Alright, I'm just making a quick note here, maybe someone can help.
Apparently Picasa (Google photo album) has made updates and changes to their online albums. The album views and features are now all different, and now *I CAN'T FIND HOW TO GET THE PHOTO LINKS*. This used to be a simple button next to each photo, which I could copy/paste to use in all my blogs and posts, and now that feature seems to have disappeared. The only photo option that I can see is "share album link" which is useless. I want to be able to integrate only specific photos in whatever order I want into my posts. I don't want to share entire albums.
I can't accurately tell you how annoying and completely frustrating this is. I've looked through the help section and FAQ, and it seems like a lot of it hasn't been updated properly to reflect the new changes yet, or the information that's posted doesn't work (or refers to buttons that aren't there anymore).
I was going to make a post today, but I literally CAN'T.
Showing posts with label Vent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vent. Show all posts
Sunday, April 07, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
"Secret" Project Revealed!
Not a huge secret, but I finally decided that I've had enough of stepping on that awful grate across the Office door's threshold, so I've decided to do the necessary work to finish the duct work.
As many of you might know, a few months ago I was in Ottawa, and I found an antiques salvage store that carried some heating grates identical to the one in my living room. As far as I can tell, the house only ever had ONE of these wall grates, which I find odd, and I thought it would be fun to add a second one.
I had originally bought the grate in hopes of using it, or possibly just to replace the existing one, which is missing the lever handle for the internal batten. Since I bought it, I've had it sitting at the foot of my computer "desk" (a temporary card table, which I'm sure made an appearance in the Office floor demo post a while back), and I thought it would work well there.
I started the work by cutting and installing some structural braces and floor supports that will carry the weight of the floor patch for the old vent hole (no photos yet). The floor patching/repair isn't done yet, but it will be soon.
The next day, I started to work on the actual vent location and construction. I think I cut the hole in the wall and the floor on "day 2" and did the rest yesterday (day 3), but regardless, let's jump into it.
Note: I don't really understand the logic with how the house was built, with regard to how they did the ventilation. The first floor's floor is made up of old barn wood boards laid diagonally across large "tree trunk" beams spaced every 3 feet. The barn wood is not all the same thickness, but most is around 1" to 1 1/8" thick, and the spacing is also uneven (many boards have raw edges). Over this, there's a layer of thin cardboard, and then the hardwood. That's it. But the odd part is when it comes to the ventilation. They just cut large holes anywhere they needed. What's odd about this, is that since the "sub floor" barn boards lay diagonally, once they're cut, they aren't supported by anything. The only thing that holds them in place are the nails from the hardwood over it. But they did this everywhere, and it was like this originally. All the original main-floor vents are 12x15 (with the exception of one 14x18 - which is the one I'm covering over in the office door), and they're all the same. In a few places, I added some supports, but for the most part (and a bit surprisingly), it's all very solid.
Step one was to find the best spot for the vent. I knew where I wanted it, but I didn't know exactly where the electrical wiring passed, since there's a light switch on this wall just above the vent location.
I drilled a bunch of 1" holes in the drywall, and felt around for the wire. I didn't see it. I then drilled a hole at the top of the vent hole, and also couldn't find the wire. I was pretty sure I wouldn't run into the wire, so I just went and cut the hole. The hole needed to start at a 2x4, and end up with solid on all 3 sides.
Those of you who visit frequently might recognize this as the "hallway wall" in the Office. For my vent, I was basing my measurements partially from my original vent/duct opening in the living room, and partially off the vent itself. I needed a hole about 11" high, and 12 1/2" wide. After the hole was cut, I could see that the electrical wire was about 4-5" higher than my hole, which was just perfect.
Next was cutting the bottom stud, and the floor. Kinda scary, but also kind of fun. If you're doing this in your home, make sure you have clearance below (you don't want to end up cutting your hole over a joist, though a pipe, or into a wire). In my case, my finished hole was going to land about 8-10" away from one of the log beams, and in a spot clear from wires and pipes.
