DIY Project – Page 6 – Sista Girl with Skills

Page 6 of 7

August 19, 2019October 25, 2020

From Toilet Surround to Headboard

This is the back to my future master bedroom headboard created from beadboard that surrounded a hole that was a toilet in my basement. It was covered in yellow paint, black and white graffiti, cobwebs, and spider sacks when I tore it down. These are the best before pictures I could find as the vision of turning it into a headboard came much later.

Once I had decided to make the headboard, I scoured the Internet for design ideas and I came across the blog of Jen Woodhouse – The House of Wood DIY Life of a Military Wife. She has a ton of cool plans/projects, but the one that caught my eye was her Evelyn Chevron King Bed. I got the plans over a year ago, so this wood has been patiently waiting to be reinvented. The plans include side rails and foot board, but I’m not making those due to my adjustable bed frame. Open shop hours are Wednesday and Saturday and I literally thought I have this portion down in one week, two days. NOT.

The first step was getting the sheet of birch plywood to the shop. Thankfully Tom (my finish carpenter/foundation repairer) was willing to pick a sheet up from Home Depot and bring it to me at the shop. Per the plans I ripped it down to 77″ in width. Next was preparing the beadboard. I knew I wanted to remove the paint and graffiti and I thought it would mean stripping. However with one pass through a planner it removed most of the paint and graffiti. What was left I felt would add character, so the plan was hatched and I spent the bulk of the first day planning down the boards.

Once I got what I thought would be enough I found and marked the center lines (both vertical and horizontal) on my plywood and I started cutting 45 degree cuts. Jen’s plans had measurements for each length board, but she warned to measure first. I made it one step easier. I cut the 45s to be placed on the lines and left the boards long off the edge and planned to just trim all sides down once all boards were glued and nailed in place.

I started cutting pieces on July 13. I got the last piece glued and nailed in place on August 3. Primarily due to the limited open shop hours available at the shop I was using. I didn’t work every Wednesday and Saturday and some days I only got a couple of hours in, but this worked my patience. I didn’t butt the pieces tightly during the cutting phase. I nailed and glued all of the pieces in one quadrant first. When I started in the next about 3 boards in the lines didn’t align and by the end it was off by 1/2″. I had to take them apart (I had glued a few) and scrape the groove or tongue of each piece. Just the thickness of the residue paint was causing the issue.

Next came the trim up. In that raw finished state I knew I had created something special.

From this point forward I am not working from the plans. The wall that the head of my bed is located on is not wide enough to allow room for nightstands on either side. I currently use a TV table to hold remotes, pocket contents, etc. I had the idea of building a shelve above the headboard, which will give it depth away from the wall and creating dead space. The manager of the shop I was using added to the idea and suggested I put shelves along the sides too. So with that plan hatched I decided it would be really cool to have part of the backboard be the back of the top shelf. The board straddled across the two work tables, which meant I would be pushing as far as I could, but then need to go around to the other side of the table to pull through the remainder of cut. In that transition I pulled slightly away from my straight edge. Fortunately not much damage and if I hadn’t shared it in this post, most people would not be able to see it once it’s all complete. Learn from the mistakes of others.

With that cut, it was time to take the board home to apply the finish. There is a gentleman, Gene, that has adopted the shop donating all sorts of great tools. He’s a master woodsman and super knowledgeable. I was toying with either Polyacrylic, Polyurethane without or without stain. Gene recommended and prefers Danish Oil. I spent an evening on the Internet doing research and decided to take that route. I purchased Watco Danish Oil in natural. Super easy product to apply. I used a cheap sponge paint brush. They tell you to keep applying if you see certain areas drying up (soaking in) the oil. On the first coat that definitely was the case.

After the second coat.

Final coat.

With that the back of the head board is complete. This project took a major twist last week. Scotti encourages people to buy wood for their projects from Paxton Lumber. Originally I had planned to get slabs of Ash from the Randy Wipert, Woodwrights Sawmill and Hardwood who had got the walnut logs from me last year. He couldn’t produce them when I was ready so, over the phone I described the project to a clerk from Paxton. I am very comfortable buying site unseen, but never again will I do that with a wood project.

When I arrived to pick up the wood I knew IMMEDIATELY it was not what I had envisioned in my minds eye. I had approved white oak slabs, cut to 15/16″, in widths up to 12″. Long story short, I bought the wood and resolved myself to make it work. I actually spent an entire day in the shop working on the top shelf box. The planer in the shop struggled on these long pieces of oak, but I got them planed, joined, and ripped to prepare for biscuit/gluing them together to create the true width I wanted.

I took a piece of scrap oak home and applied Medium Walnut, Natural, and Dark Walnut Danish Oil. I didn’t love any of them, but was going to go with natural and then came the phone call that changed everything. Lacey, the woman that gave me the pine floors for my kitchen, called and offered me some of the floor joist she was removing from her house. True 2×12, 100 year old pine. I jumped on it and picked up five pieces and went straight to the shop (it was a Saturday). I spent the bulk of the time denailing one joist, but once denailed I started running it through the planner. 10 passes and we didn’t put a dent in the wood. I cleared enough to know that this was the wood my minds eye envisioned. This one spot rubbed with the natural Danish Oil confirmed it. It will take months to finish the heardboard if I move forward with the pine.

