to cullen the day before it opened.

i would have to say ugliness is in the eye of the beholder. i will say that the 59/45 interchange is far from being the most intricate

Nice article in Chron about this.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4562230.html

Looks like I will make a point to "trade" (as my grandmother says) at Mia Bella's and help the brotha out since he's willing to fight for Downtown. And I look forward to Coco's coming. Maybe that's what'll replace MBar (since it's across from Mia Bella) instead of a Walgreens. Or maybe it'll go into the Byrd Lofts (although I kinda wouldn't mind something like Denny's or something in there).

you can help the brotha but use cash. They've been padding peoples' credit cards quite a bit recently according to 3 frequent customers i know.

Empty land on the corner of S. Wayside and I-45 ?

Retail space where Fiesta was located on Lawndale ?

What updates are being made across Mason Park Gym ?

Is Circuit City coming to Gulfgate ????

A while back there was talk of a grocery store near Harrisburg ?

Thank You

The employees of the sandwich shop next door to the old lawndale fiesta said the strip mgmt was looking at a dollar store to occupy some of the space. i hope that doesn't come to fruition.

as for mason park, if you're talking across 75th, they are making a gazebo. i had heard they wanted it large enough to where a small band could play.

As stolix said, the almeda best buy is moving to gulfgate and is supposed to open in may.

in the 70's and 80's the owner maintained this house well! i used to drive by it daily on the way to school. the current owner has really let it go!

Wonderful input !

Suggestions, comments, ideas, or experience if my current driveway is all dirt up to my garage which has a slab

of cement almost leveled to the dirt driveway.

My challenge is if I decide to lay a concrete driveway up to the garage slab of cement

then the driveway and garage slab would be uneven and maybe water would enter the garage ???

If I am not mistaken a driveway must be a certain height in depth and width ??

Thank You

it's hard to say about your garage situation without seeing it. but i understand your concern i have a friend on euclid in woodland heights that spent thousands on his house but didn't address the drainage situation and it is coming back to haunt him. his garage can easily have several inches of water after a rain and i won't even talk about under the house.

i'd say if the slab was higher than the surrounding ground then you wont have a problem. but if the new drive has a tilt towards the garage, them most likely water will go in. you can easily ensure the driveway is lower than the garage slab but then your driveway may be lower than the yard and water will pool on the driveway. an accompanying drainage system could easily solve your problem as long as you have enough slope to drain the water to the curb/street/ditch.

as for the low garage. i've seen people literally pour another slab on top of the old one and raise the garage up as well. i know a resident of pecan park who did that and it came out just fine. it was just a basic garage formed with open studs so there were no unforseen problems.

i'm not sure about about the code to be honest. the concrete people can (and usually) remove dirt to lower it if you want it a certain thickness without coming out of the ground too much. some of the driveways i've seen in new homes are not wide enough IMO. if you can park two cars side by side, exit and step on concrete, then you're ok. if you step on the grass....then you have a problem. i think the driveway should be wider than the width of the door, not the width of the door.

It amuses me on how they ripped out the intersection and some ramps at the 45/Elgin underpass. Did a big job there and replaced a lot of concrete and tore up the old stuff which really wasn't all that bad, there were one or two spots that persistently would sink over time and they would fill up/patch but they could have replaced a very good portion of all the sidewalks in our neighborhood with what they used there. They poured it thick.

Anyhow it just aggravates me, I know get the neighborhood on the CIP but that takes 7 years and quite honestly we won't be here and with all the projects we have going on it's tough to get the time to put something together.

Thanks for allow the b*tch session.

unfortunately public works sucks in houston. There was a portion of woodridge in front of the mcdonalds where the patched blacktop came off after every rain. pot holes were huge there. There was a metro bus stop there too. everytime i drove there i hit a pothole. i took pictures to document the repeated problems. The city didn't want to repair the street with concrete as i had asked repeatedly, but since there was a METRO bus stop there, METRO supposedly stepped up and redid the street there with concrete. that was about 4 yrs ago and there have been no other problems. a friend's sister in law who lives here too gave me a hug when she found out i had complained loud enough to fix it.

While this was a win for me in this instance, i think i have a losing record.

SSG venting is good

Good Afternoon All,

Any advice, comments, ideas, or experience for an older home with

cypress wood exterior walls . . . what type of paint and method is preferred or recommended ?

Should the exterior be painted by hand with a brush or by spray ? Why / Why not ?

Also the base color is white so should not need to be scraped if that is allowed ?

Thank You

brush tends to put a thicker (longer lasting) coat on than spraying. but spraying is easier for the painters.

the base color has nothing to do with whether the house has to be scraped. the scraping is done to remove loose paint so that when you repaint you don't get bubbles or pieces than come off easily. there must be a secure surface for the paint to adhere to.

as for type of paint, just make sure than the coat you put on top is of the same type so it just doesn't peel right off. otherwise prims properly and you'll be ok.