Reuse. Rehabilitate. Restore. Architectural salvage and repurposed pieces for the home.
**Archive. Originally posted October 30, 2007.
So, you think you wanna sell your own home? It’s no picnic, I’ll tell you that. But if you have the time and patience, you can save thousands on broker’s fees. It is true that many a FSBO ends up a broker’s listing because people step into it blindly. Just make sure you do the research and have the personality to handle it.Continue reading FSBO Checklist
Contact: debraAT408groupDOTcom
I’m no expert on wood refurbishing. In fact, I’m writing this post as a way to research the subject for myself. If anyone has tips, please leave it in the comments!
The local paint store turned me on to Howard’s Restore A Finish and now I’m a junkie. I purchased nearly all the colors and I use it for everything whether it needs it or not. I’m in love with Howard’s. It’s magic. Haven’t tried Dr. Woodwell’s Wood Elixir yet, but I’m looking forward to cheating on Howard and doing so.
Before Howard’s, I was sanding everything down, staining and polyurethaning. I did this on all the brownstone molding, but you know what? I’m glad I did because the tenants have been harsh. Anything less is for sissies. Some wood needs to be well protected!
I’ve experienced tung oil as well. Looked great, but it was used on a tongue in groove ceiling, so I can’t say how well it stood up to traffic.
Ok, that’s all I’ve got. Did you think I was going to give you any real information?
Here’s the rundown on various Howard’s products and oils.
And here’s a waxing DIY.
The Station. Photo by SerenityLife
The Bathroom
Author: Travis the Trannyboi
21 years ago I arrived in New York City from Scotland to visit pb, now of Reclaimed Home fame, and was immediatedly fascinated by The Subway. I was an undergrad painting student at the time, and returned to Scotland to begin making full-size replicas of mosaic-ed station names, complete with grafitti and running-water staining. Kind of like the Boyle Family’s work, but with walls. At the time, i remember saying that if I ever bought a flat, I would tile my bathroom with a New York subway station name.
Ten years later: my sister and I buy a tenement flat in Glasgow. Built round the turn of the last century, Glasgow’s four-storey tenements of a certain size are not known for their bathrooms. Much of the population would still have been using public bathhouses, so the mod-con of the day was an inside toilet and nothing else. An otherwise well-proportioned flat with two large bedrooms and a 20′ bay-windowed living room has a bathroom the size of a cupboard with a door that opens out the way. A council refurbishment scheme had enlarged the original 4′ x 4′ room to be big enough to accommodate a shower, but it’s a tight fit. Here was my chance to do the mosaic. I decided on my local station on that first NY trip – DeKalb Avenue.
At a tile supplier who would sell tiles singly, I found close enough matches for the colours of the real station mosaic, and then had to labouriously cut the tiles up into hundreds of half-inch squares. I tiled the brick pattern first, then laid in the two rows of stripes before starting on the mosaic proper. I drew the lettering on the wall and filled in the letters first, using tile nibblers to get the exact shapes. You have to allow for quite a bit of wastage at this stage. The background was filled in after the letters had set, with the whole thing finished with black grout for that 100 year-old subway grime effect.
The walls and ceiling are painted in a kind of concrete paint effect, with the woodwork done in green”Hammerite” paint – evil fumes, but a great look suggestive of Victorian glazed brickwork. Rather than box the bath in with solid panels, there’s a frame with painted wire mesh of the kind often seen in the Subway. The photo of a Brooklyn station entrance, which covers the access to the water main was taken by pb. It’s been a great way to distract from the smallness of the room, and visitors to the flat always open the bathroom door with a “Wow!”
Hope y’all had a great three days off. We forgot that Labor Day was “sought to create a day off for the working citizens” so we worked most of the weekend. We did take a couple of hours to play in the art installations at Saunders Farm. The sculptures were great but we didn’t dress accordingly and paid dearly for that. We went for the opening which was officially rained out, even though it wasn’t raining when we got there. In fact, it was horribly humid and the sun was blaring and we were wearing long pants and it was a hike to get from location to location. Point is, what could’ve been a lovely day turned into a kvetchfest because I can’t stand the heat.