So what to do. Use the oak I purchased or create a fully salvaged headboard and use the pine. You’ll have to keep checking my blog to see how this project is going to end. Anyone want to lay bets?

July 27, 2019August 19, 2020

Master Bedroom Complete

The Magnolia Market sign that was my “sign” to move forward with purchasing my house has finally been removed from its box and hung on the wall of my completed master bedroom. Yes you can stand and applaud. Unfortunately the Silos doesn’t carry the sign anymore, so no link if you were interested in purchasing.

After completing my Pinterest dresser project and putting the trim up around the small storage does I became obsessed with putting the trim up around the rest of the room. Amazingly most of it was on the same two pallets in the basement and as with the door trim it, for the most part, just needed Murphy Oil Soap wipe down and the Howard’s Feed and Wax. There were a few pieces that I felt needed the Restore-A-Finish product, but I managed to knock the can over and wasted almost all of it. Not wanting to run to a store, I started using the end of a pint of Minwax, Early American, stain I had bought for the kitchen floor. I used steel wool, in the same fashion as the Restore-A-Finish. It worked as well and maybe even better. Every original piece was numbered, so putting them back in the right place was no problem.

The only challenge to the floor moulding was one section in the front dormer. All of the electrical outlets in the house were original cut into the moulding. That is no longer to code, so I knew those sections would be problematic. Over a year ago, I stumbled across a YouTube segment from This Old House that showed how to patch wood trim. I had recessed that in the Rolodex in my brain, knowing that I’d need to put that knowledge to use. Amazingly my Master bedroom only had one outlet in it. Per today’s code I now have 12. Using the video as my guide, I did a pretty darn good job with the patch. Their moulding was painted, so they were able to hide the patch completely. I didn’t have that luxury, but I still think it’s pretty negligible.

With the floor complete I turned my sites on the windows. I sent the front dormer window as a tease on the last blog. It was the easiest of the 5 to restore. My new window seals are thicker than the originals, so I knew I would need to cut the bottom off every vertical piece throughout the house. Again, I thought I’d need to hire my finish carpenter, Tom, to do this for me, but my confidence and comfort level for using my miter and table saws has soared.

From the front window, I moved onto the side trio of windows. The two smaller windows proved to be a challenge because the replacement windows had a gap greater than the window stop trim. I always felt that these windows were ordered too small. It’s hard to describe and show in pictures, but I needed to close the gap on the sides of the small windows and to do it I took an old door jamb to give me the “L” shape I needed to lay on top of the existing house framing. To date this is my finest table saw work.

With that obstacle conquered the rest was easy. Clean, Wax, trim a little of the bottom and nail in place.

The rear dormer window I intentionally saved for last. Even my window installer was perplexed with how the trim would go back around this window. During demo this window completely fell out and apparently we tore out, or it never existed, the framing. With the drywall install there was no exposed framing to nail into, just the edge of the drywall. To make matters even more complicated the drywall came about 1/2″ more at the bottom. I basically needed to frame out the window before I could frame it with the original moulding.

I devised a plan in my mind that involved using the original moulding from the trio of windows in the bathroom that mirrored the trio in the bedroom. I saved this window for last because I had to make sure the bathroom wood would not be needed to correct a cut mistake in the bedroom. Since that install went flawlessly, I was ready to put plan into action. The two vertical pieces that went around the large window of the trio was slightly wider than the moulding. I created the perfect 1/4-1/2″ reveal and it was thick enough that it gave me something for the window stop trim to nail to. Since the bottom drywall protruded out further than the top, I used shims to build out the top.

With the build out complete I was able to proceed with installing the seal and apron. The seal had to be in place before I could install the vertical pieces. I put the top piece on first, but when I went to dry fit the first vertical piece I discovered the piece was too short. The replacement window was longer than the original. The first window installer put in the new framing for this window and he must have made the opening larger than the original.

I had plenty of extra door frame moulding left, but I had already cleaned up the original and I was only a couple of inches short on each side, so I decided to splice two pieces together using scrap pieces for the built-in dresser. I’ve learned to throw nothing away. The trim around the dresser was slightly lighter than the window around the window, but I didn’t care. I was impressed with my thought process and splicing technique. Most people will never see it anyway given it leads to a private area of my home.

With the patched moulding installed, my master was complete. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I wanted to add a light on the outside of the closet. In the two weeks of working to the moulding, Mr. McGhee made that happen. I took the original light fixture from the 1st hall, which matched the ones already in the bedroom, but installed an LED Edison bulb to keep the heat discharge from impacting the paint. I also bought a rug and for my seating area from Overstock.com. It fits in perfectly and is made from recycled jeans and jute. I bought a 9×12, same fabric, different color and design for under my bed, but it’s on back order.

Check out these before and afters, followed by a video tour. I have truly created an oasis. I’m writing this blog while listening to vinyl jazz LPs. LOVING EVERY MOMENT!

June 26, 2019June 26, 2019

From Pinterest to Reality – Part 2

With the dresser inserted, I was eager to get the trim around it. I would use the original trim that went around the door, but it would need to be cut down.

