Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

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Lily left the valley
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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

Darnit, I had written up a response and got distracted, and apparently I didn't hit submit before I closed the tab yesterday. :oops:
awomanwithahammer wrote:Great find, Lily! I fight the temptation to buy stuff all the time because I'm SURE I can find a way to use it...someday. Craigslist is like your kitchen junk drawer--you can't get rid of it because the minute you do, you'll need it. With CL, if you don't buy it now, you'll sure as hell need it someday!
Thank you! I've been pretty good about only buying what I know we need, and so far I only goofed with the measurements on the one set of window treatments. Still, finding the work around made me not cringe as much at my error. :lol:
Gothichome wrote:AWH, can't speak for others here in the District, but I suspect we all are (a little bit) pack rats when it comes to old home parts, bits and bobs.
Guilty! :D Before we moved out, I even borrowed the old skeleton key from our apartment to try it here just in case it worked in the locks so I could make a mold of it once I found out there was a local blacksmith, but no dice. Still worth trying.

Sometimes, though, we do find new homes for things so the nest isn't quite so stuffed. I'm in the process of that now, setting aside a few things to try to CL them whether for free or sale.

~~~
Trying to make and keep plans lately has been hilarious--the weather has been toying with me.

I finally decided how I want to shape the dowels for the shades in the craft room without taking out too much support so they fit better in the top header pieces, so if the rains do come today, I'll work on that at least to try to get them wrapped up. Otherwise, it's all garden as long as it's dry outside today. Rain barrel first!

I did learn what a mull is today when I was researching different ways to make built-ins. If you don't know, it's a clever way to work around studs for your cabinetry.
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Mick_VT
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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Mick_VT »

Hmmm... I think I need to mull that one over ;)
Mick...

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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by awomanwithahammer »

Ar ar...
Bonnie

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Lily left the valley
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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

At least no one can accuse him of being boring and wooden. :D
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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

So this morning wound up being all about the rain barrel before the storm.

I did touch on a few things in the "what I did at my house today" thread, and also updated my Beebe garden thread as well as to the barrel and plantings and how I wound up finding the creep and wood, so I won't repost all that here. So here you get the details about the new discovery. :dance:

Along with working in the yard came yet another confirmation of suspicion--the lower half of the porch has wood siding under the AC siding (on at least one side that I've confirmed, the east side is missing the skirt portion completely). Now, I only looked where a piece was already broken, and that was in a lower corner. So I'm not sure if it goes all the way across, or if there is a trellis window in the skirting or what. I'm afraid to go further just in case it's a mess back there and we don't have room in the budget for a mess, no matter how much I want that wood rescued and painted!

What I also found was just how far up the soil level has crept. You can see the paint lines in the images below, and the dirt was well above that. This of course reminded me how far behind I am in my mental schedule as to regrading around the house. :-(

I am also a bit concerned about what could have happened behind that in between fiberboardish layer that rests between the wood siding and the AC. Now I understand why so many "brown bits" are drooping below the siding line along the house. It must have rotted or been chewed, so bits are trying to break off, but the off set nails are preventing their complete fall down. That means there could be a lot of nightmares underneath. Moisture, bugs, rot, mold, who knows? I blame the almost composted grass bits I found when I removed the broken porch siding pieces. (Did I say pieces? Why yes, I did take off one more than I should have....but then I did stop myself. ) :shhh:

I now have zero wonderment about our damp cellar, nor why the ground is so close to the base of the cellar windows.
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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Texas_Ranger »

Was that Japanese knotweed you battled? That seems to be one of the most evil plants in the world! Our neighbours to the left have it and I constantly pray it won't spread onto our property! Their yard is some 6 feet lower than ours, our whole block is on a steep hill and dissected by retaining walls so I have some hope but not much.

Some time this year we'll have to have a huge linden tree cut down, it's roughly as tall as the house (I guess some 50 feet) and constantly threatening to drop huge limbs, part of the trunk is completely hollow. We asked for several quotes to have it trimmed and all tree guys said: "Cut it down immediately, this can't be saved!". Now we're waiting for the felling permit - each and every tree except fruit trees is protected in Vienna and cutting it down without a permit means a stiff fine plus having to plant five replacement trees. With a permit you only need to replace 1:1. We applied in April and still waiting...

