Half a Chestnut

Fiesta

2011-07-09T09:36:00.001-07:00

I found a whole lot of Fiestaware dishes on Craigslist, a service for 10 for $60. I already had a few of my own.

I will need to sell some of the extras.

Or do something like this...

Blotchy

2011-07-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

This is exactly what I was afraid of. I spent hours stripping and sanding. I hesitated staining because I was unsure how it would look. It is a blotchy, swirly mess.

This is the trim in the back hall leading to the basement. I started with this trim rather than something in the middle of living area.

I can see my standing marks, there may be some residual shellac or paint left. I am so frustrated. I will address this another time.

Dog Waste Composting

2011-06-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I discontinued my curbside trash pickup and now run my own trash to the local waste management site. The price for emptying a small bin of trash was going up every few months due to gas and energy surcharges and I found myself paying close to $80 every 3 months for waste disposal. I don't generate a lot of waste. I buy very few pre-packaged items, I recycle and compost all I can. The waste management site charges $2 to dispose of a 30 gallon size bag of trash. I found that I fill a trash bag about every 3 weeks. Quite a cost savings for very minimal effort.

However, I did find out what was the source of a large amount of waste--

Yes, the Rosa dog.

I found dealing with her waste a bit more difficult. But then I came across information about pet waste composting and in the course of a weekend, put together my system. I followed the directions on cityfarmer.org (Yeah, I still don't know how to add a link in my post)

First I dug a really deep hole

I located the hole in the area where the dog does her business. It is right next to the alley, far from the vegetable garden. "Call before you dig!" It was very easy digging, though smelly-because after all I was right in the area where the dog does her business.

I dug a round hole that was 36" deep. I had only a shovel and a coffee can. A post hole digger would have been nice and my kind neighbor, Dave offered me the use of one when I was done.

I bought a nice new shiny galvanized trash can, Locally made!! Then I used a 1" drill bit to drill several holes in the bottom and sides of the can.

I threw a bunch of rocks into the hole. I was glad to be able to get rid of some various pieces from around the yard- a small area of concrete (or is it cement?) that I broke out, a few broken patio blocks and a couple broken bricks. I added the bricks and rocks to bring the height of the can up to where I wanted it to be.

I then filled in the space around the sides with more rock. Glad to find another use for the piles of landscaping rock surrounding my house. I dug this hole before I bought the garbage can and I think I did an amazing job of estimating the size.

I still have to move the excess dirt pulled from the hole. The can will be just slightly above grade- this will prevent all the rain water funneling into it. But I will grade the surrounding soil so that I can remove the cover and rake the waste right into the hole/can.

From here I just put the waste in the can, then start things composting with the use of septic tank starter and added water. The septic starter promotes natural bacterial growth. As I think about it now, it seems the water will quickly drain out of the can until there is a good amount of waste in there. I'll just see how it goes. Once it gets started it needs a bucket of water a week and packet of septic starter about 1-2 times a month. Most of the waste should turn to liquid, wash out of the container and what remains is a humus (hummus?). There is no smell, even in the warmest weather. I've read that it will take 3-5 years for the can to fill. Then it can be buried in another part of the yard and start again.

Sunday

2011-06-19T19:47:00.000-07:00

I worked on this little piece of side yard today, it really needs to be cleaned up. I would like to enlarge the perennial garden area and but I need to put down some sort of mulch or grass right next to the alley. I have trained the dog to use this part of the yard. I used to have a row of mulberry bushes that separated the area. Now it is all out there. Not sure what to do here.

My friend Carol surprised me with these pots one day. We both have Fiestaware dishes and these pots have the same bold colors. I finally got around to putting plants in them. I usually go and get my annuals on Mother's day, but everything was on sale on Father's day.

I spent most of the day in my garage, sanding trim. This has been a three year marathon. I stripped the paint off with the Silent Paint remover, rough sanded with 80 grit, next was 120 grit. I will fill the holes and then do a final sanding. I am afraid to stain and shellac them. All the work to clear the old finish, I am reluctant to mess up a new finish. It is holding me back.

Dismantling the Queen

2010-12-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

In preparation for refinishing the floors in the house I had to move everything out of the main level. Many items went in the basement but I didn't want to put the beds down there. I was faced with hauling the queen sized mattress and box spring up the stairs. Up the narrow and steep stairs with a turn at the top.

Option 1- Don't even try- it will not fit

Option 2- Try it!!
- Well I did and it didn't fit, not even the mattress.

I bought a roll of cling wrap thinking I could fold the mattress in half and wrap it in cling wrap.

I tried it and there is no way the cling wrap would hold together a folded mattress. Maybe if I went around it about a hundred times.

So then I remembered the straps I used to hold the canoe and other objects on the top of the car.

These worked great. I folded the mattress, sat on it and wrapped the straps around it and ratcheted it tight. It also provided some good hand-holds for carrying the mattress (I was working alone here).

So I carried that giant mattress taco up the stairs. The interior wire framework got bent but it straightened out again after a little reverse folding and just laying the mattress flat for a time. Sleeping on it helped and I slept on the mattress on the floor for a couple of nights.

Now the box spring. No folding this in half.... There are split queen box springs available but I did not want to spend the money. There are tutorials on line about how to cut a box spring in half and piece it back together and I was willing to try that. I flipped the box spring over, took off the fabric backing to see what I had to work with.

3,552 staples removed and I found the box spring was made up of a grid of wood boards and wire supports- no surprise there. Then by examining the board structure and the heavy wire mesh below, I came up with a plan of deconstruction that would allow me the ability to reconstruct.

Rather than sawing anything in half, I removed the boards running the length of the box spring, 5 boards in total, quite easy to remove.

I removed the long boards because I could see that this would allow the wire mesh to be folded in a manner that would not require too much force or deform the box spring in any permanent way. I just looked and the wire mesh and figured out which way it would be easiest to fold.

So again I was able to fold it in half and secure it with the ratchet tie down straps and carry it up the stairs. I laid it flat again, put the long boards back on with wood screws (making it more secure that the nails) and then stapled all the material back in place like it was in the beginning.

Easy-Peasy

It has been 1O months...

2010-11-28T16:05:00.001-08:00

...since I last posted.

Here's what I have been doing since then.

January... got rid of all the old knob and tube wiring in the basement

The house is all rewired but there is still old stuff in the garage. Do you like this tuna can receptacle?

