Window Repair 101. Part 1

If you have an old house and feel that the windows are so bad that they have to be replaced then think again. No matter how bad they look. We replaced the windows on our second floor when we bought the "Crackhouse" because most of them had no glass. We paid something like $6000 for 7 windows and after watching the guys install them and realizing that you can custom order your own windows at Lowes for 20% of what we were charged it was decided that we would NEVER do that again! Replacement windows do cut down on the noise and heat loss though. Our first floor windows were too tall for replacements. This particular outfit couldn't make them long enough and even suggested we reduce the size of the opening to make a sale. Needless to say we decided to salvage what we had. I have four windows left to refinish. I have been able to strip two of them this week and remove the glass.
Todays mission was to get them ready for painting but there is some work involved when you are dealing with wood that looks like this;




and you have big chunks missing like this.





These are bad, but they are also fixable. First you have to get the wood stripped of paint. I won't go into this process because it has been covered many times on this and other house blogs but if you don't already have one, go and buy a heat gun. Preferably one with a variable temperature dial because wood this bad will catch fire!
Once the paint has been stripped and the glazing putty removed you need to sand the wood. For this project I used a palm sander with 60 grit and then 100 grit paper. One of the windows will have a shellac finish on the inside and so, after sanding, the inward facing surface was rubbed with coarse steel wool and alcohol to loosen any flakes of paint left after the sanding and re-amalgamate any original shellac on the wood (what little remained in this case).

The next stage is the important one. It is also quite simple. Mix some boiled linseed oil with an equal amount of turpentine or paint thinner and brush it over the wood. Where the wood is dry it will suck up the linseed oil like a sponge and may take two or three more applications. When done, let the wood dry over night and repeat the process until no more linseed oil is being absorbed by the wood.

Linseed oil is a hardening oil that leaves a resinous hard coating when it drys. This helps seal the wood and renders it water resistant. It leaves the dull grey colored wood looking like this;




Next you need to fill those shrinkage cracks on the exterior of the window and you don't want to use something that will shrink or crack as the wood expands and contracts with heat or cold. Splits or cracks on the interior will be filled with colored wood putty at a later date when the wood has cured but in the meantime I have filled the the exterior splits and cracks with window glazing putty which will never fully harden and will allow the wood to expand. Since the putty is linseed oil based I went ahead and did this today after the first application of linseed oil to the wood.



I hope this helps some of you out there reading this. It may even save you a ton of money!
This ends todays lesson, except that linseed oil comes from flax seed. Flax is used to make linen. Make sense now, eh?

Victorian Graffitti

Throughout our remodelling efforts we have found graffitti, newspapers, old worthless items and puzzles to the past. One of the earliest examples of graffitti found was this brick on the main chimney. It marks a time when this section of the chimney was actually outside the roof and not under it. There are two bricks on this chimney that are signed by this guy. The dates are different, about a week apart and we speculate that this guy was charged with the task of painting "mortar" lines over the brick red colored paint.




The next interesting piece of graffitti was found in May 2003 while scraping a wall in the bathroom. It turned up this pencilled profile on the plaster wall.




It is signed Marguerette Volkenand and would have been done sometime around 1910.


The last piece of interesting graffitti was found carved into one of our window lintel stones in April 2004 and would date around 1865.




These two (Minnie and George) were married in 1867. In fact, here are some photos of them in later years.






Minnie liked to carve her name in things. I remember sanding the name out of the window sill in Elizabeths bedroom. I didn't think much of it at the time. In fact, I thought it was more modern in origin until I found this and realized that Minnie was Marianna Edgars nickname and she used it on her marriage license.
This stuff has all been posted to my regular website over the years as it was discovered. So why am I posting it here? Two reasons;

1) It is about time I found some more

2) I haven't been doing any work on the house due to cold weather and I am feeling really guilty about not having anything blog worthy to post!

Maybe if I get bored I will photograph some of the old items we have found and post them here for laughs and giggles!

In 1909 The Bathroom.

This may answer some questions for people with turn of the century homes!