Considering how close to the ground (or even below) it was the wood behind your shingles looks remarkably decent! If you don't have any serious rot there I'd have high hopes for the rest of it! Unless you had a bad roof leak at some point that is.

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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

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Texas_Ranger wrote:Was that Japanese knotweed you battled? That seems to be one of the most evil plants in the world! Our neighbours to the left have it and I constantly pray it won't spread onto our property! Their yard is some 6 feet lower than ours, our whole block is on a steep hill and dissected by retaining walls so I have some hope but not much.

Some time this year we'll have to have a huge linden tree cut down, it's roughly as tall as the house (I guess some 50 feet) and constantly threatening to drop huge limbs, part of the trunk is completely hollow. We asked for several quotes to have it trimmed and all tree guys said: "Cut it down immediately, this can't be saved!". Now we're waiting for the felling permit - each and every tree except fruit trees is protected in Vienna and cutting it down without a permit means a stiff fine plus having to plant five replacement trees. With a permit you only need to replace 1:1. We applied in April and still waiting...

Considering how close to the ground (or even below) it was the wood behind your shingles looks remarkably decent! If you don't have any serious rot there I'd have high hopes for the rest of it! Unless you had a bad roof leak at some point that is.
It was a Pleioblastus...I think P. viridistriatus from the images I found. It had been let run wild for far too long, and the underground runners were a nightmare. If they broke off, they were like hydras, and sprout even more heads if you missed a bit. They loved sun and shade, and were creeping into where the giant conifer was that shaded part of the south side. Don't think they liked the acid from the needles, though, but they still tried. I don't miss digging up that section of yard at all! They choked all the plants to death underground that they had reached saved one (the tree aforementioned) by the time I got there, which was a lot of plantings the landowner had done--lots of berry bushes and loads of perennials. It even managed to get inside a few large 1/3 height barrel planters he had. At the time he bought them (and some still consider them thus), they were considered an "exotic ornamental".

Some people see it as the same league as English Ivy--"controllable". Only if you stay on top of it from day one, maybe. Otherwise...nightmare! :naughty: I can't recall how long ago he had planted it, but I think it was near to when he had bought the property, so maybe ten years plus a bit?
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I saw a notice for a free tree to plant from the town recently, and will give that number a call next week to see what the selection is like. Oddly, the city's website has nothing about this on the events/etc. pages, only the sandwich board in town. Most of our trees (ours alone or shared property line with neighbors) are far enough away that if they do fall in total, the garage would get the worst of it if anything, depending on the direction.

The only exception would be the paper bark birches along the rock wall planted on our neighbor's side to the west. They don't have far to fall, either, since they are so close. (Our property width on that side from the west edge of the house is only five feet.) There is some overage we should cut back, as it's near to brushing the house, but I don't think we'll get to that this year.

We also have a lot of Squirrel Bombs I keep pulling as they show themselves. I've been considering potting some and putting them out front with a "free" sign. I counted another half dozen that have shown up in the last week when we were in the backyard today.
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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

So since my "how do you wait" thread, we've changed focus on where time is being spent as well as finally having some priorities to follow in a clear fashion. Although in some regards it now feels like chaos indoors, as we move stuff around...it's been worth it already.

One reason why it's been worth it is that we stopped by PYCA yesterday to ask about the status of the garden tools from her clean out. Well, she has them and still has that housewarming gift too. So I made sure she had my new MA #, and we still found a few bits to take home that day as well. One was a dead basic painted wood bookshelf that had an interesting four plug boxed on the side with a heavy duty cord running to a three prong plug. So, bookshelf with an extension cord. I was thinking...laundry area for the short term. We nabbed that for the basement. We also wound up taking home another bookshelf with sliding doors at the base that she was a bit wanting to see go. Older, but still composite. If anything, it will give us some much needed shelf space for books still in boxes until we can save up for the built-in project in the library. I also picked up a nifty old metal citrus juicer that fits in a measuring cup. At some point, I had one of those plastic juicer combo that screwed on top of the jar it came with, but I have no idea where it's gone off to. We still have a few kitchen boxes to unpack, so it may still turn up. If so, that's going to Salvo. Still works, but I like what I got today better. I also picked up a lovely hand stitched hankie. (I have allergies to things like...grass. So hankies are better than using a sleeve or running indoors for the tissue box all the time.) We also got an older metal three shelf handled rolling cart that was only a bit rusty on the top side of the uppermost shelf, but that's fine as eventually I'll sand it down and spray paint the shelves to match the color scheme in the craft room, its new home.