The show runs until October 31st. It’s free. We will go again. On a cooler day. Wear shorts. Bring bug spray. And drinks. Perhaps a picnic. Then it will be awesome!
Got a little more done on our porch. We have to secure the joists, rebuild the floor and support the overhang. Not much fun to talk about. Our karma has come back to bite us in the ass. Oh, the many times we’ve mocked neighbors for taking years to do their exterior projects. I’m sure everyone passing through Beacon is now saying about us “WTF are they doing with that house and what’s taking them so long?” Your day will come. Don’t be so smug.
Labor Day weekend upstate is a yard sale junkie’s paradise. Yes, it is technically “work” for me, but who doesn’t enjoy hitting the yard sales (ok, my husband)? I scored these vinyl and chrome chairs. They’ll be great once cleaned up.
But I bought something that has been on my mind since last Thursday. An American flag. Yee-haw, I’m a patriot now! I’m going to fly it if Barack wins. If God forbid it goes the other way, I’ll fly it at half mast. Stay tuned. I may try to start a “Take back the flag” movement.
The summer escaped us. Too much meshugas. Now all of those home projects have been pushed back to the fall. Exterior projects should take priority, but what’s another year? We tend to get to the more pleasant projects first.
Here’s my to do list based on the fun-o-meter.
So, what do you enjoy doing?
1. Strip paint from wainscotting. Re-paint. (Fun:0)
2. Paint shutters which are getting moldy in damp basement. (Fun:1)
3. Paint walls and decorative molding. (Fun:5)
4. Pick out new entry doors. (Fun:10)
5. Probably strip and restore entry doors. (Fun:0)
6. Replace rotted wood from front bay windows. (Husband’s job. Who cares?)
7. Paint new bay window wood. (Fun:4)
8. Pick out decking for porch. (Fun:10)
9. Pick out porch balusters. (Fun:10)
10. Help hubby install decking. (Fun:5)
11. Strip and repaint balusters. (Fun:-2)
12. Use porch before winter 2008. (Ain’t gonna happen, but would be high on the fun-o-meter)
Ooh, honey…I’m loving The Budget Casa! I know my own blog is supposed to be for “thrifty” New Yorkers, but the gals at Budget Casa stay more focused than I do. Well, there are 4 of them, so cut me some slack, wouldjya?
Anyway, they’ve got tips for DIY cleaning, DIY no-sew pillows, Etsy picks under $30 and budget gardening tips.
The plywood counter top post I did yesterday got me thinking about how versatile plywood is. It’s no secret that I sometimes get lazy with my renovations midway through. I’ve often asked the hubby if we can just do something fun with plywood rather than sheet rock the walls. The answer is always no. But that doesn’t mean I can’t write about it.
For our Kingston “country” renovation, we chose to go with board and bat walls. We did actually do board and bat, but afterwards our neighbor came in to see it and asked why we didn’t just use plywood under the batten? D’oh! We totally could’ve gotten away with that since we were going with a pickled white anyway. It would’ve saved hours. Actually, days. So, plywood under horizontal or vertical strips of wood could work. Or even raised panels, as in raised panel wainscoting? Are your creative juices flowing yet?
If you really want to go the cheapest, fastest, easiest route, consider just slapping that plywood up there with some paint or stain. The photo above is Cafe Macchiato in Newburgh, NY. Although I didn’t ask, I’m under the impression they just did a quick stain job. To me, the end result looks like a faux leather technique. Whether it was intended or not, it doesn’t look half bad! Consider bright stains and washes such as reds or purples. Could look very cool!
The fact is, you can’t really do much to screw up plywood. If you don’t like it and want to change to sheet rock, it won’t get destroyed when you take it down. And you can always use it elsewhere for all of your building needs.
From Instructables, a step by step guide to building this lovely outdoor doggy retreat. Turn up the volume and dance! The best part about this video is the disco beat.
This month’s quick, cheap and easy DIY counter top choice comes from The Hardware Aisle.
