Rowe2Rowe

2009-06-30T08:43:00.005-04:00

Thought I'd also show another part of the furnishings.

The fuse panel is next to the front door at the foot of the steps, the closest thing that could be called an "entry" to our house. It was not a pretty thing to look at from the living room and long ago we decided we'd cover it with something but deliberated on what that something was. Artwork? An entry mirror? Hmm.

We'd met Suzanne Crane, a ceramic artist from the Charlottesville area, at a few area craft shows. Her husband does great furniture grade finish work to compliment her ceramic tiles and basins. We couldn't afford one of their collaborative efforts so we purchased three of her tiles and I set about making an appropriate frame for them. I used the left-over material from the kitchen table project, reclaimed pine from a 200 year old warehouse in Georgia. It's beautiful stuff and compliments everything else in the house. We also had an old mirror from our house that was recut to fit this spot. Here's how it turned out.

It's hinged on the right side and stays closed with magnets glued on the back which stick to the fuse panel door. We turn off the hot water heater breaker when we're away and this hinge and magnet arrangement allows easy access to the panel each time we visit. My brother David helped me hang it when we were there for vacation last summer.

We've also added some artwork, a present I bought for Terry from our local artist, Ryan Dockiewicz at The Wooden Fish (www.woodenfishcc.com). She's a beaut and fills a big void on the wall in the kitchen. Gene's got a larger version at Kelly's Gingernut Pub and both are great works of art.

2009-06-30T08:23:00.009-04:00

Well it's been a while as you can tell. We've been busy enjoying living in the house instead of working on it. Not that we haven't done some of that but the big jobs are all done and the furnishing continues. We even spent our summer vacation here last year but decided we really prefer vacations to be somewhere away from home.

But during our vacation I noticed one of the rafters on the front porch had some rot. This started the ball rolling to find lumber to replace it. It's not as easy as hopping down to the lumber yard, this stuff was made in the day when lumber was nominally sized 1/4" smaller than the given dimension instead of the 1/2" you get cheated out of today. A modern 2x4 is only 1 1/2 x 3 1/2, for instance. Fortunately I know a guy...

Brian Irminger at Cellar Root is a sawyer and will cut lumber to whatever size you want. He had some pine the right dimensions and I was all set. I bought it last fall so it could finish drying and after a false start with the rafter piece (it corkscrewed so Brian graciously provided a straight replacement) all is now on track.

I removed the old rotten parts and decided a roofer was called for to repair the flashing and roof decking which is made of tongue and groove pine boards. Here's the story:

I tore off the end covering boards, rotten beam and rafter and decided a roofer would be a better person to repair the decking. It's one of those things I decided is worth it to spend the money than tackle it myself. He'll repair/replace the rotten T&G pine roofing boards, re-use the shingles since they're only a few years old, and make it so there won't be any more leaks which led to this rot.

The guy we're using has an excellent reputation and is the first tradesman we've worked with on the shore that actually does what he says he'll do when he says he'll do it. I cut, painted, and put the up new beam and did all the prep work for the rafter but he wanted me to leave it off until he's done with the roofing work. I thought it would be better to have it up to support whatever he puts in but he says not. I'm counting on his expertise.

I also talked to him about a gable vent in the back of the house and a solar powered attic vent. We have ridge vents but there's no place for cooler air to enter so I can't see that the ridge vent does any good. I've only committed to the porch work so far but Terry thinks we need to get it all done. It's not a bad idea.

Some shots of the work in progress to this point ---

Reference photo: the end rafter on the front porch roof and the vertical siding and tie beam beneath it on this end of the front porch are all rotten. And you can see how well the red paint has held up over ~4 years. Our "little red house" is becoming "our little pink house". Our gravel driveway has a nice covering of bermuda grass and clover, don't you think?

The outside view of the porch from the driveway. It's strange that they used door casing to finish off the bottom of the T&G vertical siding they put up as a cover on the end. I'm thinking I'll space the new stuff off the rafter to let air flow behind it and over the top of it. It's hot up there when it's sealed at the ends but once the end came off the air flow was nice. Or maybe I should leave them off altogether?

What it looked like after I removed the end rafter, tie beam, and face boards. Water has clearly lifted the paint from the decking and the rot in the rafter was very thorough. Beneath this paint were two other colors, part of the story of this old house.

The outboard end at the corner post. The post is hollow and the end of the header beam that runs the full length of the porch is mitered. That was a surprise but nice to see. I cut the tie beam to match. The clamps? I accidently blew out a thin part of the mitered portion of the header beam so I glued it back together. No way do I want to replace a perfectly good 18' long 2x10 just to make the end pretty.