Since it took two trips with the PT to get both shelving units home, I brought back something we've had (got for free), and just don't really use--a brass magazine/kindling holder. I had hoped to use it for umbrellas, but it wasn't tall enough, and we just don't read mags anymore and no fireplace here. I gave it to her as a thank you for the other shelving unit she had thrown in, and she seemed pleased at the unasked for offer to barter instead of it being a freebie. She's always been very fair and sometimes downright generous with me, so I think it was a good thing to do.

Remember that nifty counter top I found? Well, there was more outside that house, and we actually met the nice gentleman from there. He is clearing out and getting ready to sell and move to Florida for retirement. We picked up some great stuff--some of which he was thrilled that I was thrilled to get. One was a metal base with four lovely large locking wheels that I intend to use for a workbench in the cellar. I won't have to worry about moisture creep! There was also some bits and bobs like a battery tester, a brand new-old package of hardware for sliding closet doors, a 4-5' 4x4 with a flat metal handle still attached (not sure where this is going yet, but I have ideas!), a part of one of those tool storage deals where there's a long slider you put the individual holders into, and it still has 6 or so in it. I also went back after some discussion and nabbed a two tier side table with nearly perfect brass long leg caps and some neat detail between the shelves. It was a laminate top, but hey--free! For now, it's in the library with the other MCM stuff, and it kinda matches with the one bookshelf we got from PYCA. I'll take a pic of them later. So I'll be keeping an eye out, and am glad he's just around the corner so I can check back from time to time.

We also made a call about the rocking chairs. Sean finally admitted what I already suspected, which is that he really isn't big into them, so we decided I'm going to call the fella I met who broke and then offered to fix one of them that day and ask if he wants them. If he does...gone. If not, I'll just fix the broken one and CL free them.

Instead, we moved the wicker loveseat out to the porch. I have foam to make a cushion for that. I will likely get some of the vinyl from PYCA to cover it. This way we can hang out on the porch still, and he doesn't have to rock. :D

Right now, we're slowly moving things around in the library after moving the new bookcase and side table in there. We're also moving whatever boxes are left in the parlor that don't belong in there to where they need to be. This way I can finally set up an area for CL selling, there will be room for the chair that's on its way (possibly as early as tomorrow, along with the garden tools), and maybe--just maybe--the dining room will follow suit since now I'll be able to build up something on the frame we got for free from other bits around the property so the tools can finally go downstairs. YESSS! Tools out of the dining room. What ever will I do with myself when we have a dining room that actually has a table and chairs in it again, and we don't have to eat at the computers anymore? :eusa-think:

Speaking of the dining room...there is a gift in the mail from a fellow District member. :dance: I'll post more about that once it arrives. It's looooovely.

Another bit about the dining...we're leaning towards taking apart the chifforobe to get it upstairs. I am still less than thrilled about that, and things may still change. Still, we decided both that we're keeping it and it just can't stay in the dining room much longer as it's needed upstairs more.

Lastly, I do have plans for the basement, which I'm still sketching out. I picked up a stretch of foam insulation to cover the edge of the steel barrel that is the form for the sump pit. It's old and rusty and when I do finally break down and clean it out, I don't want to be getting mauled by the edges. Since we actually had some drier weather, I took my trusty torch to see what I could see mired in the mud. As suspected, there's all sorts of bits. That'll be a hoot, cleaning that out. :hand:

But did I mention the lovely in the mail? Those sorts of bits are what make the less pleasant bits sooo worth it.

So that's what we've been up to of late. Not much worth taking pictures of until yesterday, but I'm going to wait on that until the other bits mentioned arrive.