From Household Discoveries 1909

"Bathrooms are no longer a novelty in small towns and farmhouses. But it must be understood that to enjoy these in winter, requires almost of necessity a range or furnace. Pipes in kitchens may be kept warm by stoves, and bathrooms adjoining the kitchen may be warmed by leaving the door open between or the bathroom may be over the kitchen, and a drum or stovepipe arranged so as to heat the pipes in the bathroom. But it is usually better to not have running water in the bathroom in winter until a furnace is put in. It pays, however, to partition off a bathroom near the kitchen and put in a bath tub, if there is running water or a hand pump in the bathroom, with drain pipes to carry away waste- even if it is necessary to carry cold water to the tub from the kitchen sink and hot water from the stove in pails.
A good bath tub is not a luxury, but a necessity to comfort, cleanliness and health. If the bathroom is near the kitchen, the tub can be filled by bringing hot and cold water in pails; and if the tub is elevated slightly, the water can be drawn off in pails and carried to the drain after the bath; or, if a tub is used that does not have a faucet for drainage, the waste water can easily be removed by using a small piece of rubber tube as a siphon, or by a dipper and a large bath sponge. Every household should be provided with a full sized tub, even if it is only of tin. Portable rubber tubs which can be folded and put away when not in use are also obtainable. But a cast iron tub is preferable and not too expensive.
The entire cost of plumbing for a bathroom, including supply pipe, hot water pipe and all necessary fixtures, provided you have water supply in the house, will not exceed $150. This sum can be reduced by doing some of the work yourself.Even if there is no furnace, the bathroom can be used from early spring to late fall, and especially through the summer season, when it is above all essential to health and comfort. Every family should make the necessary sacrifices to put in and enjoy this great convenience."

My Neighbor is Still a Moron or Zero Activity Next Door!

It has been over two weeks since the house next door flooded. There has been no sign of the owner or any of his minions! The "For Rent" sign is still up as is the "For Sale" sign. I would love to see someone's face when they see the kitchen!

There is a window to the basement in the back of the house with a broken pane. I stuck my head in with a flash light to see if there was still any water in there. It has all gone! If it wasn't for the smell or the water bill, you would never know that there was 3 feet of water in there. Now here is absolute proof that if you ignore your problem long enough it WILL go away on its own......

The problem with switch plates!

Have you ever had a switch plate that won't lay flat?
When you rewire an old house and have to install electrical boxes where they are awkward to install, well, they don't always lay flat. I had to put some really skinny boxes in our breakfast room because one of the walls was brick and the other one was 1" planking. Add some 3-way switches and the skinny box doesn't have much room left for wires. The end result is that the switch plates won't screw on flush with the wall. There is a gap that shows up in the form of an ugly shadow. I also have a problem in the hall where a switch was put into the wood molding near the door and in order for the plate to sit flush with the wood I would have to chisel a recess into the wood where the box is screwed on.
Here is the one in the brick wall.




You can see that the metal on one side of the box isn't flush with the wall. I have the option of removing it and chisling more brick and then replastering the wall to get to to sit flush or I can find a way to fill the gap.
You can go and try to find some of these



but that could take several years if you need a few (and we do!).
I have a simpler solution. I have some very thin plywood that I cut to sit around the electrical box and under the switch plate.



I plan on painting two of them green and putting shellac on the third but I guess you could really do some fancy stencil or rubber stamping on one of these if you wanted to. Call it a creative solution to a simple problem.... it works for me!





I had to do something today, the temperature outside was 52 degrees! Inside it was 44 degrees and after 5 hours with the windows open it got up to a whopping 46!

Is winter over yet?

Hey! Yesterday was the first day of winter! (Well officially, anyway.) You know what that means? Only some 90 days before it's spring! I had better go find my shadow and get it ready. I lent it to a groundhog last week. If I don't get it back now he'll keep it until February!

Doing a Happy Dance!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

Look what I was able to buy!

A cast iron fireplace horse shoe!

I found it at an antique mall of all places. It cost $22.50! You read that correctly, twenty two dollars and fifty cents!It is about 1" too wide to rest flush with the marble due to the 'molding" near the base of the marble sides. I will have to cut and file some small notches on each side of the horse shoe to get it to lay flush, but hey, what a find! I will just have to find a cover now... you wait and see, that will cost $225....

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

It's 36 degrees inside. What should I do?

Things to do while waiting for the gas man (woman) when the indoor temperature is 36 degrees.
I was able to put my Rejuvenation light fixtures up on Saturday in the freezing temperatures that engulf this house. They look good in the hall, the larger of the two needs lower wattage bulbs because your eyes are drawn to the glare as you walk down the stairs and the bulbs are exposed on the upper side of the light. Either 40 watts are in order or I need a 3-way dimmer or both!

Since I was over there I made this

"WTF is that?" you ask.

Well, since you asked. It is a plank of wood that has been given 3 coats of shellac and has three old iron square head nails protruding from one edge.

"What is it for?"

This:

Those Sneaky Utility Companies!

Sometime in 2003 we stopped using the gas at this place. This decision was made because I had re-run the existing lines inside the place so that I wouldn't get a bump on the head fumbling around in the basement. The main line from one of the two gas meters ran across one of the rooms in the basement at head height requiring me to duck as I passed through the room. I moved some lines and ran lines to areas of the house that had never seen a gas line in case I would need to install a furnace or a gas dryer at a later date. I tidied up the lines in the basement quite a bit and made one of the meters obsolete. At that time I had the meter removed leaving me with just one.

