katyelliott.com » house renovation

Den Renovation: Paint, Ceiling, Electric…

Katy Elliott — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:22:22 +0000

Our den renovation is moving along. Paint samples came from Farrow & Ball this morning. We also want to try a few Benjamin Moore and Milk Paint samples on the walls too.

Other to dos which need to happen before paint goes up on the walls.

1. Call an electrician to find out how we replace the old wiring in the house. Can it be done piece by piece or does it have to all be done at once? Since the ceiling is opened up I want to find a solution before we move forward.

2. We need to decide if we are going to rip out the walls and ceilings of the other two rooms on this floor (guest room and dining room shown below, hopefully someday two bedrooms). The walls are cracking and in really bad shape. All the woodwork has been rimmed out of these rooms so preservation is not a concerned. The rooms have the same old floors as the den so hopefully the room will still look period correct. We need to decide soon so I can maybe hire someone to hang all new drywall for the rooms ceilings and walls at once. Maybe we can do this ourselves but a decision needs to made one way or another.

3. If we do remove the walls in the other room we can blow in insulation—which is a plus in my book. Currently the house has no insulation which makes for a chilly winter.

4. We have two fireplaces on the second floor. I need to call a chimney guy to find out what I am really dealing with and get some estimates. Currently they are caving in and we don’t have caps on the top—we have a lovely rainfall effect when we have Spring storms and a great breeze through the room in the middle of January.

5. I need to call around for estimates to have my floors stripped. There is no way I am doing this ourselves. Stripping and sanding floors is a disgusting labor intensive job. I’ve heard if your an amateur you’ll screw them up and regret it for the rest of your life. Also, the paint on the floors is nasty stuff. I would rather save up and leave it to the professionals.

Then after I have checked all my to dos off the list I can go back to decorating which frankly is a lot more fun. Maybe I was jumping the gun talking about sofa styles? I feel like I’ve been putting off calling for help because I’m over anticipating the cost. I know every project will be jaw-dropping expensive. But my impatience over the slow pace of the renovation has gotten to me. I would love to have this floor completed this summer so we can get back to renovating our bathrooms. I’m willing to bite the bullet and call in the professionals for some advice. I just don’t know if my other half is on the same page.

Above and below photos from the second floor of our house in different stages of the renovation. For a video tour of the den click here.

House Renovation: Removing Cabinet

Katy Elliott — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:00:12 +0000

We been away majority of February and haven’t gotten anything significant done in the house. Greg removed the ceiling in the side room off the den and continued scraping the paint off the woodwork. We started talking about removing the cabinet seen on the left to look more like a door (on right). The cabinet doesn’t fit in with the ornate woodwork seen in the two rooms. It looks like it was added sometime in the 1900’s using ugly beadboard? We have enough room to build a closet that would allow it to be flush to the wall. We both think it would look better and have a cleaner line. Now I just need to find a home for all the stuff I shoved into the cabinet.

After being away I came back feeling a bit frustrated by the renovation. I’ve been bratty all week annoyed at the crap laying all over the house. Will it ever get done? I feel like we are working at a snails pace, which is partly my fault. At the end of the day I don’t feel like putting on my work clothes and remove dirty ceilings. I would rather knit, bake bread, or go to the gym. (That’s a lie, I hate the gym too.) How do you have a life and renovate an entire house yourself?

Above and below photos of the small room off the den we are working on. We found a few new objects in the ceiling including plates, scissors, bones (not in photo), and a bottle of sappy liquid.

Video: Paint In Den Stripped

Katy Elliott — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:40:03 +0000

I made my first you tube video over the weekend. I have a lot to learn about shooting, editing, music, intro etc. I can’t wait to share more of the house. It’s so hard to get a real feel for the space with just photos. Click on the video above to learn more about our den.

I’m still unsure what color to paint the molding. Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my post. I read every single one of them. I am leaning towards painting the molding off white. The room is really dark. I’m afraid adding a dark color to the molding will only make the room feel smaller.

Over the weekend we stripped more paint; I painstakingly cleaned each individual fluted molding, all 257 of them. I want the lines to be as crisp as possible. Hopefully, when the paint is applied we won’t loose any of the detail. Greg finished removing the ceiling from the little room off the den. The space is a total mess. Ug, another room to clean. Photos below.

What Color Do I Paint The Molding?

Katy Elliott — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:10:37 +0000

We are almost done stripping and sanding the den. I should probably get a handle on what color I want to paint the room. I know I lot of you have commented that I should leave the molding as is. I’m not a huge fan of all wood rooms, it’s way too masculine for my taste. The floors will get stripped eventually so we can all get our shiny wood fix.

We have found areas of green stain on the wood which looks like it could have been the original color. I have come across photos green molding in a number of historic homes. Part of me would like to honor the tradition but at the same time I am leaning towards something more modern. Paint the wood green or paint the walls green and paint the molding cream or a combo of both? Below a few photos I am using for inspiration.