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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

Today was a bit of an adventure. I did laundry early, hoping it would dry before the predicted rain which still has not fallen. :roll:

The lady from PYCA was due to stop by at 1:30 to drop off the chair long promised, which made me gear up the open boxes in the parlor and decide where they go in the time between laundry, checking out the yard for changes, and their arrival.

It's the first time I can remember seeing the wall below the porch side windows since just after closing. Yep, that many boxes got moved today. Woo! Only another dozen or so to go, plus moving some spare materials to the cellar rack and that room might have space for me to start laying out the stuff we want to Craig's List. :dance:

This lovely chair I mentioned in the "What I did at my house today" thread that only needs cushions (and, I'm actually a bit happy about that, as we still have no idea what we'll be doing in there color wise yet.)
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She also brought a wide selection of long handled garden tools, and I think I only turned down one because it was too similar to the handled large fork I already had, and the metal tined fan rake because I loved the bamboo one much more. This has a broader spread than my little "work around stuff" bamboo rake I already have. The hoes were a toss up because they are similar, but not the same. I figured it was worth keeping both as the use for the differences may become more evident later. Apparently the flatter one is called an onion hoe. She thought there was a thatcher, but there wasn't. Hopefully by next year, we'll only have lawn grass in the front, so no huge loss there, as I can use the bowhead steel which is what I've been using anyhoo. This was awfully similar to the one I had, but the handle is much, much better. The rake portion is slightly better constructed too, but not by much. What a relief to have a longer handled shovel again instead of having to dig everything with hand tools after loosening it up with the fork. I was hoping for a spade, but no dice there. (No complaint either, considering!) The edger was a nice surprise, and the other two forks will be at least good for the compost. And now I'm rambling...so happy and such a reasonable price for the lot of them. Very good condition.
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And...the cream on an already great delivery, my new old toolbox.
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It does have some heft to it even empty, but I think I will get a lot of use of this as a stay in place toolbox. Debating between which tool focus will go in here.

As much as I would really really love to get cracking on setting up the cellar this week, I'm going to stick to going through boxes. Just today and yesterday, I've found quite a few things that either we've been looking for, or have held up projects because I didn't want to buy something I was pretty darn sure we already had...somewhere.

With all the "it's chaos, please don't judge" type caveats, I gave them the nickel tour of Beebe which was fun. There were some pieces of ours that she and I had discussed (like the stove and the vanity/chifforobe) that she hadn't seen yet. Both she and her SO were very complementary on how much was still in place at Beebe. He also took some measurements of the chifforobe trying to figure how it could fit. :lol: We also talked about lots of bits and what could be or could have been, and they were both stunned at the actual walk in closet in the guest room. They loved all the built-ins, and original fixtures. What was kinda neat was her SO commented that he liked the unique step down/up landing to the guest room, but he understood my concern for a late night bathroom run for someone not familiar with the house. She really seemed to like our piano, and how small it was, so I told her about the family who made it and how it's a 77 key parlor variety. I have to admit, I was glowing after they left. :D

We all went over together to the neighbor with the free stuff on the lawn, and apparently he found another of the hooks for the tool bar storage I had snagged last time, so I grabbed that right up. Not much else was new there other than a small box TV, although by then it was nearing 3pm, and who knows what was out there earlier. I told her I'd keep an eye out for her, as she was disappointed with the missing globe on the floor to ceiling lighting fixture. (I actually have wondered if it's worth taking and just doing new shades for it, in all honesty.)

A good day, and it's not nearly over yet.
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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Texas_Ranger »

Sounds like you're making great progress and scoring lots of great stuff!

Quite a few Victorian terraced houses in the UK have steps right in front of bedroom doors and most of them don't even have a bathroom upstairs. One of the most common layouts is an L-shaped house, the shorter end facing the road, two rooms deep with the stairs in between, parallel to the front wall. The rear room leads to the kitchen and usually an added bathroom. Upstairs it's one door on either side of the stairs and two bedrooms, one front, one rear. The rear bedroom usually has another small room off of it above the kitchen, either a third bedroom or a bathroom (later conversion).

So far I've managed never to fall down any of these stairs but at least you'd only bump into the door on the other side of the stairs (less than 3 feet away, those stairs are usually only 80 cm wide) instead of falling straight down the stairs.

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