February, March and April in were spent in a funk and I couldn't get my mind around doing anything but sorting Legos

May
Worked on the sewing studio

June
Stripped the stairs and landing

July
Spent three weeks in China!!

Hangzhou

Shanghai

Beijing

Three wonderful weeks visiting my son and his girlfriend and seeing as much of China as possible.

August
Tore up the kitchen floor and emptied out the main level of the house

September
Had all the wood floors stripped, sanded and refinished

October, November
Stripping trim, restoring windows, painting, aargh it has been a full year. The house is still empty and working like crazy to get the windows back in their frames.

Kids

2010-01-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

My son has graduated from college and moved to China. Not house related- but certainly a big deal here at the house.

Now I just have this "kid" at home.

Bathroom (almost) Done

2010-01-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

My bathroom has been put together for some time but I have not updated posts here. It is not totally done but is at about 98%. Why is it so hard to finish that last little bit??

Here is what it looked liked in the beginning...

And now...
new beadboard on the walls, pedestal sink from the Habitat ReStore. Ikea cabinet that was an exact fit for the space, new lights, towel ring from the ReStore, original medicine cabinet stripped and repainted.

New vinyl floor (tile must wait), toilet paper holder from the Habitat Restore, toilet from the ReStore, original tub.

Before...

After...
vintage ceramic cup holder from ReStore, towel bar from the ReStore, new American Standard Williamsburg faucet.

Exhaust fan from the ReStore added where there was none

Swanstone tub surround, American Standard Williamsburg faucet, showerhead and spout

Original shower curtain rod reinstalled, towel hook from ReStore

I did not change the placement of any of the plumbing fixtures but did update all the plumbing-new supply lines, new vent stack. I kept the original plaster above the beadboard, behind it is new drywall because the old plaster came off with the old crappy tiles.
I put new drywall over the badly cracked plaster ceiling and reinstalled the light that was there. I don't think the light is the original but I love the starburst pattern it casts on the ceiling.

Still to do:
Recaulk around tub
Rechrome door hardware
Install small cabinet in toilet alcove
Resurface tub?
Replace vinyl floor with tile
Don't you hate it when there are repairs to do again before the initial restoration/remodeling is done?

Old cabinet

2009-09-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the small medicine cabinet that I had hanging above my stove. Cute, but too small to hold all my spices. Today, at a rummage sale, I found this cabinet for $32.

It is oak, I think, and begs to be stripped of the ugly paint but there are about 502 other projects ahead of it. I have another cabinet in the basement that I plan to put up here but there is much work to do on it before it is ready to hang.

I put a quick coat of paint on the inside to clean it up a bit. I used four 1/4 bolts to screw it into the studs but I worry about it falling. The chair rail on the wall holds much of the weight but I added some additional screws to secure the back to the frame.

Top shelf holds my collection of Kokeshi dolls. I have not had a place to display them for a while. So, it is ok, another quick fix for a room that needs a major overhaul/restoration.

Tomato Cages and a Rain Barrel

2009-08-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

Here is the rain barrel I put together last summer. I bought the barrel for $5 at our local Coca cola bottling plant so I know there was nothing more toxic in it than high fructose corn syrup (toxic enough!) I drilled a couple holes, screwed in a brass faucet and an overflow spout and she is done. Some might say this is terrible waste of treadle sewing machine stand, but it is so cute. I topped the stand with a metal grate I found while walking the dog one day, hooked the barrel to the downspout and there it is.

This year's garden project was making tomato cages. I have been frustrated by wimpy cages and spent time making wooden cages that rotted and broke into pieces. Then one day, on another dog walk, I spotted a tomato cage that would work and be long lasting.

It began with a 16 x 4 foot cattle panel at the local fleet and farm place. Before hauling it out of the lumber yard I had them cut it half with their bolt cutters so I could get it on top of the car. At home I cut it apart into 1 foot wide sections. I first tried using my Sawzall with a metal cutting blade but that took forever so I went and bought a metal cutting blade for my (borrowed from neighbor) circular saw. That cut through the heavy fencing like butta'. I use the grinder to smooth the cut edges. I cut off the bottom so that I could set the cages into the ground.

I considered making them square but found that they were large enough in a triangular shape. I fastened the sides together with plastic zip ties. This way the ties can be cut and the cages can be stored flat inside during the winter.

Each cattle panel cost about $25 and yielded 8 sections. Three (or 4) sections make a cage so they cost about $9 each to make. They are sturdy and will last for years, I believe. Here they are in the garden. The tomato plants have since grown up and over the top but are well supported.

Happy tomatoes, happy me!

How I Insulated the Attic

2009-08-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

So, this is the rock wool insulation that was in my attic when I bought the house. Every so often a hunk of it would fall off into the attic space below. I used duct tape to hold it up but finally it was time to remove it all and reinsulate.

This space is tall enough to walk in and I wanted to keep it a warm space for storage so I chose to insulate under the roof as opposed to insulating the floor and knee walls. I explained how I came to that decision in an earlier post.
I started off with 4x8 sheets of foiled backed polyisocyanurate- or Thermax or Tuff-R.

I hauled them home on the roof of the Passat.

I pulled them upstairs and got to work.

As I explained in an earlier post, I wanted a 1 inch air space between the roof and the insulation. There has been some debate as to whether or not that is needed but I decided to go with it. To create the airspace, I first used some 1/2 inch x 1 inch long boards nailed the full length of the rafters but that involved using a lot of wood and was going to add a lot to the cost. I decided I could use pieces of the insulation. So I cut that into lengths about an inch wide and used them to provide the spacing for the air gap.

I used adhesive to secure it to the rafters. This would prevent the insulation panels from making contact with the roof boards.

In retrospect, I should have applied the pieces to the whole length of the rafter. This would have sealed the area better. I had plenty of scraps of this stuff so there was no need to break it apart and space it like I did. My goal was to have no air infiltration from the ridge and soffit vents in to the attic space and using one long strip would have helped.

I measured between the rafters and cut each piece of polyisocyanate to fit. The rafters are approximately 3 1/2" wide. So there was one inch of air space and 2 pieces of polyisocyanate between the rafters.

It was very easy to cut and work with, lightweight but it was time consuming measuring and cutting each individual piece. I put the shiny aluminum side facing the roof rafters on the first layer but I was unsure about the second layer.

I decided to face the second layer out. I fitted each layer between the rafters. I filled any gaps with expanding foam insulation and then taped all the seams with foil tape.