In this next photo, you can see the old duct that was still in use, feeding the old floor grate to the left. It was going to be gone/moved to feed this new duct.
I'll also point out that you need the right tool to do this kind of work. This was done almost entirely with my Rockwell Multi-Tool (They call it the "SoniCrafter"). Best 130$ I've spent so far. I'm not getting paid to promote them, but it's a damned good product. The first experience with this type of tool I had, was through work (but we use a 600$ Fein version). I find the Rockwell to be as good as the Fein, which is surprising considering the price difference. We use it all the time on installations, to cut wood trim in odd places, for outlet holes in cabinets, drywall, etc. The blades can also be resharpened rather than simply replaced. New blades are about 15-20$, but a local company can sharpen them for around 8$, and then they are as good as new. I've cut through plywoods, hardwood (this birch floor is very hard), MDF, drywall, PVC, and all kinds of stuff, and they last quite a long time, but I'm getting side tracked.
Once I had my hole ready, I made a pattern for the duct work box. I am pretty sure that new ducts for these super OLD vents aren't available, and since I can make one for free, I went that route. I'm sure that there are many tinsmiths who make custom duct work, that can easily throw one of these together for you ($$$), but here's how I did mine.
For the most part it's just a simple box with a small slanted front. You need to make sure to make the box a tiny bit smaller than your opening (or it will NOT fit), and you also need to make sure it will stick-out low enough under the floor (to hook-up your duct work). Another consideration you need to take into account, is how you'll be hooking it into your HVAC system. Will the duct connect from the front, back, side, or bottom. What angle is best? Etc.
For mine, I wanted to try to have the final duct running near the log beam, in a straight line, so I wanted my duct hooked into the back. I have about 4 huge boxes full of scraps and duct fittings, and I found one that worked perfectly.
I decided to make a full sized paper template for this duct, because it was a complex shape.
The paper template proved to be very useful, since I had already goofed a piece on it. I actually had measured the bottom wrong. I made it 4 1/2" wide (the same size as the top), and it should have been 5 1/2" (this was easily fixed on the tin copy).
Since I was making this for free, I used only the available scraps of tin that I had laying around. The main sheet (a flattened-out 5" round duct) could only accommodate the central part of my duct box, so the two side pieces had to be made and attached separately.
Tools needed for this:
- Ruler
- Sharpie
- Framing Square (large)
- Awl, screw driver, or another tool to score the tin
- Tin snips or shears (basically these are metal-cutting scissors)
- GLOVES (strongly recommended but not required, though there's a very good chance you'll cut yourself)
- Wooden blocks with good square corners/edges (to use for bending the tin)
- Pop-rivets & rivet tool
- Drill (for rivet holes you need 1/8" bit)
- Hammer
- Foil duct tape
Optional: First Aid Kit (seriously, if you're not careful you can wind up with deep cuts) I didn't use gloves this time, and only ended up with two tiny scratches, but be careful. The edges will be razor sharp.
Start with drawing and measuring out your main shape. Be sure to leave tabs along the edges (1 inch is a good size), and also leave allowances to have a folded-over seam on the exposed finished edges (since these will be sticking out of the wall).
Cut out the shape, being careful not to crinkle or buckle the tin as you cut. Cut tapers on all the tab corners. Here you can see the front, bottom, back, and top of the box, with a fold-over seam at the front and top of the box (both ends of the sheet), and tabs along all the edges.
At this point, you can start by scoring, and folding-over the good edges, and then starting to bend your edge tabs (at 90 degrees). If you have an opening to do in the tin, cut it before you get too far.
Openings are always a total bitch to cut. Unless you have a special tool, you'll just have to be patient, and do your best. I started the opening, by poking a row of holes through the tin with the awl, and then sneaking-in my shears.
Pretty soon, your box will be starting to take shape.
