Radiator Revitilization

When I bought the house there was no source of heat on the second floor. Just gravity. I thought I would give it a try, and I froze the first winter.

So I asked my dad and grandfather to put radiators in the three bedrooms. My dad looked around and eventually found four steam radiators. He got them from some guy he knows who hoards junk. Apparently hot water radiators are easier to come by than steam. So this guy has four, I only need three, but we have no idea if they even work. So daddy buys all four for $100. (Do you know how much new ones cost?) This was a steal. Well, they installed three, and they all work just fine. We now have a spare in the basement. No idea if it leaks.

Eventually we got to a point in the house where we were ready to start painting. Have you ever tried to paint behind a radiator? No? Well, neither had my previous owners.

Our first idea was to get oil paint from Sherwin Williams and paint each radiator the same color as the rest of the room. I was never thrilled with this idea. What if I get tired of the color in a few years? I'm sure I don't want to keep repainting them. Plus, we've read that more layers of paint on radiators just act like insulation, keeping the heat from warming the room. But they needed something, all those old layers of paint (mostly on the sides that faced the room) were chipped and flaking. A big mess. Mom and I tossed some ideas around, I perused houseblogs, and we decided they should just look like radiators. Radiator-colored radiators. How novel. Why try to make them blend in? Let them be what they are.

So, we had all the radiators taken out, hauled away, sand blasted, and spray painted with high heat engine paint. I'm thrilled at how they turned out.

We had eight radiators of various sizes, and they charged us just under $1000. I think it was money well spent. That included transportation. (My dad and grandfather did the disconnecting and the reconnecting.) We couldn't find anyone in the local area who did this kind of work, but daddy suggested someone he knew who did engine repair. So we had an auto engine repair place do the radiators.

We knew that the sandblasting was risky, because if there are any weak spots it can create holes, and then it is all over, folks. But we decided it was worth it. New radiators for the second floor were out of the question. I'm so glad we took the chance.I sincerely hope this paint job will last for years, decades even. About a year after the radiators were finished, I saw pictures (I'm sorry, I don't remember where) of someone else who had done the same thing, only they had their radiators painted a dark metallic bronze. They were really gorgeous. Now I have bronze envy. I briefly wished we had thought of the dark bronze, but I am very happy with the engine silver anyway. Maybe we will go bronze if it ever needs done again.

I couldn't find any before pictures specifically of the radiators, but I'm sure you can all picture them. You might be able to spot some in my before series of each room. Check out the details that were lost under all those layers of paint!

House Numbers, Finally

At long last, we finally got around to mounting the new house numbers on the front porch!

We've only had these pretty metal numbers for the last four years, and since we installed the new old door last August we've been completely without house numbers. This became a big problem a few weeks back when I was expecting guests who had never been to my neck of the woods.

So, my friend Marc got roped into helping me put these up one day a few weeks ago. He's such a good sport. Please forgive the bug dirt, dust and pencil markings. Actually, does anybody know what will remove those pencil markings from the metal siding?

Faucets that Fit

I'm a bit germ-phobic. I'll admit it. I wash my hands a couple dozen times a day. I realize that is more than most people, but I'm okay with that.

My point is this: when I chose faucets for the sinks in my house, I was looking for a few key things:

First, that I had plenty of room under the spigot to scrub my hands without scraping my knuckles against the sink.Second, that I could turn the knobs easily, and possibly with the back or heels of my hands, so I have minimal contact with them. For me, that meant lever-style handles.Third, that they could be easily cleaned, with few nooks and crannies for gunk to build up.

Highly Recommended: Extra Deep Kitchen Sink

I've been in kitchens where the sink is so shallow that you can hardly submerge a soup pot in the dishwater. Or the faucet spout is so low, you have to move it aside to maneuver dishes around as you wash. What a pain!

Mom was all for a deeper sink, too. She ought to know. When she built her house back in 1989, she didn't make any special decisions about the kitchen sink, and so they just put in your standard contractor-grade sink. I know at the time mom was thinking, hey, I'm going to have a dishwasher, I won't need a big sink to do dishes. But she soon learned that sometimes you don't want to fill a quarter of your dishwasher with just one big stock pot, a giant colander or mixing bowl. I'm sure she wishes she could put in a nice deep sink like the one we picked out for me, but since there is nothing really wrong with hers, she can't justify changing it. Maybe someday.