View looking down on the roof at the corner of the house. I think this is the source of the problem, flashing not sealed at the corner boards. Water seeps around the end, down the corner board, and runs into the head end of the rafter and ledger board supporting the roof. Our roofing guy says he'll make it right.

The old tie beam on the right. Considerable rot, no? Square cut nails in this and the roofing boards might be from the original construction in 1909 or some other time early in the 20th century. The beam is an old nominal 2x8, when they were undersized by 1/4" and not the 1/2" undersized versions you get today. That's why I went to my buddy Brian to buy the proper size you can see painted on the left. The middle piece is the replacement rafter I bought last fall, a full 2x4 I was going to plane down to size, but it became a corkscrew after sitting at the house over the winter. Brian's "kiln" is really just his tool shed with a dehumidifier. I expected a little movement but this was way beyond useful.

The new tie beam is ready to go up, on the left, and the new rafter is being planed to remove the significant raised grain left from Brian's drying process. He gave me this new rafter on Friday to replace the one that turned into a corkscrew. This one is actually closer to the right dimensions than the corkscrewed one and it only needed surface planing to clean it up. It's straight grained wood and planed beautifully. More about the plane later.

Finished and ready for installation. Did I mention everything was cut by hand with a dozuki saw? I got a lot of hand work practice on this project. By the way, the white house in the background is for sale....

Tie beam installed. I caulked around the mounting area after this photo was taken. Two long stainless deck screws from this side, two from the other side. I'll have to scribe the face board to match the siding, the old one came apart when I removed it so couldn't use it as a pattern. But I'm seriously thinking of leaving the vertical end boards off. I guess they might prevent rain from running down to the post and rotting it out.

Outboard end. Nailed here. Yes, I created some dimples. The vertical cover boards will hide my miss-hits. There is a filler piece on top of the beam to flush out the corner to match the 2x10. I took it off during the demo and I was glad to have it back on. I was afraid it would get caught up in the scraps from the demo that got swept up and thrown out. The tie beam is not level. I checked the beam at the other end of the porch and it's got the same tilt so I didn't worry about it.

The plane I used was the #4 I bought at an antique store in town. Brought it home, cleaned it up, and sharpened the blade back to square edged (it had a concave edge for some reason). I took my water stones down to do the job and discovered I'd left my honing guide at home when I set up to sharpen the blade. Did the best I could freehand and it was sufficient for this job. Dull bad. Sharp good.

While I was painting the rafter I repainted the front door and installed a new lock cylinder. We'd somehow lost track of the key and all the folks we've had in to check out or help with the renovations knew it was kept on the front door transom window sill so who knows where it got off to. Fortunately Watson's hardware store had a new cylinder.

By the way, if Watson's doesn't have it, you probably don't need it. It's somewhat like Nicholson's in Purcellville, Peregory's in Dahlgren, or my grandfather's old trading post only a little less so. But if you want pecans to shell or oyster tongs to go with your hunting license, hip waders, paint, glass, electrical or plumbing parts they're the place to go. And they're free with unsolicited advice or opinions of any kind. If you get to Watson's at the right time of day you might find a rocking chair out on the sidewalk to sit and shoot the breeze with some of the local guys that come to hang out. I'm not quite up to their social level yet so I'm content to observe the custom.

Next trip I hope to finish off this job. Don (the roofer) said he'd be done by then but I'll have to do the painting. "I don't paint" was all he said when I asked him if he was going to paint what he put up. For the low price he's charging I guess I can't complain.

Furnishings

2008-02-15T18:48:00.017-05:00

Once the finish carpentry was done we began to furnish the house. This is an ongoing project, mind you. I made a few pieces for the house and one, Kate's bed, was requisitioned for our regular house. Mind you, this post isn't here to brag about my efforts but to explain where some of the furnishings came from. Things were made to accomodate the small spaces available for them and we could find few things that aren't made for the larger sized houses we seem to live in today.

Other things I made are a console table and a coffee table, a new top for our kitchen table (it was warped pretty badly), and a cabinet for storing necessities in the bathroom.

The latest creation is a linen cupboard made entirely of recycled materials including window sashes from an old hotel in Virginia Beach given to us by our friend Sandy (thanks, Sandy!).

We've also purchased some Windsor stools from Kurt Lewin's place in Capeville. He does very nice work and you should check him out if you're ever heading down Rt 13.