To attach the sides, I used a combination of 6 rivets (hammered-down flat after installing them with the tool), and foil tape. If you prefer, you can use sheet metal screws, but since this is a vent box that I might want to reach-in and clean occasionally (or if something falls into it), I didn't want sharp metal screw tips in there.
I did use two screws, however, to attach the "factory" duct boot to my opening flaps, but I only used 2 screws.
The finished duct is held in place with flat roofing nails. I used 4 (one per side, one on top, and one into the floor at the front edge). I didn't take any photos of it, but a stud was added to the right side, and to the top around the inside of the opening. The drywall around the hole was secured with extra drywall screws.
From the basement, it looks pretty awesome now.
You'll note that I didn't add any floor supports (in reference to the "note" earlier), but I did nail the sub floor up into the wall studs on each side, and I added some screws from the bottom up into the hardwood, so it should be just fine.
You can see a lot of the repaired/improved ducts here. The large box over the stairs is the hallway's cold air vent, next to it, a vent to the "L Room", then the new duct for the new wall grate (you can see the new box in the top left), and the last duct is the other "L Room" vent.
Side note, this was the Office duct work "before":
And here's a "before" of the photo above. What a mess. I've actually gained a lot of head room with my repairs.
As many of you might know, a few months ago I was in Ottawa, and I found an antiques salvage store that carried some heating grates identical to the one in my living room. As far as I can tell, the house only ever had ONE of these wall grates, which I find odd, and I thought it would be fun to add a second one.
I had originally bought the grate in hopes of using it, or possibly just to replace the existing one, which is missing the lever handle for the internal batten. Since I bought it, I've had it sitting at the foot of my computer "desk" (a temporary card table, which I'm sure made an appearance in the Office floor demo post a while back), and I thought it would work well there.
I started the work by cutting and installing some structural braces and floor supports that will carry the weight of the floor patch for the old vent hole (no photos yet). The floor patching/repair isn't done yet, but it will be soon.
The next day, I started to work on the actual vent location and construction. I think I cut the hole in the wall and the floor on "day 2" and did the rest yesterday (day 3), but regardless, let's jump into it.
Note: I don't really understand the logic with how the house was built, with regard to how they did the ventilation. The first floor's floor is made up of old barn wood boards laid diagonally across large "tree trunk" beams spaced every 3 feet. The barn wood is not all the same thickness, but most is around 1" to 1 1/8" thick, and the spacing is also uneven (many boards have raw edges). Over this, there's a layer of thin cardboard, and then the hardwood. That's it. But the odd part is when it comes to the ventilation. They just cut large holes anywhere they needed. What's odd about this, is that since the "sub floor" barn boards lay diagonally, once they're cut, they aren't supported by anything. The only thing that holds them in place are the nails from the hardwood over it. But they did this everywhere, and it was like this originally. All the original main-floor vents are 12x15 (with the exception of one 14x18 - which is the one I'm covering over in the office door), and they're all the same. In a few places, I added some supports, but for the most part (and a bit surprisingly), it's all very solid.
Step one was to find the best spot for the vent. I knew where I wanted it, but I didn't know exactly where the electrical wiring passed, since there's a light switch on this wall just above the vent location.
I drilled a bunch of 1" holes in the drywall, and felt around for the wire. I didn't see it. I then drilled a hole at the top of the vent hole, and also couldn't find the wire. I was pretty sure I wouldn't run into the wire, so I just went and cut the hole. The hole needed to start at a 2x4, and end up with solid on all 3 sides.
Those of you who visit frequently might recognize this as the "hallway wall" in the Office. For my vent, I was basing my measurements partially from my original vent/duct opening in the living room, and partially off the vent itself. I needed a hole about 11" high, and 12 1/2" wide. After the hole was cut, I could see that the electrical wire was about 4-5" higher than my hole, which was just perfect.
