Restoring the side nobody cares about
Hello Friends! Long time no talk. I wish I could say that I have completed vast amounts of projects and am currently living in the lap of luxury in my completed mansion. Sadly this is not the case, but I continue on. I didn't have much time to get as many projects done as I would liked and then spring is now here and so the work season slowly begins. I have however been working on the exterior of the house. The side nobody sees or cares about, but it needs to get done.
I am always amazed when I come on this side of just how close I am to my neighbor's house. A mere 2 ft 8" is all that is between my house and my neighbor. This is a surprising fact considering I live in Minnesota where land is in no short supply and even many city homes have ample space around them. I like to imagine that when the houses were being built they pushed my house in closer to the neighbor to give a little more green space in the side yard. I am thankful for this decision as I do enjoy my side yard and this part of the house which is so close only has 2 windows; one in the library and one on the upper floor which was a bedroom. I was told many years ago when a widow lived upstairs that a widow lived next door too and their bedrooms were in the rooms that had these close windows facing each other. They would open the windows and have their conversations while staying the comfort of their own beds. I'm not sure if this story is true or not, but I do love the story.
Working on this side is the same story as the rest of the house. Remove the asbestos cement tiles, remove the old tar paper covering the clapboards, remove all old nails. Repair and replace necessary clapboards, scrape the house, sand the house, prime the house and then paint with two coats. A MASSIVE amount of work on a side with a LOT of siding and a side nobody sees!
The other problem with this side is that there are no gutters. Imagine the amount of water that falls in this tiny space. Because my neighbor and I have had problems with this for years, I have been putting up gutters to solve this problem.
This is the extent of the exterior work. On the inside I haven't done much work but I did find something I have been looking for FOR YEARS!!!
A perfectly fitting antique glass dome for my gilt French mantle clock. I bought this clock years ago for a song and spent a pretty penny getting it working. This is a nice piece because the gilt is in such great shape. It was beautiful on the mantle but I had always been missing a dome for it. One day I found one on Ebay in France. I bought it and prayed that it would make it safe to my home. These things are so fragile that shipping is such a huge risk, especially coming from France! So I bought it and crossed my fingers that it would make it in one piece. It arrived, and it fit PERFECTLY!!!
Looking for something for so many years and finding it makes me so happy. Putting something back to how it should be gives me the greatest satisfaction in the world.
Now I'm thinking I need a nice gilt mirror to go over the fireplace and move this mirror into the library. uggg !
While not working on the house you might find me riding camels in Petra Jordan. I'm getting pretty good riding these giant beauties.
That's all for now friends. Hope to post more soon
I am always amazed when I come on this side of just how close I am to my neighbor's house. A mere 2 ft 8" is all that is between my house and my neighbor. This is a surprising fact considering I live in Minnesota where land is in no short supply and even many city homes have ample space around them. I like to imagine that when the houses were being built they pushed my house in closer to the neighbor to give a little more green space in the side yard. I am thankful for this decision as I do enjoy my side yard and this part of the house which is so close only has 2 windows; one in the library and one on the upper floor which was a bedroom. I was told many years ago when a widow lived upstairs that a widow lived next door too and their bedrooms were in the rooms that had these close windows facing each other. They would open the windows and have their conversations while staying the comfort of their own beds. I'm not sure if this story is true or not, but I do love the story.
Working on this side is the same story as the rest of the house. Remove the asbestos cement tiles, remove the old tar paper covering the clapboards, remove all old nails. Repair and replace necessary clapboards, scrape the house, sand the house, prime the house and then paint with two coats. A MASSIVE amount of work on a side with a LOT of siding and a side nobody sees!
My special scaffolding that just barely fits! I have maybe 8 inches to move my body between the scaffolding platform and the sides so that I can reach each level. You can only imagine that trapeze work one must get into to simply work on the house.
Work in progress where the back half of the house shifts in so it will be much easier to do all this.