How it was and how it turned out

2008-02-15T17:55:00.020-05:00

Things are still a work in progress, furnishings are still being gathered and brought into the house but at least you can see where things stand today.

Here are some before and after photos and compare them to the shots in previous posts to see the contrast. The last photo is from the kitchen towards the front of the house. Compare this view to the one on the October 22nd post.

The back story...

2008-02-15T17:02:00.018-05:00

I was finally able to get some photos of the AMH during and before the renovations began. Steve had photographed his progress and I finally digitized some of them.

Here are shots of the house

before work began, during demolition, and reconstruction. I'm glad we got it in the stage we

did, he worked pretty hard to see the vision of what was possible with this old house!

During the renovation, Steve removed everything that wasn't holding up the house. The house now has all new wiring, plumbing, insulation, and subflooring in the kitchen area.

Here you can see what happened to the stairs. The stained glass windows came from a renovator's store in Norfolk. We haven't been there yet but it's on our list of places to visit.

Picking up where we left off

2007-08-13T16:48:00.000-04:00

Terry did a great job telling our story but there's more that's happened since the last photos were posted in the fall of '06. I'm assembling the photos and will be making additions in the near future but I think Miss Alice Moses would view the change from where our story began as very dramatic. Not Enon Hall dramatic, but a pretty big change from our perspective.

Stay tuned, more within a week or so. We'll try to include some photos of the house renovations prior to our purchase so you can see just how far this little house has come.

turning it all over

2007-08-13T11:19:00.001-04:00

John's been wanting this blog updated for far too long, so now it's his to write on. I like the writing of it, just not the schedule. So it's a new voice for all. TaraBlue

Kitchen, tile counters and backsplash wall

2006-10-22T23:06:00.013-04:00

Here's how the kitchen tile turned out on the counter tops. We went with an epoxy grout and while this looks really nice I don't think I'll have tile counter tops again. You can also see our way cool cork flooring! I wondered how this was going to hold up in a potentially wet area but so far it's been great going on a year and half.

I built the backsplash and assembled and installed all the cabinets. Steve helped with some of the assembly but when it came time to hang them on the wall it was all on me. Did I mention old houses aren't level or plumb?

The white backsplash is a set of shelves where we store books, maps, games, and other things we like to have handy at the dining table. This photo doesn't show the shelves but they're there in later posts.

kitchen countertops

2006-10-22T00:54:00.000-04:00

Kitchen countertops were a huge discussion/decision.

Formica or similar would be cheap & relatively simple, but easy to tear up and if we every decide to rent out could be a constant maintenance item.

Didn't consider Corian or granite, but Silestone was tops on my list. Good looking & very durable, in fact, practically indestructible...but also expensive.

Last option considered was tile, durable & moderate in cost.

Weighing in on all these options, besides cost & maintenance, was the problem of getting the countertop installed.

The standard solution to use Home Depot/Lowes for installs (formica & Silestone) wasn't simple. Although both chains are just some 20-30 miles away, that distance is over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) which is a 17-mile span over the bay & a cost of $12.00 one way. And at the time we were lining up a countertop install neither chain would cross the bridge. In fact, both chains directed us to Salisbury, MD...well over 90 miles away.

In the end, we decided to go with tile & have ClayWerks do the install. Virtually painless, and since they did such a stellar job on the upstairs shower, it was a given they we'd have them do the tile work in the kitchen.

Getting work done on the Eastern Shore has been a challenge.

gearing up for another working weekend

2006-10-18T05:30:00.000-04:00

making lists & setting up for, maybe, the last big working weekend. mostly finishing projects from here on out. paint touch-ups, cabinet knobs, hanging light fixtures. Clay Werks installed the countertops (tile) this week, looking forward to seeing how it looks. appliances still have to go in and the rest of the cork floor installed on the main floor, then baseboard...but it's really close.

the end in sight

2006-10-16T05:23:00.000-04:00

J---:
Starting last year I have been working on our own little project on the Chesapeake Bay.

Things are beginning to take final shape and we can see the end of the major work in sight within the next month or so. We only have first level flooring, kitchen countertops, and trim molding on the first level to complete our project. We'll be converting our construction loan to a mortgage and will then be able to throttle back on the pace of our efforts. We'll be taking care of some remaining details in a more leisurely pace.

After all, ours is a very simple house built for what was at the time a lower class citizen. The finishes were simple without a lot of detail (1x trim, for instance, instead of beaded moldings) and that's helped us keep ahead of this race with the one year construction loan. I'm building furniture to put in our house but it's not the same scale project as a renovation/restoration. At least it'll help keep my head in the game.