It certainly made the space much brighter. I then used full sheets to add another layer of insulation on top of the rafters. I used screws and 1.5" plastic washers to hold the third layer up on to the slanted surface.

East side of the attic:

West side of the attic:

All the furniture and stuff from the sewing studio is packed in here as I work on painting and replacing the carpeting.

Lots of cutting and fitting was needed to work around the studs in the knee wall. Well, it is a lot taller than a knee wall.

And that is how I insulated my attic!

Unconventional hair care products

2009-05-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

The attic insulating continues. "Great Stuff" sprayed above the attic doorway closes gaps but unfortunately drips before it cures.

Nothing would get that crap out of my hair but this... I was almost ready for the scissors.

I spent all day Saturday at an auction and picked up these vintage beauties among other things.

The fan is GE, I love the color. The quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted, full size "Grandmother's Flower Garden." I am currently piecing one of my own using vintage and retro fabrics but I just lost all motivation to continue working on it...

Spring time

2009-04-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

Another warm day, perhaps spring is here. It's a mixed bag, I can open the windows and do all those dust and vapor producing house renovation tasks but then there are all those outside projects to do. Ahh springtime...
Saturday, my Passat wagon once again became a pick up truck.

I am always amazed how much yard waste this small lot (small half-of-a-lot) can generate. I have a compost bin but each spring or fall I load 2-3 car loads of leaves and garden waste and haul it out of here. My town has a compost site where grass, brush, and leaves can be taken. There is no curbside pickup.

My little flower garden, below. The tulips, crocuses, and daffodils are making their way up. The rain barrel is hooked up but the second one still needs to be connected. I need to install a length of gutter as well.

I was told that the landscape fabric I put down to clear this section of weedy lawn would not do the job so I added a layer of black plastic. This morning it was raining and I saw little ponds forming on top of the plastic. Ideal mosquito spawning pools so I went out with a pitch fork and poked holes to let the water drain through in the low spots.

Windows

2009-04-12T17:14:00.000-07:00

I worked on this set of windows this weekend. This is the south end of the sewing studio. Before: They don't look bad but most of the glazing has deteriorated on the outside.

I used a utility knife to score the paint between the stop and the side trim. My windows have interlocking weather stripping all around but that was easy to pull off as it was attached with only a small nail at the top and bottom. Once that was removed I could slide one side of the lower sash out and remove it after I pulled off the sash rope. I pulled out the parting bead (it came out in one piece!), and then I was able to remove the upper sash easily as well.

In the picture above you can see the little hole on the right that give me access to the sash weights for that side of the window. I also took out the center trim piece in order to access the cavity shared by both windows. I took this opportunity to put a piece of foam insulation in this space. There is enough room in there that this will not interfere with the movement of the weights. Here is a view at the top of the cavity.

I stripped the paint on the sides and bottom. The storm windows will keep out unwanted guests until the sashes are put back in place.

I then spent hours scraping out the old glazing compound. Fourteen pieces of glass remove without one breaking. I marked their specific locations on a piece of painters tape indicating the space it came from. Each piece was cut to fit its individual spot. R is for right window and an arrow for up.

I made this little thing to protect the glass when using heat to soften the old glazing for easier removal. It is a piece of sheet metal and thick cardboard sandwiched together and held together with foil tape. The metal reflects the heat and the cardboard insulates the glass. I made it the same size as the smaller panes of glass. It worked great, no cracked glass!!

Here is an upper sash, all the glass removed. This is the interior side.

Here is the exterior side with the white paint taken off. Here is the original color of these windows. I stripped all the paint, the green has stained the wood, or maybe it was a stain.

Now here is the problem. Below is a picture of a lower sash. I stripped the paint off of this because it had been overpainted and because it was easy. What I have is a perfectly nice wood window.

The problem? This whole room has painted white trim and I do not want to strip the paint in this room, at least not in the next couple of years. I just want to get these windows reglazed and protect the exterior wood and them get them installed again. I have a whole house full of painted wood on the lower level that I am working on.

My options-
1. Don't strip the old paint on the interior, just sand it lightly and repaint.
2. Do a full restoration, strip the old paint, restain and or shellac to bring the windows back to their original condition. Leave the surrounding trim white until I can refinish it at a later date. After all, with windows are out and accessible, might as well go all the way.
3. Strip the old paint and prime and repaint it white to match the rest of the room. I am not happy with this option because I HATE when people paint over the original finish of wood.

I think I am going to go with number 1. By not stripping the wood now, it will be easier to strip it later as there is that easy melt layer of shellac still there. By repainting now, I may not get the crisp detail I want, but it will be ok. Any thoughts?

Small things

2009-03-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

The grossness of the attic insulating needs to be balanced with some smaller, simpler tasks that move me closer to my goal of getting this space done this spring.
Here are the doorknobs that have been spray painted (I think) a weird silver finish.

And I will be tackling these windows. They need to be reglazed. The glazing is in very rough shape.

The window latches were painted some weird glitter/gold color. Spraypaint, again I think. See the chunks of glazing ready to fall off?

The sash lifts (is that what they are called?) only have a bit of paint around the edges. They have a nice patina. Are they bronze? brass?

Into the cooking pot they went....

...But this method did nothing to loosen the glitter paint. Anybody have a method to remove what I think is spray paint?

Another Great Mess

2009-03-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

Well, this is what the upstairs looks like today. I cleared everything out of the west attic and pulled the rest of the rock wool insulation out. That was the last section that needed to be done. I used every last trash bag, empty dog food and mulch bags that I had in the house and there is still more insulation and trash to be bagged up.

There is no insulation on this side of the attic now. And the temperatures have dropped near or below freezing again. In truth, I don't feel it much because the old insulation wasn't insulating very well.

And in other news...
This was the weedy, lumpy section of my lawn last summer.

Last night after work, I covered it with landscape fabric in hopes of smothering all that is there in order to prepare the area for some new garden beds.

It was a cold, gray day today. I am glad to have all that insulation pulled out. It was the worst job ever. I still need to figure out how I am going to insulate the attic above the ceiling. There is no access as far as I can tell. I may have to cut a hole in the ceiling. I really don't want to do that. I also do not want to crawl up there. I may hire that job out.

Stripping Paint while the Sun Shines

2009-03-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

It was in the 50's today, Woohoo!! It has been one long, cold winter. Instead of more work in the attic and sewing studio, I decided to take it outside and do some paint stripping. (OK, I realized using the Silent Paint Remover on a wooden table covered with cardboard wasn't the best idea). The doors here are from this...