Next was cutting the bottom stud, and the floor. Kinda scary, but also kind of fun. If you're doing this in your home, make sure you have clearance below (you don't want to end up cutting your hole over a joist, though a pipe, or into a wire). In my case, my finished hole was going to land about 8-10" away from one of the log beams, and in a spot clear from wires and pipes.
In this next photo, you can see the old duct that was still in use, feeding the old floor grate to the left. It was going to be gone/moved to feed this new duct.
I'll also point out that you need the right tool to do this kind of work. This was done almost entirely with my Rockwell Multi-Tool (They call it the "SoniCrafter"). Best 130$ I've spent so far. I'm not getting paid to promote them, but it's a damned good product. The first experience with this type of tool I had, was through work (but we use a 600$ Fein version). I find the Rockwell to be as good as the Fein, which is surprising considering the price difference. We use it all the time on installations, to cut wood trim in odd places, for outlet holes in cabinets, drywall, etc. The blades can also be resharpened rather than simply replaced. New blades are about 15-20$, but a local company can sharpen them for around 8$, and then they are as good as new. I've cut through plywoods, hardwood (this birch floor is very hard), MDF, drywall, PVC, and all kinds of stuff, and they last quite a long time, but I'm getting side tracked.
Once I had my hole ready, I made a pattern for the duct work box. I am pretty sure that new ducts for these super OLD vents aren't available, and since I can make one for free, I went that route. I'm sure that there are many tinsmiths who make custom duct work, that can easily throw one of these together for you ($$$), but here's how I did mine.
For the most part it's just a simple box with a small slanted front. You need to make sure to make the box a tiny bit smaller than your opening (or it will NOT fit), and you also need to make sure it will stick-out low enough under the floor (to hook-up your duct work). Another consideration you need to take into account, is how you'll be hooking it into your HVAC system. Will the duct connect from the front, back, side, or bottom. What angle is best? Etc.
For mine, I wanted to try to have the final duct running near the log beam, in a straight line, so I wanted my duct hooked into the back. I have about 4 huge boxes full of scraps and duct fittings, and I found one that worked perfectly.
I decided to make a full sized paper template for this duct, because it was a complex shape.
The paper template proved to be very useful, since I had already goofed a piece on it. I actually had measured the bottom wrong. I made it 4 1/2" wide (the same size as the top), and it should have been 5 1/2" (this was easily fixed on the tin copy).
Since I was making this for free, I used only the available scraps of tin that I had laying around. The main sheet (a flattened-out 5" round duct) could only accommodate the central part of my duct box, so the two side pieces had to be made and attached separately.
Tools needed for this:
- Ruler
- Sharpie
- Framing Square (large)
- Awl, screw driver, or another tool to score the tin
- Tin snips or shears (basically these are metal-cutting scissors)
- GLOVES (strongly recommended but not required, though there's a very good chance you'll cut yourself)
- Wooden blocks with good square corners/edges (to use for bending the tin)
- Pop-rivets & rivet tool
- Drill (for rivet holes you need 1/8" bit)
- Hammer
- Foil duct tape
Optional: First Aid Kit (seriously, if you're not careful you can wind up with deep cuts) I didn't use gloves this time, and only ended up with two tiny scratches, but be careful. The edges will be razor sharp.
Start with drawing and measuring out your main shape. Be sure to leave tabs along the edges (1 inch is a good size), and also leave allowances to have a folded-over seam on the exposed finished edges (since these will be sticking out of the wall).
Cut out the shape, being careful not to crinkle or buckle the tin as you cut. Cut tapers on all the tab corners. Here you can see the front, bottom, back, and top of the box, with a fold-over seam at the front and top of the box (both ends of the sheet), and tabs along all the edges.
At this point, you can start by scoring, and folding-over the good edges, and then starting to bend your edge tabs (at 90 degrees). If you have an opening to do in the tin, cut it before you get too far.
Openings are always a total bitch to cut. Unless you have a special tool, you'll just have to be patient, and do your best. I started the opening, by poking a row of holes through the tin with the awl, and then sneaking-in my shears.
