My Blog

Hardwood Floors get restored

Mon, 15 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0500

We also wanted to install oak hardwood to that portion of the living room floor that had been covered with vinyl tiles after the bookcases and faux fireplace were removed. Also, we had to remove the disgustingly filthy and worn carpet that was in both kitchens and hallways and the linoleum that was underneath that carpet. Erin’s father did this work for us. He matched the hardwood flooring so seamlessly, and he spent countless hours scraping off the old mastic linoleum adhesive.

After six long weeks, the walls were ready to be primed and painted. With Ryan’s and Heinrich’s help, we primed every room. Then, Erin and I spent an entire weekend painting, finishing just in time for the floor refinishers to come in and sand and refinish our floors. Erin was not pleased with the stain color in her living and dining room, so they had to re-do those a little darker. We replaced most of the light fixtures because they were either non-original and out of place for the style of the home or they were original, but in disrepair. By mid-August, at last the house was ready to move in.

Preparing for painting

Sat, 25 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0500

At this point, we decided our first priority would be to finish a number of projects before we would move in. We wanted to fix all the walls -- fill in cracks and sand. It was astounding to see the lack of quality in previous occupants’ handiwork. Sometimes while sanding the walls, we would find holes that were patched with scotch tape and paint. Often, nails would be hammered in and painted over. In the kitchens, our predecessors had painted over grease-spattered walls.

In addition, we needed a lot more electrical outlets installed. There were only eleven outlets in the upstairs unit. We added seven new outlets upstairs, including 220 wiring for the electric stove. Downstairs, we added five. We were so blessed to have my friend’s father, a retired electrician, to do this work with us. It was quite a gift, as much of the work had to be done from the attic and it was a very hot July. I served as the electrician’s assistant, and I learned a lot. But my most important function was to keep Mr. Hutchinson hydrated. He is the same vintage as the house.

First things first

Thu, 16 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0500

We spent the first few days ridding the house of the previous owners’ stuff. Besides the aforementioned items, they left their son’s bicycle (which we sold at a rummage sale) and a bunch of old car tires and car parts, a wet/dry vacuum in pretty good shape, a wrought iron cheapo table and two chairs (also sold at the rummage sale), a non-functioning power lawn mower and a couple of dirty barbecue grills. Then we began the arduous task of repairing the plaster and lath walls throughout the house. We worked every day for five weeks, cleaning out the cracks in the plaster and filling them, sanding, etc. Our neighborhood is not designated as a historic district and has seen a lot of neighborhood conditions through the decades since it was built in 1929. At its birth, our house was probably the height of luxury. It has built in china cabinets with art glass and coved ceilings in both dining rooms, crown molding and stained glass windows in the downstairs living room, French doors to the sun room which also sports crown molding, leaded glass in the living and dining rooms on both floors, a floor-to-ceiling built-in in the upstairs kitchen and built-in cabinets in the downstairs pantry, built in linen cabinets both upstairs and downstairs, gorgeous arches, original woodwork throughout, original cast iron kitchen sinks with drainboards, and hardwood floors throughout. Our house was built during that brief time when real fireplaces were considered unnecessary because of central heating and therefore, originally, our house had at least one faux fireplace. By the time it was in our hands, however, that fireplace and flanking bookshelves had been removed and vinyl tile had been installed over that portion of the subfloor in the downstairs living room.