April 29 - May 1, 2005: A Visit With Ron and Prudence
February 25 - March 4, 2005: A Trip to Fort Lauderdale
Return to Index for 2005

April 6-13, 2005
A Trip to Fort Lauderdale

 

 

Condo Renovation

My trip down to Florida this week is primarily to check on the progress of the renovations to my condo. As usual, I stayed with Ron and Leroy out in the northwest part of the city, and drove down to the condo or rode my bike down to it.

This week, just days before I got here, we ran into a snag in the project. An inspector happened to be here on the property for the inspection of another project, and just happened to walk by my own unit. We had not thought it necessary to get any permits, since it was a homeowner job, but the inspector had other ideas. It seems that permits are always required in any condo building, since renovations in one unit may affect systems shared by others.

So, he left notice with the crew that they had to stop work until the right permits were issued and the work done so far had been inspected. So, as it turned out, the only thing I could do with respect to the project was to (1) take some pictures of the current state of things and (2) do some legwork to try to get the permit process in motion.

I was able to get the forms and stuff for the permits, but I had to leave them with Ty so he could find a contractor to sign them, get them turned in, and wait for them to be approved. Frustrating, but at least I am not trying to live in the unit while it's being renovated, nor am I having to live continually in someone else's house while this is going on!

If you would like to see the pictures of the restoration that I took this week (and a few that Ty took before I got here), just click on the link below. At the end of the series of pictures that I took this week, you will be given a link that will be bring you back to this page, right at this point.

Go to the Fort Lauderdale Condo Renovation Page

 

Visiting River House


One morning, after Ty and I had visited the condo to discuss some of what we wanted to do (when we had the permits to continue), he had to go oversee the installation of some window treatments in one his customer's units. I'd always wanted to see the inside of the condominium, so I went with him to take some pictures.

River House is the curved condominium that you can see from all over town, including from Shirttail Charlie's- the restaurant on the river where Ty and I had lunch. We headed over to the condo and up to the unit which, I think, was on the fifteenth or sixteenth floor.

I took a number of pictures of the condo; most of them not particularly interesting. But some that were included the balcony, the master bath and the kitchen. We also found some of the detail in the bathroom interesting and applicable to what we wanted to do in my own condo, so I took a picture of the master bath shower which had big floor tile squares forming the wall of the shower as well- just what we were going to do at my own place.

Of course, being so high, the condo had amazing views. Below are thumbnails for some of them. To view the full-size view, just click on its thumbnail:

(Click on Thumbnails to View)


Right below the balcony of this unit, one level up from the street, is the pool area, that features this unusual circular lap pool. Another feature of living high up and in town is that you get an entirely different view of the activity on the New River, and it is fun to stand outside and look down on the river traffic. I made a movie from the balcony, and you can watch it with the player at right.

 

The Rest of My Visit

Well, there wasn't much I could do at the condo itself, but I did do a lot of running around to help Ty get the permit process going, and we did spend some time picking out tile and other stuff. I did a lot of bike-riding, and spent a good deal of time with Ron and Leroy. Even though I didn't get much done, the visit was still enjoyable.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.


April 29 - May 1, 2005: A Visit With Ron and Prudence
February 25 - March 4, 2005: A Trip to Fort Lauderdale
Return to Index for 2005