What is it? Plywood! There’s no need to remove your existing counter top to feed the landfill. Furniture grade veneer can be affixed to existing material. Edges should consist of solid wood and surface can be coated for protection.
Full DIY here.
My own input? I doubt this will last forever, so why not make it look as nice as possible while it’s there? I’d add trim around the edges to fancy it up a bit. You can caulk it, but water will eventually find it’s away between the top and trim. If you plan on keeping the counter top for a long while, you should stay on top of the sealer and caulk! But remember that bars often have wood counter tops and they seem to last just fine.
Related:Charles and Hudson
Home Renovation Guide underwent an overhaul and recently relaunched. The Toronto based company covers the US as well. There are DIY tips, contractor searches and inspiration guides. Check it out, but not too closely. I want you to come back here!
In the editor’s own words:
“The Home Renovation Guide was originally created as a directory for qualified contractors, but in its new incarnation, the Home Renovation Guide is filled with tons of useful resources for the homeowner – everything from articles about home maintenance to personalized advice from experts to before and after galleries of home renovations (complete with full details). As an online publication, the Home Renovation Guide takes advantage of the immediacy of the web with sections like Hot Products for the latest and greatest, and the Home Improvement Blog that covers topics ranging from news in the renovation world to DIY projects happening at home. You may also notice a decidedly environmentally friendly slant, as we try to encourage the use of green products and concepts as much as possible.”
Gee, remember the good ole’ days when I had time to do my own DIY posts? Now I just look for videos else where. ThreadBanger is a great site for all things DIY and the how to videos are easy to follow. Here’s a direct link to a silhouette video if it isn’t showing up below.
White distilled vinegar is the one product no household should be without. Here’s my top 10 list of uses for that magic liquid. You didn’t really think I’d come up with 101, did you? Go to this site for more.
1. Cat pee! This is the #1 concern in my house where 6 cats run amok pissing wherever they please. I do the Nature’s Miracle thing, but if I’m too rushed to wipe down and then clean, vinegar will take care of all. Some say that vinegar will only attract the cats to do it again. Others insist it’s a deterrent. I’ve found that my cats will do it again no matter what I use, so I gave up on any theories long ago.
2. Brass and other metal. Vinegar is aces when it comes to removing tarnish and polishing brass, pewter and copper. Did I just say “aces”? Full brass cleaning tips here.
3. Windows and glass. Everybody knows that one, right? What? Are you still using that blue stuff?
4. Wood floors. The verdict is still out on this one. Here’s why. The acidic nature of vinegar will eventually etch the polyurethane surface protecting the wood. If the floors are cleaned regularly over years it will leave microscopic surface scratches that cause light to deflect in ways and that reduces the shine. My thoughts? If it takes years, won’t you be sanding your floors again anyway? I don’t know about you, but microscopic scratches are not the worst thing happening to my floors. Not by a long shot! Have I mentioned the cats? Ooh, and the dogs with their nails.
5. Rust. Soak rusted tool parts and bolts in vinegar overnight.
6. Faucet corrosion. Again, remove and soak overnight. Use vinegar to unclog shower heads and take care of soapy build up on all bathroom/kitchen fixtures.
7. Ants. Supposedly deters ants. I never tried this. Used a lavender solution once which worked for about a week. Smelled good though.
8. Wood cleaner. Vinegar with linseed oil or even olive oil to clean wood. See #4 though.
9. Remove paint splatters, decals and wallpaper. I’ve only ever used warm water, but “they” say vinegar does the trick!
10. Soften paint brushes. Leave your paint brush lying around too long when it wasn’t properly washed? I do it all the time! Soak brushes in hot vinegar before washing in sudsy water.
* Not to code in NYC!
Gorgeous Eastlake Parlor Set for $1100. Located in Ulster County. It’s been reupholstered. Seems like a good deal to me. That Eastlake stuff is pricey! I should know….I love it and but can’t afford it. Possible delivery available.
Anthony: 845-591-4974
Howard Hall Farm has their class schedule all worked out for the season. Among “must knows” for any period homeowner….paint stripping and reading your period home. Full schedule at Howard Hall Farm.
Located in Athens, NY. Make a weekend out of it!