After the last time I wrote, I had a mishap with a doorjamb while trying to remove a staple from the hardwood floor. Wade is always bothering me to, “use the right tools, baby, so you’re safe,” and “please wear your work gloves so you don’t hurt your hands, baby.” I used the wrong tool and no work gloves. In the moment before the impact, I thought, “wow, if this screwdriver slips, I could really mess up my knuckles, maybe I should stop.” But then I thought, “Nah, I’ll be fine.” It did slip and I did mess up my knuckles. I suffered through two painful days before getting to my doctor and she confirmed it wasn’t broken! Yay! She also gave me a bandage to wrap it up, which helped a ton. I had found that while I would go about my day cradling my hand, I often walked into things with it, like doors and countertops. The bandage definitely helped it to heal faster, but renovations came to a halt for the week and I occupied myself with admin work.
Last week, I was back at it and I got a lot done! I removed tons of paint from the bathroom door frame (this area was particularly stubborn and took me a full day. Wade met me at Home Depot after work one night and helped me get drywall and our new porcelain-enameled steel bathtub! It’s so white and clean and pretty.
I removed the shower surround! It was a direct-to-stud, so I will have to drywall the walls once the new bathtub goes in. Wade also helped me pull out the old bathtub after work a different night. The bathroom looked so much bigger with it gone! I took advantage of the opportunity to apply some waterproofing membrane to the subfloor.
I spent a lot of time prepping the bathroom window, removing lots of paint from the window trim, painting the actual window itself. Yesterday, I assembled them and glazed the windows. They are so pretty! I love old windows!
Speaking of old windows, when I started investigating the small windows above the fireplace, I noticed that the windows were missing and a single piece of glass had been leaned in place of the window, with a piece of sash holding it upright. I’m pretty sure these were either leaded or stained glass and were pilfered and sold at some point. The shelves on either side of the bookshelf and the buffet also had doors that are missing. I wish I could have seen what they looked like! I have been on the hunt for windows that would fit in those spots. I don’t need stained or leaded glass (although it would be amazing, don’t get me wrong) and haven’t had any luck finding a match.
This week, I was at Lisbon Screen, Storm, and Door once again perusing their selection of old windows and I came across a set that was pretty damn close. They were $14 each, so I got them and brought them home. I removed the glazing, glass, and paint, sanded them, sawed a 1/2” from each side so they’d fit, stained the interior side and painted the exterior side and they are ready to have the glass put back in and re-glazed! I think it will look so much better! I honestly don’t know if a tenant would even have noticed if there wasn’t a proper window there, but I feel like this house is way more to me than a rental. I’m committed to bringing her back. I would always have noticed if it wasn’t there. And it would’ve driven me nuts.
I started investigating the dining room ceiling this week. It has lots of water damage from when the dining room waterfall upstairs used to flood under the 2nd floor hardwood and wreak havoc. I had been hoping I could skim the layer of joint compound covering it and find perfect plaster underneath that just needed a fresh layer of paint. The more I skimmed, the more I realized that the plaster was in shambles. It started hanging and falling, exposing the lathe. In some spots, it had been screwed back into the lathe, then broken away again. It was a disaster. So I called my friend, Willy (painted our soffit, drywalled the bathroom at The 1885 House, and fixed my truck), and he knows exactly how to drywall our dining room ceiling and preserve the curve portion that I love so much. What a relief. He comes this weekend.
In other news, our contractor, Laurel, starts re-roofing The 1885 House on Monday! I am thrilled. Anytime it rains or is windy, thoughts of that roof in awful condition keeps me up at night. We are going with a charcoal gray standing seam steel roof. The warranty on the roof is 50 years, so Wade and I should never have to worry about this roof again in our lifetime. In addition to the roof, we are having new fascia, soffit, and gutters installed. He is also removing the two chimneys for us. One is in good condition, but the other is crumbling and we’re not interested in paying to maintain it since it serves no purpose.
We currently have asbestos siding on The 1885 House and I’m not crazy about it. My original thought had been to have it removed in a couple years and see if the clapboard underneath was in good enough condition to salvage. When Laurel and I were at the house last, he showed me some damage under the siding in a spot where the gutter has literally fallen away from the house. It was worse than I had thought and I feel like this isn’t something we can wait on. He is working a quote to restore the clapboard while I’m getting quotes for asbestos abatement. We shall see.