... that I picked up from the ReStore about three years ago when it looked like this...

... and now it looks like this...

I found a piece of Corian at the ReStore that with a little work, fit on top. I have not yet figured out what finish to put on it. My plan is to strip the kitchen cabinets as well and match this piece to the other cabinets, whether painted or stained.

Bowling...

2009-03-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

This past week, I pulled up the rest of the carpeting in the room upstairs. The padding was dust but came up easily and there were not too many staples to pull. Looks like a bowling lane, it is one long, narrow room. My house documents say it is 37 feet long... ooh, I just looked and I am not even close, a bowling alley is 62 feet long... yikes.
Well, after I cleaned up the floor, I put the rug back down in anticipation of painting. I like this color and probably will not change it, just freshen it up.
I hung the new ceiling fan when I ran new wiring up here. I am not a big "fan" of ceiling fans but this room always has temperature extremes and I thought the fan would help with air exchange.

Saturday was one of the first warm days, it was glorious. I opened the windows for the first time in months. My upstairs windows had these weird awning things.

A closeup look shows it is nothing but a piece of siding nailed on to some wooden supports. I do not like how it blocks the light. A couple whacks with a hammer....

Gone...

Though I hate them, it was time to wash the aluminum screens and storm windows. I'm going to take these screens in to have some tighter weave screening put in. Many nights I am up late sewing and little bugs seem to make their way through the screens in toward the light.

De-Insulating

2009-03-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

This is the worst job ever but I am 3/4ths of the way through. I am taking the old rock wool insulation out of my attic. There is never a good time to do this but it makes no sense to pull out the insulation in the wintertime and in the summertime it is unbearably hot up there. Hello, springtime!

The attic space is full of paper-backed insulation and cardboard covering the walls. It has got to go. I spoke with a contractor friend and he gave me some advice on insulating. The other option could have been spray foam insulation but... again, I've got more time than money. This link describes the process-
http://www.soundhome.com/qa/insulation-energy/insulating-2x4-rafters

Summarized it here:
Q: We are in the process of refinishing the upstairs of our 1920's Cape Cod style home. The rafters are 2x4s with no insulation of any type. There are no soffit vents either. I am considering using foam insulation boards between each rafter (leaving an 1 1/2" air gap) adding soffit vents and a ridge vent. Does this sound like a wise plan?

A: I think that you are on the right track. I would use 2" of polyisocyanurate foam board between the rafter and the 1" or more attached to the bottom of the rafters... The 1 1/2" continuous air gap is important. You should have soffit vents at the bottom and a continuous ridge vent at the top...

I already have the soffits in place but there was no airspace.
This is the view looking up, into the attic space above the ceiling. The absolute worst part of this job is removing this clump of loose insulation to allow the airflow. I use a stick to poke it loose and then get out of the way. Rinse and Repeat...

Here you can see someone cut through the rafter to allow passage of the vent stack. Wonder what is holding up the roof here?

I just did half of this side the attic yesterday. It was a huge, black, itchy, nasty mess.

It looks like the roof leaked at one time, those wet looking spots are dry. Here are the stacks of the old rock wool insulation.

And then it was all bagged up and ready to go out to the trash.

Bathroom Progress

2009-03-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

The bathroom continues to come together, little by little. I boiled the hinges for the medicine cabinet to remove the paint and the black stripe on the hinges came off to reveal a red stripe underneath. Hmm... I have seen this style hinge with either black or red stripes. I boiled the strike plate and door stop as well.

I used a template to cut the vinyl for the floor and it was a perfect fit. I glued the vinyl down and rolled it out with a rolling pin. I used exactly one quart of the glue to cover the floor. I used a 1/16 trowel to apply the glue. It smelled quite toxic. J said it smelled good- "like a new car".

I bought new wood for the baseboards as I was unable to find anything at the Habitat Restore. I took the wood to my neighbor and he ripped the boards to a height of 5 inches. I sanded and primed both sides, then when they were dry, installed them. I was happy to have my compound miter saw. The angles are not perfect but there is always caulk. There are some weird corners around the tub.

Then I installed the toilet. Instead of a standard size shoe molding I tried a 1/4 inch quarter round. (Does that make sense?) It seems the smaller scale works for this smaller bathroom

I almost bought a little cabinet to hang in the toilet alcove. It was a little press board and laminate thing on sale for $15. It had two shelves and two doors. It would fit, but when I came home and looked at the space I thought it might be too crowded in there. I am worried about having enough storage in this small bathroom. The cabinet would probably look tacky. I also remembered that I have an old "Sanitizer" cabinet that I can hang there. I hope to fill it with some of the vintage medical stuff I have.

The shower curtain rod is reinstalled. I love this thing. I also hung a robe hook (Another ReStore find)

The sink will be installed soon. I put the cover on the heating vent.

Here is how I solved this weird area where the tub juts out further than the toilet alcove wall. I wonder how this looked originally. It was all tiled when I bought the house. Not original tile though. I used a piece of the "Swanstone" -the material on the walls of the shower. It looks like a little roof.

Workshop

2009-03-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

My basement workshop needed attention so I spent Saturday morning cleaning it up. It was getting hard to find things.

Finally, a clean surface.

This workshop is in the corner of my basement. Two walls are stone and cement block and the other two walls are made out of a collection of doors. Who knows where the doors came from, I believe I have all the original doors in the house.

The pink cabinet came with the house. The brown cabinet I found on the street. It is on wheels so I can pull it out when I use my miter saw. It is a nice space for the grinder ($5 at a estate sale). I never knew how much I needed a grinder until I bought this one. It is so nice to be able to sharpen tools when needed.

Today, I tore up more carpeting in the room upstairs. I am trying to save the tack strips for reuse. Does anyone else get freaked out knowing this sharp row of nails is surrounding the perimeter of every carpeted room?!? Seriously, someone could step on them...

I Just Can't Stop Tearing Things Apart

2009-03-02T17:52:00.001-08:00

I had a nice sewing studio. I used to spend a lot of time up here sewing baby slings to sell to fund my house rehab projects.

I like the space. It is the upper level of my house. It is the "+" in my "2+ bedroom" house. The space is one large room. One side is my sewing studio and the other side is a guest area with two beds for sleeping. There are two doors that lead to huge walk attic/storage spaces.

I have everything I need here for sewing and quilting.

But with the attic insulation project, everything got packed away or moved downstairs. Luckily the boy is away at college, so there was room.

