Exterior Paint {End of Day 2}

These pictures are for Steven. Poor guy had to work a double shift at work and hasn't seen the progress here on North Street. The foreman for the job informed me today that he has bought every wire brush in Livingston, Texas. I laughed and he said "I'm serious." When I asked if he needed anything he said "well, just a big ole' bucket of patience." It's really HOT, hard work scraping the exterior of an old house when it's 95 degrees out. SO GLAD we are paying him to do the work!

 
 
 

Goodbye Old Paint {Time for Some Curb Appeal}

Four men have surrounded my house armed with paint scrapers and electric powered wire brushes. The scraping and banging is like beautiful music. “Goodbye Old Paint….”

Washgravel Paver Patio

Our friends had 80 wash gravel pavers that they were getting rid of and offered them to us. We've always envisioned a small patio just outside the backdoor. We've never been successful in getting grass to grow well there and also thought our summer al fresco dinners might be more enjoyable if we didn't have to trek to the front of the house and were able to go from the kitchen to the back patio in just a few steps. So my handy, talented husband borrowed his dad's tractor and spent a couple days working dirt around to fill this old hole and leveling out the patio site!

Over the next few days he loaded and unloaded the pavers, leveled and smoothed, tweaked, stood back and stared, adjusted and tweaked (did I already say tweaked? well, it's appropriate to list that twice because boy did he TWEAK).

He finished the last of the sand Wednesday just before a nice rain. All that tweaking paid off, because today, it's perfect.

Now for the fun part. Shopping for an Iron bench, planting something new in the flower bed and smoothing out the dirt around the patio so that the grass grows up to it. Looking forward to enjoying this space during the summer evenings that are upon us. Thank you, Steven. and Thank you, Ricky and Dana for the pavers!

Old House Update {Master Bath Shower}

It's here! It's Up! And it's Beautiful!

After so many years of saving and waiting, it feels odd to walk in the bathroom and see a HUGE cultured marble shower in the corner. When giving friends and family the "house progress tour" I won't have to hold my arms out to the side, and spin around saying "and this is where the shower will go" because it's HERE!

Ready for the installation step by step?

Saturday Steven finished the wall prep work. Adalyn and Ricky were his supervisors.

Workers built a form from wood, added a liner and filled it with sakrete.

 

Marble base added.



One wall with the accessory center hole cut.



Both walls up. Only trim is lacking on the right.

TaDa!

The crew from R&D Marble in Willis Texas handled the installation. They'll be back on Monday to install the corner seat. We went back and forth about that seat. Only old people use seats in the shower right? Then I decided that shaving would be easier AND a shower might be more relaxing for my future prego self too. So, corner butt seat it is!

Next step the faucet and then the glass.

Old House Update: Daddy's Helper

January first was a fresh start on house work. Nothing much happens to this old house during the months of October, November or December. The holidays are much to fun to spend time painting. However, this year we did have the medicine cabinets professionally stained and I hope to have pictures to post once we get them hung. Just piddling with those is about all we did during the holidays.

That said, January was a VERY productive month. Steven finished ALL of the trim in the room, including the baseboards and as of Sunday, it's all painted. It's sorta shocking to be this close!

These photos of Daddy's little helper were just too cute not to share. Adalyn is the complete oposite of Marin. If there is something dangerous in the room, she goes for that first. Her next item is typically something that will make a HUGE (scary) mess. And despite being continuously told "No, no, Adalyn" she remains cheerfully, persistent!

It's Not All Fun and Games

When it rains it pours, or in our case when the city's sewer main backs up it makes the grass really green. During a drought GREEN grass is a sign that something is wrong. An abandoned sewer drain line that ran under the cement sidewalk in our backyard was leaking moisture into the ground. The moisture caused the sidewalk to sink and broke the grey water drain line for our kitchen and washroom. After Steven identified the broken drain line and repaired the line we thought our troubles were over. He pumped out the hole and within hours the hole filled with water. We thought maybe it was just water leaching out of the soil, so he pumped it again and once again it filled quickly...HELLO SEWAGE! That's when we realized there was more to the GREEN grass than just our leaking grey water.

Poor Steven spent most everyday of this week, digging holes in the yard, repairing plumbing, talking to city officials about easements and sewer mains and digging around in sewage. Things could be worse. We could be living in our neighbor's house. Her home sits right on top of the City sewer main that's causing all of these problems. A crew of guys came out today and dug a swimming pool size hole in her backyard and capped the old abandoned service line from the tap that once serviced our home and out buildings. Hopefully that will be the end of our sewer fed GREEN GRASS.

I always share the fun aspect of remodeling This Old House, so I thought it only fair to share the yucky side too. Sometimes it's about choosing paint colors and custom cabinets. Other days it's about sewage, digging holes in the yard and drinking BEER, lots of beer.

So here's to here's to the adventures of remodeling an old house and having an UBER talented Handyman by your side. Thank you, Steven.

