Bicoastal in Flyover Country: Moving along

We have our first permit. (well, our second if you consider the COA from the Historic Commission that we needed to move the fence around the trash bins) It is a demolition permit for the bathrooms and the kitchen. Our Architect (Adam, I mentioned him earlier) got this done on a rush basis so we can start the demo before we leave Milwaukee. Thank you Adam!

Sunrise over Lake Michigan, 13 October, 2025

We had to have a "Certified" asbestos inspector look at the rooms. There was a lot of asbestos used in the old days, and you can see why. Cheap, fireproof, flexible. Also, Charles Manville, (from Johns Manville) lived right behind (to the east) of our house on Wahl Street. So I would expect they might have gotten a deal. I did not see any asbestos in the areas where we will be working, but you never know. But the inspector took some samples, and will send them off to the lab. We already had the linoleum floor tested, and it came back negative, so we are hopeful that the same thing will happen with the other tests.

The inspector has some ideas. He said he was very familiar with Frank Lloyd Wright, and was "surprised that we didn't have an acoustic ceiling". Huh. He also said that Wright "usually" put some sort of radiant heating in the ceiling, and then blew on asbestos "flocking". News to me, but you never know. I believe that some of the two story Usonian houses used heating in the ceiling/floor to increase utility. But I can tell you this - heating a ceiling is not a great way to heat a room, since hot air rises.

Rainbow a few minutes after sunrise

We are tracking down lots of little bits right now:

Pulls:

Locks:

Wood Types (getting a report from a colleague of our Nephew at the Forest Product Research Lab) so we can make sure our new builds will be the right stuff. (Black Walnut downstairs, American Gum (Sweet or Red) upstairs, most likely)

Bathroom fixtures: