Neverending Projects

Anytime that you move into a new house, there are projects and this house has been no different. Since this 1835 house got the whole "This Old House" overhaul (no, it wasn't on TV but it got a very major updating) in 2006, the things that we had to do were the same kinds of things that you might do to a newer house.

• We started by recarpeting the master bedroom (the only carpeted room in the house).
• We repainted the entire interior of the house.
• We replaced the bathroom mirrors and some of the light fixtures.
• We cut the cord with television cable back when we were in California. We still have internet so we're able to watch Hulu, Netflix, etc. The problem with that is that we still want local news. In California, we were too far from the antennas to have any reception so we had to go with a very unsatisfactory streaming option. Here, after experimenting with a number of options, we successfully installed a long-range antenna and booster in the attic. We receive 30+ Boston and Providence stations.
• Then we put tile back splashes in the kitchen. 
• We had MassSaves come out and evaluate the energy efficiency of the house. We passed with flying colors but they did leave us with new thermostats and they got us started on a now completed mission to replace every bulb in the house with LEDs.
• We had a pellet stove installed in the fireplace.
• The lighting in the basement, where I have my workshop, was dim so I installed several additional light fixtures and an outlet in my work area.
• We have a farmer's porch on the North side of the newer part of the house. The decking there is a composite wood that never needs painting. On the South side of that same part of the house, we have steps and a small porch. After last winter, we noticed that the paint was starting to come off. We removed the wood surface and replaced it with the composite.
• One of the notes that the building inspector made before we moved in concerned a large branch that hung out over the driveway and threatened the house. We had a tree guy come out to see about removing it. He found that the limb was part of a dead ash tree. He also found that a dead hickory was an even bigger threat. We had him remove both.

That's the little stuff. One major project loomed in our future from the minute that we bought the house.

The house is really in 2 pieces. The front part of the house is an 1835 colonial. It features post and beam construction, has the narrow, original staircase and has the original wide plank chestnut flooring on the 2nd floor and in the attic. The basement under this part of the house has about a 4' ceiling so we refer to it as the crouch space.

Pre-reconstruction, the house had a kitchen wing off the back of the front section. It must have been in really bad shape. It was demolished, the basement was redug (to a proper depth) and the wing was rebuilt with a 2 car garage added to the back. This new part of the house had kitchen and dining on the first floor and an unfinished stairway up to an unfinished 2nd floor. This new part of the house has a saltbox roof and 2 gables (one in the stairwell). The wall opposite the gables has 3 windows.

There's our project. That unfinished area is about 400-500 sq. ft. and it would make no sense to leave it unfinished. Here's what we've done s far:

• On the gable side of the room, the ceiling slope goes all the way to the floor, creating some unusable floor space. I've framed in a closet between the gables. I've also installed 48" tall bi-fold doors.

  

  The ceiling above the doors and the diagonal tape line in the gable illustrate how steeply pitched the ceiling in the closet is.

• The room had 2 bare light bulbs and a couple of outlets. I've installed a reasonable number of outlets, dimable can lighting for the room and separate lighting for the stairway. I also installed switched lighting in the closet. We want to use this a a TV/Family room so I've installed a cable outlet that is connected to the attic antenna.
  
• I've insulated the entire space.
• We had a plumber add a zone to our basement boiler and install a baseboard radiator in the new room.

  

  That's the radiator along the wall. The door at the end goes through to one of the upstairs bedrooms. The wall around the door is the old part of the house and ins post and beam construction. Getting the pegs flush and the posts even enough for drywalling was a real chore.

• We put a window air conditioner in the gable over the stairway.

  

  The air conditioner has been stored away for the winter but it sits in this window (I installed an outlet to the left of the window).

• I sheet rocked the entire space. The funny angles created by the saltbox roof, gables and stairway were brutal. I've just finished the taping so it's time to call out a plasterer.
  
  
  

  

  This knee wall had a bad wobble after I removed some bracing that wouldn't work in the finished space. I replaced the 2 2x4's on the end with this floor-to-ceiling post. No more wobble.

