Compared to our past pace, 2006 was a very slow year on the house restoration front. We completed one project. Our project wasn’t even a large one, but it was labor intensive as all our projects somehow seem to be.
It has finally sunk in that we don’t have the stamina to have house projects going all the time, one after another, lets hurry up and get everything done so our house is restored all ready. Our what seemed realistic at the time plan, the one where we complete all the work on our house within five years? It’s now the 10 year plan or the hopefully we get the house done before we die plan. Considering this is our fourth year in the house and we are barely halfway done, I think the new plan is a good call.
We have decided that completing one project a year is a more realistic pace for us. Although, it would have been nice to have restored the kitchen and our main bathroom before we hit upon the one-project-a-year-for-a-more-balanced-life approach. I think it is going to be a while before I have the ever changing kitchen of my dreams.
January
My dad came to visit and finished some plumbing work he had started the year before. This culminated with hooking up the sink in our downstairs half bath. It only took us 3 years to actually have water running out of a faucet in one of our bathrooms. Yeah!
February
The episode of “Restoration Realities” featuring us aired on the DIY television network. Along with the show’s host and carpenter we built a period appropriate screen door and weather stripped our windows and front door.
Heather + Dave on Restoration Realities Part 1
Restoration Realities Part 2
Restoration Realities Part 3
Restoration Realities Part 4
March
Did absolutely NO work on the house.
April
Did absolutely NO work on the house, but may have scared a very nice sounding family away from the idea of restoring a rundown Craftsman home of their own.
May
Did absolutely NO work on the house. Starting to see a theme here?
June
Did absolutely NO work on the house.
By all accounts, 2005 was a slower year; especially when compared to all the work accomplished in 2003 and 2004. I also consider it a successful year because the house was at a point where we could live in it and enjoy living in it.
January
My Dad flew in to wrap up a few lingering plumbing tasks from our 2004 back porch remodel and to eat a lot of hot dogs. We finally got the downstairs toilet installed and the washer and dryer hooked up. No more trips to the Laundromat! We were so excited that we gave my dad his own corner on our website.
February
Our house made it’s television debut! The television show Restoration Realities on the DIY Network removed our metal security door and built a new Douglas fir screen door to take it’s place. We were concerned about security but the door is so beautiful that we decided not to modify it by installing a deadbolt or a metal grill. We have had no problems.
The episode airs February 19, 2006. There is a nice description of our house and the work we have done on the DIY Network web site.
March
After waiting 2 years, we were finally able to hang the porch swing I purchased right after we moved into the house.
April
We purchased a 1915 baby grand piano from an elderly neighbor. We hired professional piano movers and had the piano tuned.
May
We did absolutely nothing except enjoy all the work already completed on the house.
Our house right after we purchased it in September 2002
Our house in May of 2005
We had gotten into this mindset where we had to keep going and felt guilty if we weren’t working on the house. It was nice to take a break and enjoy life outside of the huge project that is our house.
When other people see our home do they see lots of potential or do they see a disaster? I get very protective of our house and try to point out all of its positive attributes but I’m not sure if everyone else is convinced? It takes some imagination to appreciate our house.
The day we took possession of the house our friend Jeff came over to see it. As I proudly walked him through our new home, he turned to me in disbelief and said, “You are going to live here?”
“Oh, boy!” I thought to myself, “Not quite the reaction I was hoping for.”
I later questioned why he said that and he explained that he couldn’t imagine someone like me, who likes everything pristine and perfect, living in a house that was, to put it nicely, in such bad shape – polite code for a complete dump. I struck him as too prissy to be a do-it-yourselfer. But, Jeff didn’t know the farm girl inside me clamoring to grab a sledgehammer and start knocking out ugly circa 1970′s cabinets. I don’t think David, my husband, was prepared for her either.
It was a shock for him to come home every day to see something else demolished, taken apart or gutted. David, being much more practical, decided that I needed to be contained. He begged me to focus my energies on one room at a time because he feared the whole house would be completely torn apart. He wondered when we’d get out of the destruction phase and start the restoration phase? All of my “improvements” seemed to be making things worse. When listening to reason didn’t work he began hiding the sledgehammer.
Although we’ve made progress on the house, I still see all the things that we need to fix or all the things I’d like to change. So, I think now is a good time to take a look back and focus on just how far we’ve come in the past year and three months.
Before we moved into the house:
• Replaced the foundation. Bolted for earthquake safety.
• Connected to the city sewer line. Our sewer line was illegally tapping into our neighbor’s sewer line.
• Had the wood floors refinished.
• The kitchen floor: Pulled up press on vinyl tiles that covered plywood which was nailed and screwed into the floor. The floor is uneven so the previous owner had poured plaster into the lower areas to even the floor. All the plaster had to be carefully hammered out. We decided to have the heart of pine floor refinished.
• Upstairs bathroom floor: Pulled up layers of old linoleum. This was a horrible job. Removed the black tar-like backing that was stuck to the floor after the linoleum was taken out by covering the tar paper with paper towels and wetting them with warm water. We discovered the black tar paper backing was water soluble because in areas where it had gotten wet, around the tub and toilet, the tar paper come right up from the wood.
• Removed various cabinets from the upstairs bath and kitchen.
• Painted the two upstairs bedrooms.
After we moved in:
• Installed central heat.
• Added some more electrical outlets to the upstairs bedroom which we plan on using as an office.
• Had a carpenter replace the old plywood stairs leading to the top floor with nice steps made from cherry wood that was generously donated by my dad.
• Began landscaping.
• Began the restoration of our front porch. We hired someone to rebuild the brick piers that support the wood columns holding up the roof. We removed a roof covering the pergola on the north end of the porch. We plan to grow vines over this. The failing cement steps were replaced with steps made from redwood. The 4″ thick layer of cement covering the porch floor was removed. Low walls built around the porch were removed and the original porch railing was restored.
• The dining room was completely restored. See pictures.
• We had a new roof put on. The dormers were stripped of their asbestos shingles. The original wood shingles couldn’t be saved so we had the dormers re-shingled.
• Began restoration of our living room.
• Still trying to select a paint color for the exterior. Any suggestions?
I guess we have accomplished a lot but we still have such a long way to go…