One of the key selling points of our house…for me atleast…was that it still had its original kitchen. During the ensuing years since our purchase, I have only come across 4-5 other houses (1-2 a year) that still have their original culinary cabinetry intact through my obsessive observation of the Rochester real estate market. It had a leaking utilitarian faucet, was slathered in green paint, its hardware had been replaced in the 1950s, and there were only about three feet of useable counter…but it was original!!! Continue reading
rehabilitation
Garage Rehab Phases 1, 2, and 2.5
Outbuildings are a sorry lot. They generally are “creatively” constructed, receive the least maintenance attention, and often undergo heavy use. There are countless garages throughout Rochester that were built on a shoe-string budget 100 years ago that gently lean or twist in the direction of the prevailing winds or sink toward an improperly routed downspout. Many have not seen a coat of paint in decades, some have half-rotten vehicle doors, while others have boarded up windows. Back when we were house shopping, nearly every house in our budget had a garage that was afflicted by one if not many of these conditions. Continue reading
Rehabbing the Radiators
It’s been bitterly cold this week with lots of snow after near spring like conditions began to force some early bulbs to flower last week…thanks upstate New York. What better time to talk about the incremental saga of tuning, upgrading, and rehabbing our steam heating system.
Our house was originally outfitted with a cutting edge American Radiator Company steam heating system comprising of an Ideal Redflash Boiler and Corto radiators. I have a strong affection for Corto radiators, Continue reading
Surprise! Bathroom Rehab
We kept busy over the warm months this year, primarily focusing on the garage…which still has a way to go…maybe next year! One not so busy weekend, Kit suggested that we tackle finishing the bathroom as it was literally in pieces. We had rebuilt the shower valves, re-grouted the tile, and added a bathroom fan last year, but the wall fabric that had originally been installed in 1928 to prevent moisture seeping into the walls was literally peeling off the walls. The original pedestal sink had a odd 1980s Delta mixer faucet and hand sprayer. The medicine cabinet had relieved itself of the mirror shattering pieces all over the floor as mentioned in the last post and the original bare-bulb light fixture had shorted out and could not be disassembled to allow replacement of its internal socket. Continue reading
Crossing Eyes and Dotting Tees
If you are a fellow old house owner dear reader, then you well know to expect the unexpected, or have learned to not be surprised. This past year was, not surprisingly, full of such lessons…so we rolled up our paint stripping tattered sleeves and got to work. What follows in a brief accounting of all of the repair detours we made or identified for next year.
Remember the beautiful job Mike Dube Plastering and Stucco did restoring our kitchen ceiling in Plaster On, Plaster Off? Well our shower and tub had different plans. Continue reading
My Perfect Little Money Pit 