Due to the process of rewiring the whole house, every room has been torn apart a little, including this one. The attic area provided access to a lot of the wiring that needed to be done. This space suffered. Once I am done insulating, this space needs to be put back together and cleaned up. This winter I added new outlets and ran new wiring to the ceiling fixtures. This week I worked on patching the plaster in preparation for painting. I decided to tear up the carpet.

I wanted to leave the old carpet down until I painted but I worried that the mess of tearing up the carpet would get the walls all dirty again. So I did a partial tear up. Under the carpet there are wood floors of unknown origin. The padding is dry and brittle. I removed all of that. I also removed the tack strips at the edges of the room and the shoe molding. Typically this is removed when carpeting is put down. I may reuse this downstairs.

So in the middle of the room, there was this strange bulging up of the floor boards. There was patching compound in the cracks (up to 1/4 inch wide). So of course I had to pull up the boards to investigate.

This is the center of the house and the joists come together to rest on a center beam. The joists are not uniform and there is a high point in this area. Or worse case scenario, the front and back of the house are sinking and this is the folding point of the whole thing. I can see where some of the board were chiseled off, but not all. This floor is uneven all over the place and I think this room was done later in the history of the house. The walls are plaster over sheetrock. Downstairs walls are lathe and plaster.

It would be quite a job to strip and sand this floor. The pictures may not show it well, but this floor is totally painted. The edge is a different color brown. It is uneven and not installed with much care. There is no subfloor!! My plan is to keep it as is. I have some carpet from the Restore that I am going to put down.

I pulled all the staples and nails, pulled up the shoe molding and vacuumed the floor. Then I put the carpet back down in anticipation of painting. This is just one half of the room, I still need to do the same on the other half.
(Those boxes on the wall are actually four separate drawer units designed to hang on the wall like cabinets. The are 1950's Conant Ball-Russell Wright blond maple. I bought them at an auction many years ago. They were $5 each and I like how they can be configured in different arrangements, but they will be removed and have to find a new home.)

Bathroom floor 2

2009-02-26T17:50:00.000-08:00

I put the lauan down on top of the plywood subfloor. It was flexible enough to put down in one whole sheet plus the little bit for the toilet alcove. Cutting the hole for the toilet was a bit of a challenge as I do not have the right tool. I used my big sawzall. It took some maneuvering to get a round circle. The blue tape pieces mark the stud location for baseboard installation later.

I fastened the lauan panel every 8 inches using 1 1/2 ring shank nails. I then used leveling/patching compound to fill the nail holes, seams, and other uneven areas. The plywood plus the lauan did not quite make it to the height of the hardwood floors in the hall so I used the leveling compound to even it out. I had to make up just 1/8 inch.

This is Pria, a little border collie mix I fostered for the Human Society. She walked all over the leveling compound before it had a chance to dry. Dusty grey footprints showed her travels throughout the house.

It was rare to catch a picture of her sitting still.

Bathroom floor

2009-02-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

The beadboard is installed as is most of the chair rail capping it off. I primed the wood front and back. I then called in plumbers to run new supply and waste lines for the sink and toilet. I was expecting copper but who knew there was this new thing called pex, not me. I was a bit disappointed but there it is.
Here is the little toilet alcove. It is a really small space. A large person may not be able to wiggle his/her hips in there to sit on the toilet.

I put the underlayment down. I bought 2 sheets of CMX 1/2 inch plywood. I made a template of the floor area out of pink rosen paper, just a loose design. The main floor area is just under 4x8 feet so I trimmed the plywood to fit. I maneuvered the big sheet into the room and then could not get it down on the floor. I needed to slide the wood under the trim around the door but the heater vent and the shut off valves made it impossible. I ended up cutting the sheet of plywood in two. Of course the two cut ends matched perfectly and it was fine for the first layer. I bought two sheets of Luan for the second layer. I am unsure if I need to cut that into two. It should be easier to manipulate as it is only 1/4 inch thick.

The piece of vinyl I bought months ago is now laying flat on the basement floor. Again, I am going with the cheaper, temporary option. I would love to have hex tile but I don't think it was ever in this house. When tearing up the old floor, I uncovered a faux birck linoleum. This is also the first layer of flooring in the kitchen (under about 3 other layers of vinyl). Was the faux brick linoleum original? I am not sure. My house was built in 1935 and I have not seen evidence of it being around that early.

Bathroom work

2009-02-15T19:15:00.000-08:00

Ideas on pages clipped from magazines

I began by installing a Swanstone tub surround. At the time, I did not have the money or the skill (I thought) to tile the bathtub/shower. I researched the Swanstone and it seemed like it would work for my space. I think I paid about $750 for the kit, which included color-coordinated caulk, adhesive & cove molding for corners. I also ordered corner shelves but I ended up not using them because I thought they looked plasticy and cheap. The Swanstone is holding up well, it has been in use for about 7 years. It was meant to be temporary, I prefer ceramic tile but I am still not ready to mess with the grout.

Then I started with the wainscot on the walls, to a height of 4 feet. This matched the height of the chair rail in the kitchen

This little area on the side of the tub was tricky.

I stripped the old paint from the windows and medicine cabinet. There were many layers. The wood was originally painted so I repainted.
It took me a few tries to the get the correct wall color and I could not duplicate it now. It started out a green that was just too minty. I kept going back to the paint store (SW) and adding more blue tint to the can.

I installed new sconces. They cost about $12 each from Tar-szhae. I had just spent all my money for the down payment on the house so the remodeling budget was small. Easy to replace when the budget allows. I like them, though.

Remember before?

Bathroom-Before

2009-02-01T11:54:00.001-08:00

When I bought my house, I was happy that it had a ceramic tiled bath. It was not original tile but it was a fairly clean, functional and solid bathroom. I loved the arched alcoves over the sink and tub and the built in medicine cabinet. I was not so happy about the little plywood cabinet holding up the sink or the beige vinyl floor. Also the original window had been replaced. The bathroom window is the only vinyl replacement window in the house, all the rest are original.

I had no idea how quickly the tile would began to fail. It starting falling off the walls almost immediately. The shower area crumbled apart in a matter of months. Redoing the bathroom got pushed to the top of the list.

There was an ugly lamp above the medicine cabinet and I took that out. There were shadows of previous sconces on each side of the cabinet, so I put in electrical boxes to reinstall those and installed a GFCI outlet

As I took the tile off the walls I found it had basically been glued and much of the plaster crumbled off around it. I ended up removing the lower portion of plaster. The plaster had a stamped pattern in it like that in the kitchen.

