A note about safety

A lot of my friends are jokingly apt to say "Safety Third!"
Here's the deal though. This is an old house. Old houses are inherently more dangerous than new houses, for a few reasons.

"Fibrous tremolite asbestos on muscovite" From Wikipedia

1) Asbestos. This mineral is dangerous if inhaled. It was often used as an insulation, particularly around old furnaces and heating pipes. It's also found in some old siding, because it's darn near impervious to weather if properly maintained. If you have it and you can, just Leave It Alone. Do not break it. Do not make it into anything inhale-able. It's not going to hurt you by looking at it. It's probably not wise to handle it, because by handling it, you're probably creating dust. Don't do that. Unless it needs to be removed, leave it alone. And if it needs to be removed, you're probably best leaving it to professionals. I didn't have any of this, and I'm very, very thankful.

This is what mine sort of looked like. Photo fromEnvironix.

2) Mold. Though you can find this in new homes too, old homes just have had a longer leadtime to get a head start on moisture where you don't want it, and then not-so-suddenly, you have a fungus among us. (Well, fungus among you. I got mine mitigated.) This stuff isn't fun, and can cause a host of health issues. I happen to be allergic to mold. Little spots you can deal with yourself, larger jobs (like up in my attic) might need the help of a pro. Read up on it. Attic mold is not so simple to deal with as, "hose it down with bleach and hope". The little roots of the mold get into the wood to hide there and come back when the time and environment is right.

Knob and Tube. From Wikipedia.

3) Knob and Tube Wiring (K&T). Like asbestos, is not dangerous if left alone in it's original environment. The problem is us modern folks like a nifty thing called insulation. Unless we're gutting the place, older homes usually get retrofitted with blown-in insulation. That's when K&T becomes a huge issue.
K&T is bare metal wire stretched between ceramic insulators in the hollow cavities in your wall that carries electricity from the main box to all the outlets and light fixtures. The wire gets through studs and joists with the help of tubes inserted into holes, shielding the wood from the wire. When you blow in insulation on top of the bare wire, and a current is applied, that's where things go south in a hurry and you can burn your house down.
A lot of times older homes can have a combination of systems as things got added on as times changed. I never had K&T in this house, (thanks for the inspection Wayne!) but there is a mix of fabric covered wire, metal shielded wire, and modern plastic coated wire. Most insurance companies with flip a nutty if they find out you have K&T. I'd have to think long and hard about getting into a property with K&T, because you're looking at having to rewire the place up to code if you want insurance.
There's newer low-voltage systems now that can approximate the look of K&T without the danger since LEDs require so little juice. I have no first-hand experience with these systems other than to say I saw it once demonstrated at a conference. I thought it was neat but not particularly practical.

I make sure to follow these directions when working with the dry product too.
Photo from Wikipedia.

4) Lead. This one have been heavy on my mind because I've been doing a lot of stripping/sanding.
If your house was built before 1978, there's a very high change your house contains lead paint. Again, much like asbestos and K&T, if you leave it alone, it won't hurt you by existing. The big problem comes with absorbing it into your body. With little kids, this looks like chewing on windowsills.

(Something I never understood why anyone would do, and yet my mother admonished me to Never Ever Do It. One day I rested my top teeth on the window sill of my bedroom, just because. The toothmarks may still be there, faintly. I don't really think it counts as chewing. And besides, I'm pretty sure the house was built in '78, so I was doubly safe. Thanks Mom. :) )

In my world today, what that looks like is dust. Lots and lots of dust, which I can breathe or get on me and absorb. Now people might say "Whatever. We've lived around lead our whole lives and we're fine!" And that's true. But it's different living around it and living immersed in it.
I met a guy who was an old window restoration geezer. He'd been working on windows for probably 50 years. He's also the only guy I've ever met who had to have his blood pumped out of his body, filtered through a glorified coffee filter, and reinstalled back in due to acute lead poisoning. Someone had screwed up the air handling at a site he was working on, and he wound up inhaling a great deal of it.
Trust me: You just don't want to be that guy.
And so, Personal Protection Equipment to the rescue!
I have on my way to me certain soaps that claim to de-lead you. I don't know how much is science, but a lot of the window and stained glass people use it, so I will too. I used to just wash up really thoroughly, but there's a peace of mind with magic lead soap.
I also employ my favorite respirator with filters rated to p100 (lead).

Safety first!

I just ordered new filters for that too.

