Gosh, it's been a long time since I posted!
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 6:55 pm
It has apparently been a year since I last posted, but in the last year and a half, I have gained a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law, and a new grandson, and my mother has moved here from Texas into assisted living. A lot of “life events” in a short time, and another to come soon as I retire in May from the college where I’ve worked for 18 years!
I continue to plug away at my 1941 bungalow/rancher, although I haven’t had as much work time on it as I would have liked. Hopefully, with retirement, that will change. I never had a deadline for this house, and I don’t feel like it should be finished by now, but I do get frustrated that I don’t have time to work on it.
The whole house has been rewired and replumbed to code.
I’ve tried really hard not to “remuddle,” but I don’t think this house’s style is historically significant, so I’ve taken a few liberties while retaining as much character as possible. In order to make it attractive to families, I’ve rejiggered a few walls to add a second bathroom and possible third bedroom without adding any square footage.
Moved the kitchen from the dark back of the house into the breakfast room area, where the light and the view are so much better, and relocated the laundry facilities from the uninsulated, un-temperature-controlled back porch into the former kitchen area, which makes so much more sense as both the back door and the basement door are in that space. I hate foot traffic through a kitchen!
The two bedrooms were huge, and the bathroom was one of the 5-foot wide, 11- or 12-foot-long bowling alleys. I took 2 ½ feet from the smaller bedroom to make the bathroom width 7 ½ feet. Then built a wall to split the room lengthways, making a hall bathroom with the original tub, and cutting a door in the bigger bedroom to make a master suite. I’ve completed the hall bath, but not the master.
I’ve removed one sash from one window to see if I can restore them, and have discovered that, although the bottom sash came out nicely, the top sash is painted shut and will have to have the seal cut from the outside, after I remove the storms! I got it stripped down and am ready to reglaze. Fourteen windows times two sashes—what was I thinking?! The windows are worth saving; they have sash chains, not cords, and all are intact even though some don’t currently work and the putty is falling out—that’s what I was thinking.
I had intended to try to restore the interior doors, but they were all flush veneer doors and were so badly damaged, it wasn’t worth it, so I had new ones made. However, I have all the original hardware—knobs, face plates, locksets, hinges, and all! My door guy wasn’t happy because the old locksets had to be hand mortised in. So it cost a little more for labor, but I would have had to purchase new locksets anyway, and wouldn’t have looked as good.
I’ve hung all the ceiling drywall in the house and am finishing a room at a time. I’ve discovered that the old water damage in the plaster walls was much more extensive than I thought. I’ve stripped miles of wallpaper and reserved a special place in hell for people who paint over wallpaper. PO apparently used wallpaper to hold crumbling plaster in place because when I remove it the wall comes with it. I also discovered that the exterior walls consist of two layers of brick with an air space between, covered on the inside surface with a brown coat and plaster. No exterior stud walls (try rewiring or adding new electrical boxes in that!) But it does make for one solid house. I’m repairing all the water damage, but more on that in another post.
I’m scraping all the trim in the house and will repaint. Before anyone starts screaming, the trim is not good wood, and was always painted, never stained and finished. But it’s been easier to scrape than you’d think; it’s only been painted a couple of times and the top coat just flakes off. The original coat looks like primer; at least, I hope it was primer. It’s a nasty shade of yellow beige. I’d hate to think that was really the color of the trim.
Whew! It sounds like I’ve done a lot, but when I walk into the house, I get overwhelmed by how much ISN’T done. Sorry for the long post. I’ve been stalking everyone on the weekly digest and have enjoyed the progress, so I thought it was time for me to update. I’ll attach some pictures next time I post with more detail about what’s been done.
We thought it was already spring here in Tennessee, but apparently not. I feel for all of you up North.
I continue to plug away at my 1941 bungalow/rancher, although I haven’t had as much work time on it as I would have liked. Hopefully, with retirement, that will change. I never had a deadline for this house, and I don’t feel like it should be finished by now, but I do get frustrated that I don’t have time to work on it.
The whole house has been rewired and replumbed to code.
I’ve tried really hard not to “remuddle,” but I don’t think this house’s style is historically significant, so I’ve taken a few liberties while retaining as much character as possible. In order to make it attractive to families, I’ve rejiggered a few walls to add a second bathroom and possible third bedroom without adding any square footage.
Moved the kitchen from the dark back of the house into the breakfast room area, where the light and the view are so much better, and relocated the laundry facilities from the uninsulated, un-temperature-controlled back porch into the former kitchen area, which makes so much more sense as both the back door and the basement door are in that space. I hate foot traffic through a kitchen!
The two bedrooms were huge, and the bathroom was one of the 5-foot wide, 11- or 12-foot-long bowling alleys. I took 2 ½ feet from the smaller bedroom to make the bathroom width 7 ½ feet. Then built a wall to split the room lengthways, making a hall bathroom with the original tub, and cutting a door in the bigger bedroom to make a master suite. I’ve completed the hall bath, but not the master.
I’ve removed one sash from one window to see if I can restore them, and have discovered that, although the bottom sash came out nicely, the top sash is painted shut and will have to have the seal cut from the outside, after I remove the storms! I got it stripped down and am ready to reglaze. Fourteen windows times two sashes—what was I thinking?! The windows are worth saving; they have sash chains, not cords, and all are intact even though some don’t currently work and the putty is falling out—that’s what I was thinking.
I had intended to try to restore the interior doors, but they were all flush veneer doors and were so badly damaged, it wasn’t worth it, so I had new ones made. However, I have all the original hardware—knobs, face plates, locksets, hinges, and all! My door guy wasn’t happy because the old locksets had to be hand mortised in. So it cost a little more for labor, but I would have had to purchase new locksets anyway, and wouldn’t have looked as good.
I’ve hung all the ceiling drywall in the house and am finishing a room at a time. I’ve discovered that the old water damage in the plaster walls was much more extensive than I thought. I’ve stripped miles of wallpaper and reserved a special place in hell for people who paint over wallpaper. PO apparently used wallpaper to hold crumbling plaster in place because when I remove it the wall comes with it. I also discovered that the exterior walls consist of two layers of brick with an air space between, covered on the inside surface with a brown coat and plaster. No exterior stud walls (try rewiring or adding new electrical boxes in that!) But it does make for one solid house. I’m repairing all the water damage, but more on that in another post.
I’m scraping all the trim in the house and will repaint. Before anyone starts screaming, the trim is not good wood, and was always painted, never stained and finished. But it’s been easier to scrape than you’d think; it’s only been painted a couple of times and the top coat just flakes off. The original coat looks like primer; at least, I hope it was primer. It’s a nasty shade of yellow beige. I’d hate to think that was really the color of the trim.
Whew! It sounds like I’ve done a lot, but when I walk into the house, I get overwhelmed by how much ISN’T done. Sorry for the long post. I’ve been stalking everyone on the weekly digest and have enjoyed the progress, so I thought it was time for me to update. I’ll attach some pictures next time I post with more detail about what’s been done.
We thought it was already spring here in Tennessee, but apparently not. I feel for all of you up North.