The first task was finding it in the mass of bundles. There are two other short closet storage doors and of course I found the trim for those before finally finding the bundle for that area. I had labeled them Master Closets 1, 2, and 3. Honestly at that point I couldn’t remember which was 1 or 3. 2 was easy because it had graffiti on it and my before pictures showed me where it went.

Outside of the graffiti this trim was in really good shape. Since I found all three bundles I decided to prep and hang them all. Literally all they needed was cleaning due to all the dust, which I did with a bucket filled with Murphy’s Oil Soap. I was prepared to do my denatured alcohol/Restore-a-Finish routine, but I only used the alcohol on the outer edges to remove paint and on the top plate of door 2 to remove the graffiti. I did use the Restore-A-Finish in these areas, but what really brought these pieces back to life was the Howard’s Feed and Wax.

The obstacle on this project was cutting the trim down to fit the dresser and I was nervous about this. There are no do-over opportunities. That trim design isn’t made anymore and aged wood with the patina I had can’t be store bought. I seriously thought about calling Tom Milfeld, but I put on my big girl pants and decided to do a trial run with some scrap wood first.

Forty-five degree miter cuts is rookie level, piece of cake. Measuring the right length, especially for the last piece is my struggle. I cut the left side first, followed by the top, which I intentionally made long. When my first angle met up perfectly I cut the right side of the top and then the right side. I failed, falling about a half inch too short.

That one practice run gave me the confidence I needed and I proceeded to cut the actually trim, SUCCESS!!!! But now what to do with the gap at the bottom????

I had always planned to cover it, which is why adjusting the front legs was crucial in Part 1. I think I’ll have extra of the original wall trim because I won’t need to reinstall any in the bathroom area, but I wouldn’t know that for awhile, so I decided to go to my favorite salvage store Building Value to see if I’d get lucky and find some wide, old, trim. I hit the jackpot by finding an old window apron (part that rest under the sill) in the exact color and with an outer moulding that was almost a dead match for mine. All I needed to do was rip it down to the right height, 6″; right width, “29”; clean with soap water, and rub with the wax. It fit and blended in like it was always part of the house.

I forgave myself for the poor paint job when I saw the finished product. As with my mirror project, what I saw in my mind’s eye became a reality. I am so stoked to find the rest of the trim and get it installed. While searching for the door trim I did find the trim for the landing at the top of the stairs, so I cleaned it up too; water and wax.

In installing the top of the stairs I discovered once again the difference between drywall and plaster thickness. The boards needed to align with the stair rail (I think that’s what that part is called), so I made my own shims from some thin pieces I had to build out the ends that needed it.

If all the trim cleans and hangs as easy as these pieces did I’m going to be one happy camper. I’m hugely motivated to tackle more of this project.

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May 21, 2019August 19, 2020

As Seen In My Mind’s Eye

I love it when a vision comes to fruition exactly as I saw it in my mind. I completed the 1st floor bathroom medicine cabinet project, a project that began with a vision when I walked past a $15 salvage cabinet door at Building Value over a year ago. The original cabinet was missing the door and shelves, paint was peeling off, I thought it was trash, so it was pitched when we demoed down to the studs. About a month after demo I saw #NicoleCurtis from Rehab Addict restore a cabinet in similar shape and I kicked myself from throwing mine away. So what was I going to do with the approx. 25″ x 25″ framed out square in my bathroom wall.

I was looking for doors when I saw a pair of what was once glass cabinet doors on a built-in. Building Valu really didn’t want to sell just one, but I talked them into it. Instantly, I had the plan in my mind. The cabinet door would be the mirror mounted to barn door track that would slide open to reveal shelves of the medicine cabinet. I saw the ending, now I just had to get there.

The door had the old school wavy glass in it, which I removed and gave to Architectural Art Glass when they installed my restored stain glass window. The first thing I had to do was trim the door down. Hard to tell from picture since I didn’t capture the entire door, but I could tell from where the rollers were inset in the wood the door ran vertical (it’s not a perfect square) instead of horizontal. Due to space limits I needed to go horizontal, so the thicker side had to be cut down to make all sides uniform. It sat for several months after that first step.

The tile work was finished, so now was the time to focus on the medicine cabinet again. Next step was filling the back of the opening, which was the drywall from the guest bedroom. I took a thin piece of MDF board I had leftover from the kitchen remodel project I did, covered it with the motivational peel and stick paper I used on the closet shelves, and used construction adhesive to attach it to the drywall.

I purchased melamine shelf components from Home Depot to create my kitchen and 1st floor bath linen closet shelves. I had a lot of scraps left that I knew would be great pieces to create the frame of the cabinet. I only needed an approx 4″ width, so I knew I’d need to drill holes on one side for the pegs that would hold the shelf. A drill press made quick work of that. With the holes drilled I returned home and ripped the four pieces I needed to create the frame. I bought iron on laminate for the exposed edges and proceeded to nail the four pieces together. I don’t have pictures of the finished frame as I managed to shoot about a 1/4″ of a nail into my left flipping finger knuckle. I took a break from the project again until the swelling went down.