Pretty soon, your box will be starting to take shape.
To attach the sides, I used a combination of 6 rivets (hammered-down flat after installing them with the tool), and foil tape. If you prefer, you can use sheet metal screws, but since this is a vent box that I might want to reach-in and clean occasionally (or if something falls into it), I didn't want sharp metal screw tips in there.
I did use two screws, however, to attach the "factory" duct boot to my opening flaps, but I only used 2 screws.
The finished duct is held in place with flat roofing nails. I used 4 (one per side, one on top, and one into the floor at the front edge). I didn't take any photos of it, but a stud was added to the right side, and to the top around the inside of the opening. The drywall around the hole was secured with extra drywall screws.
From the basement, it looks pretty awesome now.
You'll note that I didn't add any floor supports (in reference to the "note" earlier), but I did nail the sub floor up into the wall studs on each side, and I added some screws from the bottom up into the hardwood, so it should be just fine.
You can see a lot of the repaired/improved ducts here. The large box over the stairs is the hallway's cold air vent, next to it, a vent to the "L Room", then the new duct for the new wall grate (you can see the new box in the top left), and the last duct is the other "L Room" vent.
Side note, this was the Office duct work "before":
And here's a "before" of the photo above. What a mess. I've actually gained a lot of head room with my repairs.
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Early November Updates (Part 4)
I mentioned that I started to install the bathroom vanity, so I thought I would share photos of that. It may hep you if you're thinking of installing a similar piece.
The vanity will need to slide into place over plumbing pipes and also carefully fit between a door casing and a baseboard. This involves a lot of careful measuring and cutting, and a definite "measure twice, cut once" attitude.
Normally, when we fit something into place around existing mouldings, we will trace the outline against the existing trim (on the wall) and carefully cut that to shape so that we can slide our cabinet or moulding against it. If both pieces are flat, you can usually install your pieces more easily, but the above applies mostly when you have two non-matching "fancy" profiles that need to blend together in a corner.
In my case, I have 2 flat pieces, and I decided to just cut my toe-kich moulding off the cabinet. Normally this would be a separate piece nailed on separately, but I didn't have the accurate tools to do a good corner joint, and I put mine directly on the cabinet.
Section removed to allow for the 3/4" thick baseboard:
This shows how it will look (with a piece of 3/4" scrap wood acting as the baseboard):
On the other corner, I had to notch a 3/8" portion with a rounded upper corner to allow for the plinth block of the door casing. I could just remove the door casing and block, and cut those to fit around the vanity instead (which would be easier), but this allows me to (God forbid) change the vanity more easily later, if I ever decide I don't like it anymore, or if it got horribly damaged (or something).
Yeah it was a huge mess.
Hard maple (aka Rock Maple) is **NOT** easy to cut and sand with crappy tools. This is when I found out that my belt sander is not very good. I tried to route-off as much as possible and do the rest (up to the line) with the sander.
Again, careful measuring is important, otherwise I'll have a lot of gap-filling to do with silicone.
That's as far as I got. I need to move the hot water pipe over, and extend/redo the PVC before I can do the next step, which will be to drill the holes in the bottom of the cabinet (which is often the part where things can go really wrong).
Lastly is the exciting news that I've been saving for last!
I mentioned a few posts ago that I went to Ottawa over the weekend (I got back yesterday). I was there to help a friend fix a few things around her place, and to do some shopping.
Here's a photo of my haul. You'll see why I'm so happy/excited!
A MATCHING GRILLE AND ANTIQUE LIGHT FIXTURE! And both were amazing deals!
Here's a break down of what I got:
- Antique cast-iron grille (a match to my existing one, and this one has the working thumb latch) 50$! This was a steal. The place where I bought it is an antique lighting and salvage store. The lady said that it's a common pattern (thus the cheap price). She actually had another 6 or 7 identical ones.
- Antique light fixture (there's a story behind this, see below)
- Mix of new and antique butterfly hinges.