When I removed the toilet and the plaster behind it, I saw the vent stack had rusted through. There were holes in that cast iron pipe releasing oh lovely sewer gas smells into the walls. Had I not replaced the plaster, I might not have noticed this. I called in plumbers to replace the vent stack.

Here is the arch over the toilet. I had tried to save most of the plaster on the back wall but the plumbers destroyed it when they placed the new vent pipe.

So then I was in full demolition mode.

Beautiful.
There are no pictures but I used a putty knife and scraped all the paint of the plaster walls. The ease at which it came off the walls let me know that any new paint on top would be destined to fail. I scraped down to bare plaster. I patched many, many cracks and primed the walls. I began patching the ceiling but that was too difficult and hard on my neck so I decided to cover it with drywall.

More plaster repair

2009-01-26T19:09:00.001-08:00

2 parts StructoLite to 1 part Diamond Veneer Finish makes a good scratch coat to repair the plaster that fell off the walls when the baseboards were removed in the living room.

I sprayed the old lath with water before applying the plaster. It is fairly easy to work with. Especially when I know it will be totally covered up.

This is an outside wall so repairing the plaster helps cut down on the drafts. It has been cold here.

I am so glad to be putting things together rather than tearing them apart. Still lots of trim to strip, though.

A New/Old Light

2009-01-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

This was the light in my dining room this morning. It has been hanging there for about 6 months. The 5 years prior there was no overhead light due to the "Oops-I-cut-the-wrong-wire fiasco of 2002" that lead to the loss of all overhead lights. There were lots of floor lamps for a long time. The original dining room light was long gone when I moved in and there was a 5-arm brass and globe light there until I cut it down. I finally put in a new box and wiring.

I found a beautiful old light at the Habitat Restore. The glass shade was designed to hang from three ball chains. I have similar lights in the two bedrooms so it seemed like a good match for the house. But, the light shade was so heavy that I did not trust the chains to hold it. I have been looking for some other way to use the shade. Ideally, I would find a vintage fixture to match it. I also looked at lighting stores for possible solutions but none were within my budget.

Then one day at the ReStore I found this monstrosity. Bright brass, crackled glass--- but still....

A little priming and some faux rubbed bronze spray paint....

And a new/old light. I am satisfied with how it turned out. I think it is pretty. There are few things that are pretty in my house at this point in the restoration. It is a big light, about 18" across. I have it on a dimmer switch and I like the shadows it throws on the ceiling.
It is a good solution for now. Until I can pair it up with a proper vintage base.

Sewing table

2009-01-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

I sew a lot. Lately I have been sewing baby slings for distribution by a local home visiting program to new families. I have made over 300 at last count. This was my sewing table. When I am not sewing slings, I sew quilts and a large table makes quilt wrangling more manageable.

I found a nice set of drawers at the local Habitat Restore. It is solid wood, with nice gliding drawers and it was just the right height to fit under my table. But it stuck out past the end.

I kept my eye out for a new table top and the ReStore came through for me. It is wider and longer and I like the gray color better than the false wood grain. So I decided to recreate my sewing table with the recessed machine for a flat surface to work on.

I used a jigsaw to cut the opening. I hung a little shelf using four 4 inch bolts that I countersunk into the table top. My sewing machine is shown with the front removable section taken off.

I then routered out a little lip to hold a piece of custom cut Plexiglas (actually, it was a clipboard in an earlier life). This pops out to allow me access to the bobbin case.
The locking nuts on the end of the bolts allow me to fine tune the machine placement so I can get it level. I need to make some plugs for the holes left by the bolts.

A much larger sewing table with drawers for the stuff I use. I moved most of my sewing things into my extra bedroom. I am still working on insulating the attic and it is dusty upstairs. I also cleared things out in anticipation of painting the space and replacing the carpeting.

A dog's-eye view of the sewing studio as it is now.

Too darn difficult

2009-01-12T17:56:00.000-08:00

This was difficult. This the last overhead light that needed to be wired. The house had all knob and tube wiring when I bought it and I have been working the past 5+ years to rewire it. It is a 1 1/2 story cape code with walk-in attic space in the upper level. This has made rewiring fairly simple. Lift attic floor boards for complete access to the ceiling fixtures in the rooms below.
This light is in a hallway nearer to the center of the house- not easy to access. There is a carpeted, finished room above. I could write about how I did it but would take too long. I used a fish tape, wire hanger and a metal hook you stick in the ground and hang a plant on, no kidding. Maybe I could have cut more holes in the wall but I hate patching plaster. Just one access hole cut in the upper right of the picture.

Yes, I still have my Christmas tree up... 12 days of Christmas or something like that..

Here is the access hole.

I have cool arches above my tub and toilet in the bathroom and it is weird to see them from above. I swear I can hide a family in there during the occupation... sshhh

What you see on the right is the vent pipe for the bathroom exhaust fan. A bit of insulation work needed there. There is the arch above the toilet just below the cardboard square. You can see a portion of the arch above the tub and the shower pipe entering the ceiling of the arch. Make sense?? But this is not the area I needed to access.
...

Here is the flip side...
..pictures of the bathroom work to come another time...

This way....
There is the wire, the old and the new. I just need to hang the fixture, put in the switch, patch the access hole near the ceiling, hook it up to live power and ... take down the Christmas decorations.

We have had lots of snow in the past few weeks.
My dog, Rosa.

Oooh, Wavy Glass

2009-01-11T13:07:00.000-08:00

I bought these at my local Habitat Restore a while back. Both of them! They are very tall. I have big plans for them... There were several units available and various pieces and parts, too. I bought a couple extra glass doors. I was told they came out of an apartment building that was scheduled to be torn down. Many layers of paint to strip. My plan is to put the large one up in my sewing studio. I will have to remove the upper portion with the solid doors as it is about 10 feet tall. The smaller one I plan to use in two pieces. I will use the lower base cabinet for an rolling island and hang the upper cabinet on the wall above my stove to add more cupboard space. My fiestaware will be on display at last.

Plaster repair

2009-01-10T13:29:00.000-08:00

I did some work in my dining room repairing several areas of plaster that needed attention. Here is an outlet that was poorly patched. Can you see the large divot? This outlet was in a bad location, is not wired to anything and there is another outlet on the same wall 2 feet away. I decided to close the hole entirely.