Well, after this I never ran a furnace again and we have yet to use the stove. I still have to buy a water heater and we have decided to get one of the "on demand" type that mounts to the basement wall. I don't need to get one until we are actually ready to live here so we have no need for the gas service.
For the longest time our monthly gas bill was $4.00 until this year when Vectren jacked up the billing to $7.00. So, we pay $7.00 a month for something we don't use but have the option to use if we want to or install the correct equipment.

Every so often for the last two years, Vectren would leave us notes saying that they need inside the house to test for gas leaks before the meter. Since our meter was inside the house, they needed access to check for leaks. Their note indicated that this was a federal requirement but I question its integrety because I have NEVER received a note at the house where we actually live and pay for the actual use of gas. This house is a mere 3 blocks away.

I never called Vectren for an appointment because I couldn't ever guarantee that I could be at the house at any particular time. Besides, I was suspicious of their real desire to get in the house. I suspected that they wanted to see if I had tampered with the meter. Whenever I saw the so called "sniffer" person they were leaving notes on the doors of houses that were vacant and never actually trying to get into occupied houses where people paid more than $7.00 a month for gas.
They finally called us on the phone. The "boy" who called asked for Deborah. The conversation went something like this;

Boy; "This is Vectren. We need to get inside your house to test for gas leaks."

Me; "You've never done this before."

Boy; "It's a new law that has only been around for the last two years. We need to go into your house and we have a device that detects gas. It will take us about 20 seconds."

Me; "I have lived here since 1994 and have NEVER had you contact me about this." (Now, you have to understand, I am at the residence thinking that they want into this house.)

Boy; "You are where, 114? Where are you?"

Me; " I'm not telling you where I am. This sounds like a suspicious phone call. Thank you. Good Bye!"

Five minutes later I'm sitting on the porcelain throne when the light bulb in my head goes off and I realize that they want into the "Crackhouse". Two days later we get a letter in the mail with an ultimate threat to discontinue service if we fail to comply.
We set up an appointment for Saturday afternoon. Even though it is up to 36 degrees on the first floor I was sure that there was some work that I could do while I wait for the gas "sniffer" to show up. Since it was Saturday, I was sure they would be there early so that they could get home early.

I was right, they showed up by 12:45. The woman came in with a flash light, went down to the room in the basement. Shined the light on the meter and gave the gas lines a good look over then said "I'm done. My sniffer didn't go off in your yard." Then she left. She didn't have a "sniffer" in her hands. Things that make you go "Hmmmm".

Speaking of gas. I wonder if my neighbor with the flooded basement (still no sign of him) has his gas turned off?

Everything is Coming to a Grinding Halt

Nothing is being done at the house due to below freezing temperatures outside and at freezing temperatures inside. I can't cap my third floor plumbing lines until it is above 40 degrees since the cpvc cement won't cure properly. Besides, that will only take five minutes to do. The smoothing of the parlor walls requires the joint compound being able to dry and not freeze onto the walls. I can't do any mortar or cement work. I can strip paint from wood though! How exciting!

Besides what does anyone care about what is happening at this place? It seems that more people are interested in what's going on with my neighbors house than mine. I had over 250 visits to this blog yesterday. On any normal day when I talk about my place I'm lucky if I get 120 hits and until yesterday my all time high was 160. Maybe I should blog about other peoples houses!

Still no sign of the owner of the house next door. I thought about calling the real estate agent to let them know about the problem but then I started thinking even more. I have already made three phone calls to the owner. The first at 10PM when I noticed water in MY basement. The second at 10:15 PM after I called the water department emergency # to inform him that I am getting his water shut off and the third at 12:10 AM to say that the water was finally turned off after some difficulty and that at one point I had to enter the house to see if I could shut the water off from inside but there was 3 feet of water in his basement. If the owner is on vacation and hasn't got my messages then whos problem is it? Not mine. If he can't be bothered to get over here, whos problem is that? Not mine.

Now, if they do get over here, pump out the water and use fans to dry out the house I know the guy won't put any money into fixing the place properly so I have to deal with the uncertainty of the quality of neighbor that I get. If I sit back, let his furnace and water heater rust and allow toxic mold to infest the walls and hope that the foundation cracks making the place uninhabitable then maybe it will be condemned and have to be removed at which point I offer to buy the place.

Hmmm, decisions, decisions. What would Jesus do? What would Flying Spaghetti Monster do? More importantly, what would YOU do?