The inside frame was not going to be enough. The opening still look unfinished, so the next step was trimming it out. For that I took the new pine I had bought for the built-in, but didn’t use and planed it down until it was only about a 1/4″ thick. I then mitered the ends, prime painted it, and nailed it to the box frame. I filled in the nail holes and then painted it Incredible White to match the walls.

Now back to that cabinet door. First step was getting the original finish off it. For that I used the Wood Shop’s belt sander. I then drilled the holes for the barn door hardware and primed it. I thought I had bought the Tricorn Black (another color from the 2017 HGTV Urban Oasis Giveaway), but I hadn’t so I gave it extra time to dry and turned my focus on the barn door track. Months prior I had purchased a Smart Standard 5ft mini barn door kit from Amazon without measuring or really knowing how these things worked. Well it turns out the length of your rail should be twice the length of your door. I should have ordered a 6 ft length kit, but too much time had passed and I figured it would be close, but workable.

The bigger problem I had was my kit was for hanging a door on furniture. The holes were pre-drilled and not spaced to hit wall studs, which I needed to do. I decided to search Google for tracks that weren’t pre-drilled and I found one on Signature Hardware. That one track was the same price as the entire kit, but I decided to get it as it also allowed me purchase a slightly longer length. I measured for the studs and used a drill press to make the holes.

Hanging the track gave me fits. I used my trusty Walabot (love that gadget) to find the studs and even tested the location. One would assume a stud would run top to bottom. The two locations above the opening did not, which I did not discover until I went to drill in the 4″ lag bolts I bought (I didn’t use the bolts that came with the Smart Standard kit as they would not have been long enough).

Turned out I did not give myself enough clearance for the door to roll without hitting the light fixture, so I had to lower the rail. After patching the four holes I made, I moved it down 1″ and the stud was gone. I patched again lowered it a bit more. Once hung I grabbed the primed door to try it out. The vision was coming to light until I realized the rail stoppers from the kit would not fit on the new rail, it was wider. I needed to figure out something to stop the mirror from rolling off the end. The track had two holes covered with plastic plugs that were made for the powder coat process. I removed one plug, which was in a perfect location and used a leftover spacer from the TV wall mount unit I bought. Perfect solution.

It was down hill from that point. I applied two coats of the black paint, let it dry a couple of days and installed the door pull I found on Build.com. I then took the frame to another local small business in my hood, Southern Ohio Glass, who cut me three glass shelves and filled the frame with a beveled mirror. It was absolutely beautiful and 100% what I envisioned when I walked past the door over a year ago in the salvage store.

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The only glitch I had to fix was the door swung because like the stoppers, the door guides that came with the kit would work with my application. Back to Google where I searched for door guides and I found on Amazon exactly what I was looking for, a small wall mount barn door guide. I found the stud, mounted the guide, really showed off, by adding a rubber stopper on the side of door that will hit the wall and with that what was in my mind’s eye was a reality. My guest bathroom decor is a tribute to all the people in my life that shared their positive spirits and words of encouragement on my journey to restore this very special house. This is my coolest upcycle/salvage project to date! All the leftover barn door kit parts will be put to use on my future master bed beverage station.

April 16, 2019April 16, 2019

All But One

My beginner wood shop classes has lit a fire. I got all, but one of the doors in my master suite restored and hung. After finishing the linen closet and seeing how easy it cleaned up, I decided to pull the rest out as I thought they were all in pretty good condition and would be a quick project….or so I thought. The one remaining door, water closet, will need to be painted. It was a salvage door I purchased from Cincinnati Reuse Center already painted and not in the best condition. For that reason it will be the only painted door in the master suite.

The last storage closet door was graffiti filled and carved into. The carving was too deep to sand out. It was filled with an ink that did not budge with denatured alcohol or graffiti remover. Unfortunately it’s the side of the door that is exposed to the room. Another “character” mark in testimony to what my home has survived.

First step was cleaning the surface dust off with Murphy Oil Soap water. The inside of the door was a piece of cake. It just needed the Howard’s Feed-N-Wax. In addition to the carvings the other side had graffiti and what looked to be dried egg. The denatured alcohol and 000 steel wool removed the graffiti and egg with relative ease. I followed it with the Howard’s Restor-A-Finish Maple-Pine applied with 0000 steel wool and then the Feed-N-Wax.

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The master closet door was another salvage door I got from Building Value Cincinnati. It only needed cleaning and waxing before hanging with the pocket door hardware. Trimming out the pocket door was the challenge. Fortunately I had the door jamb from the kitchen swinging door. The door was long gone, but I saved the jamb during demo. The kitchen was the only room on first floor with the lighter stained doors. The craftsmen that built my home actually stained the kitchen side of the jam light and the dining room side dark. I had to rip that piece down to the right width, so I cut from the dark side. I then sanded and applied Zar Early American stain to match the door.

This door had a regular door knob, but I was able to find two vintage knobs with face plates similar to the originals on Ebay. I drilled an indentation in the jamb, so the latch recessed into it allowing the door to completely close. It will never lock.