I could paint parts of the molding green like the images below from Michael Smith and Farrow & Ball. Oh gosh, I just don’t know. In this case I wish someone would tell me what to do. At least I know I want the room to be green.

p.s. I added more photos of the room and a video (click over for the video, it made my server crash) so everyone could get a better idea of the space. The video was taken at 11 am when the room gets the most morning light. I imagine the room being airy and cozy with a rolled armed sofa, floral accents and stripes.

House Renovation: Sanding Wood

Katy Elliott — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:17:42 +0000

This week Greg has been researching sanding techniques for the wood paneling in our den. He picked up some sanding flaps that can be attached to his hand drill for sanding the molding and fluted trim. He modified the flaps by cutting the sandpaper to make it softer and more pliable. He then holds the drill up to the molding and sands. It’s not working out so great. We still have to get into the grooves. I was using a heat gun to try to scrape out the rest of the paint but it’s laborious. He’s now contemplating trying out a soft wire wheel attachment instead.

He picked up some screened sanding pads and a sanding block that helps control dust while sanding. They both work great on the large flat areas of the paneling. He hooks the block up to a small vacuum that sucks up dust as you sand.

I bought him a Rockwell Sonicrafter for Christmas which has been great for sanding hard to reach spots like corners and door frames. We are still trying out all our new tools. Both of us have been sick this week and haven’t felt like doing too much. If you have ideas on how to sand wood with minimal dust please leave a comment below.

Fixing Doorway & Ceiling Conversation

Katy Elliott — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:10:07 +0000

The last few nights we been restless and neither one of us can fall asleep. The conversation eventually turns to the renovation and Greg asks me night after night, “So have you decided what you want to do about the doorway?”. I argue with myself in circles with no interjections from Greg.

“I just don’t know. We should put it back. Let’s keep it wide because I like they way it connects the large and small room. It’s more historically accurate to have it narrow. I don’t want to ruin the house. I just don’t know, what do you think?”

Who ever thought the width of doorway could cause so much uncertainty and angst? Tonight, I’m thinking I want it to be narrow again. The reason the doorway got gutted because the right side of the frame had been cut and wall was crumbling (see photo below). It had to fixed. While we were fixing it I thought I like the doorway wider. The photo above shows it narrow and wider. Thus, the battle begins…

In other news, we have decided to take down all the ceilings on the second floor. It’s a super messy job but I figure while we are at it we might as well do them all. Each one has it’s own trouble spots and will eventually need to be replaced. I figure if I hire someone to come hang new ceilings it’s better to get four rooms done at once rather then one at a time. No, I’m not hanging ceilings myself. From what I have heard it relatively inexpensive and I don’t want my amateur job to be an eye sore for the rest of my life. (greg will read this say to me, “we are totally doing it ourselves”.)

I’m hoping in the now dining that hopefully someday will be a bedroom I can leave the beams exposed. The room feels really squat and doesn’t get much natural light (below). Hopefully this coming weekend we will be able to do some more demo and see what we have to work with.

House Renovation: Ceiling & Frozen Pipes

Katy Elliott — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:28:16 +0000

Before the holiday I thought I would share our latest home renovation drama. First the good part. Greg removed the rest of the ceiling from the den. On the other side of the room we found a little water damage. The beams are sagging a bit. When your in our office above the room Greg’s aeron chair rolls down a slope if you don’t keep both feet on the floor. We are brainstorming fixes. We also found more treasures in the ceiling; an old shoe and a piece of striped fabric.

Marblehead had a very large shoe industry back in the day. I think we had a cobbler living in our house. If you look here you’ll see a photo of a set of tools we found last week.

Now the gross part. I battled sharing this story for the last week. After many discussions with friends and family I’ve decided even the embarrassing stories of our renovation need to shared. We’ll look back at this adventure and laugh, right?

Last week it was really cold. I think temperatures dipped to about 5 degrees. Last winter we had problems with our pipes freezing but where learned some tricks. We did the standard checks Thursday night; made sure heat was on downstairs (we live on second and third floors) and let the faucets drip. Unfortunately, Greg choose to let the cold water drip. For the record, I had the hot dripping when I went to bed. But somebody came along and decided he knew better.

The next morning the water turned on just fine. We both breathed a sigh of relief and laughed about how bad it was when the pipes froze last winter. We went about our normal business. Coffee, breakfast, and then upstairs to work. We both work from home. Greg had a busy day of back to back conference calls. He went downstairs around 10 am to use the bathroom and came back and quietly mumbled, “The toilet is clogged and it backed up into the tub”. His voice seemed non-urgent so I didn’t really give it much thought. Maybe it would unclog itself?

