Renewed, Restored

As our blog title indicates, the whole goal is to bring back to life what has been allowed – either by bad taste or lack of interest – to deteriorate. This past weekend was a chance to Renew, Restore, and even Re-fashion, in a sense.

The greatest accomplishment, by far, was the results of the hours put in by Repair-O Man (a.k.a., Brother Rob). After following through with a suggestion from Rob’s mom: taking out the wall behind the built-in china hutch and opening up the middle section, the project just seemed to languish sadly in the kitchen. While everything else around it was being transformed, it sat dejected, waiting its turn at rejuvenation. Rob and I had a general idea as to what we wanted, but didn’t have the least little clue as to actually make it happen.

Repair-O Man had a plan.

We knew that the shelves themselves needed to be extended, but we weren’t sure as to just how that was going to happen. Sure, cut boards to fit, etc.; but how do you fasten them on? Screws? That would look tacky. Those funny, wrinkly nail thingys? That would look even worse. Repair-O Man came up with a solution that we would never have considered in a million years: joining the extension with biscuits. Yes, I said biscuits. With biscuits, wood glue, and about a million clamps, the shelves now came out flush with the wall behind it.

When we took out the wall (way, way back in January), we saved the old beadboard backing. Repair-O Man cut down the segments needed to enclose the top and bottom cabinets and reinstalled them. Adding some 2X4’s for additional support, he fastened sheetrock over that. The chimney that ran along the right side of the hutch presented a problem, in that the plaster had come off in jaggedy line. Repair-O Man just cut a piece of sheetrock to match the outline of the old plaster. The new then met the old and were joined by a hearty dose of mud later on.

The rest of the restoration falls on our shoulders, but that’s okay. This part, we can do. It looks like the kitchen could become the second room in the house to reach full completion. (And to think, I honestly expected to live with the big hole in the wall well beyond our move-in date!)

The rest of the weekend activities didn’t render quite the same dramatic results; nevertheless, they were equally as productive.

We said goodbye to the old claw-foot bathtub that had been in the bathroom since 1910 and, recently, lying on its side in the living room for the past two months. Rob and I scooted it out onto the porch and were happy to see it go the next morning, because, from across the street, it looked like a dead Holstein. Rob’s cousin came and picked it up (well, maybe not picked it up). It’ll find a new home in a house that is yet to be built.

Rob and I cut, fitted, painted, and installed beadboard panels in the bathroom. Specifically, the pieces that go behind the fixtures (as that’s what the contractors are getting ready to install). We figure it’s easier to do that now than later. We found that beadboard siding was infinitely cheaper than the paneling we bought for the kitchen. Since we were planning on painting it anyway, we used a heavy-duty sealer/primer to cover it front, back and sides. We also slapped some on the wall. Taking this measure, and also caulking around the edges, should ensure that moisture has little chance of working its way behind the panels and end up becoming vast civilizations of mold colonies.

This wont come as news to you seasoned restorers, but we’ve discovered that the little things – trim, baseboard, wainscoting, etc., end up taking more time than we originally imagined. It seems like you spend hours with little to show for it. Still, we know that it’s all part of the process. People who come over always say that we’re "really making progress," and we’re holding them to their word.

I imagine the bathroom will be nearly finished, by the end of the week. We should have the trim in the guestroom ready to put back on the walls by Thursday or Friday. On Friday, the "Installation Team" is going to come out and put in our – ahem – Corian countertops.
Renew, Restore, Rejuvenate . . . and later, maybe, Relax.

Hard Work, but We're Doin' A Heck of a Job

Everyone who stops by and sees the house says that we’ve been making a lot of progress. With our project list growing, we at least enjoy having a variety of tasks to do. If we get tired of doing one thing, we can switch to whatever’s next on the list. Even though it might seem a bit capricious, things do get done and we have a better time. And, that’s what’s it’s all about, after all.