- 2 lock sets that are near perfect matches for some of my other "good" ones. 10$ each
- 4 antique door knob stems (very hard to find, and only 1$ each)
- Set of 15 small cast brass handles. 5$
- Photo album 3$
- New (bound) sketch book 15$
- Set of 6 antique reproduction knobs. 30$
- Stained glass supplies ~180$, including:
- 6 sheets of coloured glass (wrapped in newspaper)
- Solder
- Lead antiquing solution
- Fid (the red plastic tool for lead work)
- Lead came (this is the long cardboard box which has 14pcs of lead for the office built-in doors). This was 120$ of the overall 180$ mentioned above.
- Marina and the Diamonds CD
All the old hardware (lock sets, spindles, hinges, and the set of 15 handles) all came from a trip to the East end Habitat for Humanity ReStore (in Ottawa). It was an absolutely amazing place. I saw so many things I'd want to buy, but with no easy way to get them home. They had a good variety of antique wood doors, many old exterior doors (some Victorian ones, even), they had old windows, too. One was a single sheet of antique glass nearly 4'x4'! They also had a huge selection of tiles, old lighting (not old enough for my house), and hardware. If I would have had more time, I would have gone to the West end ReStore as well.
Alright, the story behind the light fixture is quite fun and amusing. Right near the antique lighting/salvage place, is a large antique store. I was in there looking around at all the beautiful old furniture, and as I was leaving, a lady came in. She was talking to the shop owner and asking him if he would be interested in buying 3 old light fixtures from her.
One was this gorgeous brass 1920s fixture, and the other two were old wall sconces. The shop owner (who mainly deals in furniture) had no interest in them, and he thought they were in bad shape, so she left. I commented (to the owner) about a lovely old Empire sofa by the door that was sold, and then left to quickly catch up to the woman.
I asked her how much she wanted for the oval fixture, and she dug it out of her book bag. She said 20$. My jaw nearly dropped and I said "Sure!". We had a short conversation where I explained that I had an old house with this style of fixture, and she was very happy to be selling it to someone who would use it. She asked if I'd also want to buy the sconces, but I said no (since I have no where to use them and they're not a matching style to the other fixtures I have), but I recommended she go to another antique lighting place that would likely buy them.
Here is another photo with 2 (new/crappy) shades:
The vanity will need to slide into place over plumbing pipes and also carefully fit between a door casing and a baseboard. This involves a lot of careful measuring and cutting, and a definite "measure twice, cut once" attitude.
Normally, when we fit something into place around existing mouldings, we will trace the outline against the existing trim (on the wall) and carefully cut that to shape so that we can slide our cabinet or moulding against it. If both pieces are flat, you can usually install your pieces more easily, but the above applies mostly when you have two non-matching "fancy" profiles that need to blend together in a corner.
In my case, I have 2 flat pieces, and I decided to just cut my toe-kich moulding off the cabinet. Normally this would be a separate piece nailed on separately, but I didn't have the accurate tools to do a good corner joint, and I put mine directly on the cabinet.
Section removed to allow for the 3/4" thick baseboard:
This shows how it will look (with a piece of 3/4" scrap wood acting as the baseboard):
On the other corner, I had to notch a 3/8" portion with a rounded upper corner to allow for the plinth block of the door casing. I could just remove the door casing and block, and cut those to fit around the vanity instead (which would be easier), but this allows me to (God forbid) change the vanity more easily later, if I ever decide I don't like it anymore, or if it got horribly damaged (or something).
Yeah it was a huge mess.
Hard maple (aka Rock Maple) is **NOT** easy to cut and sand with crappy tools. This is when I found out that my belt sander is not very good. I tried to route-off as much as possible and do the rest (up to the line) with the sander.
Again, careful measuring is important, otherwise I'll have a lot of gap-filling to do with silicone.
