Finally got around to stripping the 10 layers of paint off of those lovely Victorian hinges I purchased at Vaccaro’s Salvage.

The easiest, cheapest way to strip hardware is to boil it. I add some baking soda and simmer it for 30-60 minutes. Some folks cook it in a crock pot overnight with a bit of laundry detergent. Hardware. It’s what’s for dinner.

Once it’s soaked, the bulk of the paint will come off with no effort. You’ll have some cleaning up to do in crevices. Have a wire brush handy to scrub more paint off.

A few tips:

1. No, you don’t use a pot you use to cook.

2. Have tongs handy. That sh*t gets hot!

3. Ditto on gloves.

4. You’ll need some stripping tools for the pot action, then…

5. For clean up: chemical stripper, mask, chemical gloves, small pointy tool for teeny detail areas, wire brush or steel wool.

6. Clean up well. Chances are it is lead paint.

7. Soak in soapy water, then vinegar (scrub) to make it shine like new!

The carpenter will make it all better. Won’t he?

May I kvetch? The husband takes a week off work to deal with the house and what does he do? Monday: Goes into work. Tuesday: Does office work from home. I mean, who needs him? So, I fired him. Well, I’m keeping him around for some handy work, but he’s been demoted.

I should have done this 5 years ago. I made some calls. I’m getting it done. And then I’m going to have weekends and vacations and social time and sex like normal people.

If all of these guys show up, (They ARE contractors, after all) in Beacon we’ve got the porch guys coming to do joists and sub floor today and tomorrow, a landscaper and a cleaning crew (I demoted myself too). What’s the rush? I decided to throw a July 4th shindig. Of course, even if they did show up, they won’t be able to work with all of this rain we’re having!

In Brooklyn, we need a stoop repair (Oy, quoted $10,700!) that can’t wait too much longer. It’s getting worse by the day and the block is slated for landmarking, so we want to do it before all the hassle. This is a project that takes more skill than we have, so there will be no DIY effort here.

And finally, Bill the stair guy, whom I keep forgetting is also a very good carpenter, will do our molding. That means there’s only painting left to do. Plus a couple of other items.

So, we’ll be poor but maybe, just maybe, we’ll have our lives back.

Last time I reported on my porch was over two months ago. Let’s see how far we’ve come since then. Shall we?

Basically, there is no porch left. I’d just like to draw your attention to the green rain gutter with the white spout. The husband tried to kill me with this and I have a nice scar on my lower lip to prove it. He didn’t secure it so when I stepped on it, that white tip hit my face and I was cut by the sharp, dirty edge.

The temporary plywood was taken up for joist repair. This lovely handrail keeps the mail carrier (and us) from falling into the gaping hole. We don’t invite guests over, so that’s a non-issue.

See the chunk o’ bricks in the background? That was just moving around willy nilly in the ground. A deeper hole was dug out to install proper cement footing. That ain’t going nowhere now.

I’ve gotta say…this kind of makes me nervous. I mean, what’s it sitting on? So, hubby has worked on major bridges and structures that are still standing. Do you think this looks kosher? Or does he want to finish the job that the rain gutter didn’t take care?

3rd Ward in Williamsburg is a member-based community for creative professionals. Their 20,000 sq. ft. of space houses media and art studios, offices and an educational program.  

Take a look at some of the upcoming summer classes! Good stuff.

Here’s what looks good to me….

Welding Techniques for Sculpture and Furniture. A six week in-depth course for all levels. Evening classes start June 24. There are weekend classes later in the summer. $500 including equipment if you’re a non-member.

How To Make Crappy Stuff Awesome. I love the title! “In this course, students will learn the basic concepts for creating furniture and other useful objects out of recycled and found materials for little or no investment. Give new life to a boring Ikea cabinet, fix a hand-me-down nightstand, or turn a bus window you found on the street into a coffee table.” Been there. Live that. Classes start in August. $380 for non-members includes equipment.

There are also basic woodworking, welding and furniture restoration courses. I wish I had time and money. This self taught stuff is a pain in my vintage arse.

