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.