What I did at my house today...

[Lily left the valley]

I love this conversation! I never knew the bit about draft tubes and oil leakage, but it makes total sense.

One suggestion I would make when it comes to pouring your own cement for the driveway sections: use exposed aggregate. Find a mix that incorporates small (1/4") river stones. The process seems pretty simple, mix, let it cure for x-amount of time, then spray on a solution that prevents the top-most cream from setting, and then after x-amount of time, hose it off to expose the rocks. The exposed pebbles really make for a much more old-house-friendly look--kind of like an acid-rain etched surface that becomes exposed after 100 years of nature taking its course. I'm in NJ, so the exposed surface pebbles also help with grip a bit in the winter.

Check out this link for info and styles. Mine is most similar to the sample on the bottom, in the middle.

https://www.residencestyle.com/exposed- ... eneficial/

I will definitely look into the spray solution. Thank you for letting me know about it.

Also thanks for the link. I love references to work from on projects. Thank you! Most of the concrete walkways were an aggregate mix at the house where I grew up.

[Gothichome]

Finally finished up the yard and garden work. Got what will hopefully be my last bit of dry wall mudding up on the bathroom project, now for the final sand and move on. Oh, and did a little bit of trouble shooting on my new old house renovating tool.

[Manalto]

Cut the grass today, and then rewarded myself with an iced coffee. Sitting out back in the shade of the magnolia, I happened to glance over at my neighbor's house and realized, 2.5 years on, my mission of horticultural obfuscation has been achieved.



That windowsill, lined up with all those nasty plastic bottles, is now screened from view by my young loquat tree. Two and a half years ago, the tree was barely bigger than a chopstick:



Now it's closing in on 10' tall. Loquat is a handsome evergreen tree with quilted foliage and, as a bonus, produces an abundance (I hope) of small, pleasant fruit (AKA "Japanese Plum") in the summer.

[phil]

glad to hear you are getting settled there James. It must be quite a relief from the pressure of planning it all to realization.

an option to exposed aggregate may be to throw some bigger stones in there. I know with a lot of old concrete they didn't have this refined gravel of today so larger rocks were common. It could be replicated perhaps.

[Gothichome]

This past weekend I got the trim back up in the upstairs bathroom project. The project is now officially going in the right direction. Next up is painting trim, ceilings, and sealing the drywall. After a that, start laying tile.

[Gothichome]

Still working on the bathroom project, got the ceiling painted, most of the walls are ready for paper, have the sashes restored and ready to go in. Today I am finishing off the sanding on the trim getting it ready for paint.
Sanding is getting very tiresome but it must be done.
Looking for I deas on period colours and wall paper. The room is going sanitary white tiles with black details, looking for insperation from about 1910 to 1915. That is about the date the first real plumbing was installed. All suggestions would be welcome.

[Manalto]

Ron, would wallpaper have been found on bathroom walls in a house of your vintage? (I'm not trying to discourage you, just asking a historical question.) I'll be interested to see what color you choose. Pink is very nice with black and white; I can visualize a dusky rose, if it passes muster for authenticity. From what compass direction is the natural light? Sometimes it's good to consider this, particularly for gloomy north-facing rooms, where a cool color can feel even moreso during the winter.

[Gothichome]

James, when the first plumbing was installed, yes. Gothichome would have been 30 to 40 years old before that happened. I have a picture of the original wallpaper pasted over the vertical bead board of the original trunk closet on my restoration posts.I have three 9 foot windows facing S? and SW, it is a very bright room in the evening. And I am sorry James but pink and dusty rose are most definitely out. These are the type of decisions upper management usually make. She told me to surprise her, that will lead to no good I’m sure.

[Manalto]

I have no emotional investment in the final decision for your bathroom color. I only hope you find something that you are happy with.

[Wackyshack]

I hope the toilet overflow is going to be fixed today. Been after the master of procrastination (my husband) for 8 days and it still isn't fixed. We are manually turning on and off the toilet just to use it. I am mad at him, instead of going to Home Depot to work on what is necessary he just announced he is tagging along with me and my elderly mother to Costco and was pretty mad when I challenged him on it... I just worked an 18 day stretch and 52 hours over the last week, so I am going to use my day off to help my mother and he who only works 3 days a week (hubby) has not found the time to fix a necessary appliance.

What do I expect to do today?? Be Josephine the Plumber! And watch a bunch of you tube vids.