Old House Update

A little here. A little there. That's what we've been up to. There’s nothing "visually exciting" about window stops and baseboards, just more painting and spackling. Since the last house update we've installed our closet doors (which still need to be painted). Installed baseboards; installed window stops; looked for parts to finish the faucets for our sinks. Installed the rope lights in the master bedroom; and worked on facets of the Custom Medicine Cabinets.

There were two, old, built in medicine cabinets in the house when we bought it. One was removed and saved when we began the west side remolding project. The other was in our functioning bathroom, but was only useful as a mirror. We decided to take the old mirrors and hinges from these two medicine cabinets and use them in the new custom cabinets. Here are a few photos of the old cabinet, its hinges, and knobs.

While dismantling the old cabinets we discovered a date stamp on the back of each mirror. The cabinets were apparently manufactured by Binswanger & Co., Houston, Texas. One on May 12, 1927 and the other on May 13, 1927. What an exciting discovery and one that’s quite useful in “guestimating” the age of our home.

We removed the hinges, soaked them in ammonia to remove the paint, and cleaned them with steel wool and emery cloth. It was tedious work but gratifying. Below are before and after pictures of the hinge pins.

And here are photos of the new cabinets. An Escapees RV Club member Leon Culbertson built the cabinets for us from poplar wood. Steven and I have sanded them and hope to stain them soon. After many staining tests, I THINK Steven has settled on a stain mixture we are both happy with. Hope to share pictures of the final product soon.