We were determined to get the deepest sink we could find, but we ran into a bit of a snag. We found out that our choices would be rather limited because we had a width restriction. I think there were about three models for us to choose from. We picked one we like, and I am very happy with it. The sinks with three bowls are awfully nice, though, if only one would have fit.

Anyway, mom and I highly recommend splurging for this extra if you are in the market for a new kitchen sink.

Heat Lamps in Cold Bathrooms

One of the greatest things we put in this house are the heat lamps for the bathrooms.

Mom was the one to suggest it, and knowing from experience how nice it was in grandma Millie's bathroom, I knew it was a good idea. Particularly since there is no heat source in either bathroom.

We did discuss putting in the mat type of radiant heating at one point, but my dad said he didn't think it was a good idea. Too much of a risk with leaks. I think he's wrong, but what do I know? I just think he didn't want to be the one to install it. Daddy and grandpa don't like technology.

Anyway, I think it would have helped take the chill off the bathrooms a bit better than the heat lamp on those cold winter mornings. I know you can put them under tile, and I'm pretty sure you can use them with cork as well.

But anyway, the heat lamps are great, and I'm very glad mom suggested them.

They have a timer, I guess so they don't overheat, but I often use the timer like an alarm in the mornings. When the heat lamp goes off, it's time to be done in the bathroom.

I only wish they came in some kind of cool, retro finish. This plastic doesn't really say bungalow to me.

Upstairs Bathroom Details: Things Still Undone

Someday I'll find enough matching tiles to finish this spot above the door. They ended the shower area, and we thought it would be fine. Until we saw how awkward it looks now that the door trim is back in place. That spot is only three tiles high, and less than 30 inches wide. Plus, when you are in the room, it is mostly behind the support beam. But I know it is there. And it bugs me. This extra wide door jamb is made of red oak, which when stained is one of the closest matches in grain to the original chestnut. I'm too much of a wimp to try matching it myself, so this is a project for Jack. Someday.

Upstairs Bathroom Details: Finishing Touches

I just loved the shape of all the accessories that went with the Standard Collection from American Standard.

The faucet, with its lever-style handles, and porcelain stopper stamped "Standard" in old-fashioned script. The light fixtures, with adjustable angles, and shades that mimic the bell-shape on the faucet.
Co-ordinating t.p. holder.
Even the toilet's flush lever!
And the important grab bars (from Moen). A safety feature that is also a great place to hang a washcloth.

Upstairs Bathroom Details: The Saga of the Medicine Cabinet

The medicine cabinet is just about the only original fixture left in this bathroom. And even some of these pieces are replacements. Like the large flat piece that makes up the header. At some point, some P.O. decided that wide piece of wood was the optimal spot for a light fixture. Yeah. One of those eighties theatre dressing room numbers. So that piece of chestnut had to be completely replaced, as well as the piece that makes up the apron. That one suffered when the backsplash and new counter were installed. Yeah, I know the knobs don't line up with one another, and it used to bug me, but there is no evidence of another hole on either door, so I guess they were always like that.
The back is made up of bead board- the real stuff.
Small holes were drilled at (irregular) intervals for shelf supports. We've discovered the holes are an in-between size, too!

Seriously, though. I love this medicine cabinet. Now that it is all nicely refinished, it looks so nice in the room, all warm wood. Without it, I don't think the bathroom would look as well-adjusted to the period of the house.

Upstiars Bathroom Details: Shower Rod Woes

So, I haven't come up with a really good solution for the shower rod. You see, a normal L-shaped rod won't work to cover the end of the shower because of the sloped ceiling. Which of course is some odd angle like 52 degrees, or something. We did buy a regular L rod, as you can see, and my dad adjusted it for a temporary fix. More than two years ago.
See the bracket? It is at a fixed angle, not at all flexible.
Does anybody have any suggestions?