Vinegar and Salt to Clean Old Faucet Bodies

 

After researching ways to remove lime and mineral deposit build up from these old faucet bodies, we settled on a concoction. Five table spoons vinegar to two teaspoons salt. WORKED LIKE A CHARM. After testing a few small pieces, we made a large batch of the mixture and let the faucet bodies soak. That was the key. That and then scrubbing them gently with a wire brush. The tedious part was picking at the grooves with a set of "dentist" looking tools Steven bought for the project. After paying to have the visible parts of these faucets rechromed, we just couldn't bring ourselves to screw the new, freshly chromed pieces, to these green scummy faucet bodies. What a pleasant surprise it was when, after a little elbow grease, they came out so clean and shiny. Steven has put one faucet body back together on the fresh, refurbished porcelain sink. Will take pictures of the final product once the sinks are hanging in the bathroom. Little by little...

Fabulous French Doors!

Reed glass in Mahogany. Ahhhhhhhhh.....Seriously I've been dreaming of these doors since we bought the house (seven-long-years-ago). Still need to be stained to match the doors in the house and the cabinets in the bathroom, but it's installed and now we can finish the trim and baseboards in the master bedroom.

View from the master bedroom (see the louver closet doors in the background?)

View from the master bath into the bedroom.

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.

Custom Medicine Cabinets

My favorite resource for vintage hardware and lighting is Rejuvination. If you know about my secret desire to make a living restoring old light fixtures, you understand why I love their catalogs so much. So, when it came time to buy light fixtures for our bathroom, I immediately when to their website. We purchased the Rufus fixture in white porcelain.

Steven was reluctant to have medicine cabinets above our sinks, but after much discussion about storage we agreed, they would be useful. Having come to this decision later in the game, we couldn’t accommodate recessed medicine cabinets so ours have to be wall mounted. We decided this would work well with our shelf back sinks, but were worried that if we mounted our new wall mounted Rufus fixtures above the wall mounted medicine cabinets, there would be an awful shadow; thus the Custom Medicine Cabinet concept. Steven came up with the idea of mounting the light ON the cabinet.

Using an old medicine cabinet that we removed from the old bathroom, and the new cabinets we purchased from Pottery Barn as inspiration we came up with this design.

We’ve visited with a carpenter about building them for us and are in the process of choosing the type of wood and mixing just the right wood stain concoction. We’ll be using the beveled glass from the old cabinets as well as the hinges and knobs.

Refurbished Shelf Back Faucets

We are getting closer and closer everyday! Last time I mentioned plumbing was when we had the sinks and tub refinished. At that time we were still in limbo about what to do for faucets, and finally settled on the idea of refurbishing the old shelf back faucets. There were small details about the old faucets that we didn't want to sacrifice buy purchasing new ones.

Steven removed the old sets and dismantled each one carefully. We sent pictures of the faucets out for bids and finally settled on a company in Houston called Atlas Plating. They re-chromed one piece to make sure the metal would re-chrome well, sent us a picture to approve and then began the work on all the pieces. It took three weeks and we finally received the final product on Friday. They did a beautiful job. Next step: replacing the rubber washers and seats. Then the installation!

Reworking and restoring something old into something fresh and new makes me giddy!

Sources for shelf back plumbing options:

Plumbing Parts Depot

The Chicago Faucet Shoppe

Faucet Direct

Do It Yourself Plumbing and Heating (Antique Plumbing)

Chandelier Restoration Complete!

I found two brass Chandeliers at the Catholic Church Bazaar probably four years ago. I paid five dollars for each one at the time. They've been a project I work on in stages. Feels amazing to have them finished and hung! One of many things on a "before the baby arrives" checklist.

First step: dismantle and clean. Second: rewire and/or check old wiring. Third: paint with primer. Four: Find replacement parts. Thus the reason this little project was so drawn out.

The most challenging part about reworking these little beauties was finding replacement parts. Fibre drip candle covers (that had to be painted white), bell canopies (in paintable spun brass), bobeches (huh? yeah, that's what I said) in white porcelain. Crossbars, blind pendant stems and chain. Whew!

It was challenging, but fun. My dream job: to be paid for restoring antique lights. Didn't know that about me did ya? (GRIN).

Resources for Antique Lamp Restoration:
Antique Lamp Supply
Highland Lighting

Belly Art

Belly Art: Spontaneously created work of art derived from repeated encounters with painted surfaces. Can only be created by an individual who is "with child" and has a terrible habit of wiping her hands clean on the front of her shirt.

Nine days until Adalyn's estimated arrival date...

Ricky To the Rescue {Painted Wood Floors}

Our friend Ricky volunteered to help us paint last week. Not only did he spend hours helping this prego paint 32 door trim boards, he came over two nights last week to paint our master bath floor. We choose a glossy, porch and floor paint from Sherwin Williams. The color is Folkstone and it's beautiful! Ricky was tedious and the paint looks beautiful! One more coat and the floor will be ready for the tub and fixtures to be installed. Thank you, Ricky for giving of your time and talents. There is nothing like a friend getting involved in our projects to give us a new spurt of energy!

Steven painted the small bathroom floor with a red, glossy, porch and floor paint made by Glidden. It's a tad shinier than the Sherwin Williams and I think it goes well with the Spun Sugar color in the bath and the Wicker color in the bedroom.

Hoping we like these painted floors for the bathroom. I think they are unique and I'm crossing my fingers that they are simple to keep clean.