The Historic District

Five by five in my view would impractical for removing ash, also it has a smaller door above the cow door, how would that aid in the removal of ash? It is small... but cleanouts on small stoves are also pretty small - particularly if it was a coal stove. The smaller door above the cow door could be...

Here's one of the family and I:


Chris

It looks like an ash clean-out door to me. Maybe from a stove. It looks like the frame is broken off of a larger cast-iron casting, possibly.

Chris

Hey Phil, The Bohme looks good! Helmsman was exactly the sort of spar varnish I was saying NOT to use. That's really a poly. If one were to go the spar varnish rout, the key would be 100% Marine spar varnish, by a reputable specialty producer, making a product specifically for wooden boats - that's ...

The natural finish idea is going to definitely be more maintenance then paint, as Lovesickest suggests (our fir porch floor is painted). If I were going to do natural finish, though, I would probobly go for true Marine Spar Varnish, not the polyurethane/spar varnish combo sold in the big box stores....

I also think that interconnected fire alarms are almost worse than individual ones. I have 3 floors + basement. It takes me a while to check out the whole house when they decide to go off. And if it were to be a real fire, I could have spent those minutes putting out the fire(I have big fire exting...

There was definitely a period of overlap. If it IS soapstone, it should clean up beautifully. Sand it and then apply mineral oil with a cloth.

Chris

Hmmm, I used Bendheim glass (specifically, their "Light Restoration Glass")for reproduction glass, which to my eye is indistinguishable from my original 1925 window glass. Both the originals and the reproductions have got a slight, subtle wave to it. Despite the claims on that Homeworks fo...

We have the kidde brand combo smokes/CO detectors. When they start to go bad, they start to go off randomly - usually in the middle of the night, like Sara. We've replaced them all since then.

To me, they seem to be about the right level of sensitivity.

Chris

My folks had a concrete one in their farmhouse. But yours - to me - looks like it could be soapstone. One way to find out would be to sand it. Soapstone sands easily and creates a very fine soft talc-like powder. Concrete will feel grittier as you sand and produce... well.. sandy grit. You can use a...