The door separating the bedroom from the bath was also fairly easy. There was a small patch of graffiti on each side that I was able to remove with denatured alcohol. Once removed this door just needed Howard’s Feed-N-Wax. The jamb for this door was never removed and the door didn’t close because the hinges were rusted, so I didn’t know the jamb and door were not aligned. My first finish carpenter could/should have caught it when he was installing the trim in the bathroom, so because he didn’t I will live with the gap. More character of an old home. The door still didn’t close due to the wood threshold that was on the floor. I took it up and considered not putting it back, but their was obvious discoloration at that spot. I took the piece to the Wood Shop and used their planer to reduce the thickness. Already putting that membership to good use.

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The one thing I’ve noticed is that the short hall to the bathroom is dark. I should have put a light on the outside of the closet. I believe it will be possible to add, but for now I’m placing my favorite lamp in the corner. I bought that lamp for my first apartment,outside of school, for a short lived job I had in Detroit. I really didn’t have a place for it, until now. I will purchase a motion sensor outlet (asked the Google, found it on Amazon), so it will just come on when I walk past.

The last door, laundry room, was the most challenging. This space was a small closet that I enlarged to accommodate the washer and dryer. The original door was only 5′ tall, in great shape, but I couldn’t see myself stooping every time I wanted to do laundry. Once again I was able to find the perfect door, in its jamb, at Building Value Cincinnati (I bartered the original for it, so it was practically free). It was obvious the door had been in a fire. It reeked of smoke. One side was more severe than the other; the years of varnish/finish actually blistered, which probably protected the door. I decided to sand this side of the door vs. stripping. No pros or cons, I just thought sanding would be faster, which proved to be correct. I had the door sanded, cleaned, and stained with the Zar Stain within an hour.

In hindsight I should have done the denatured alcohol step before applying the stain, but I just assumed this door was going to be slightly darker than the others based on the other side. Turns out that darkness was just soot as when I wiped it with my denatured alcohol soaked steel wool it revealed a much lighter door, same shade as others. With the small wipe I was forced to clean the entire door, which used up a few pieces of steel wool. What came up was a mixture of soot and old varnish, but once all removed the door was beautiful. I used the Howard’s Restor-a-Finish Maple-Pine and once hung rubbed on a coat of Howard’s Feed-N-Wax. I was able to use the original knob and face plate.

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Here’s a warning and shared lesson learned. I worked on these doors three days in a row, working until 2-3 in the morning the first two nights. I have not suffered any serious injuries while working on my house, but with the laundry room door I came very close to loosing my left eye.

Hanging doors by yourself is easy when you separate the hinges. I have been soaking my rusty hinges in vinegar (see YouTube, a DIYers Resource post) and have successfully been able to remove the pins. The pins on the laundry room door put up a fight. I used vice grips and got the bottom knob off, but the pin, even though the hinge had movement, wouldn’t come out. It was about 1 am and I got the NOT so brilliant idea of clamping the hinge to a pallet (I need to install the vice grip I bought for my bench) so I could use a screwdriver and a small sledge hammer to tap it out. Hand on screwdriver and some pretty hard whacks and nothing. I released the screw driver and double fisted the hammer and came down as hard as I could. The screwdriver ricocheted out and somehow flipped up and went straight up my left nostril. Instant nose bleed, no geyser. My hands were filthy and I had no clean rags in basement, so I cupped my hands under my nose to minimize the trail of blood to my kitchen where I washed my hands and grabbed paper towels.

It took about 30 minutes to get the bleeding under control and the leech-like clots to stop. My face was aching, but I was bond and determined at that point to hang the door, which I did before going to bed with a cotton round saturated with Neosporin stuck up my nose. The next morning, a Sunday, there was only a runny nose level of bleeding with less pain, so I went to church. I did get in to see my doctor on Monday where I updated my tetnus (was two years out from needing it) and was referred to an ENT, who confirmed no serious injury.

First time I appreciated my big nose (you can laugh). Do not EVER try that yourself.

April 3, 2019August 19, 2020

Dead Space to Closet Space

There is one TOTALLY complete area in my house, the master bathroom linen closet. I’ve been psyching myself out. The piles of trim and moulding in my basement has had me overwhelmed, so I’ve been avoiding it until this week. If all the trim reinstall goes this smoothly I’ll be the happiest DIYer on the planet.

For those that have not been following the entire journey or if you need a refresher, the linen closet in my master bath was dead space behind walls that was revealed during demo. Thanks to Pinterest I got the brilliant idea to replace this crawl space closet (I have two others that are even bigger) by inserting a dresser into the wall, see inspiration, in my master bedroom. This meant I was able to relocate the door and moulding and use it to create the linen closet in the bathroom. I had to patch the missing floor and frame out a wall to create the space. Check out the picture slideshow at the bottom of Have I Said Lately How Much I LOVE Restoring This House post.

The moulding and shelve brackets from that closet have been sitting in my master floor, with nails still in them waiting to puncture my foot, since December. I thought it would be quick pull them out, use my tried and true Restor-A-Finish clean-up method, and nail them up in new closet. Unfortunately I learned that the new closet was actually wider by 6.5″, so the shelve and moulding would be too short. What to do?????

I started by hanging the shelve brackets. I didn’t concern myself about the gaps on the end of each center bracket because there was still more than enough support for the shelve.