Upstairs Bathroom Details: the Tile Tale

Of course, we went with the subway tile, a classic, for the walls, and hex tiles on the floor. Tell me, can you get anymore bungalow than that?

The subway tiles cover the two shower walls and the slanted ceiling. You can see the wood strip we had to install to cover the gap where the plaster and the tile could not meet.The tub surround was supposed to be capped with marble, but instead, it is some sort of plastic composite. I'm not thrilled with it, but well, more about that later. Also, you can see in this photo how the tiles now completely cover the front, but they didn't always. I wish I could find a picture, I'm sure I have one somewhere. When Tile Guy finished, the tiles from the sides were exposed on the end. I stared at it every time I went to the bathroom. It drove me crazy. Eventually that problem was solved, though. I love the additional shelf space in the shower. There is nothing I hate more about those new single piece molded shower units than the lack of shelf space. Except maybe that there is nowhere to hang your washcloth, either. Can you tell that there is a seam on the shelf just to the right of the soap? Tile Guy again.
Tile Guy used twine as spacers between the wall tiles, so the grout lines are pretty slim. That is one good thing. The floor tiles came in sheets, so they were already pre-spaced. They did manage to get the marble threshold I wanted, although I did think it would be bigger.

Okay, now let me tell you about Tile Guy.

We hired the same company to install the bathroom tile that put in the cork floor in the downstairs bathroom and the carpet in the back bedroom, because the had done such a fine job in those other two rooms. The sales staff were great. They were friendly, not a hard sell, and they knew their products. However. Their Tile Guy had an attitude from the moment he arrived here. It was supposed to take them a week to ten days to tile the bathroom. Obviously, I could not take off work every day for a week plus, so I made arrangements for someone to be there every day. My friend Tallen was home from college at the time, so he was volunteered to be my liaison. Poor guy.

Anyway, Tile Guy's 'tude seemed to stem from the fact that I wasn't there to greet him. Over the course of the week he dealt with Tallen, my dad, my mom, and Bill. If anything came up, they could always call me for a decision. This wasn't good enough.

The wall tile was offered to me at a discount by the owner of the company, because they had it sitting in the warehouse. It was leftover from a previous job, and I paid for the remaining boxes. It should have been enough to do the job with a few tiles left over. When we got the boxes open we did discover that many of the tiles were chipped on the edges, I guess they had not been handled with much care, but there were still plenty of tiles completely intact. When the job was finished, there was still one whole box and part of a second box of tiles. Months later, when we eventually got the owner's son back to fix the problem areas, we discovered that I only had the partial box left, and no hex tiles at all. When questioned, Tile Guy claimed that there weren't any floor tiles left over. Come on, seriously. Not possible. I can believe that there might not have been whole sheets, but I was just looking for a handful of individual tiles for repairs down the road. In fact, there was one hex tile that was damaged right from the beginning. The owner's son took the matching tile off their sample board to use as a replacement. Luckily for them it is indistinguishable. I guess I'm still pretty irritated about the whole ordeal.

As for the shelf that was supposed to be marble, well, it was installed on one of those days I was not there, and Tile Guy never told Tallen or my dad that there was a change, and would that be okay. Because if he had asked, I would have said no, it must be marble. I did not want anything synthetic, but by the time I got home that night, the grout had already been set. Too late.

Tearing it out would have made a huge mess, and it may have damaged surrounding tiles, which may not have been able to be replaced. To add insult to injury, this plastic composite stuff only comes in certain lenghts, i.e. not quite long enough to go the entire length of the tub. So there isn't just the corner seam, where it makes the L, but there is also a seam near the front. I hate it, but there's nothing that can be done now. Plus, when Tile Guy was done, the end was still so sharp that I even cut myself on more than one occassion. The owner's son rounded out the edges to make it as smooth as possible.

You know, I paid 50% down at the beginning, and when the job was complete, they sent me a bill for the other 50%. Okay, but I wasn't satisfied with the quality. There were several problems that needed to be fixed. I called, spoke to the owner, who was nice, but didn't get back to me to set up a time to do the repairs. I called two more times over the next three months, then just gave up. I had no intention of paying them until these things were resolved, so I figured I wait them out. Don't you know, a week before the end of the year, I get a call. Did I know I still owed them money, they ask? Why yes, I'm aware. Did you know you're not done with the job, I ask? Oh, well, we'll send someone out right away. This was easily 8 months after Tile Guy left.

