When we moved into our old house we found the original 85 year-old utility sink stored in the basement. We also found the pipes sticking out of the wall where it had originally been installed in the service porch. Why had it been taken out of service? Perhaps because the faucets were beyond repair and […]

It’s not called “Hard Wood” for nothing! We are refurbishing our 85 year-old house. We are not restoring it to a “like new” state. We want the house to retain the warmth and dignity of its age, just without the infirmities. So when Carrie started her research on restoring old wood floors, she did so […]

Part of the roof replacement was deciding what to do with the roof vents. In addition to the usual things projecting through the roof, such as a chimney and sewer vent pipes, we also have vents for the fruit and vegetable dryer and the kitchen stove that are original to our 85 year-old house. The […]

It is only appropriate that the guy who sells us lumber for the house IS a character.

How did she get so dirty? And why is she smiling?

Let’s recap. First, we replaced the roof of our Studio which is a 400 square foot building. Recently we replaced the roof of the Office which is a 700 square foot building. Last week we started the replacement of the house roof. The house is 1500 square feet. The house was built in 1921 and […]

…is a wonder to behold. In the story “I am a Lucky Man” I shared the adventure we had with a broken water main. In it I related how Carrie, not wanting to be working with water and metal pipes in a crawlspace with bare wires, decided not to re-pipe the house until the dangerous […]

Having three buildings on the property has had a number of advantages. We have often told people that our refurbishing efforts began in back and are proceeding toward the front. That refers to the fact that the workshop/Studio is at the back of the property, the Office is in the middle and the house is […]

In the article “I Am a Lucky Man!” I shared the beginnings of the plumbing replacement project. Having the water pipe from the main into the house fail convinced us to accelerate our plans to replace all of the old steel pipes in the house with new copper. This article is to share the cascade […]

Our new house has no garage, so storage for garden tools and such became a priority. As we were re-roofing and repairing and painting the Studio to which the lean-to is attached, it would also be a shame to have this ugly mess next to a refurbished Studio. cleaning.JPG This is the earliest picture we […]

No long story here. Just a cool picture. We removed some of our door locks to have them repaired and keyed. Before we handed them over to the locksmith, we opened them up and documented how they looked in case a reference point became necessary. It didn’t.

Good fences make it easier to tolerate bad neighbors. Our neighboring property to the West includes three houses on one lot; all are rentals. Sometimes you get good neighbors and sometimes you don’t. Two out of three isn’t bad but the third house was a home for a couple of parolees who were obnoxious on […]