With the end in sight it's almost bittersweet. I've really enjoyed watching how our efforts transformed an empty shell to a real home. It's been a good first outing. I've wanted to do a project like this for 25 years.

The day will soon come when my sawhorses will be folded until the next batch of trim needs to be painted, the ladder will once again hide in the garage. Paint brushes will get the final cleaning, etc. So it will be a sad thing and a happy thing when I pack up my chop saw and air nailer for the last time and bring them back to my home in Northern Virginia. I'm not quite sure I'm looking forward to the end.

stair progression, 4

2006-09-25T22:53:00.000-04:00

carpet now installed, looking almost finished

stair progression, 3

2006-09-24T22:30:00.000-04:00

Red paint much better, we're getting there.

stair progression, 2

2006-09-24T21:16:00.000-04:00

spindles sanded, and sanded, and sanded
four coats of white paint
newal posts & bannister painted, but the color?

stair progression, 1

2006-09-23T22:49:00.000-04:00

In the beginning, it was dusty.

september 08-09-10, 2006

2006-09-11T20:20:00.000-04:00

J---: I finished assembling and installed the upper cabinets this weekend. It was a lot of fun with a wall that changed direction in every dimension every few feet along the way. My drill’s battery died before I could do the final few screws so I propped up the cabinet so it won’t sag. I somehow forgot to photograph the upstairs where we finally have carpet!

Jim McNeil is a carpenter we’ve been after for months to finish off the beam in the LR/DR and he came through last week. It’s a work of art; the joints next to the walls and each piece of wood are thinner than a business card. And did I mention how the walls are not straight or plumb?

T---- primed and painted it while I worked on the cabinets so you can see the purple painter’s tape at the ceiling line. She also painted the powder room door. This was time consuming to say the least. Door panels have to be painted as if they’re made of pieces even though they’re not.

What else we did:

All closet doors now have knobs and latch plates (Fri night).
Back bedroom door got the finish coat of paint on it.
All door jambs upstairs received the final coat of paint and await doors to be remounted.
Cut down the 1x6’s I bought to use on the beam into pieces I can use for baseboard molding and to finish out the bathroom trim upstairs.
Caulking and touch-ups on some of the windows.
Painted the closet door beneath the staircase.
Made 2 trips to the dump with empty boxes and boxes of scrap lumber.
Hauled a lot of walnut limbs to the pile in the back end of the property; windfall from Ernesto last week.

We’re getting there!

august 11-13, 2006 seeing red

2006-08-18T20:36:00.000-04:00

Checkit: before and after. The red is the same paint from the back of the book case in my home office. The yellow was a first effort but the red is more correct. It turns out the original stairs in the house had red risers (the vertical face of the steps) very close to this same color and it’s very similar to the color of the siding on the outside of the house.

june 16-18, more trim & window frames

2006-06-18T19:24:00.000-04:00

friday, june 16
two cars heading down, J--- coming from Roanoke & K--- and I from Leesburg. K--- hadn't seen the house since late winter so J--- was really looking forward to showing our progress.

K--- and I got down by early afternoon, took time to walk on the beach, went by Claywerks to pick up tile samples for the kitchen counters, and then got to work. K--- tidied up & I finished painting a 2nd coat on all the trim boards. Cleaned up & headed to Venetto's on Mason Avenue for pizza, J--- joined us just as the pizza hit the table. Good thing, 'else he wouldn't have gotten any! Walked down to the beach & watched the sun set. Spent the night at the house, camping out on air mattresses.

saturday, june 17
up relatively early, walked several blocks to Mason Avenue for breakfast at the Cape Charles Coffee House...they were a little frazzled, didn't expect so many people for breakfast before 8, but they bravely jumped in & fed us as all as the others who showed up. Must be summer business picking up.

K--- joined her dad with caulking, pounding nails, and starting trim installs. Not to mention framing in the rough drywall edges around the staircase.

My task was to primer coat, Kilz, all the window frames J--- constructed last weekend. At least 13 of them. After getting all those done we walked over to Rayfields for lunch, nice little breakfast/lunch counter in the drugstore.

Back to the house, J--- & K--- continued with their tasks upstairs & I sanded the frames & painted a first coat of white. I could do all but three of the frames because there was no room to layout & dry the last three.