The Spring classes from City Tech have already begun and they’re going on all summer.

June 11th is a “toolkit” entitled “Hands on Green Home”. The workshop will be repeated in July.

“The Well Dressed Window” is June 18th.

July brings “Electricity 101”, kitchen design and home staging.

More info at NYC College of Technology, Continuing Ed.

*PS: Find the typo

FYI, there’s a DIY building/woodworking school right here in Gowanus.

Makeville offers a range of classes, from “Intro to Handtools” for $160 to “DIY Architectural Woodwork” for $225 to a six session furniture making class for $525.

Better still, they try to use reclaimed materials when possible.

Better still, if you’re qualified, you can rent studio time.

Better still, thinking of a gift? You can purchase gift certificates online.

Better still, there’s a free lathe demo class on June 1st.

The plan to replace floors and repair walls in a single week has gone awry. Oh, we’re almost there. But almost isn’t good enough.

Our house guests will be arriving tomorrow. The third coat of floor paint was still wet as of last night, so I didn’t start to paint my stencil until this morning. Then it needs two coats of poly. We’re gonna have to go with water based at this point, but we really did want to use toxic oil for maximum pee protection. My guess is that we’ll be moving furniture back into the room five minutes before they arrive.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

There was the time we moved out of Park Slope and we were cleaning up from a last minute renovation as the new tenants were moving in. Actually, I don’t think we’ve EVER been ready when new tenants move in. There’s always a week or two of us invading their space to perfect our handy work.

Then there was the time these same house guests came to visit us in Kingston. We were out getting groceries when they arrived and they let themselves in to discover piles of sawdust all over the living room and the house wasn’t very clean. They never let us live that down and stayed in hotels for years. I don’t know what made them change their minds about the hotels. They’re completely hygienic (germophobes) so why stay in Cat Pee Central? Anyway, it’s good they come visit us once a year. It’s the only time we thoroughly clean.

But why take on these huge projects that any sane person knows they can’t accomplish in a week? Oh, if it was a simple floor, it could’ve  been done. But my husband says “You can’t do anything simple! You always have these crazy ideas!” He’s talking about the stencil design on the floor. It’s true. I always have to use a million different colors or some special technique or wallpaper. I get bored with simple. Simple is for sissies.

My husband likes to play the blame game, but he’s no better. Like it’s my idea we bought two houses that need total rehabilitation. Nobody twisted his arm! And I’m the one who has to beg him to hire help. He says he’ll take care of things, but with what time?

Here’s what I’ve discovered. I don’t know about the husband, but I’m a type B personality who thinks she’s type A. I take on all this crap at once…2 DIY restorations, 2 businesses, 8 pets, I’m planning my high school reunion and hosting the Blogade within a week of each other….and I think I can do it all. But nothing gets done right.

Is it me or is the whole world like this?

Yay, let’s go to the dump!

Yesterday was the first day of my week off to renovate a room (and clean the house). I ended up tweeting/twittering/twitting my every move, which was a good idea, because it kept me honest. No long lunch breaks. No chatting on the phone. I worked my ass off. Ok, maybe I spent too much time buying caulk…running into a couple of people and chatting up a storm. Hey, errands are my social life these days! It beats talking to myself and dancing alone to my ipod.

Ok, so where did I get to? Doesn’t look like much, but it’s all in the prep work. I had to sand the pre-sanded floor, mask moulding, chase cracks, vaccuum, plaster said cracks, caulk seams and screws and load the van to go to the dump.

The wall will need a second coat of plaster today, so no painting. The floors will need to be hit with caulk again as it shrinks when it dries. That can be primed in the afternoon. I forgot I also have to paint the radiator that’s sitting on a dolly in the dining room.

And here I was thinking this was a weekend project.

Thought I’d get away without priming the walls. Ha!

I think I’m gonna try to use this Twitter thing to my advantage this week. I’ll tweet the room renovation so I can be publicly shamed into working. Follow here.