There's other things about old houses that can be unsafe - stair run/rises not up to current code, unstable foundations, forgotten wells that have the gradually filled in but not entirely, electice that isn't labeled right, etc, but those four make the top of my list.

**DISCLAIMER - I'M NOT A PROFESSIONAL,
AND ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS POST ARE EXACTLY THAT.
DON'T GO BUILDING THINGS OUT OF ASBESTOS AND PAINTING THEM
IN LEAD JUST FOR KICKS, MMMKAY?**

Moving along

Over the weekend, I was able to chisel out the old mortar, get some new tile repair stuff, and stick the tile back down.

Boom. Tile replaced.

Then I had to wait overnight for it to cure before I could grout it.
Woke up the next morning, 

And grouted.

So that's checked off. There's another tile that makes me suspicious, but I'm going to wait and see. It's not so obvious as the last one. The grout is blending as it's drying. I'll give it until tomorrow or Thursday before I seal it.

Tile aggrivation

The tile that went down beautifully quickly developed a stress point in one area of the grout. It seems that a tile was loose, and the vibrations caused the grout to pop out. The tile grew looser and looser because it's right in front of the threshold and you step on it every time you walk through the door. Last night I got back down and cut out the grout and popped the tile out.

Well there's your problem.

Notice how there's only a scant bit of mortar sticking to the edges, and nothing in the middle?
Yea. That's not right. It's also the reason it immediately came loose.
At some point this weekend, I will chisel out all the old mortar, clean up the specifically cut tile, and re-stick it down.

Coat Rack, part the first, conclusion.

We are not going to discuss the words said in order to finish the first half of the coat rack.
We are not going to discuss the broken, and then re-broken screw.
Or the 3 snapped off drill bits.
Or the vice grips that wouldn't grip.
We are just not going to talk about the atrocity that happened to my beautiful coat rack while trying to extract that damned screw.

The hook covers up the worst of it.
It racks coats.

It also racks hats.

Da ta.

Also, I still have a job, which for the last few days has been in limbo.
So that's something.

WORDS

I've been working on the coat rack for the porch since before Christmas. Last night I went to do the final assembly.
I had ordered some fancy coat hooks from Signature Hardware for this project. While doing a test fitting, I managed to strip the heck out of some of the screws. I contacted the company and naturally, you can't buy the crappy screws separately.
I had drilled pilot holes for EVERYTHING.
I still managed to snap the head Right Off of their crappy screw last night.

F*$%.

Tonight, I get to see if there's just enough left above the surface to get a pair of vice grips on.
If not that, then I shall see if I can get a screw extractor small enough to thread that #6 screw.
Barring that, I saw a trick where you core out around the screw, break it off and fill the hole with a dowel/glue. I'd hate to have to get to that point though.






In the end - Signature Hardware: Nice hooks, bad screws.

Befores and Afters

One year ago, I was cleaning hardware. And here I am, still cleaning hardware.

Since last year, I've discovered the joy of a good long hot soak in a pan with some dish soap, and lots of elbow grease.

Barrel lift-off hinge before it's bath

Barrel lift-off hinge after a soak and a scrub.

Turnbuckle latch before

Turnbuckle latch after. The house has slumped a little,
resulting in these latches not lining up exactly.
At least it's consistent in that nothing lines up.

Finished refurbished closet door with nice clean hardware.
After scrubbing it, I got all the metal parts good and hot and gave it a good oiling, like a cast iron pan.

I started on the Master Bedroom (#3). Got most of the furniture moved out,
the drop cloths down and the window frames stripped (I could open the windows, it was 70*.
This room might be blue.

According to the window frames, it's been dark brown, light brown, pale yellow, light green, dark green and white.

Ian came over and there was grout time!
Now the tile in the mudroom and porch is so close to done I can smell it.

I also played with the coat rack over the weekend. Here's a piece of raw cherry (in front) against the oiled cherry.
(The oiled looks like it's two different colors, but it's had the same # of coats. Just natural variation.)
The oiled cherry has since gotten 3 coats of shellac.

That was my weekend. Also cleaned the house, filled the bird feeders, and made a big batch of oatmeal. Had a hard time getting moving each day - I'm pretty sure my allergies were in full swing since nothing is frozen.
This week I really want to try to get the first part of the coat rack up and the door to Bedroom #2 done and rehung. Those are my goals.

I would really like this hardware to go live on it's door again, and not on my kitchen counter.

Good News!