Time to clean up, we headed over to the Bay Creek Marina, trying not too look too indigent & like we really belonged, we headed for the marina showers. Lovely! Large blue-gray slate lined walls with blue-green granite seats & counters. Heaven to get clean. All tidied up we headed upstairs to the bar above Aqua (the marina restaurant). Had drinks, ate lovely salads, & watched the sun set over the bay.

sunday, june 18
early up, we needed to hit the road early. Breakfast at McDonalds, simple & quick. Then some tidying up, more caulking, painted the last three frames, then on the road back home.

june 9-11

2006-06-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

friday, june 9
J---headed down late in the afternoon & got there early enough to unload the car & have quiet night. We're staying at the house this weekend, no room at the inn.

saturday, june 10
I got down late with Miss B, she'd had a rough morning & I'd hit traffic. But we got there. J--- was doing door installations & building the window frames (cutting, gluing, and so on). My job was painting, patching the front door with wood putty, sanding the newel post.

sunday, june 11
I got some weeding done. Planted nasturium seeds & morning glory seedlings. Going to have to tackle the PI soon. Wrap up & head out.

june 1-3, trim and doors

2006-06-04T20:12:00.000-04:00

friday, june 1
J--- headed down ahead of me to pickup clear pine for the trimwork, mouldings, door & window frames. Spent the night, maybe our last, at the Best Western Eastern in Exmore. It's getting harder to get a room with summer traffic picking up. We'll be staying at the house Saturday night because the hotel is filled. Dinner at the fabulous El Maguey.

saturday, june 2
J--- starting installing the doors, and cutting & building window frames. I started painting the trim pieces. First primer coat, Kilz, then sanding, then two coats of ultra-bright semigloss white. Plugged in my Ipod shuffle so I could listen to tunes while I painted. Makes a tedious job go faster.

J--- remembered about the showers at the Bay Creek marina, so we headed over there to see if we could clean up. We were both hot & sweaty. Glorious showers! Slate floors, walls, & ceilings. Lots of hot water. Dinner at Venetto's & then a walk on the bay for sunset. Home to sleep.

sunday, june 3
wrap up, tidy up, take pictures of progress, & back on the road

may workings, staircase

2006-05-14T20:20:00.000-04:00

installing the baseboard trim

2006-05-14T20:10:00.000-04:00

J--- headed down to Cape Charles to start installing the baseboard trim upstairs. Down Friday and back Saturday night he made huge progress and got all the trim we had primed & painted installed. Next step, caulk for any gaps & putty the nail holes.

may 5 pictures

2006-05-07T20:14:00.000-04:00

resident toad & Blue getting a treat

may 5, 6, & 7 moving along

2006-05-07T19:48:00.000-04:00

We drove down separately, each of us having with a carload of tools, wood, fixtures for the powder room, and of course, the dog.

I haven't done a good job of keeping this blog up-to-date, I'll try to do better. I probably should just take my laptop with me so I can write up as we go. Somehow, when I get back to our "main" home & back to work I can't seem to find the time to recall the past, even the near past. Time rolling on & current concerns more pressing then loading up what was done.

That said, I'll try to do better.

This weekend we got (or rather I should say John got) the sink and faucet set installed in the powder room and we hung the mirror I found at the Pottery Barn outlet. [Earlier weekends John had installed the powder room toilet, a huge step forward!]

We also continued work on painting the spindels of the staircase, which is original to the house. Still trying to decide exactly what color to paint the newel posts. Painted many pieces of baseboard trim for the upstairs. Started working wood putty into the holes on the interior of the front door. And, finally, cleared weeds out of the front flower beds, while doing so found lots of resident little toads. Cute little critters, hope they eat lots of bugs!

february 19

2006-02-19T10:47:00.000-05:00

cold out, snow melted at home during the week, but despite a 3-day weekend no trips to AMH. Next weekend. This weekend just sitting out the cold. Mourning doves are camped out in the flower beds, their feathers so puffed up that they look like huge grey puff-balls.

stained glass windows, front & on stairs

2006-01-22T16:25:00.000-05:00

Detail of stained glass windows in front of house and on stair wall. Three total installed, currently stationary. Windows were salvage.

stained glass windows, upstairs lavatory

2006-01-22T16:11:00.000-05:00

Detail of stained glass window in full bath on 2nd floor. Two of these side by side, currently stationary. Windows were salvage.

main floor painted, 2 coats Behr Linen White

2006-01-20T16:30:00.000-05:00

second working weekend

2006-01-16T14:05:00.000-05:00

Friday, Jan 13 (Friday the 13th)
Headed back down to paint. High hopes that we can get the whole house done, but who are we kidding? Picked up 10 gallons of Linen White (should be enough?), and an extension pole for the roller. Got to Cape Charles in the later afternoon, unloaded at the house, & headed for the Best Western Eastern in beautiful Exmore.

