| Blog series by gizmodyne | updated 370 days ago | 16 parts | 9678 reads | 133 comments total |
Part 1: Bungalow H...E... Double Hockey Sticks
Introducing the Money PitI thought I would blog about some of the restoration projects here at the homestead since so many of them:a) involve woodb) require toolsc) got me into woodworking In June 2001, after 7 years of “courtship,” K. and I got married. We moved from San Diego to Los Angeles for new jobs, but could not find a place to live. Our new school year was starting in a few days when we spotted an intriguing ad mentioning a rental house in “bungalow heaven.”...
Part 2: Gasp!
Year OneOn our first night of ownership we tore out the nasty smoke and urine stained carpet (aka: floor protectors). In the first month in our new house (March 2002) we added heat and quickly painted a bedroom. Life might have continued on with me painting everything white had I not gone to a fantastic home tour in our neighborhood We quickly bought every book we could find on bungalows and took our first visit to the Gamble House. That summer we taught summer school (booooo!) and w...
Part 3: Good Bye 1970's
Summer 03 It was time to take care of the bathroom… We called contractors for bids with a budget of 15 – 20 thousand. Most came, looked at the project, and never called back. Finally one of the contractors, a high-end company, said, “Look, for the style you want there is no way to get it at this budget.” He wrote out the order of the construction and offered to give us a list of his subs. It was time to roll up our sleeves. We ordered a dumpster. Out c...
Part 4: Brick by Brick
Summer 03 Continued The bath was under restoration. Meanwhile the monstrosity of a fireplace had sat uncovered for 6 months. “Paint it white,” my dad said. “Put curtains around it,” (Like the elephant man?) We just smiled and said, “We’ll just wait.” A lot of the houses with redone fireplaces end up with tile. We knew we wanted to try to remain true to the house but had little clue what was there. The brick pointed to brick, but the hearth ...
Part 5: Birdhouses for everyone
This is not exactly a restoration story. But it explains a bit about what is to come. Birdhouse By this time we had taken our first woodworking class. I had gotten a little interested in woodworking by a book my mom had given me. We had also started shopping for furniture and seen how expensive it was. Around the house I had built a fence and a small garden bench. At a garden store one day we saw a cute little bird house for around $25. “I bet I can make that,” I said....
Part 6: Shingled Out
The paint was peeling, many shingles were missing, or severely damaged. The rafter tails were rotted. It was time to paint. We quickly removed the a.c. unit from the front of the house and the rat highway (Palm tree). We found a painter through a neighbor (Good fortune since he painted the house whose colors we liked). Did I mention the missing shingles? These are actually redwood barn shakes that come in 36” lengths. For my house’s design they are cut into 18̶...
Part 7: The Shop!!!
The wood bug bites After painting the house and finishing the shed, I got heavier into woodworking. I had now built several tables, and other projects, but was frustrated by lack of space to work. The garage had been demolished by a previous owner so any wood projects meant driving to class or hauling my tools out of the shed and basement. The backyard when we bought the house. Note the dead trees and the massive eucalyptus stump from a tree that had fallen 20 years earlier.The dila...
Part 8: Living Room
Let’s get it startedWe finally became permanent tenured teachers last year and decided it was time to get more done on the house. My friend Juan had found a great carpenter also named Juan who does it all… paint stripping, rough and finish carpentry, paint and stain. We took the plunge. These guys are reliable. They show up on time and even work Saturdays. They never say no. To start we planned to have them strip the living room, fix the plaster, paint, and restain, and f...
Part 9: The New New Mantel
New MantelKristin was never very happy with the first mantel we paid for. I agreed: The color, and proportion were not right for our house. The DesignI studied all of the shelves in our house and went to my friend Juan’s to measure his mantel.I measured the inglenook and fireplace in order to layout the space in sketchup. I played with some dimensions and was happy with the following. I did not have time to tackle this project so Juan Reyes, our carpenter, tore out the old ma...
