The Historic District

Do you have enough space to dry laundry inside? As long as it's not dripping that works great in a room that has a radiator! In Europe just about everyone has a folding drying rack that holds at least half a washer load, my mom used to have two at times and another fixed fold-out one above the tub. ...

Re: lead paint: there's a US source that claims lead paint was banned in Austria-Hungary in 1910. Recently I found some documentation from 1925 that clearly mentions lead white as the pigment to be used for several white paints. Guess I should change my attitude about sanding and stripping...

The idea was to keep an attic fire from spreading downstairs so the floors were usually covered with some kind of mineralic material, either sand or crushed mortar and bricks, usually with a layer of paving bricks on top. Since this was originally a working farm they likely stored hay, straw and oth...

Good to know! I do have a few spare panes (managed to get them out of a splintered door without cracking them) but I definitely know someone who needs more to replace a broken triple window.

Your in-laws looked like the folks I stayed with in NYC when I was on a school exchange! Every single room in the cramped Brooklyn apartment had a TV, including the kitchen (a tiny B&W thing on a shelf above the sink, squeezed in between the toaster oven and coffee maker). And they were all on m...

No, we gutted the whole room down to the bare brick walls! The tiles are new 20x20 cm (8"x8") both on the walls and floor, the black trim pieces are hand-cut from 20x20 cm tiles. Nothing I'd do again but finding 5x20 cm border tiles turned out to be pretty much impossible. Brief review of ...

I use whatever linseed oil putty I can get and I can't say I've ever had problems, except with partially-used pails that sat for too long. Kneading the putty in my hands always softened it enough to work well. Linseed oil paint isn't cheap but you need very little of it. It does require quite a few ...

On Monday my mom complained about a late-80s IKEA upper cabinet in her kitchen threatening to collapse (the middle shelf already fell out a few years ago, breaking some glass so the cabinet was only half-full anyway) so I searched the classifieds for cheap kitchens. Around 8 PM I found a free 1960s ...

I've heard some complaints about mould issues when pure linseed oil paint is used outdoors in areas with extended times of high humidity but haven't experienced it myself yet (TBH I've only used linseed oil paint inside so far) but indoors I'd use it in a heartbeat! You need some practice and some v...

I might have posted something along those lines on your thread, possibly in the introduction! My trusty 1958 DIY book has a long section on installing linoleum and mentions sealing seams with hot paraffin, necessary since the adhesive wasn't water-resistant. I believe that's still done in sheet inst...