Construction Materials

77007, Construction Materials, Construction Problems, Demolitions, Houston Heights, New Construction, Townhomes, Waterhill Homes

03/08/10 11:55am

The Strand Building Where They Found the Secret Window Sash Stash

Galveston, Historic Preservation

4 Comments

This is it — the 1870 building where Galveston County’s Treasurer uncovered a hidden treasure of more than 100 unused old-growth pine and cypress windows dating from about 1900 above a false ceiling in the third-floor loft he’s renovating. The Magale Building at 2311-2315 Strand in Galveston was likely a window and door store and warehouse at one time, the Galveston Historical Foundation’s Matt Farragher told Galveston County Daily News reporter Hayley Kappes. That Strand neighborhood was once the city’s hardware district.

Kevin Walsh bought the loft not long after Hurricane Ike — from someone who’d lived there for 30 years. He found the windows when he ripped out the ceiling late last year.

Walsh, a CPA, also serves on the finance committee of the Galveston Historical Foundation; he’s already donated the windows to the non-profit organization. They’ll eventually go on sale at the foundation’s architectural salvage warehouse on 23rd St.

77550, Construction Materials, Galveston, Historic Preservation

01/20/10 2:02pm

Comment of the Day: Salvage Army Collections, Door to Door

Construction Materials, Demolitions, Quicklink

No Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: SALVAGE ARMY COLLECTIONS, DOOR TO DOOR “It would be great if there was an organization to address this need. Iâ€™ve done some drive bys of the listed demos and seen everything from old clothing, furniture, fixtures, windows, cabinets, doors, everything get piled up and thrown into the roll-offs. Historic Houston and Habitat Re-Store seem to let the opportunities come to them rather than seek them out. Is there a way to get the word out to the masses that there is a way to reduce the waste and that salvage is an option?” [mstark, commenting on Demolition Strip Search]

Comments, Construction Materials, Demolitions, Recycled Materials

01/19/10 8:02am

Demolition Strip Search

Construction Materials, Demolitions, Recycled Materials

Demolitions, Quicklink

5 Comments

DEMOLITION STRIP SEARCH A reader writes in with a question: “Hi. I recently stumbled upon your website and noticed that you list homes scheduled to be demoed. Is it ok to go to these properties and remove things such as light fixtures, flooring, etc.? Is there a protocol to going about getting permission to do so? Thanks for any info you might be able to provide.” [Swamplot inbox]

Art

12/22/09 3:56pm

DeLuxe Theater Breakaway Sculptors: All They Want for Christmas Is Some 117 Siding

Construction Materials, Demolitions, Fifth Ward

3 Comments

Demolition artists Dan Havel and Dean Ruck — sculptors of the storied Inversion project on Montrose Blvd. and last year’s householing Give and Take — are back at work hacking old houses again. Their next victim will be a cottage house they’re rescuing from the lot behind the Fifth Ward’s DeLuxe Theater at 3300 Lyons Ave. (The cat-like facade of that theater — pictured above — will be used to front a new music-history library and performing arts center for the Fifth Ward, but the rest of the building and the small farm of cottages behind it are being torn down to make way for the new building and a parking lot.)

Havel reports Drake House Moving is scheduled to tote the rescued house today 3 blocks east along Lyons Ave., to an empty lot on Capron St. That’s where Havel and Ruck will get to work building and carving a temporary sculpture out of it that’s due to debut in May.

And they have a special request for Swamplot readers: Got any used 117 siding you could contribute to the project?

The problem is that we are in dire need of old siding from any tear down houses out there. Just don’t know how to find ’em. Tear downs are all over the Fifth, but it’s hard to find the O.K. to go in and salvage without owner’s consent. Don’t want to get shot…

What do they want the siding for? Well, take a look at what they’re planning to do:

77020, Art, Construction Materials, Demolitions, Fifth Ward

12/16/09 5:23pm

Comment of the Day: Design Afterlife

Construction Materials, Quicklink

1 Comment

COMMENT OF THE DAY: DESIGN AFTERLIFE “After all, todayâ€™s design cliche is tomorrowâ€™s vacant lot. It is the circle of life. One day, hopefully soon, the â€˜lick and stick stoneâ€™ will be in heaven with the stucco turrets and craft rooms.” [Shakes the Clown, commenting on Favorite Houston Design ClichÃ©: Vote for the Official Nominees]

