What I did at my house today...

[phil]

It does match in color nicely.

[Willa]

The contractor was finally available, and we are off to a very productive start. He delivered the sills yesterday, I treated them with the recommended preservative, then primed today with oil based primer. While they are curing, this is what happened :

- pulled up a sample run of the kitchen floor. I knew there were two layers of peel and stick vinyl plus a plywood subfloor, but he detected another layer below that. We were braced for asbestos tile plus terror black mastic. When we pulled it up the bottom layer was inexpensive 60's ? 70's ? sheet flooring that was tacked down, with a double sided tape at the seams only. Whew ! The original wood floor looks in acceptable condition to be painted, and there are no patches when viewed from the unfinished basement. The rest should come off tomorrow.

- he prepped the back door for the storm door installation. There was the puzzling 7/8" depth in the exterior jamb. He figured out a way to lift the exterior brick mould, then will patch in wood behind that to create the necessary depth for the storm door, so it can be installed flush.

- the giant aluminum storm window on the front was removed to expose the dentil details and the carved flower corners. We managed to do this without breaking the storm window, which was a major relief. The window itself has not been painted in a very long time. The surface is a dark ochre, with traces of oxblood paint below, and also some dark blue on the outer frame. Lots of putty repairs ahead.

- the twist doorbell is now installed, exactly where one had been removed. It is a loud, clear ring. I hope that my 7 year old neighbour will not wear it out when he discovers it.

- met with the plumber to discuss installing the wall hung kitchen sink, and roughing in the plumbing for the bathroom

It was a big day.

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[Manalto]

Nice to see those front window details.

[Mick_VT]

I see, that makes sense. Thanks for that coverage info, Mick. That is really good. I feel better about that then. I really just couldn't possibly get a better color match!

Your mileage may vary as they say, my Maple is rock hard so may not be as absorbent as other woods, though IIRC they coverage they list is way higher than other finishes due to it forming a chemical bond inside the wood as opposed to a film on top.

The finish is quite matte which should be good on stairs, especially if you don't carpet, but I wonder if you might want to treat with the maintenance oil to give it a satin sheen. I love the matte, but not everybody does.

By the way it smells delicious when first applied

[Gothichome]

Good news Willa, great to see your making some headway before winter sets in. Removing the storm brings back some long hidden fanciness. Going to look great.

[Corsetière]

Well, I just completed a week long course in lead abatement, and learned quite a bit. For instance, I had no idea that they sometimes added lead to shellac as well. One of the men in my class was also attending because he had an abatement order on the property as well and they tested his non painted woodwork which came back positive for lead content. lol! Isn't that a fun fact!

[Lily left the valley]

...I found out when the plumber got a chance to look at our Frankenstein pipes in the cellar that what I thought was galvanized was actually brass, and from the plumber's thoughts, was likely to be the original plumbing since the home's 1935 build. That's what I get for not hooking up a work light so I could see the color difference better.

We also got a quote for cleaning up said hybrid plumbing to get rid of all the bad areas, and hope to be doing that in spring.

I now know why the POs had so much pipe insulation downstairs, and feel like an idiot that we didn't try to pull more off during inspection.

It's much, much worse than I realized.

We debated for just over a week since the first drip-drip-drip started if I should attempt the needed immediate repair to the T off the boiler. I am really, really glad I listened to my gut and stood firm that we should get a plumber for this. In just over a week it went from a drip to a stream, and then we had a devil of a time finding a plumber that would return a call.

Fortunately, the one who did is super. Reasonable rates, efficient, and I learned a lot from him today. We feel so lucky, because I was at at the point of just calling down the local list, since the two highest rated via the web weren't returning my call.

Oh, and one nice bonus, the plumber said that despite the work that needs to be done, we still got the house for a good price. That was nice of him to say.

Speaking of water, good news is that despite the heavy rain storm that just came through, I can already see where some of the regrading work I've done is making a difference compared to before. There's still a lot I should be finishing, but so far...it's much better than it was with much less rain prior.

So nothing fun to look at, but I cannot wait to take a hot shower tonight, and get caught up on the dishes!

[Willa]

Well, I just completed a week long course in lead abatement, and learned quite a bit. For instance, I had no idea that they sometimes added lead to shellac as well. One of the men in my class was also attending because he had an abatement order on the property as well and they tested his non painted woodwork which came back positive for lead content. lol! Isn't that a fun fact!

Congratulations on completing the course !

[Gothichome]

Lily, good to hear on all accounts, enjoy that shower.
Corcetiere, what prompted you to take the lead abatement class, try to sort out fact from fiction?

[Willa]

Loads of kitchen progress:

- The subfloor was completely removed from the kitchen and bathroom. The original wood floor is salvageable in the kitchen, less so in the powder room. I intended to have a tile floor in the powder room anyway. Thankfully there were no terrible surprises in there, just some old, old rot and holes from previous plumbing pipes and drains.

- Trim has finally gone up around the powder room door inside and out. Trim was patched in from the salvaged antique trim I bought. It's not the same profile as what is here - but close enough for what was available. I now have three different sizes/styles of rosette corner blocks. The difference is obvious if you are looking for it, but the width and depth are right, and the overall look is appropriate for what would have been here. The antique trim looked surprising good when the nail holes were patched then the boards primed. A few dents and dings but perfectly acceptable.

- Plumbing has been roughed in for the new location for the kitchen sink and powder room sink.

- Plans have been made to cover the very rough, previously painted wallpapered walls in the bathroom with 1/4" drywall, and a combination of plaster repairs and new drywall patched in for the kitchen.

Realtor's listing pics of the kitchen, with the too big crappy MDF cabinets that the installer CUT THE DOOR CASINGS to install, plus cheese-whiz coloured painted ceramic tiles. Please note that the colors have been significantly toned down. Copious use of a very dark grey almost black paint on the cabinets, trim and doors:

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Kitchen as of Saturday:

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Floor revealed (not shown: many, many staples and nails that the plywood subfloor left behind):

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New old trim around the powder room, with the door needing a scant 1/8" trimmed off to shut completely:

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Door casing showing a combination of existing and new/old trim and different rosettes. Door faces away from the front door and major rooms. In context: good enough:

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I haven't had a moment to fully consider what colors I will actually paint the kitchen, except to know that it won't be tumeric yellow, process cheese orange and almost black. The room faces mostly north so this is a gloomy, ugly combination.

Things are looking the worst AND the best this kitchen has ever looked.