I'd packed sandwich fixings so we picnicked in our room. J-- caught up on work e-mail and we plotted our next move. The plan is to start on the main floor & get two coats of paint on the walls & ceilings. If we get that done we'll start on the stairs & 2nd floor.

Saturday, Jan 14
Headed out to the house, with a stop at Clay Werks to touch base with them on the tile work we want them to do (shower & countertops). Got to the house by 10am. Brought scatter rugs to put on the floor, everything is covered with drywall dust & I was hoping to get Blue to stay on the rugs when she laid down...in that house she's a serious "duster dog." She acted like I was punishing her by "making" her lay down on the rug instead of the floor.

I started sanding the walls & ceiling while J-- got set the paint set up. The primer had been sprayed on by a painter, but he had a lot of splatter. All the rough spots had to be sanded before we painted. I stayed ahead of J--- and finished the sanding, then did the cut ins on the corners & edges. By late afternoon we had gotten one coat of paint on the downstairs wall & ceilings. We wanted to start a 2nd coat but the day had turned cold & rainy...things just weren't drying quickly so we called it a day.

Back to the hotel, caught part of the Redskins play-off game (they lost!), cleaned up, & headed for a fabulous feed at El Maguey. El Maguey's food is so good, the service attentive, & the price so reasonable that we really haven't been interested in venturing elsewhere since we discovered it. Although, ESVA does have lots of interesting restaurants (besides the usual fast food places.)

Sunday, Jan 15
Up early, packed the car & back to work. Got the 2nd coat on the downstairs by 11:00 am. While J--- finished up I went up to Hubbard's Home Center on Mason Avenue to get an estimate on appliances for the house. Had a nice visit with Sharon Barber, she said that Rick Hubbard would put together a quote & she'll e-mail me the numbers. As Sharon put it they'll set the prices so that they make some money & we'll save some money.

We were packed up & headed home by 11:40 am. The downstairs looks nice, so much brigher now that it's painted.

interior: view down stairs

2006-01-07T15:06:00.000-05:00

the stairs are a bit steep & narrow, original to the house

interior: full lavatory, upstairs

2006-01-07T15:02:00.000-05:00

old cast-iron clawfoot tub
salvaged stained glass windows

eventually there will be a tiled shower in the corner directly ahead, a pedestal sink on the same wall, & the "loo" is around the corner out of sight

interior: upstairs landing

2006-01-07T14:59:00.000-05:00

master bedroom door in view, standing in hall laundry closet to take photo

Interior: master bedroom, 2 views

2006-01-07T14:55:00.000-05:00

interior: K's & guest room

2006-01-07T14:54:00.000-05:00

interior: view from the back to the front

2006-01-07T14:51:00.000-05:00

interior: view from front to back

2006-01-07T14:49:00.000-05:00

interior: heading upstairs

2006-01-07T14:47:00.000-05:00

interior: power room entry

2006-01-07T14:44:00.000-05:00

interior: front door & stairs

2006-01-07T14:42:00.000-05:00

Stairs (original)
Front door (original)
New electric panel
Stained glass window (salvage)

note: photos pre-priming

first working weekend

2005-12-31T21:14:00.000-05:00

Thurs, Dec 29
loaded with supplies & on the road, dog Blue, K--, J--, & I. Home Depot stop in Virginia Beach, load up on paint, rollers, & paint tray liners.

We chose Behr paint, Linen white, satin, for all the walls & ceilings. And, Ultra Bright White, semi-gloss, for all the trim & doors. Plain & simple.

We plan on painting the lavs...not a very ambitious goal but one we thought we could finish.

Thursday afternoon
Go figure. Home Depot (HD) in Virginia Beach says they don't deliver to the Eastern Shore...none of the Virginia HDs will. We were told we had to go to the Salisbury, MD store to get delivery. Makes no sense. HDs in the Hampton Roads/Newport News/Virginia Beach area are all within 25 miles of Cape Charles...Salisbury is 90+ miles away. On top of that, HD won't even let us order appliances/fixtures online for Cape Charles. Guess we're spending our $$$ at Lowes. They won't deliver either but they will let us order online.

K & J rolled the full bath, ceilings are so low they didn't need a ladder or even a stool. I did the powder room or half-bath, brushes for me...I hate using rollers, too messy. Tho' surprisingly I needed a ladder, half of the room is tall, where the addition meets the house.