Comments, Construction Materials

Art

11/17/09 1:33pm

Sheet Metal Detectors in the Fifth Ward and the Redecoration Alternative

Construction Materials, Fifth Ward, Home Decor, Public Art

8 Comments

Steering his bike carefully to avoid the thousands of caterpillars covering Maury St., just off the Elysian Viaduct north of Downtown, 2-wheeled wanderer and lawn-art enthusiast Robert Boyd stumbles across the Fifth Ward workshop of Blumenthal Sheet Metal:

The official address is 1710 Burnett St., but it appears that their facility takes up a whole block–Leona on the south, Burnett on the north, Hardy on the west and Elysian on the east. Blumenthal is a sheet metal fabrication plant, which makes them on the face of it no different from hundreds of small industrial firms in Houston (the secret engines of our city’s economy). Blumenthal has been in business for over a 100 years, which definitely distinguishes them, but what also distinguishes them is that a lot of the fabrication they do is for artists.

Boyd snaps photos of a few Blumenthal constructions in the area:

77026, Art, Construction Materials, Fifth Ward, Front Lawns, Home Decor, Public Art

11/10/09 12:54pm

Pitching In: An Architect Helps Out with That Floating Stone Chimney

Home Design, Homebuilders, Houston Architects, Houston Heights, New Construction: Residential, Townhomes

9 Comments

Note: Story updated below. Stand by for . . . the turret!

One of the nicest things about Swamplot is that we all care about our neighbors! So when one reader sends in a photo of a unique garage-chimney configuration balanced carefully on a townhome near the corner of Ashland and 16th St. in the Heights, it’s only natural that others in our community will want to volunteer their talents and services to help the situation.

The problem: The obvious allures of lick-and-stick stone facing have left a Heights homebuilder with a street face that’s a little . . . attention-getting?

The solution: It’s nothing an architect can’t fix — with a fresh copy of Photoshop and a toolkit of contemporary design favorites! Here’s the completed rendering that was sent into us:

77008, Construction Materials, Home Design, Homebuilders, Houston Architects, Houston Heights, New Construction: Residential, Theming, Townhomes

Brookesmith

09/04/09 12:26pm

Secret Powers of the Cordell St. Shipping-Container House

Construction Materials, Green Design and Development, Home Design, Homebuilders, New Construction: Residential, Quicklink, Transportation

1 Comment

SECRET POWERS OF THE CORDELL ST. SHIPPING-CONTAINER HOUSE The Brookesmith home of Kevin Freeman and Jen Feldmann — fashioned from shipping containers by Numen Development’s John Walker and Katie Nichols — meets a national audience in the pages of the latest issue of Dwell: “The meat distributor [across Cordell St.] begins loading trucks as early as 5:30 a.m., but the couple imagines themselves as hipsters living in New York Cityâ€™s meatpacking district, and that makes it okay. . . . The corrugated steel of the container that houses the master suite becomes a textured wall for writing messages in the home’s entrance. ‘When we were furnishing the house, I thought, “Oh no! Our fridge isn’t magnetic for Eli’s artwork,” but then I realized the whole house is magnetic,’ Feldmann says. ‘We’ve become magnet connoisseurs,’ Freeman adds.” [Dwell; previously in Swamplot]

77009, Brookesmith, Construction Materials, Green Design, Green Development, Home Design, Homebuilders, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Shipping-Containers, Transportation

07/29/09 11:42am

Hard To Find Green in Houston

Disaster Aftermath, Green Design and Development, Renovations

19 Comments

A reader calls attention to this Chronicle letter to the editor from Pamela R. Zuteck of Clear Lake Shores:

Regarding â€œTexans can pay extra to rebuild the eco-friendly way if their home is hit by disasterâ€ (Page A1, Sunday), trying to â€œgo greenâ€ using Houston’s contractors will make you throw up your hands. They are clueless or resistant to even simple things like low-VOC paint. Product suppliers are hard to find or too far away to be practical. We saw Ike as a real opportunity to step it up but have met frustration at every turn. There’s no help out there. It was a victory just to get a few items, like Hardiplank removable interior wallboard. We had to do all the research and coordination, then design and supervise every step of installation. We sorted the waste for recycling. No wonder more people don’t go green. It’s just too hard.

