Upstairs Bath

After months of demo, 3 trips by the plumber, and a lot of elbow grease, the upstairs bath renovation is finally [almost] complete!

Before- linoleum, a very dated vanity, and a beautiful but much neglected claw foot tub.

I'm pretty sure the only item in the bathroom from within the last 50 years is the light fixture.

First thing to do was disconnect all the plumbing and remove the toilet, sink, and tub.  Goodbye upstairs toilet!  Hello neck-breaking trips downstairs to pee in the middle of the night!  We had no idea what to expect when we pulled up the linoleum.  What we found was leveling material, metal mesh, a layer of plywood, and a layer of old tongue and groove boards.  HUH?  As if the clearance isn't low enough without 2 extra inches of floor!

After demo we discovered that the floor boards under the tub had been cut, lifted in order to install the plumbing, and then put back down without being nailed.  We made sure that the boards were all nailed down after the plumbing was re-done. Why anyone would cover up these spectacular solid oak floors is beyond me!

We took the opportunity with the tub out of the way to box in the vent pipes.  My dad's, on the right, will still be standing after the house is gone.  Mine, on the other hand... well, let's just say you shouldn't look at it too hard!

Matt painstakingly sanded the floors, baseboards were installed, and everything was patched and painted.  The vanity is an antique washstand that we found.  Matt cut a scrap of soapstone from the kitchen counters for the vanity top.  We even managed to find the world's smallest vessel sink!

The tub got a fresh coat of paint and a spectacular Victorian-style fixture.  The [almost] finished product:

Special thanks to my dad for his many hours of work and much appreciated advice.  Also thanks to Tom Fetta Heating and Plumbing. 

They don't build 'em like they used to...

In the process of installing the bathroom ventilation fan we cut a hole in the house (this is not the interesting part).  Much to our surprise we discovered that the house is sheathed in ~ 1 1/2" solid oak boards:

Cross section of the oak sheathing

We already knew that the back hall portion of the house had solid wood construction.  During installation of our new backdoor the carpenter cut out some very impressive 2" oak boards.   At the time we assumed that this had at one time been perhaps a passage to a barn or woodshed.  Little did we expect to find this type of construction throughout the house!

Painting the Exterior

Last summer we started painting the exterior of the house.  It had apparently been painted last in the rain since all of the paint was peeling off. Not that this made for an easier paint stripping experience.  The layer underneath turned out to be thick and tough.

 Scraped

 Sanding and priming

 Right side done

 

Left side

 

Front- DONE!

We also completed the porch and right side.  This summer- back and last side.

Mantel

When we purchased the house the livingroom fireplace (for unknown reasons) lacked a mantel and surround:

Notice the beehive oven (upper left) and wood storage below.

Although we had no way of knowing what the original looked like, we could tell the approximate size of the opening due to the shadow that it had left behind on the granite.  I also researched typical mantels of this period and took some pictures of those in homes we toured in Concord, MA. 

Building the new surround

The finished product missing only hardware on the doors.

Finished doors with hand-forged latches from Hammered Hinges (www.hammeredhinges.com)

Kitchen

The kitchen was usable but... weird.  We decided the first thing we would do with our new (old) home was remodel the kitchen.  With the exception of the beautiful original wide-board floors it was a total gut job!

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

After- new cabinets, stainless appliances (including a dishwasher!  yay!), island with farm-style sink, soapstone countertops, pressed tin backsplash, and a washer and dryer!  The house was not plumbed for a washing machine when we bought it and it was certainly something we were not willing to live without!  We decided to frame in a closet where the stove used to be.  This now houses the W&D, plumbing and vents, and storage.

Next kitchen project will be to open up the huge fireplace that is currently blocked off by doors.