To clean up the brackets, I just used Murphy Oil Soap and water. The moulding I cleaned with the denatured alcohol in preparation for the Restor-A-Finish, but they didn’t look like they needed it. Instead I wiped them down with Howard’s (same company for the Restor-A-Finish) Feed-N-Wax. This company makes an awesome line of products. The Feed-N-Wax worked GREAT, so much so that I used it on the door too as it was in far better condition than other doors I’ve restored. I will most likely do this process (Oil Soap to remove dust and Feed-N-Wax) on more doors in similar condition.

The closet is wider, so I needed to extend the floor moulding center piece and for that I used a piece of the moulding that was on the opening (door) side. I decided to not trim out the inside of the door, which freed up some extra moulding.

To extend the moulding I cut one end of the long piece to a 45 degree angle and glued the 6.5″ extension, also cut at a 45 degree angle to it. I used a product called Insta-Bond, that my carpenter, Tom Milfeld, told me about. I’m not 100% sold on this product; I’m batting 50/50 on it holding, but it held on this and you can barely tell where the splice meets.

Next up the shelves. Only one of the two were still in the house and unlike the brackets I could not use the original due to the bracket design. Instead I went to Home Depot and bought a 4′ x 8′ sheet of pine ply-wood and had them cut it in half and down to 64″ in length (only way to get it in my car). To make the front edge look finished, I also purchased 1/4″ x 3/4″ pine moulding that I glued and pin nailed to the plywood. I thought I wanted extra wide shelves, given I will only have two, but once I saw the first in the space I decided to rip it down to 18″. Still 2″ wider than original. After a dry fit they were ready for staining. Tip (I did not do and should have): sand the pine moulding after it’s installed. 1) to get rid of any glue residue and 2) that brand seems to have a waxy film on it that does not absorb stain well, which I knew from past projects. I was just eager to get this done and didn’t take the extra time.

I used Zar wood stain in Early American that I bought from Sherwin Williams for the kitchen built-in. This was a great way to see if I had been recommended the right color and I believe it is, so I’m anxious to start working on the built-in again. Britt Sang, door painter/stainer, used Minwax Polyacrylic on the inside of my front door and gave me the leftovers. I decided to use it on the shelves, just to protect them a bit. I had never used this product, but will use it again on the built-in. It was very easy to use and, unlike oil-based polyurethane products I’ve used, did not smell and dried fast. I applied three coats, sanding lightly with 220 grit sandpaper between each coat. It only needed 2 hours of drying time between coats, so this part was done in a day.

They recommend allowing 24 hours before actual use, but I placed in the closet and throw in two sachets of lavender to hopefully nix the faint chemical smell. I did wait before placing my contents. Thrilled with the end results and re-energized to tackle more.

March 1, 2019

And Then There Were Two

I was able to remove the yellow electrical permit from my front window today. I passed the electrical inspection. Of all the things my father said we could tackle, this was the one I had most doubt. I have a healthy fear of electrocution and electrical fires. My house had already survived one fire in its past, so I most certainly didn’t want to cause another.

HOWEVER, although physically taxing (pulling stiff wire through small holes above your head is no joke) I will never doubt my ability to tackle a project like this again. I saved $1000s by doing the work myself and learned a great deal thanks to my father and my resident licensed electrician that stepped in when needed, Paul McGhee.

January 25, 2019January 25, 2019

Interior Doors Galore

With the delay of the exterior door I have turned my focus on putting up interior doors. I have a boat load of them to hang and all of them had/have some degree of refurbishing needed before they can be hung. Last winter (wow time flies) I restored two in the basement of my old house. My father found a video on YouTube that showed an easy process for restoring old doors and it’s been my go to method (see Another Door Complete.) The door in that post has been sitting in the basement covered in plastic. A quick wipe down with Murphy Oil Soap water and a rubbing of Watco Rejuvenating Oil and the office closet door was ready for hanging.

This was the first door I hung in an original door jamb that remained in place during demo and it does not close completely. None of the original doors worked properly. The hinges were all rusted, so they didn’t open or close without force. I can only assume that the jamb shifted or the door is slightly warped, but it catches at the top. I will need to use a hand planer to shave a bit off, something I’ve never done, so another new skill to my growing repertoire. Outside of that the door looks fabulous, especially since it was so heavily graffiti-ed.

I’m so glad all, but two of the original doors were still in the house and that all but one was not painted. You can’t recreate almost 100 years of patina.

My house has two different shades of stain. The entire lower floor, except for the kitchen has dark stain. The master suite and the kitchen has a lighter stain, so I was anxious to see if the Howard Restor-A-Finish Maple-Pine tint was the right choice for the lighter doors. Home Depot/Lowes don’t carry the full line of tints, so I ordered this from Amazon. Switching focus to the lighter shade also helps get the kitchen closer to total completion, so I made the pantry and kitchen entry my next project. I used the same steps in the video and the pantry door turned out gorgeous and functions properly. Original jam, but relocated and reset perfectly plumb thanks to my father’s diligence in framing. I opted to not add a coat of oil before hanging it, but I think I will after seeing it next to the kitchen entry door that has oil. That was the only door in house that didn’t have a glass knob.

