Starting when he was about 12, Adam Bird helped his father rehab houses in Bridgeville. But for his first solo project, he aimed higher.
“My wife knew I was interested. This is in our blood. I said, ‘I’m not going to do single-family. I want something bigger. I want more bang for my buck.’”
A 1950s church with 3,200 square feet is certainly bigger, and he and his father almost made it look easy. The Indiana Township church that they turned into two apartments was a finalist in the large residential category ($50,000 and over) of last year’s Renovation Inspiration Contest. Jan. 29 is the entry deadline for the 2016-17 contest (http://biz.post-gazette.com/renovationcontest/), which is judged by staffers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Design Center Pittsburgh.
“It was a learning process for me, to see if I’m cut out for this business,” said Mr. Bird, a 32-year-old engineer.
We think he passed with flying colors. But don’t take our word for it. Believe the Rev. Brian Smith, whose father, Charles, was pastor of Jerusalem Church of God in Christ. Brian is now its pastor.
“I grew up in this church,” he said, looking around the former sanctuary last year. “It was always a picturesque country church. It’s a complete transformation.”
The Pentecostal congregation put up a one-story concrete-block building in 1958, then added another story in 1978. Pastor Smith and other church members listed it for sale when they moved to Wilkinsburg in 2012. Mr. Bird found it on Craigslist and bought it for $45,000 in May 2013.
Its solid construction, including 22-inch-thick walls downstairs and 18 inches upstairs, was one of the attractions, he said. He also liked the 13½-foot ceiling in the first-floor sanctuary, which is now a 1,600-square-foot apartment. The basement apartment, which also has 1,600 square feet, was the church’s original worship space, then was turned into a social hall when the upstairs was added.
Demolition took six months. Mr. Bird tried to salvage and reuse wood trim and other items, but he had no use for 30 pews. They were easier to sell than he thought they would be.
“I should go into the pew-selling business,” he joked.
Once the demo was done, he realized what a monumental task it would be to build out and finish two two-bedroom, two-bath apartments. His father, Don, said Adam didn’t ask him for help, but Adam’s mother, Barbara, “guilted” her husband into it. Actually, he admitted, he owed his son for the years of free labor that Adam and his brother Christopher had given him.
“He never complained about me correcting him,” said Don Bird, who helped most weekends. “He learned the hard way that if you don’t do it right at the beginning, you’ll pay for it at the end.”
Adam’s wife, Hoa, also pitched in, tapping into place 3,000 square feet of laminate flooring and providing design advice on finishes, paint and flooring colors. They have two daughters, 2 years old and 3 weeks old, and live nearby in Indiana.
Mr. Bird has bachelor’s (Robert Morris University) and master’s degrees in engineering plus an MBA, both from the University of Pittsburgh. He said he worked from 8 to 11 p.m. most weekdays after work and nearly every weekend for two years. He didn’t mind working alone at night.
“This was my little sanctuary here.”
He left part of the former worship space open for a modern kitchen and living room. Hanging in their original locations are three 1970s chrome light fixtures from the church. Some are in bedrooms.
A glass wall around the former vestibule, which holds one remaining pew, helps make the living space bright. The old pastor’s office -- a small room that Mr. Bird called the belltower because of its high ceiling -- is used as a playroom by the family that lives there.
Mr. Bird replaced all windows with Thermo-Twin double panes except one cross-shaped cutout that illuminated the sanctuary. He filled that space with block and donated the stained glass back to the Wilkinsburg church.
So what did he learn on his first project?
“Whatever you estimate, double it in work and cost,” he said.
He recalled how former church members and neighbors would sometimes stop by to check his progress on the project. Most didn’t know his name.
“I’m just the guy in the church,” he said, laughing.
Kevin Kirkland: kkirkland@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1978.
First Published: January 20, 2017, 5:00 a.m.