That's as far as I got. I need to move the hot water pipe over, and extend/redo the PVC before I can do the next step, which will be to drill the holes in the bottom of the cabinet (which is often the part where things can go really wrong).
Lastly is the exciting news that I've been saving for last!
I mentioned a few posts ago that I went to Ottawa over the weekend (I got back yesterday). I was there to help a friend fix a few things around her place, and to do some shopping.
Here's a photo of my haul. You'll see why I'm so happy/excited!
A MATCHING GRILLE AND ANTIQUE LIGHT FIXTURE! And both were amazing deals!
Here's a break down of what I got:
- Antique cast-iron grille (a match to my existing one, and this one has the working thumb latch) 50$! This was a steal. The place where I bought it is an antique lighting and salvage store. The lady said that it's a common pattern (thus the cheap price). She actually had another 6 or 7 identical ones.
- Antique light fixture (there's a story behind this, see below)
- Mix of new and antique butterfly hinges.
- 2 lock sets that are near perfect matches for some of my other "good" ones. 10$ each
- 4 antique door knob stems (very hard to find, and only 1$ each)
- Set of 15 small cast brass handles. 5$
- Photo album 3$
- New (bound) sketch book 15$
- Set of 6 antique reproduction knobs. 30$
- Stained glass supplies ~180$, including:
- 6 sheets of coloured glass (wrapped in newspaper)
- Solder
- Lead antiquing solution
- Fid (the red plastic tool for lead work)
- Lead came (this is the long cardboard box which has 14pcs of lead for the office built-in doors). This was 120$ of the overall 180$ mentioned above.
- Marina and the Diamonds CD
All the old hardware (lock sets, spindles, hinges, and the set of 15 handles) all came from a trip to the East end Habitat for Humanity ReStore (in Ottawa). It was an absolutely amazing place. I saw so many things I'd want to buy, but with no easy way to get them home. They had a good variety of antique wood doors, many old exterior doors (some Victorian ones, even), they had old windows, too. One was a single sheet of antique glass nearly 4'x4'! They also had a huge selection of tiles, old lighting (not old enough for my house), and hardware. If I would have had more time, I would have gone to the West end ReStore as well.
Alright, the story behind the light fixture is quite fun and amusing. Right near the antique lighting/salvage place, is a large antique store. I was in there looking around at all the beautiful old furniture, and as I was leaving, a lady came in. She was talking to the shop owner and asking him if he would be interested in buying 3 old light fixtures from her.
One was this gorgeous brass 1920s fixture, and the other two were old wall sconces. The shop owner (who mainly deals in furniture) had no interest in them, and he thought they were in bad shape, so she left. I commented (to the owner) about a lovely old Empire sofa by the door that was sold, and then left to quickly catch up to the woman.
I asked her how much she wanted for the oval fixture, and she dug it out of her book bag. She said 20$. My jaw nearly dropped and I said "Sure!". We had a short conversation where I explained that I had an old house with this style of fixture, and she was very happy to be selling it to someone who would use it. She asked if I'd also want to buy the sconces, but I said no (since I have no where to use them and they're not a matching style to the other fixtures I have), but I recommended she go to another antique lighting place that would likely buy them.
Here is another photo with 2 (new/crappy) shades:
Early November Updates (Part 3)
Stair Project
I am not ready to replace the stairs yet, but I wanted to finish installing the casings on the living room door, and be able to finish the drywall on the bottom few inches of the dividing wall, so I decided to remove the bottom 2 steps.
Since these stairs were not properly installed, the bottom 2 stairs were a mess.
Here's where things get interesting. OBVIOUSLY, the stairs never went past the living room door (as they did now), and here you can see that there is original hardwood with ugly brown carpet covering it (the rectangle cut out of it was something I did the first year of owning to house, but it was one full piece). Obviously someone didn't carpet UNDER the stairs, so this was remuddled later.
After vacuuming/cleaning:
Hardwood removed for floor repairs:
Paper removed:
Note that the short piece on the extreme right is broken in 3 places. It's also a piece that ends on the log joist at this point.