So, the owner's son came out, and he was very nice, understanding, apologetic, and he made the repairs he could with what materials Tile Guy left for me. I paid them, and we parted ways. I didn't need any more flooring or tiling done on the house, but if I had, I would have to think twice about hiring them again. On the whole, their other employees did a fine job on the cork floor and the carpet, the sales staff was lovely, and eventually, the owner's son did come out and make all the repairs possible, I think the only problem was Tile Guy and his 'tude.

Upstairs Bathroom Details: Structural Support

You may have noticed that the new bathroom looks a lot bigger. That's because it is.

We bumped the wall where the door is out into the hallway. This gave us another 16" or so in the bathroom, and we didn't really loose anything but dead space in the hall. We considered it carefully, too. We didn't want to find that we'd made it impossible to get furniture in. This didn't impact that at all, mostly because the chimney stack was already there. That's another plus. The bathroom doesn't have heating, so by moving the door wall, we've now got two sides of the chimney in the bathroom. And when the hot water is running, like when you're in the shower, the chimney gets hot enough to warm your towel! That nice structural beam had to stay, but I don't think it looks out of place. Or, maybe I'm just telling myself that so I feel better.

Another place we gained space was the ceiling. Bill started to level the old ceiling when we had the bathroom gutted, and he realized that it was going to be a lot of tedious work. He asked me if it would be okay to take the framework down and start from scratch. I'll bet Bill got nervous when he saw the gleam in my eye. I had an idea. Since we had to tear it down anyway, could we raise the ceiling? Pretty please? At only 7', it always felt claustrophobic, and Lewis' hair grazed the light fixture. So Bill agreed that would be best all around, and I couldn't be happier.

One last place we expanded was the knee wall. As it turns out, there was over a foot of dead space between the bathroom and the back bedroom's cubby. Just dead space, not being used for anything. Of course, you can't actually stand there, because of the slope of the roof, but I got my longed-for shampoo shelf and plenty of extra elbow room in the shower. It really makes all the difference. The whole bathroom feels so spacious, even considering its size.

Great Dimmer Switches

One of the small upgrades mom insisted on were dimmer switches. She loves them. At the time, I thought I didn't care much one way or the other. I knew I hated those stupid round plastic buttons that would pop off and bounce across the floor when you were in a hurry. That's where our fabulous electrician Jeff stepped in. He understood my dislike of the button style dimmer switches, but he's also a smart guy, so he knew we had to keep mom happy. One day he turned up with these:

The one on the right is a normal switch, the one on the left is the special dimmer switch.

They are pretty great. Mostly you don't accidentally catch the little sliding adjuster. They were a good compromise. And, yeah mom does know best. I've grown to really appreciate the ability to dim the lights, particularly in the kitchen with its six bulbs!

Don't get me wrong, if I could afford them, I would buy these gorgeous push-button reproduction switches. They even make them for dimmers now, did you know?

"& Trust" It's in the Details

Most of the time our POs do stupid stuff. Quick fixes, shoddy work, it was never done to last.

Every once in a while, you get something neat, quirky, like this:
This is the door jam between Oliver's room and the kitchen. At some point the door was removed, and they filled in the hinge spaces with bits of yardstick.
You wouldn't belive how many yardsticks we have found while working on this house. They seemed to be tucked into every nook and cranny.
When Jack stripped this door frame down, and discovered this, he called me over to show me. You couldn't tell before because the paint was glopped on so thickly that it filled the little grooves. I was so surprised. My first reaction was, drop jaw, "what on earth...", then, "oh, brother, stupid POs", and then... I smiled. It's kind of cool. It is just something neat about the house. "Let's leave it." Jack said he would try to get all the paint off, but not sand it so much that you could no longer make out the markings. I think he did a good job. It isn't something most people would even see, and most of the time I forget about it, walk right past it. But sometimes it catches my eye. And it makes me smile.