  
  

  

  Looking up from the stair landing.

I was moving full speed ahead until an outdoor project presented itself. It needs to be taken as far as possible before the snow hits so the upstairs room is currently on hold. Still to be done upstairs:

• Have a plasterer apply a skim coat to all surfaces.
• Paint.
• Install hardwood flooring.
• Install moldings on doors, windows, baseboards and stairs.

I'll get to the outdoor project that has put the upstairs project on hold. Before that came along, another project added to that delay. A while back, on a whim, we bought a semi-antique piece of furniture that we think will be perfect upstairs. It looks like a dining room sideboard except that the front pulls out. It has 6 leaves that turn it into a 9' table. Our plan is to put it under the TV. It will be nice to have that long table if the need ever arises to seat 12. The problem was that it was in pretty rough shape and needed refinishing.

This was Kristen's project and was going to be completed in the basement. We soon realized that it was so heavy that we would probably rewreck the finish getting it upstairs. Since it would be a bad idea to refinish furniture in the completed new room, I disassembled the table as much as possible and got it upstairs so Kristen could work on it. It is now refinished and sitting in the upstairs bedroom that adjoins the new room.

OK. Now we get to the outdoor project. Our lot is 2.6 acres. Our house, driveway and lawn sit on about one of those acres. Much of the year, the rest of the property is impenetrable forest. Once the leaves fall, we can actually see our property and we get to dreaming about making it usable.

The main obstacle to making it usable is a pest plant called Rosa Multiflora. This weed is driving the corn farmers nuts in Iowa and Nebraska. It grows beautiful white flowers in Spring and Summer but it essentially covers the ground with a 10' tall wall of thorns (I'm sure that Sleeping Beauty's castle must have been surrounded by a wall of Rosa Multiflora).

My big outdoor project has been to get rid of the Multiflora. I'm out there almost every day with chainsaws, tree saws, loppers and machete. I'm making a lot of progress but this may be a multi year project.

Clearing out the Multiflora is giving me access to the trees. I'm finding that many have Bittersweet vine winding around them. Since Bittersweet will kill the trees (and undoubtedly already has killed some of them), I'm removing the Bittersweet as I have the opportunity. Some of the vines are as big around as my arm. One tree, that I had already marked for future elimination, actually fell down when I cut the vines that were holding it up.

This was when I was just getting started. It had been impossible to get past the edge of the lawn.

I'm up on a plateau area here that looks like it might make an interesting raised patio.

I'm in the same spot here as in the previous photo. Just a different angle.

Working in the tree's, I've found that some of the vines that I'm removing are all that's holding some of the tree's and branches in place. I was able to push one fairly large tree over after I'd removed the vines. After a close call with a large branch that broke off high above me and crashed next to me, we thought it prudent to invest in the following protective gear.

Hard had with flip up wire mesh face plate, flip up ear protection and neck protection.

As I clear the "back 40", I'm finding a lot of interesting things:

• The woman that we bought the house from (we see her regularly) has asked a couple times if we've found the fallen tree yet. When she was redoing the house, she had a hickory tree taken down because it was threatening the house. We've found the tree and the trunk is at least 4-5' thick. It was about 10' back from the lawn and it's amazing that we couldn't see it.
• She's also asked if we've found the foundation for the old goat barn. We can now report that the goat barn foundation has been found. It's construction is strange. It's concrete slab and is about 8'x12'. Over time, the soil has eroded from under it so it appears to be sitting on top of boulders.
• Still to be found is the old well that she says is out there some place.
• What we have found is stone walls ... everywhere. We discovered last year that the property is surrounded by low stone walls. We've found that there's one elevated area, surrounded by walls and just off the lawn that we think will make a beautiful patio. As I clear around the goat barn foundation, I'm finding more walls. It looks like the area may have been laid out in paddocks.

Obviously, this is going to be a continuous project. Still to be seen is how fast it's all going to want to grow back.

-J-