I replaced the piece above with an old piece of barn wood (the same thickness) that I've had lying around in my wood scraps for probably over 6 years. I never thought it would get used, but voila!
In the basement, since I had NO SUPPORT left for the ends of these boards, I decided to add some nice (overkill) pieces of wood. I used old 2x4s (the *real* ones that are actually 2" x 3 3/4"). These were nailed to both log beams and to each other.
In the photo, A are the new support braces, B shows where the floor used to finish. It looks like they carved the log beams farther to move the stairs (or maybe just to get more head room at the bottom of the basement stairs). C is an old length of galvanized pipe that goes to my exterior hose. It's in a bad spot, and you almost bash your head on it each time you go down stairs. I will eventually change it to copper, and move it back.
It seems like normal construction practice (of the time) to simply chop a hole in the floor at any convenient location, and not support the remaining floor planks. This is one of these, where I will be adding a brace to support the ends of the barn boards that hold-up the floor (hardwood) above. Pretty much all the floor grates are cut like this.
As a side note, this is one of the last vents left to fix, and it's the one for the office (which I might be entirely changing (details later), but this is pretty much exactly how they had hooked up the heating vent in the kitchen when I first bought the house. I never took a photo of it, but it was basically this.
Lastly, I built a new temporary step to regain use of the stairs. It's NOT the best setup, since this one is high and awkward, but I'll hopefully be redoing the stairs soon-ish (in the next year). You can see the installed door casing on the living room door, which I can now paint, and cut to length once I have my stair stringers ready to go in.
I am not ready to replace the stairs yet, but I wanted to finish installing the casings on the living room door, and be able to finish the drywall on the bottom few inches of the dividing wall, so I decided to remove the bottom 2 steps.
Since these stairs were not properly installed, the bottom 2 stairs were a mess.
Here's where things get interesting. OBVIOUSLY, the stairs never went past the living room door (as they did now), and here you can see that there is original hardwood with ugly brown carpet covering it (the rectangle cut out of it was something I did the first year of owning to house, but it was one full piece). Obviously someone didn't carpet UNDER the stairs, so this was remuddled later.
After vacuuming/cleaning:
Hardwood removed for floor repairs:
Paper removed:
Note that the short piece on the extreme right is broken in 3 places. It's also a piece that ends on the log joist at this point.
I replaced the piece above with an old piece of barn wood (the same thickness) that I've had lying around in my wood scraps for probably over 6 years. I never thought it would get used, but voila!
In the basement, since I had NO SUPPORT left for the ends of these boards, I decided to add some nice (overkill) pieces of wood. I used old 2x4s (the *real* ones that are actually 2" x 3 3/4"). These were nailed to both log beams and to each other.
In the photo, A are the new support braces, B shows where the floor used to finish. It looks like they carved the log beams farther to move the stairs (or maybe just to get more head room at the bottom of the basement stairs). C is an old length of galvanized pipe that goes to my exterior hose. It's in a bad spot, and you almost bash your head on it each time you go down stairs. I will eventually change it to copper, and move it back.
It seems like normal construction practice (of the time) to simply chop a hole in the floor at any convenient location, and not support the remaining floor planks. This is one of these, where I will be adding a brace to support the ends of the barn boards that hold-up the floor (hardwood) above. Pretty much all the floor grates are cut like this.
As a side note, this is one of the last vents left to fix, and it's the one for the office (which I might be entirely changing (details later), but this is pretty much exactly how they had hooked up the heating vent in the kitchen when I first bought the house. I never took a photo of it, but it was basically this.
Lastly, I built a new temporary step to regain use of the stairs. It's NOT the best setup, since this one is high and awkward, but I'll hopefully be redoing the stairs soon-ish (in the next year). You can see the installed door casing on the living room door, which I can now paint, and cut to length once I have my stair stringers ready to go in.
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