The contractors finished putting in the tile floor in the kitchen, laundry room and pantry. That alone has really given the room a finished look. The kitchen cabinets are finished. This past weekend, we started setting the cabinets. We got as far as the two cabinets of either side of the stove. Since we’re having the countertop made to fit it, we had to make sure the cabinet was precisely level and plumb. Then we had to screw it into the wall without messing up our measurements. No easy feat.

Last Friday, we borrowed the truck and hauled four 4X8 sheets of beadboard paneling, six sheet of sheetrock, and a dozen different boards of trim (i.e., baseboard, chair rail, quarter round, etc.). I spent much of the past weekend staining this mountain of unfinished wood. On this bare wood, I’ve found that you have to use at least 2 coats of stain ("Special Walnut") to give it an even look.

Rob filled in the space underneath the south kitchen window with sheetrock. It had been left open, when they put in the last set of cabinets.

Prior to doing any of these fun, indoor activities, we spent all morning, Saturday, finishing loading the dumpster. Even though we super-sized on the dumpster, we still managed to fill it up. We even took off the trellises on either side of the front porch and pitched them in there. Anything that was too big and bulky for our trash cart got pitched in. It’s amazing how much trash can come from a project like this.

Our lights for the kitchen and pantry came. The contractor installed the pantry light, and Rob tried to hook up the main kitchen light; but didn’t have any luck getting it to come on. I left a note for the contractors, today, and hopefully, they’ll be able to figure out the problem.
It really is starting to come together. The guys are going to start working on the bathroom, next. They want to get the house livable as soon as they can. It’s doubtful that a moving day would happen any sooner than mid-March, but that’s fine. There isn’t that much rush, and it’s been nice to not have to live with the chaos – just visit it.

There have always been surprises and new discoveries, ever since we got the house. An even bigger surprise happened recently when we got a call from the former owner. She was very gracious, as I expected her to be. What I found especially interesting was that she always wanted to open up that inside staircase. She was surprised to hear that we already did that.

Amazing Raze

If you’ve been following this saga, you know that this house has duo personalities. The bottom floor has an Edwardian-era elegance about it, while the upstairs, which had been converted to a self-contained apartment, complete with bathroom, kitchen (that had been built over the inside staircase), and outside entrance via a fire escape, looks and feels more like Ike and Mamie’s servant’s quarters. If we could not bridge the generation gaps between the two floors, then we were at least going to join the two floors period.

The only way this could possibly be accomplished was through the combined forces of Brother Rob and DESTRUCO MAN.

Opening a blocked passageway in a house is, I would imagine, just about as pleasant as opening blockages in people. However, within 30 minutes of arrival, Destructo Man had performed the necessary "ectomies": bathtubectomy, sinkectomy, and, er…. you know. Brother Rob successfully slayed the dragon on the opposite side of the wall – the old kitchen cabinets. In 1-½ hours, both rooms had been gutted and the wall between them sundered. Once those were gone, they were able to get to the blockage – floorboards that completely covered what had been an open staircase.

Destructo Man used his reciprocating saw like it was a butter knife. Without thinking twice, he sliced off whatever was in his way: pipes, sheetrock, floorboards, toes (not really), 2X4’s . . . you name it. The huge floor joists were severed neatly at the stairwell walls, and for the first time in, probably, 50 years or more, you could see all the way to the top of the second floor ceiling from the downstairs.

Even with a break for lunch (which was catered!), Brother Rob and Destructo Man were finished in less than 5 hours! Amazing! They left behind an upstairs screaming with possibilities and a small mountain range of debris in the backyard that just makes you scream.

It feels like we have a whole house, now. No more having to brave the cold and fumble around for another key to visit the upstairs. We both agree that whoever did the original remodeling did a pretty good job. It was a very clever and economical use of space. Still, we’re glad it’s back to where it started from. Now we see some new options we hadn’t considered before. Even though the upstairs is part of the second phase of the remodel, it’s nice to know it’s ready to go anytime. That’s something we couldn’t have possibly accomplished on our own.