The kitchen door had the most damage of all the doors I’ve restored thus far. Clearly it had been kicked in during the break in as the exterior area around the lock was broken and splintered. Someone had put screws in it to keep it together. Months ago I started work on this door, so I used wood glue and my pin nailer to tack down any other areas that were still frayed. It’s a visible scar, but a friendly reminder that she (my house) survived five years of neglect and abuse.

The other side also had a long crack, so again I filled the crack with wood glue, but this time instead of my nail gun (didn’t feel like pulling it out) I clamped it and let it dry over night. Once dried I washed the whole door down with Murphy Oil Soap water (it was filthy) and repeated the steps of the video. Like the office closet door this door did not close completely, INITIALLY. After letting my dogs out the back I pushed it shut and to my surprise it closed. My basement still has moisture so I bet being upstairs in the heat is reducing any swelling the doors may be experiencing. The office door still catches at the top, but not as much.

I did add oil to this door as it still looked dry after the Restor-A-Finish. I’ve almost completed the can of Watco Oil. While it has worked well I’m going to try Howard’s Feed and Wax next given how well the Restor-A-Finish has performed. They actually recommend the Feed and Wax as a follow-up.

Repairing Crack

After washing dust off

After cleaning with denatured alcohol and 000 steel wool

Starting the Restor-A-Finish process

After Restor-A-Finish

Adding oil

Door complete

Door hung

View from rear entry foyer

Having the kitchen door installed and closed has made a huge difference in the temperature in the kitchen. This process is so simple that I can literally restore a door a day. I have an ambitious goal of getting all the stained doors and window trim hung before the front door arrives. Wish me luck!

January 12, 2019January 13, 2019

All I Wanted For My Birthday Was A New Front Door

When I received an offer on my childhood house and the buyer asked for a three-week close I realized I hadn’t dealt with my front door. Several times over the course of the year it was front of mind, but each time got pushed aside for various reasons. When I finally put in the order I was told it would take 8 weeks to manufacture. Before installing it would need to be stained and painted, another 10 days. I did not want to host an Open House with a boarded up door, so I cancelled my planned Holiday Open House and set my sights on a Birthday Open House.

The original door is wood and 40″ wide. The side lights were built with 12 individual beveled pieces of glass on each side. Only 50% of the panes were in place. Early on I looked at having the side lights rebuilt, but one side was too far gone and the cost for just the glass would have been $1200. Apparently due to their size they would need to be hand cut. I was not stuck on wood for the door, but I was stuck on the 40″ width. As I’ve shared many times, my goal is to restore the house, not just renovate. She was built with a big door, so she needed to maintain her big door in my opinion.

I understand there are all sorts of maintenance issues with wood doors, but to my advantage my entry is covered preventing the door from getting direct exposure to sunlight and other weather elements. I was willing to go with steel or fiberglass, but unfortunately 36″ is their standard width. If I was going to need to go custom my preference was wood, which became my focus. I was also not willing to lose the arched, beveled glass transom above the door. Several local door installers that looked at the door told me everything had to be replaced and I was not buying that.

I found several wood door manufactures on the Internet, but became focused on Simpson Door Company. I was told Simpson was the Chevy of wood doors. Moderate in cost and reliable. I started mocking up various door designs from their website They did not offer the exact 6 panel design of my original door, but they had some close enough options. Recreating the side lights with twelve individual pieces of beveled glass was not an option.Simpson only works with authorize dealers, so upon entering my zip code on their website I got a list of businesses that carries their brand. I contacted several, most never called me back. I had already started doing business with Hyde Park Lumber for my trim and they were on the list, so I ordered the door from them on October 23rd. I selected the door and sidelight mock-up on the upper right. Hyde Park Lumber doesn’t paint or install, but they referred me to Britt Sang of JM Painting. The door will be stained on the inside to match my existing moulding and painted on the outside. Sidelight Incredible White and door Harvester, both Sherwin William colors.

The door color is my only departure from the HGTV 2017 Urban Giveaway color scheme. They had a pink door, which I just could not do. Harvester was not my first choice. I wanted They Call It Mellow, but apparently yellow has fading issues and they do not offer that particular yellow in an exterior paint. A very helpful store clerk helped me select Harvester.

When I purchased the house the right side of the door, where all but two of the 12 panes of glass were gone, just had a flimsy piece of particle board covering it. The left side was not much better, but the all of the remaining glass was exposed. I took some scrap plywood I had and covered both sides. I tested out my exterior paint color, Sea Serpent, and put house numbers on in yellow just to see if I was making the right move by departing from the HGTV design.

The house was more secure, but it was not weatherized. Never could I have imagined that I would be living in the house, during winter, with the original door. After the first week of really cold temps I had to break down and tape plastic over the sidelights in the inside because I could literally feel the cold air climbing up the stairs and reaching me in my master suite. I also purchased a MAXTID double door draft stopper to plug the two-inch gap at the bottom of the door. Tolerable solution for the 8-10 weeks I’d need to endure while waiting on the door.

The door was scheduled to arrive on December 17. Britt was ready to receive. I had delivered the paint and stain to him. He had a family vacation already scheduled for Dec 27-30, but felt he could get at least one side done prior and have the door finished with time for curing by the week of Jan 7. My installer, Doug with Sentry Doors and Windows, was cued up to install that week. My Birthday Open House was going to happen or so I thought.

