COAL CHUTES

Partially every home in the city has a coal chute. Coal was delivered by truck and left either on the sidewalk outside of the house or, for an extra fee, delivered to the chute.

One of my earliest memories is having coal delivered to our house at 3964 McDonald. I remember seeing my dad in the basement with a shovel and wanting to know what was going on. I heard noise in the gangway, went out the back door and saw a guy with a wheel barrow emptying coal into the chute.

My neighbor Pop recently told me about having a ton of coal delivered. It was left on the sidewalk and he spent four hours with a shovel tossing it into the chute. The ton of coal lasted all winter. He lived in a four family at the time and said one of the other people living there didn't have any coal. When he noticed they were using his, he padlocked his bin.

Why were they using your coal, I asked.
They were so poor they couldn't afford any.


Coal chute at Peggy's house w/ a stencil by Piet!

MOHAWK WARRIOR MORTAR

I had a rather large foundation crack that needed some attention so I posted on the Rehabber's group and asked for advice. Shish, those Rehabber people! Ask them a question, get a few answers and then they start trying to one up each other.

I went with Jeff Neumann's advice: Just use a Type S mortar with some sugar sand mixed in (15-20 shovels for each bag of mortar) should do the job. If you're able to grind the crack out first, the application will take better. Also remember that the cracks can reoccur as the building settles, so this may not be a permanent fix. Nu-way sells an epoxy based mortar which may be a bit better for your situation, although the Type S is pretty standard. Best of luck.

TGH resident and friend, Other Tim added, useless human knowledge:
mortar "harndess" designations come from looking at every other
letter in the phrase "MaSoN wOrK". M is the hardest, O and K are
recognized (by whatever entities recognizes such things...)but
seldom, if ever, used. N is standard for older structures.

I took Jeff's advice and ended up with an eighty pound bag of Mohawk Mortar.

I googled Mohawk Mortar with no results...so what's behind the name?


The mega crack


Go ahead and sneer, these are the tools I used:
Trowel for lifting the mortar out of the bag.
Pan cake turner for mixing.
A dust pan for filling the crack, the mortar slid in.
Sofa pillow snatched in the alley for sitting on while working.
Beau supervising.



Filled and setting.

HOW TO KILL CURB APPEAL & OFFEND YOUR NEIGHBOR

Hi.

I'm your neighbor that lives up the street. Thrice a week I pass your building and am writing to express my distress about 1) the painted steps, 2) the horrid repointing on the (once) outstanding porch. The only thing pretty in this photo is the back of Beaus' head (note he's looking away from the steps. That's my boy.)

I could have let the painted steps slide without comment.



But this?


What is this, some home made cement mojo mixed in the basement and applied with a spatula and spray gun?

You've some of my most favorite brick on your building - what I call incised brick (it's not, that's just my name for it. It was fired in a mold with ridges). I love the soldier bond used on the top and bottom of the porch!

You may have considered the subtle range of color to your bricks before painting the steps dismal gray. The colors resonate with nature and all that is Outside.

Added to Hoosier Contracting:

4012 JUNIATA

Yesterday I spotted these two bricks on the walkway to the most troubled house in Tower Grove South. I seriously did a double take then snickered and giggled at the two bricks outside of this vinyl sided double wide.

Click on the title above to read more on the double wide.

PRANKING STEVE WILKE-SHAPIRO

Every so often while Tim and I were dining on Grand I'd say, Let's prank Steve!

We both thought this was an excellent idea and would walk (well, I limped) over to SWS's house giggling. Two middle age weirdo's out to prank an unsuspecting serious guy.

The first time was almost funny (for us). We knocked, waited and guffawed. When Rachel opened the door, we asked if we were too early for the dinner party which supposedly had been announced on the TGS group.

The second time was a flop. YIKES!

Steve Wilke-Shapiro, architect, urban planner, community activist and friend of Marti Frumhoff was responsible for creating http://www.15thwardstl.org/ the only blog in the city that covers a ward.

15wardstl.org will continue to provide articles by two TGS/H residents, Mike and Adam.

View from SWS's porch.

TGS SEMI ANNUAL ARCHITECTURE WALK

Twice a year Tim Klass, Tower Grove Heights resident and Registered Architect conducts a walking tour of a section of TGS. This Walk serves as a fundraiser for the Block Captain's Fund and is an opportunity for neighborhood residents to meet each other.

Tim and I co-moderate the Tower Grove South yahoo group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TGSouth/

Thanks to Jan and Denise for providing these photos!






Tim


Our tour ended at the studio of Tom Krepcio who talked with us about his work. Take an online tour of his comprehensive site:
http://www.krepcio.com/vitreosity/archives/cat_st_louis_stained_glass.html


Some of Tom's work:

DISTRESSED BRICK

Located on MGF, just north of Three Monkeys.

These bricks are exquisite, I tell you. They present a 'distressed' surface similar to Gavin Clinkers yet they are uniformly rectangle.

Spotted on a single family residence that may have been built in the 1950's. These are currently my most favorite bricks in the neighborhood.

For the record, I really miss Steve Wilke-Shapiro.

KILLER GRAFFITI

I give up.

I've spent the last hour on google trying to remember the name of the artist from NYC who has used LED message boards as a medium in the early 90's. Being that it's 4:45 in the morning may have some influence on my hesitant memory.

This particular artist started in the late 70's by placing printed stickers all over NYC phone booths with various messages. One read FATHERS ABUSE POWER.

A prize to the first person who supplies me with her name.

I cherish guerilla art. Earlier last night I was strolling down to Hartford Coffee CO to meet the rest of the Block Captain steering committee and took these photos. I mentioned them to Andrew, he told me it must be the work of his neighbor, Piet (click on the title of this post above). I've just viewed his site, he's a cross between a Furrie and street magician, David Blaine.

Be nice to animals or I will kill you.

Face on sidewalk, 41 Hartford


41 Juniata

OAK HILL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Jan Stanford, the historian of Oak Hill Presbyterian Church on Oak Hill and Connecticut, kindly gave me a tour on Saturday afternoon.

Entrance hall of church.




Massive stained glass window.



Sachristy ceiling

View from the top of the staircase.

The Church also owns this building next door (4115 Connecticut)
which they refer to as the Annex. At one time it was rented to the American Indian Center (and that's when the wood work was painted turquoise!)
Dining room

First Floor front room and fireplace









Second floor clothes chute.



Brass wall sconce