There was also some failure of the plaster below the window due to some previous water leaking. I took the opportunity to open the space below the window enough to add insulation. The walls were insulated from the attic above and the areas below the windows had no insulation.
I removed lath and put loose cellulose into the wall then replace the lath. There is also an opening for a new outlet to be added one day.

The area pictured below had a poorly done drywall patch. I imagine it was due to the removal of a beautiful old cold air return that was replaced with a small ugly metal grate. Argghh. There is another opening on the other side of the wall and the grate is visible. I filled in the area with scrap lath.
I am using the "Worley method" of plaster of repair that I have read about on several housblogs. It is a three layer system using different mixtures of 2 types of plaster-- Structolite and Diamond Finish plaster. It was a bit of a challenge to work with but I finished the first two layers.
The other ongoing project is stripping the paint off all of the baseboard trim.

My Kitchen

2008-09-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

This is the kitchen. It is quite small and there are things that I love and hate about it. It is small. This is fine with me. My dad keeps suggesting that I tear out half of this wall behind the stove to open it up to the dining room. Why would I want to see the kitchen from the dining room? I am more interested in letting the house be.

Come for a tour!! If you stand in the middle of the room and turn around 360 degrees, this is what you will see. If you reach your arms out in front of you as you turn, you can touch everything you see.

I hate that portable dishwasher, It was there because it gave me some counter space next to the stove. It is gone now. I hate that stove, well not really. It is also gone now because it did not work well.

I love, love, love these cabinets. I love the hinges, the handles. I love the small cabinets that reach to the ceiling. I love the little venty things below the sink. I hate the countertops. There are more cabinets behind the dishwasher.
I hate the plastic green tiles.

I love the two windows that bring nice light into the kitchen almost all day. I hate that there are only two outlets in this kitchen. The toaster oven is plugged into one, the other is behind the refrigerator and oh so accessible.... I. Hate. The. Floor. It is bad, it is wearing off and also has a big scar on it from the time I used the sawzall to trim the bottom of the Christmas tree.

This door goes to 3 steps that lead to a landing to the back door and to the basement stairs. I hate that this area takes a large chunk out of the square footage of the kitchen. What do I think of the salmon color? Eehh.... I wonder about taking the silent paint remover to these walls to remove the paint because there are so many layers here. Rolled on with a high texturized roller, it seems. The lower walls are plaster with a fake tile pattern pressed into them. I like them but they have been painted over so many times the detail is diminished.

I love my new freezer on the bottom refrigerator. I hate that the whole unit it is so large. It was the smallest one I could find locally. I need to find something a lot smaller. See that little opening that one goes through to get to the dining room doorway? More space here would be nice.
I like the size of the freezer space but I tend to shop a couple times a week so I do not need that much cold storage. I covet those smaller fridges in some of the tiny New York City apartments. One like that would serve me well.

This is the look I am going for in my kitchen. Bad snapshots from a magazine photo.

I love this vintage look. I would keep my upper cabinets definitely. No soffits, no fancy plates on the wall, no room for a table. I like the cabinet above the stove.
I need to figure out what to do about the lower cabinets. Ideally, I would rebuild them to include a corner cabinet like the one here while keeping as much original as possible. It is that old dilemma, keep the original or change for something more functional and user friendly? The purist in me says keep the original but, but, but.... The bottom cabinets are in bad shape. There are false fronts on the drawers that were added to keep them from being pushed in too far. The cabinet interiors are painted bright orange and the paint flakes off into my kettles.

I like this little shelf

I love this stove. WOW.

Inner Light

2008-09-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

I have been working on insulating my attic for the past year. (My house is a 1 1/2 story cape cod) Of course there was some wiring to be done while access was available. That stalled the insulating progress. I am so ready to be done with this side of the house. Today found me rewiring the light above the sink. That light has been out for about 4 years when some the original knob and tube wiring was cut and I lost power to the fixture.

Today my plan was to run power from the center kitchen ceiling lamp to the light over the sink. I cut a hole in the cabinet (ignoring that famous advice of "don't cut old wood" but there was was no way around it that would be safe). I guess I could have screwed a pancake box on to the surface but went the other way. How do you like that bright orange paint inside the cupboards?

I cut the hole, inserted the box, snaked the wire through and then tried to figure out the connections. The main kitchen ceiling light is a three way. Power comes in at one of the switches at one side of the room and there is another switch at the other side of the room with a light in the middle. My thought was to join the above-the-sink light to that loop. The above-the-sink light will temporarily have a pull chain (as it did originally) until I do the big kitchen remodel and can get into the walls to install a switch.

I got the light installed and wired and then worked to make the connection to the ceiling light. Ground-to-ground, got it. White-to-white, OK. Now where do I connect the black? I want the ceiling light to continue to run by the switches, no changes there, and the above-the-sink light to operate by the pull chain. I have three choices for connection. Black-to black- nope, the above-the-sink light is on and off with the switches. Black-to-red, no- same thing. Then black to white- funniest one here- when I flip the switch the ceiling light goes off and the above-the-sink light goes on. Ceiling light goes on and the above-the-sink light goes off. Cracked me up!! Not what I want at all. Believe me, I have a healthy respect for electricity. I check my book of wiring diagrams, I can find nothing close. I call both brothers (master electricians) for advice, neither are home.

In the end, I settle for three way switches controlling both lights. It will have to do until I can get some advice from my brother.

Edit: Brother said it can't be done. Power comes in at the switch. I need to run a separate line that is not switched.

Water Baby

2008-08-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

The reason for the house addition became quite obvious several months after I began. I did not know it at the time but apparently, I was nesting.
Take a look at what my newly added sewing studio loft turned out to be. Some kind of nursery.... the little water-baby never slept there but it was nice to have room for his stuff.

I don't have many after pictures of the inside of the boathouse and those I do have include a picture of the baby as well. This is the food prep/baby bathing area... The ladder leads to the loft above. One side was the baby's room and the other was the sleeping loft. Notice the upper walls/ceiling are unbleached cotton muslin sewn together and stapled to the rafters. This was done to keep the total weight down. No heavy drywall here. Probably not up to the standard building code, especially with the wood stove, but code? what code?

Here is the boy looking out the back window. Soon the time came to move to dry land. I worried about the baby starting to walk and I wanted him to have a safe outside play area. So two years after adding the addition I sold the boathouse and bought a house in town.
The time living on the river was magical. The cheap cost of living made it possible for me to spend more time at home with my baby. He survived. He did not fall in the river as many people warned me he would. And he did not get his head caught in that accordian style baby gate!! Can you guess what his first word was?? "da"- for DUCK

NOTICE: Objects in the viewfinder are closer than they appear.

