Last week we officially turned the corner at Dwelling 3918.   Four dumpster, one dump truck, and a few trailer loads later we have the house fully gutted, some trees trimmed and have officially started putting the house back together.   The back wall we were all so worried about came down a little too easy, so we are now tuckpointing the entire house.   So far the project has gone as planned, we didn’t plan on saving anything and I don’t think we are going to be able to.  Several things were thrown together throughout the years and we are ripping everything out and doing it back right.   The time clock is ticking quickly and we are moving as fast as we can.

Click Here to see a clip of the back wall coming down.

We finally have cleared the hurdles surrounding Dwelling 3918.  After months of back and forth with the bank D & K finally got the house, we quickly wrapped up drawings met with the city and began work.   The building permit was issued last week and our project deadline is December 15 according to the bank.   The project is being funded by an FHA sponsored home construction loan known as a 203-k,  the program is great and allows people to work on homes that would be tough to get financing for traditionally.  Unfortunately you have to play by the banks rules throughout the process and it is becoming clear that the bank does not have much of a clue when it comes to construction.   We started working on design drawings for the project in March and had to submit a full construction estimate and drawings in May in order for the loan to process.  Here we are a few months later and it looks like we may finally get paid.

Everyone involved is super excited to get the project rolling.  The house was built in 1887 and was a very traditional and plain home.  Our task is to completely gut the entire house, rip down the rear stone stone wall,   and give it a thorough modern kick in the pants.   We’ve joked all along that we are probably going to seriously offend some old school Hyde Park fans in the process, and we are okay with that.

If you get a chance  please check out the homeowners blog documenting the process from their perspective.   Dwelling3918.

Our cutting board sales  have gone berzerk.   Our first batch of cutting boards for Mothers day sold quickly to family and friends.  Then they got picked up on the kitchen, and now Lifehacker picked it up.   Our email has been swamped with request ever since.   Unfortunately we are currently sold out, we do have some in process that should be finished up next week.  I think we are setting up an etsy store to handle our scrap to cash proceeds and help ease the ordering process.

If you would like to get added to our email list for when the next batch of cutting boards gets finished.  Please email me at jerad.studiobld ( at ) gmail.com.

Thanks for your continued support.