Writes our reader:

I have no reason to doubt the contentions, but am stumped at the writerâ€™s mention of â€œHardiplank removable interior wallboard.â€ Since your reader/participants are so very knowledgeable, could you ask them to weigh in? My search of the internets provided nada.

Hard being green [Houston Chronicle]

Construction Materials, Disaster Aftermath, Hurricane Ike, Renovations, Sustainable Development & Green Design

07/23/09 12:37pm

Wilshire Village Apartments Demo: Maybe Not Quite Yet

Demolitions, Lancaster Place, Utilities

4 Comments

Here’s a little video sent to Swamplot from this morning, showing what appeared to a reader to be the beginning of the end for the Wilshire Village apartments. But in a comment to that post, Lynn Edmundson from Historic Houston reports this demo work isn’t really all it’s been cracked up to be:

I just returned from the site…and it looks like they are just breaking up the surface concrete. The contractors on the site are installing plumbing/water lines…and are not with the demolition company.

New plumbing lines? What for?

Meanwhile, Historic Houston Salvage to the . . . rescue? Edmundson adds:

With the permission of the contractors on the site, someone with me was able to look into one of the apartments and there is beautiful oak flooring still inside the apartments waiting to be reclaimed!

Breaking Apartments News: Demolition Begins at Wilshire Village [Swamplot]
Wilshire Village coverage [Swamplot]

Video: Swamplot inbox

77098, Construction Materials, Demolitions, Lancaster Place, Recycled Materials, Utilities, Wilshire Village

06/09/09 11:55am

We’re All Astrodome Now: The Mile-Wide Dome Over Houston

Downtown, Proposed Developments

28 Comments

Okay, Discovery TV engineers, we’re all on board with your idea of building a ginormous, 1-mile-diameter, 1500-foot high dome over Houston. Dibs on the thermostat!

Too bad, though: It looks like all that lightweight geodesic Buckminster Fullery goodness only gets you coverage over . . . Downtown. Isn’t that all air-conditioned already?

We’re especially looking forward to the next episode of Mega Engineering, where you describe that giant ring-moat bayou drainage bypass carved through swathes of Midtown and the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Wards they’ve gotta be planning to go with this.

So . . . how’s the Houston Dome supposed to work?

77002, Construction Materials, Domes, Downtown, Proposed Developments

06/08/09 4:13pm

Comment of the Day: The Right Kind of Home for Houston

Construction Materials, Home Design, Quicklink

7 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RIGHT KIND OF HOME FOR HOUSTON “Question: What should Houston vernacular be? By that I mean, what type of residential architecture design is most logical with respect to our climate, region and lifestyle? The home designs as represented by the Toll Brothers are typical of the amalgam homes that proliferate throughout Houston. The two designs represented in this piece are pure kitsch â€“ regardless of how well made they may be or the ‘amenities’ lavished upon the interiors. The Hill Country and Austin both possess vernacular employing indigenous materials â€“ split face limestone â€“ and a mixture of elements capturing key elements from Spanish Missions, turn-of-the-century farm houses and modernism. While this in itself is an amalgam the end results are more pleasing and ‘honest’ than the stucco containers for humans that dot Houstonâ€™s landscape.” [JAH, commenting on Getting Houston Right: The Toll Brothers Come to Town]

Comments, Construction Materials, Home Design, Houston Architects, Theming

05/26/09 4:59pm

Comment of the Day: House Parts

Construction Materials, Demolitions, Quicklink, Recycling

No Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOUSE PARTS “I drove by the house at 701 Olive during the demolition. I was curious to see if any efforts were made to keep any of the items out of a landfill. What I saw was a house, complete with furniture, cabinets, ceiling fans, windows, clothing, etc. getting crushed by a bulldozer and scooped into a roll off. I saw 3 french doors that would have looked great in my house getting smashed to bits. Such a shame :(” [mstark, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Bacher House Down]

Comments, Construction Materials, Demolitions, Furniture, Recycling

05/13/09 11:18am

Recycling Houston Building Parts