An Artist's Rendition

2008-08-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

When the loft addition to the boathouse was finished, I commissioned a local artist to do a painting of it.

It was a real stretch to come up with the money to pay for it but I have never regretted it.

Before....

The Island

2008-08-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

A local free paper ran an article about the boathouse community and I thought I would include a bit here: The article is not by-lined so I do not know who to credit it to... excerpt from the Monthly Journal of Mutual-Aid July 2008 ( but the pictures are mine)

"A closer look at the island, perhaps from the top of the Wagon Bridge, will reveal dozens of unusual homes floating along its northern shore. These are not merely boat garages, used for storage and weekend recreation, but homes to a "hearty" breed....To some they constitute a counter culture or a novel throwback to the 60s. Others consider them outlaws and a nuisance.

Many choose not to have a car, most have no electricity, phone, or plumbing. They haul out what they haul in, and they are always hauling. They cope with nature's wild mood swings with firewood and ropes. A handful of times a year, they can only get home by canoe or wading through frigid water..

...And while life on the river seemed quaint and serene, the residents were toughening up with the endless chores of hauling wood, water, and waste. There was always a day-to-day grind enhanced by freezing and flooding, and each resident found that the simple life was a grueling as it was rewarding. It was not easy."

Its me!!! An unidentified woman!!

Boathouse loft addition

2008-07-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

More about the loft addition... I finished the roof sheathing and some of the roofing. I used rolled roofing to save on weight. That is an important consideration when constructing a boathouse- weight and balance. I needed to keep the house balanced from front to back and left to right. I needed to be careful not to add more weight than the barrels supporting the house could hold. That floating platform in the lower right of the first picture actually attached to the back of the boathouse. It attached with hinges and was not very stable. When boats went by it flapped up and down. But it did give me a nice area in the back.

I used salvaged windows in the loft. There was also a skylight on the roof. The window on the back was a 16 pane window that came from a building at the state university in town. I also built a small deck outside of the window. The window was on a piano hinge on top and it swung out for access to the upper deck. I did not use this deck much as it was not very convenient. The window was not very practical for air flow and I had to make a big screen in order to keep the mosquitos and fish flies out.
Living in the boathouse was wonderful but it took constant supervision. Winds could be troublesome. The house would sway back and forth. The river would get rough and the house would bounce up and down and some times that might cause a barrel to pop out. One side would be lower and that would raise the otherside and put the barrels at risk of popping out. The barrels held the house up and the wieght of the house kept the barrels in place.
During the time I lived there I was working at a knitting mill on the east end of town. The factory was right next to the river (well, the whole town is). I could see the river from my office window and there were many stormy days that I kept my eye on the river and hoped that I did not see my house go by. The red house next to mine broke loose once. Luckily someone saw it an jumped in a boat and was able to tow it back to its spot.

Boathouse pictures

2008-07-23T20:58:00.001-07:00

I found some more "before" pictures to post:

This shows the flood that occured the second year I lived there. Remember the h0use rises with the water.

One inside view of the house.

The cooking/eating corner. A very small living space. These pictures are over 20 years old. Eek, I'm old...

The view from the river. Some of the boathouses were in rough shape. Most pictured here were inhabited year round.

Adding the loft

2008-07-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

I wanted more living space in the boathouse so it was time for a major change. Over the course of several weeks I built the framing for the second story. It was not really walls but a different style of roof that would give me a loft area for sleeping quarters.

I tore off the roof myself. One big challenge was making sure the debris did not fall into the water. And a dropped tool was often irretrievable. The house was tied up to the riverbank but it was quite a steep drop off. I believe I lost a half a dozen hammers to the river bottom. I spent a bit of time fishing with a heavy duty magnet trying to retrieve tools but had little luck. When it came time to hoist the new framing, I hired my friend Joe, a carpenter, and together we raised the roof.

It was fall of the year, I did not have much time to get things closed in before winter arrived.

Just When Things Come Together...

2008-07-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

...You have to tear them all apart again. The decision was made to tear the top off the boathouse and build up for more space. I had been living in the 12x20 space for over 5 years and it was time to add more.

I moved most of my belongings into various vehicles parked on the river bank (I live in a van down by the river!!) then began tearing things apart. I had little to no construction experience and there was no building code applicable to boathouses in my town so I just tore into it.

Soon we were open to the sky and stars.

My First House

2008-07-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

I bought my very first house when I was just barely out of high school. I had done a year at university but it did not go so well so I took a job as a waitress/cook. One fall evening, my roommates invited me to a progressive dinner party- you know, where you go to one house for appetizers, the next for salads, etc. Well the main course was at her boyfriend's house. This was a unique house, I was amazed. He gave us the brief tour of his home and then took us to see the house next door that he also owned. I walked into that little house and immediately fell in love with it. "Can I rent it?" I said. And the next breath I said, "Can I buy it?" He said yes. I gave him $100 down, I think and made arrangements to pay $50 a month for a total of $600.

What a deal. It was a small cottage, one room, approximately 12 x 20 feet.

OK, so it needed some work.

So, that is not my stuff in there but what the place looked like when I first saw it. What was I thinking?!?

But the best part was the location...
Yup, a boathouse on the Mississippi. My place is the second from the left. The spring thaw brought the river over the banks that year and many years after that, but luckily, the house floats. Unfortunately, so did the woodpile that I kept on the bank and used to heat the house.

The houses are held afloat by 55 gallon barrels. The metal barrels rust out over time and fill with water and need to be replaced. The house had spent some time partially submerged and so there was A LOT of bad wood to be replaced. I think the boathouse was about 40 years old when I bought it.

Most structures were boat garages converted into living spaces, but mine had no evidence of having ever housed a boat. I had electricity, but no running water...inside. I spent a couple years rebuilding the space from the inside out. Replaced the floor, the wall studs, added insulation, updated the electrical. After a time, it was kind of sweet.

Seattle is known for their floating homes and my community is one of the few others that still allow people to actually reside in them. I lived there year round for over 7 years.

Hello

2008-07-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

I have been reading house blogs for the past 3 or so years and l have wanted to start my own. I live in a 1935 cape cod type home in the Midwest that I am restoring / renovating / trying to maintain. I hate to say that it is likely in worse condition that when I moved in because I have the habit of starting projects and not finishing them.