Around noon after his conference call ended he stomped back downstairs. From the upstairs office I heard lots of yelling, banging, and drill noises. I guess the drain didn’t unclog itself? I went downstairs asked if he needed help. I got a short answer back. Something about just getting out of his way. At this point poop was all over the bathroom. The tub was full and he was using a drill to snake the pipes.

After this I heard more banging, cursing, stomping downstairs, and our truck squealing out of the driveway. Guess he went to the hardware store? (I took the below photo while he was gone…I cropped out the poop tub.) He was back in about 10 minutes, fiddled in the bathroom for a few minutes, and then came back upstairs with a comment of, “useless” and then back on another 2 hour conference call.

I tried not to ask questions. He seemed pretty mad and didn’t really feel like I could offer any advice. I went to Foodie’s for lunch and used their bathroom.

By 5 pm I was still working, he made it back down to the bathroom and yelled to me it was fixed. Really, great? He was calmer but particles of poop where still in the tub. I saw some flinging into the toilet and my hand towels soaked on the floor. I literally puked in my mouth. An hour later after all the major poop was gone I offered to bleach down the entire bathroom and clean up. I felt bad. I told him he was the best poop declogger ever. I got a “Thanks, baby” and we went upstairs and watched a Friday night movie.

He told me later the pipe had frozen at the point where the indoor line turns to the sewer line. He assumed this happened because the cold water he dripped froze up. He remedied the situation by pouring boiling water down the drain.

p.s. this post was from my point of view. Greg had no input but I am sure he’ll add in his own comments once he gets home. I’m sure I’ll hear from him that’s not how it happened at all.

Related Post:
Working On Removing Ceiling

Working On Removing Ceiling

Katy Elliott — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:09:57 +0000

On Saturday, Greg and I worked on removing the ceiling from the den. We first removed the dry wall that was added sometime around the 1920’s (I found a date on a small piece with 1921 as a marking) when we assume they added electricity. Below the dry wall was a series of laths covered with portions of plaster.

Lath and plaster was a common construction technique that was used up until the 1950’s. The lath is the narrow strips of wood nailed horizontally across the ceiling. We are removing the lath so we can install a new ceiling that properly matches up with the decorative crown molding. Previously, it was hung too low and sagging which covered up parts of the beautiful woodwork. After the the lath is removed from the entire ceiling we will install blueboard with a skim coat of plaster—a technique that mimics the look of old lath and plaster.

Above some objects we found in the ceiling between the lath and beams. To the left a hand-stitched cotton bag, a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes, leather, and then some objects we have yet to identify. Maybe shoe templates and tools?

p.s. greg picked me up this great book of Martha Stewart renovating her Turkey Hill home in Westport, Connecticut. She includes every detail including decorating and landscaping. The books is inspiring but also makes me insanely jealous that I can’t afford a crew to renovate my home.

Related Posts:
Expanding Doorframe in Den

Expanding Doorframe in Den

Katy Elliott — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:34:25 +0000

We are back to working on our second floor den. Greg finished up stripping the paint from majority of the wood. I need to go back and clean up the details, sand and prime. He expanded the doorway into the tiny little side room. I battled expanding the doorway for months. I was afraid the room would loose it’s symmetry. But the small room really had no purpose and seemed like it needed some connection to the den. The expanded doorway gives both rooms more light. Soon we will re-frame the expanded section to match the the other side of the door frame.

Our next step is to remove the ceiling. Parts of the ceiling have poorly done patches from water damage and have sagged. Greg took out a chunk late Sunday night. We’ll have to take the whole thing down before we decided if we want exposed beams or not.

Below a peek of the beam we discovered in the wall. The wood beam still has the bark on the wood. Crazy, right?

Leaf Blower & Mulcher

Katy Elliott — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:47:19 +0000

I’m now a real homeowner. I own a leaf blower. Last year, we racked the leaves into piles and shoved them into store bought paper bags. Greg was pretty annoyed that I bought bags that we were just going to throw away.

We did some research online and found the Toro Ultra 12 Amp Variable Speed Electric Blower/Vacuum. It can mulch leaves as well as blow leaves into piles. If you mulch your leaves you can incorporate the mix into your garden. Greg picked the Toro because it has metal blades that chop the leaves. Most mulchers have plastic versions that can cause jamming.

On Saturday, we did our first round up leaf gathering. Above a before and after shot of our driveway. I know it looks prettier with the leaves but believe me you want to get rid of the leaves as soon as possible. Leaves pile up on the sidewalks which is delightful for fall frolicing. Throw some rain into the mix and the leaves become a colorful ice rink of disaster. Besides wet leaves are a pain in the ass to rake or mulch.

Below some shots of the Toro in action. You can suck & mulch into a garbage can or use a shoulder bag. The blower is really powerful and great for cleaning out gutters too. Find out more and purchase online at amazon.com.