A HANDRAIL IN THE MAKING

    As we've come to find out, to no surprise, nothing original to this house is available in your local hardware store or even the specialty lumber mills in the area.  What this means is we find the closest product available (such as the crown molding in the roof repair which has the same basic profile but is slightly less thick),

Missing crown from roof

Newly primed close match to original crown

 change to an entirely different product (such as deck railing pickets since the deck is a new feature),

New deck, new pickets

beg, borrow or 'steal' from areas of this house or another local house (thank you Garland house),

Old floorboards from our kitchen and Garland Street house sistered in to the  back room

 pay an arm and a leg to have a product duplicated (the stair spindles are so unique),

60 duplicated spindles .....  Ka-ching!

OR

we make it ourselves (because, I've been told so many times and I am now beginning to believe it,  "Carlie, there's nothing we can't do." - DLS).

    So, make it we did.  We purchased an outdoor handrail that was close in size to the existing original rail at the top of the back stairs. 

Original handrail atop the bead board (2nd floor)

We milled the rail to be close to the original.

Purchased fir rail with a portion of the right side bead cut off

Using the table saw to remove the bead on each side of the rail

The router will give us a curved side

Clamping the rail before routing

After installing the rail it was time to sand the peak off the top side of the rail (originally milled to be an exterior rail it required a peak to shed water).

A palm sander comes in handy for this task (Thanks Lucius for such an awesome gift years ago)

*We are far from finished.  Check the following posts for the magic of Bondo and the completed wall.

  

DETAIL MAN

    It is my guess that no contractor has ever had a customer pay closer attention to every detail.  My husband knows what he wants and will hold you accountable if you have contracted to deliver a product.  He continues to check up on the progress of every contractor and it doesn't matter what or how high he has to climb to check.

On 2nd story roof looking UNDER the built-in gutters

Checking the joint where old trim meets new trim in a repair

Checking up on the roofers before the slate goes up

I'm glad he is on my team!

SHINGLES

Last week the re-shingling began.  

We are using the same crew who did such a great job on the roof, gutters and copper detailing.  

Forming the copper

Old shingles come down

New shingles go up

If you need roof work done call Fan Roofing.  Ask for Joe to give you an estimate, and when he comes out to your house within 24 hours and works up a proposal in the next day or 2 you will want Thomas heading up the job.  When they make an appointment, they keep it.  If they say they are coming and cannot make it, they call.  They listen to what the customer actually wants.  Their work is high quality. And here is a big one that I never really thought too much about before this project.....they clean up after themselves.  We cannot say enough good things about these guys!

NEW BUILT-IN GUTTERS

   When the roof work was done the gutters were replaced.  I love the copper as seen from the 3rd floor.

Looking past the beautiful copper you can see the built-in gutters in the TPO roof below.

FAIT ACCOMPLI

Dear Reader,
    If you've missed recent posts, you may read here to know how excited I must be to see yesterday's progress on my house.......

AHHHHHHHHHH.......Lightning rod

COLORS OF FALL

    The weather is getting crisp here in Virginia and the colors of the season are popping.  My favorite color on Hawthorne Avenue at the moment is COPPER!

Thomas (roofer) trims a strip of copper to mount as flashing above the newly installed copper ledge outside the 3rd floor window

Copper scraps on the roofing truck

I love the new copper ridge roll on the garage

Thomas created a nice copper detail around the base of the chimney along the roofline on the 2nd story.

Roofers form and cut copper sheets to fit snug on the roof

THE AESTHETIC OF LIGHTNING RODS

    Back in April we got the sad news that all 5 of our chimney flues had deteriorated beyond repair.  This is the main reason we decided to have a fireplace built onto our addition.

    It just so happened that the very same day in April when I received the chimney 'news', Wallace, Donnie,and I met with a roofing contractor to finalize and sign the contract.  When the contractor said, "And what do you want to do with the lightning rods?  They don't really DO anything so you don't need them."
    Both my husband and Donnie said, simultaneously, "We don't need them."
    It was precisely at this moment when the stress of the project and the distress of losing my fireplaces got to me and I had what I have since referred to as a full blown grown-up temper tantrum.....right there in my front yard, I stomped my foot and screamed,
 "DO NOT GET RID OF MY LIGHTNING RODS !!!  THEY MOST CERTAINLY DO DO

SOMETHING.  I WANT THEM BACK ON THE HOUSE WHEN THE ROOF IS COMPLETED!"

    This, in front of a man whom I just met and in front of any neighbor or passer-by.  Nice first impression.

    Upon my eruption, both Wallace and Donnie, wide-eyed at this unexpected display, turned to the roofer and said, "The lightning rods go back."
    "Thank you," I said and walked away, realizing what I'd just done.
    This brings me to my point.  The roof is about done and it is time for those lightning rods to go back up.
.......Check back soon to see photos of the finished product!

DEAL OR ORDEAL

 We are anticipating a significant amount of rain as hurricane Irene approaches the East Coast. 

 That the backside of our house is not yet under roof is of great concern. 

The framers assured me Thursday morning that we would be under roof and wrapped by the end of Friday.   And then Thursday evening we got a thunderstorm.....

Rain on new construction...not such a big deal.  Rain on heart pine flooring...

Ordeal.

The GOOD news is ...

Our new built-in gutters and downspouts work!

(See other ROOF postings here)

IT'S A JUGGLING ACT

    This renovation adventure requires someone, or several someones, skilled at keeping numerous projects in the air at the same time. A variety of jobs must be done either in preparation for an upcoming contractor or in conjunction with a current contractor. This past week has been a terrific example of keeping all the balls in the air.

    As the roofers continue to repair the roof,

  (shaping copper)

(replacing water damaged wood)

( applying underlayment and TPO)

    I purchase and prime replacement molding that they will install below the soffit.

  Meantime, Donnie removes the 7 foot windows leading to the rooftop in order to repair the sills so the roofers can make the roof water tight.

     Concurrently, Wallace clears out crawl spaces, relocates old brick to be used in the foundation work, and launches and attack on the bamboo (a story for another posting).

A ball was dropped when the roofers got soffits up before being primed.  Now we must get up on the ladders to protect the wood.

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

My  art studio's future location is in a cozy and somewhat secluded space on the third floor here on Hawthorne avenue.  A small 1/2 round window faces the front of the house (east).

Currently the original window is missing so, sticking my head out the opening, I catch a closeup glimpse of  shingling and dental molding.

To the west is the entrance, a small door with old textured glass side lights.

The space is sufficient but the natural light is poor.

Since the roof required significant repair over the studio area we have just added 2 skylights.

LET THERE BE LIGHT! 

LET THE ROOFING BEGIN

 The roofers we've hired have made it through one RAINY week in Virginia.  Forecasters say we are in for a stretch of sun.  Hope so.

TIME TO FIX THE LEAKS

There's been a whole lotta leakin' going on here at Hawthorne Ave.  After entertaining several bids to complete our roofing job, we have made a decision.  While the majority of the slate is is good shape, there are places in the roof, especially around the flashing, that have gone unattended for years resulting in some rot.

  Though over a hundred years old, the slate is Buckingham slate and worth preserving.  We have hired a company who will safely and carefully remove the existing slate, make repairs to the wood, install the proper underlayment, and reinstall the original slate.