I got back the results of the radon test - 1.4 pCi/L, far below the EPA standard of 4.
Yay that the radon air abatement has been working!
I have a water test on order to double check that system, and now every other year I'll put out a long-term test to monitor it.
Shout out to AccuStar in Ward Hill MA, the test/lab facility. If you need a radon test, I recommend them.

Where too next?

Last week, I took a minute to look back on the year. Now's the time to look forward.
First up!
• Paint the trim in bedroom #2, repaint the main door to the room, and then rehang it and the closet door with it's newly cleaned and oiled hardware.
• Finish the coat racks for the porch.
• Grout the porch and mudroom tiles.
• Get a real, adult sized refrigerator!
• Potentially have to run water line to the new fridge if I can't find what I want w/o water/ice functions.
• Stud out mudroom wall and move/deal with the position of the electrical in the mudroom.

At some point this year:
• Build a bench for the porch.
• Fix the siding on the shed.
• Put a new roof on the shed.
• Fix the windows on the shed.
• Have to put a new floor in the shed? I need to see what's going on on the wierd dance-floor thing they have down in half of it right now.
• Replace Rose of Sharon with Blueberry bushes.
• Replace clothes line.
• Paint and deal with Bedroom #3.
• Spackle/Paint/deal with Bedroom #4.
• Continue to push back the woods to where it used to be.
• Repoint the brick chimney in the basement.
• Start to point the walls in the basement.

Until then, Pictures!

Tile is coming along!

So is the coat rack. Needs more oil, and to dry in a warmer place than the basement.

A Long Walk in the Woods

I haven't explored much of the conservation land that my house is bordered by front and back. That's a shame, because Grafton really does a lot in terms of conservation. This afternoon, I ran out of steam for inside projects and decided to get out for a while. First I shoveled the driveway and cleared the car of the 2" of precipitation that had accumulated. The precipitation seemed to be equal parts sleet and rain, and made for a heavy mess.
Neighbor Mark was headed out with his dog Lily just as I was finishing up and thinking about nosing around. I would have gone with him but Lily pretty much hates my guts. As far as I can tell, she hates everyone who isn't Mark. So rather than up, I went down.
I rambled around, saw some deer, raccoon, dog, squirrel, human, and fat-tire bike tracks. Oh! And I found what is called a "Specimen Tree". A gentleman had stopped this past summer and asked if I knew where it was. Now I do!

From a distance, it looks like just a big tree.

Then you get closer. Notice my hat hanging on it for scale.

I *love* a good info sign!

It was sort of like standing under an elephant.
Each limb was a big tree in it's self.

After the excitement of the Big Black Oak, I turned around and wandered home.
The whole woods, once pasture, is riddled with stone walls in various states. It's also invested with invasives. Everywhere I turned, all I could see was Winged Euonymus, also called Burning Bush. Sure, it's pretty, but that feels like the only thing going on in the undergrowth instead of baby white pines and baby oak. Heck, blackberry would be preferable. Where there wasn't WE, there was Asian Bittersweet choking the dickens out of the established trees. I was happy to see a lot of grapevine though. Maybe it'll shade out the Bittersweet.
I admired the view coming back up the hill.

Pretty tree lined abandoned road, with rock walls on either side.

With a cute little house at the top.

Oh hey!

That's my cute little house!

And with a pretty new sign and everything.

So that was today. There was also some drywall touchup, and cleaning of Bedroom #2 in prep for paint. I put another coat of oil on the cherry, but I think I need to bring it upstairs, it's just a little too chilly in the basement to really absorb well. I didn't do anything to the closet door since it felt like the primer was still drying.

2019 - A year in review

I had grand intentions of putting together Christmas/New Home cards back at the beginning of December. Things got away from me, and they never happened, for many reasons. I don't have cute kids and puppies to photograph. Instead, I have Buzz the Electrical Box and Robby the Radon Unit.

Template courtesy of Minted.

But! It is the time of the year where you should bask, a little bit, on the thing you did get done. Looking back, it's not inconsiderable.