Part 10: To Blog?
Sidenote I am trying to get caught up with the old stuff, so I can write about the current renovation on the kitchen that started this week. I have been struggling with where to keep this blog. I used to write about my house on my own blog. But I like the picture posting here. I think this site design or some variant on gardening or home renovation would be useful to the many housebloggers out there. Anyway.. I will keep on here.
Part 11: Dining in Style
Selling Point Besides our clawfoot tub, the only nice thing in the our house when we bought it was the dining room. A picture from our walkthrough. Fir wainscoting with a plate rail. We later found out that the wall paper is a custom reproduction of a Morris and Co. paper from the turn of the century. We have visited William Morris’ birth home and country farm in England last year. The wall paper hid most of the damage. The ceiling was cracked, peeling, and had an unfinished l...
Part 12: Back 40
Almost nowBefore I get to the current work on the kitchen, let’s play catch-up.: After a successful but expensive run on the living room and dining room we decided to keep on with the back of the house. We had two rooms to strip/stain and replaster/paint. Plus the L-shaped hallway. I will let the pictures do the talking. DenThe den before (why did I paint it like this?).. During plaster work and with windows stripped. Turns out the casements had been replaced. They look lik...
Part 13: Summer 07 --- Kitchen Demolition
The PlanSave the plaster, the upper cabinets, all millwork, and the windows (is that millwork). The douglas fir cabinets had been refaced in the long past. Could it be removed? Before The kitchen before… Upper cabinets are original with refacing and paint.. The evil laundry porch. Close up on laundry sink. Nice huh? Under the sink. That is my poor man’s possum proofin. My first homemade shelf. Good times. If I had a hammer… Demolition Time!!!! I demo ...
Part 14: Summer 07 --- Kitchen Weeks 1 and 2.. Stripping and Repairs..
SummaryThere was a lot going on in the days after the demolition. I worked on staining the guest room and millwork repairs to the kitchen. I oversaw the coordination of the electrical after the plumber left. The guys worked on stripping and sanding and more stripping. Here we go…. In the kitchenA shot of the area where the fridge had been. The vent indicates that this was a California Cooler. Predating fridges the were used to keep food cool. A hole in the floor let cool air from the...
Part 15: Summer 07 --- Kitchen and Den Weeks 3 -5
Slow DownThings actually slowed down a lot during these weeks from our perspective, as the amount of work in the kitchen apperaed to be moving slowly. Plaster work and sanding are not exactly exciting. Lots of sanding. We spent time running around buying tile and so on. We went shopping….Our new (old) stove. It is tiny. One of the guys that they sent did a terrible job preparing the wood in the porch so when they stained there were evil sanding marks from the palm sander in many s...
Part 16: Summer 07 --- Kitchen and Den Weeks 6 - 8
Where’s my Camera Cord?I lost my camera cord about a week ago so I haven’t been able to post photos recently. So some catch up with pics… (Borrowed my sister’s cord). Kitchen…. Cabinets anyone?If you followed the cabinet making journey you have witnessed some of the madness behind our method. And this week I got to install them finally. The kitchen is stained and painted now… I stained the cabinets and trim then finished with dewaxed shellac and thre...
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Blog Series
- Back in Time - 1 part
- Boxes - 2 parts
- Bungalow Style Bar Cabinet - 1 part
- Cabinet Progress - 16 parts
- Comics - 11 parts
- Craftsman Bungalow Restoration - 16 parts
- Custom Dishwasher Panel Progress - 8 parts
- Design and Inspiration - 3 parts
- Grandpa's Box - 3 parts
- How To - 2 parts
- Insp - 0 parts
- Little Journey's - 4 parts
- Nightstand Progress - 2 parts
- Shop Organization - 10 parts
- Shop Projects - 0 parts
- Stickley Dining Table no. 622 - 4 parts
- Thorsen Table - 2 parts
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