Green Fields and Cold Steel Rails

For continuity, we decided to use the same steel tubing from the goat fence railing in the bathrooms, where it supports the countertops. Sourced from Cincinnati.

Sleeve serving as a shim between the rail and limestone counter (image is upside down). Photos below show it and others in place.

Hall bath

A hotel towel rack and a niche provide storage.

The same steel we used for external siding lines the bathtub enclosure. The steel is backed with rubber and open at the bottom, so any water that gets under the steel can drain. One of Dave's clean-up people called it "a mildew factory," but we haven't had any problems yet.

Limestone counter. The sink wall is painted Hep Green.

Said Dave of the chrome plumbing we requested, "the pipes will rust through pretty quickly, but they look cool."

We used a traditional door on the hall bath, for privacy; it opens into the hall, since the bathroom is small.

Master bath

The accent wall is painted Mandarin Orange.

The galvanized tub and pail serve as storage and wastepaper basket, respectively.

We chose barn doors for the master and loft bathrooms; there is a second door for the closets in each room.

Loft bath

We used the same fixtures in all the bathrooms, at the foot of the stairs, and on the exterior of the house by the entries.

Opting for the speedrail system instead of a vanity meant that there wouldn't be much storage. The medicine chests and a cabinet in the bedroom hold all the bath supplies.

Demonstration painting by Laura's uncle, who was a professor.

Haint Misbehavin'

Laura describes her Sunday afternoon:

Me, to the woman standing in my driveway with a camera: Hi can I help you?

Camerawoman: I'm the former owner's daughter [of the house we renovated into the lean-to].

Me: Oh, OK.

CW: It's hard for me to see this. I grew up here.

Me: I understand. My childhood home doesn't exist anymo.....

CW: I told my brother I'd take a picture of the awfulness you've done to our house. One of your neighbors called me in tears. My father is rolling in his grave at what you've done. He died in front of that window. He's visited me several times and no doubt he's going to haunt you.

Me: Oh, OK. Ummm. Thanks for stopping by.

***

When Brother sees CW's photo he will soon stop gloating about the curse she placed on Laura, because he'll see that WE'VE PAINTED THE HOUSE WITH GHOST-PROOF PAINT.

The soffits are Mariner, a blue-green, and the west porch and lower deck ceilings are Spa, a lighter tint of the same color: that is, haint blue, purported to ward off spirits, as well as wasps and other insects.

So when Pops comes stealing up to the front door (the nerve!), BOO!

The west entrance: Buh-Bye!

And should Dad go astral and levitate to the upper deck or hover under the eves, Begone!

We've even contrived to install spirit-repelling haint blue tile flooring in all the bathrooms, if the Old Man tries to enter through the plumbing (the new plumbing, that is, not the clogged sewer line that served the old part of the house—a defect his now outraged offspring neglected to disclose when they put their ancestral digs up for sale), Nuh-uh!

The bathrooms are a little further along than depicted in this photo. We'll explore them in our next post.

Curiosities of Cabinets

They're back, Carol Ann. After a long (and slightly stinky) stay in a storage container, cabinets from the original house kitchen and apartment kitchen have been refurbished to make up the kitchen island and bar.

The old wooden cabinets from the original house's main kitchen were cleaned, painted, and fitted with new, invisible hinges and new handles. The first limestone counter pieces were mis-cut, so Phil the carpenter made a beautiful temporary wood counter while we waited for replacements.

The wood cabinets when we last saw them

Original dividers lined with contact paper

Original potato and onion baskets

Remember these?

Cleaned and powdercoated, they are now the bar cabinets, topped with butcher block salvaged from Laura's parents' neighbor's house during a renovation in the 1980s.

Awaiting an under-counter light.

House of Shards

Building a house is messy. Building a new house on top of an old basement is messier. Here is a sampling.

One of the previous owners was fond of affixing things to the basement walls: cabinets, hooks, shelves. To secure the screws, he use plastic sleeves, and slivers of wood, some that would function as serviceable vampire stakes. We removed them by screwing a drywall screw halfway in, then pulling the sleeve out with a claw hammer. We filled the holes with cement. Problem solved!

Someone's toy horse emerged from the earth around the house.

The old standby cigarette pack shim

The television schedule from December 28, 1963

Lots of water

And mud

Mud dripping down the walls

And on the window frames

Oozing insulation

Excess insulation cut off to accommodate the drywall

Dust, lots of dust

Messages from the past

Extra venting

Various construction trash

Metal filings

The end of a corrugated steel siding sheet

Still don't know who these belong to