[Why call it a half-bath when there's really no bath? It's just a toilet & sink. For that matter where did the term powder room come from? Did ladies say they were going to powder their noses to avoid having to say they were going to do something more crass?]

Fri, Dec 30
Yesterday we got one coat on both lavs, wrapped up brush & roller for next day & headed to Exmore & the Best Western Eastern for the night.

Great meal at El Maguey, Mexican restaurant in Exmore. Had to wait almost 45 minutes for a table but it was worth it. Up & out by 9 on Friday.

Stopped at Clay Werks to get our job in the queue. Great folks. Lots of tiling options, almost too many. We're going to have the shower in the main bath tiled & probably tile counters for the kitchen.

Next stop, Peach Street Carpet, to see Steve Hairfield. Steve was out but had left the shop open. We checked out his samples & Blue checked out all the toys in the shop for Steven & Ned's dog, Roxy. Steve & Roxy came in and the girls "met." Roxy wanted to play after she got over her initial hair-raising shock of seeing another dog in her space, but Blue was having none of that.

Steve had intended to install cork flooring in on the main floor & carpet on the stairs, the upstairs hall, & bedrooms. We had been wavering & considering other options, but decided to go with Steve's original choices. He has great taste & his choices were very nice.

Back to the house to get the 2nd coat of paint on both lavs.

K--- swept the drive for nails using a heavy-duty magnet on a string & I planted crocuses & daffodils around the house for next spring.

Starting to feel like we belong with the house.

Chores done, we leave Cape Charles to head to Williamsburg. K---'s never been (shocking for a Virginian to say!), so we're spending the night and we'll have time to walk the town, see the decorations, and catch the fife & drum parade.

We're staying at the Four Points Sheraton in Williamsburg, they allow dogs & have a pool that K--- will definitely enjoy.

Sat, Dec 31 New Year's Eve day
Williamsburg. Late start & cool rainy day.

Headed to Aromas coffee shop for breakfast (some of the best food we've been able to find in Wmsburg so far). Too cool & rainy for walking in the historic district...so we're going to head home.

Since we left early we're going to stop in Richmond at Caravati's, a salvage yard. Looking for doors for the house, maybe a pedestal sink for the main bath, and anything else that will suit the house. Even thinking about replacing the full size cast-iron tub with a smaller slipper tub (antique bathing but more in scale for a small bath).

Caravati's is great, floors and floors of all sorts of salvage goods. I could spend hours there. We bought an old church pew to use in the house & spotted several really nice slipper tubs & sinks that are strong contenders for the house as well.

the plan

2005-12-24T09:51:00.000-05:00

Our first working trip down.

The plan at this point is to head out on Thursday morning, the 29th, loaded up with supplies, K (daughter), & Blue & head to Cape Charles. A Home Depot stop in Virginia Beach for more supplies & paint. We also want to get a contact name at HD for when we're ready to order fixtures & appliances.

On to work. Our goal is to at least get two coat of paint on the lavs (so we can make those useful), sweep the drive for nails (so J doesn't have any more holes in his tires), connect with Steve (to settle on floors & carpet), and finally to touch base with the tile people at Clay Werks.

first things first?

2005-12-23T13:11:00.000-05:00

So much to do. I'm a lister so I want to list out the steps & cross them off, but haven't gotten there yet.

First thing is to get the interior painted (it's been primed)...so we can install the floors, then the fixtures (kitchen & baths). Once we get at least one of the lavatories installed we can start staying at the house instead of the Best Western Eastern.

Best Western Eastern is your basic hotel room, nothing fancy, but there aren't a lot of choices on the Eastern Shore of VA (ESVA). It's in Exmore, approx. 20 miles from Cape Charles. Good news is that the hotel sets out a buffet kind of breakfast & allows dogs, so Blue (our 15-yr old Aussie mix), can stay with us.

closing, closing, closed

2005-11-30T19:02:00.000-05:00

It actually happened. We've completed closing (yesterday)...it took hours, Eastern Shore Time (EST), but it's ours (and the bank's). The house is ours to work on, live in, love. Now to own it.

closing 2

2005-11-28T05:05:00.000-05:00

One week later we're now closing on the 29th.

The attorney called at the nth hour last week to disclose that he hadn't gotten around to getting the survey done, no survey, no closing. Lots of back and forthing about what happened but with the Thanksgiving holiday & bank requirements nothing could happen before tomorrow.