The door didn’t actually arrive until Dec 19, but due to late arrivals by Hyde Park Lumber delivery the door did not get to Britt until December 26th, a week lost. Even with that Britt said he could have the door completed by January 10th. Needless to say I was PO’d with the delivery debacle, so I went to Britt’s shop on the day it was delivered to see it first hand. To my disappointed the wrong side lights were on the door. There was a single half panel instead of a two window half panel.

Fuming PO’d now, so I go to Hyde Park Lumber to find out what went wrong. Apparently they entered the information right in their system, which was provided to the distributor. The distributor, unfortunately sent the wrong information to Simpson. At this point I had no choice but to live with the door as I was not going to live another 8 weeks without a proper door. GREAT customer service can cure a bad situation. They offered to pay Britt’s fee for painting/staining, which I accepted. I leave and call Doug to schedule a January 11 install. A few hours later I get a call from Tim at Hyde Park Lumber.

Not only were the wrong side lights entered, but they were also the wrong size. It meant the door would be too small for the opening. Now I had no choice, but to wait another 8 weeks. I was told Simpson rushes for no one.

When I agreed to keep the wrong side lights, I explained to Tim the condition of the current door. He listened and with this forced delay offered to order a temporary fiberglass door and pay to have it installed so I’d have a secure and sealed door during the wait. While I accepted that offer initially, after sleeping on it I woke the next morning and called to stop that process. I did not want to risk damage to my transom window with a temporary door. Instead I asked if he could cut proper size pieces of wood, so that I could better seal the sidelights and pay for the install of the actual door. He agreed and went a step further by offering to send a contractor to board them up. Again, GREAT customer service can cure a worsening situation.

The contractor came that day to look at the situation, told me he’d bring insulation in addition to plywood the next day. He called the next day and said he couldn’t make it but would come, Monday, Jan 31. He never returned, but I took his idea, went to Home Depot and had them cut the proper size pieces and I put them up myself. 100% improvement. As for the Open House it will have a spring theme.

January 8, 2019January 8, 2019

We Make a Great Team

Tom returned to help me with more projects in the kitchen. I’m trying to get the floors cleared in the living and dining rooms and a major pile in the way are the boxes with the cabinet crown moulding. Tom will hang that for me, but the backsplash, which will go to up to the ceiling above window needed to be installed first. I am about burnt out on tile projects (still need to finish first floor bathroom and haven’t started the master), so when he offered to install it for me I jumped. At that time I told him I was doing a small subway on mesh tile and he said he could knock that out in a couple of hours. Well, I got the mesh part right.

After going to the Tile Shop, Floor and Decor, and Lowes I found exactly what I had in my mind at Home Depot, MSI Bianco Arabesque mesh tile. It was only $7.89 per sheet in the store (higher price online), but I had to go to 3 different stores to get enough for the project. TIP: unless you go to a place like the Tile Shop, that will get you multiple cases from the same “lot”, always open the boxes and check the coloring of your tile. The first Home Depot had the full quantity I needed, but despite all stating they were Bianco different boxes had different tints forcing me to go to multiple stores in hopes I’d find enough of the one I liked. The tile I selected looked to have a tint of blue around edges, while the other looked brown like this image.

I decided on a charcoal grout due to the dark gray, marble-like, streaks that run through my quartz counters. I got the grout from the Tile Shop. They carry Superior Pro-Grout Excel, which is fast setting, color consistent, stain-resistant, and features excellent crack and shrink resistance. I also thought it would compliment my blue cabinets. The first thing tackled was putting the knobs on the cabinet doors. Tom had the perfect measuring gadget for that. We still need to do the pulls, but mine are longer than standard, so his gadget didn’t work on those. I was much more concerned with the tile.

I left Tom to work on his own, but after a couple of hours saw that my choice of tile was posing more challenges than the subway he thought I was getting. I decided to jump in and basically from the stove right I laid the tile and from the stove left, including working around the window he handled. He has measuring and eye balling and precision cuts down to a science. It took about 6 hours and we actually worked together on the section above the window. I handled all the grouting the next day. The end results are pretty fabulous I think. Exactly what I envisioned.

Tom also connected me with the best painter EVER!!!!! I met Teresa Ferrari last year and she will be running a new coffee shop opening in the Camp (Camp Washington for those not intimate) very close to my house. I had no idea she has a painting business. She came dressed in what I would consider “good jeans”, a nice sweater, and suede boots and when she left you wouldn’t have known she spent 3 hours painting. Not a drop on her, not a drop on the floor. Well not until Milo, my dog, decided to step in the paint and track it around the 1st floor. She didn’t tape down dozens of plastic drop clothes. She got all the closets, the guest bedroom, the hall, touched up all the bad spots left by the other two I paid to paint, and painted the trim in the kitchen. I am so sorry I didn’t know about her sooner.

There is a saying that God my not be there when you want him, but he’s always right on time. After the devastating set back with my floors, Tom and Theresa have been an absolute delight and I feel brought into my life just at the right time. I truly feel our paths were meant to cross in order for us to do something even greater together. I think Theresa and I should apply for the First Time Flippers show. Just throwing that out into the universe to see where it lands.