January:
• (Technically December) Got the electrical updated.
• Moved in.
• Insulated a lot of little things
• Cleaned a lot of hardware and did some research into it.
• Painted a lot of closets
• Cut some brush
• Started to make some internal storm windows
• Discovered I had mold in the attic

February:
• Made more storms
• Got some roofer quotes to deal with moisture issue
• Didn't get laid off
• Washed a bunch of rooms
• Researched salvage places
• Thought about what to do with the dining room

March:
• Painted more closets
• Contracted with A&G Gutters for gutters
• Fixed the chimney clean out door

April:
• Cut more brush
• Gutters went on!
• Flowers and snakes came out
• Pulled a LOT of poison ivy
• Got the screens rescreened and weatherstripped

May:
• More weatherstripping
• More plants woke up
• Put in the flower bed at the top of the driveway
• Patched holes in the basement cement
• Did a shotgun day of brush hauling to the brush dump

June:
• Edged the front foundation
• Accidentally blew a hole in my foundation via the old coal chute
• More things bloomed
• Hacked back the lilacs near the back door/edged the bed
• Replaced the kitchen sink fixture (*Still isn't quite right. Harumph.)
• Replaced the GFCI outlet in the kitchen

July:
• Uncovered the back wood line and long lost rose bed
• Went on a poison ivy rampage that would last the rest of the summer
• Installed a de-humidifer/pump and started to dry out the basement
• Painted the basement steps

August:
• Edged the driveway
• Uncovered/Painted the shed door (*Lower putty already failing, will need to be readdressed.)
• Fixed basement stairwell walls/ceiling

September:
• Painted Front door/replaced weatherstripping
• Got the driveway sealed
• Cleaned the shutters
• Painted the bulkhead doors
• Got the mold remediated

October:
• Fixed ventilation in roof
• Started uncovering front flower bed
• Confirmed NO KNOB AND TUBE.
• Got the house insulated! yay MassSave!
• Cleaned tape off hardwood floors
• Continued gutting mudroom
• Spackled Bedroom #1

November:
• Fixed toilet feed line
• Leveled mudroom
• Finished spackling/painting Bedroom #1
• Replaced derelict "flowerbed" with gravel alongside the house
• Continued reclaiming the front flower bed
• Got the septic emptied and the chimneys cleaned
• Filled in coal chute
• Got tile for Mudroom/Porch

December:
• Continued working on mudroom and porch
• Started working on Bedroom #2. So much spackle.
• Tarped shed roof
• Made a few more storms
• Chipped brush

Shortly, very very shortly, I hope to have the tile down in the mudroom and porch. Then I can start to put things back where they belong. I've been working on a pretty new coat rack for the porch out of a piece of cherry Ian picked up for me. Also, I can finally get an adult sized refrigerator to replace the one that died back in September.
I'm almost to the point of being able to paint bedroom #2, but the spackle process has been long and tedious in that room. there's a large rolling ceder-lined closet that was left behind (which is great!) but it's very large in a very small space and has been difficult to maneuver around.

So much spackle. The plate (where the roof meets the ceiling) what badly encased in plaster and drywall.
I've basically coated the thing in drywall compound and now I'll sculpt a clean line out of it.

Spackle isn't much fun. Or fun to photograph.

The trim has been painted over at least 4 times. It's not in terrific shape.

Enter the Speedheater!

Trim is stripped.

Hardware off the closet door.

Cleaned hardware.

Trying to pick a paint color for the kitchen.
The more I think about it, the more I think I might stick with the Revere Pewter from the mudroom,
though I do like the far top left Russet color.

About one year ago, I deployed this long acting radon test to check on the work I had done.
The day before Christmas I sent it back. Hopefully I hear back soon that the great Radon Rodeo was a success.

Santa Ian brought me workbenches!
Now I have space to do all the messy things inside!

So I stripped the bedroom closet door.

This was under all the paint. A wonderfully swoopy capitol A. Was probably the maker, since it was on the bare wood?

Starting to fit up my fancy coat rack/shelf. One minor hitch...

The brackets came with top ears. I don't need them for what I'm doing, so I very carefully hack-sawed them off
and then hit the bare metal with some black paint I had around.

I'm doing the cherry in tung oil. Which means lots and lots of light coats of oil.

And lots and lots of light sanding between the coats of oil.
This is not a job for my sander though - this part I'll do by hand.

I also primed the closet door while I was at it.
The wood was so dry, I had to treat it with a mixture of 50% linseed oil/50% turpentine.
Which meant I had to prime it with this oil based primer.
For the record, I hate this primer. It will give me a headache in 3 minutes flat if
I don't wear a respirator when I'm using it *outside*.
I should probably change out the cartridges on the respirator.

Wishing you all a very happy holiday and a healthy new year!

A holiday PSA

I should be sanding spackle, but instead I took an inventory of my Hallmark ornaments.
I have sorted by collection and year. Separate column for singles.
Now I need more rubbermaid totes.

If you have a collection of similar, I suggest you do the same. If catastrophe befell and I had to replace them, I'd have had no Idea where to start. Now at least I have a Google sheet.