Before and during all in one shot.
Want to come over and work on your backbends to work on the house?
The other problem with this side is that there are no gutters. Imagine the amount of water that falls in this tiny space. Because my neighbor and I have had problems with this for years, I have been putting up gutters to solve this problem.
This is the extent of the exterior work. On the inside I haven't done much work but I did find something I have been looking for FOR YEARS!!!
A perfectly fitting antique glass dome for my gilt French mantle clock. I bought this clock years ago for a song and spent a pretty penny getting it working. This is a nice piece because the gilt is in such great shape. It was beautiful on the mantle but I had always been missing a dome for it. One day I found one on Ebay in France. I bought it and prayed that it would make it safe to my home. These things are so fragile that shipping is such a huge risk, especially coming from France! So I bought it and crossed my fingers that it would make it in one piece. It arrived, and it fit PERFECTLY!!!
Looking for something for so many years and finding it makes me so happy. Putting something back to how it should be gives me the greatest satisfaction in the world.
Now I'm thinking I need a nice gilt mirror to go over the fireplace and move this mirror into the library. uggg !
While not working on the house you might find me riding camels in Petra Jordan. I'm getting pretty good riding these giant beauties.
That's all for now friends. Hope to post more soon
It makes me claustrophobic just thinking about working in that narrow space, but congratulations, the side looks much smarter after your ministrations. Your new dome looks superb--I would have been afraid to have it shipped. I once bought a large Victorian model under a glass dome, but we were lucky--although bought on Ebay, it was located in our city, and we could pick it up.
ReplyDelete--Jim
I luckily am not too claustrophobic but I will tell you my back was a bit sore after all the bends it took to make it up and down the scaffolding on this side.
DeleteYou are lucky you could find a dome close to you. I was looking for a very specific size and had no luck finding anything close. I even considered having one made. Apparently there is a company in Germany that blows them like the old ways, but the cost of a new one was just about the same as an old one so I thought I would try my luck here.
Nice work! I'm removing cement-fiber shingles on our house and restoring the original clapboards and trim underneath as well. I started on the least-visible side, and am just finishing with the front now. I figured if I left the front for last, I'd be more motivated to finish.
ReplyDeleteThat is very tight space to work. Probably awkward just positioning yourself to work comfortably.
Working in that space with the narrow scaffolding one had to be a trapeze and a contortionist but I accomplished it and so very happy it's done. I like your method! A great idea to keep yourself motivated. I get to what I get to. Luckily my neighbors are patient with me.
DeleteGutters! STAT!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love that you are restoring the Unseen Side. As crazy as I am for restoration, I am uncertain if I would have undertaken such a job, or just left the cement siding on. On my carriage house, I will, at least initially, be leaving the vinyl siding on the unseen walls.
LOVE the glass dome story. What a triumph! I am soooooo excited for you! And I agree with Jim, I would never have made the purchase for fear of its arriving broken.
Gutters are up and I am hopeful they solve the problem. I am just waiting for a good rain storm to test them out. I have also considered putting in a drainage ditch here. This would be a HUGE amount of work but I thought if I did do it, it would be a good reason to tuckpoint the foundation on the outside. As you know Ross, we have enough projects for 10 lifetimes :)
DeleteAs far as the dome (especially since it came from France) I was praying every day to have it come safely. I had purchased one several years back that I had thought would fit that arrived broke. I was heart broken, not so much for the myself but at the thought that this beautiful dome had made it 100 years and here some foolish delivery person had taken that history away in one drop to the box. When that box came I heard something moving around inside and it just made me sick. This was one of the times I got lucky.
If you ever do your foundation for pointing, be sure to use a lime based mortar (natural Hydraulic Lime; we currently started our project on the other side of saint paul with a 1913 4 square / colonial revival, and over the years people/masons used Portland based; it has deteriorated the rocks and in some cases cracked it.
ReplyDelete