I've got to work so husband, J., is heading down with my power of attorney to get us onboard. Cross your fingers!

closing

2005-11-21T20:11:00.000-05:00

All systems go. We're driving to the Eastern Shore tomorrow to close on the house, then a quick stop by to measure windows, get more pictures, then home again. It'll be a long day but lovely...

still waiting

2005-11-08T05:59:00.000-05:00

Still waiting on the appraiser & the bank. No new news. It's hard to wait when I want to get moving.

I'm hesitant to do any more planning (floor plans, searching for fixtures on Craigslist.com, pricing floors, so on) don't want to get any more attached if it all falls through.

waiting

2005-11-03T08:41:00.000-05:00

The bank & the appraiser are reassessing the deal, so we wait. This go-round is to see what AMH will appraise for as-is (unfinished interior). Not sure what that will do for us...but letting the bank & the appraiser duke it out. Have to trust that the right outcome, whatever that is, will occur.

exterior shots

2005-11-02T19:22:00.000-05:00

pictures of the Alice Moses House (AMH) froom different angles

house details

2005-11-02T19:15:00.000-05:00

a rough photo-merge of
house details
-the front door is original to the house
-eaves are restorations, new roof
-all siding & plain windows new
-stained glass windows are salvage

a bump in the road

2005-11-01T18:18:00.000-05:00

I have spent a lovely few days collecting information on flooring, appliances, and light fixtures…all the things we will need to complete on the Alice Moses House or AMH as the husband calls it. I have collected folders full of pictures and articles about finishing rooms, installations, furnishings. I think AMH is a Folk Victorian or Vernacular Victorian...also have heard it called a "Victorian Farmhouse," need to reseach the style & get confirmation. I've registered on the Old House Web site and have been cruising the forums, collecting information. I've also been looking looked for pictures of fixtures from the 1900s. Not exacty sure of the house style though. I’ve been laying out the rooms in my mind, done multiple drafts of floor plans, planned on transplanting some of daylilies from our Leesburg house to AMH, and even bought bulbs for the yard (around here we can put spring bulbs in the ground as late as December).

Things move slowly on the Eastern Shore, and I remind myself many times of the different pace as much as I want to hurry up & get started. Cape Charles is a different time zone, ESVA time. The house inspection was delayed, first weather, then illness. Applying for the mortgage took a while, papers & forms, multiple signatures & photocopies, then approval. I’d forgotten how much information is needed. Finally, the appraiser is lined up…we are nearing the end of the purchasing process.

Closing is scheduled for the first Monday in November, and I am planning on our first trip down the following weekend.

Stop. I may have been premature.

The appraisal came in low, too low. Hard to understand how the appraiser could come up with a dollar figure for the finished house since it’s not finished…but he did.

Everyone involved wants the sale to go through. I am just going to sit still, let the banker & the appraiser battle it out, and try not to worry. I love this house, I can see us in this house, now I just have to wait and see if this house will be ours.

Alice Moses House, Cape Charles, Virginia

2005-10-25T14:49:00.000-04:00

Alice Moses House, October 2005

day one, background

2005-10-25T14:30:00.000-04:00

Just starting this whole blog thing, for all I know it'll be a major fumble...but I'm intrigued.

Last year, September 2004, J. (husband) & I did a road trip through Virginia's eastern shore. To make it short, at the very end of our trip we spent a couple of hours touring Bay Creek (a planned golf community) on the Virginia tip of the Delmarva pennisula. As part of that tour we drove through Cape Charles and I was enchanted. I went back by myself for a couple of days in October & stayed at a really lovely B&B called Sterling House. Was still in love w/the area & the Bay.

Early this fall I convinced J. to go back with me for an overnight & a 'let's see' house hunt. Which is where the story really begins, we found the Alice Moses House. After much discussion we placed an offer, it was accepted, and if all goes on schedule we should close on the house in mid-November.

The Alice Moses House is named for it's owner, Alice Moses. (Sorry if that's obvious.) Alice has a history but I'm not sure of it & won't mangle the stories now...they'll be posted in future posts. The house was built in 1909 and over it's long life eventually fell into severe disrepair. Steve Hairfield (of previously mentioned Sterling House B&B) rescued the little house & set about restoring it. The house was in such sad shape, Steve kept what he could of the original but also had to replace a lot. Currently the house has new walls (on the old frame); all new electric, plumbing, etc.; new windows (except for the salvaged stained glass windows Steve installed in various locations); new roof, new interior walls.

When we take over the house we'll be adding floors (what's there now is very patchy), all the kitchen fittings, bath fittings, doors, painting...and so on. It's a gorgeous shell now and soon will have it's heart restored.