Farewell

 Yesterday the closing finalized.

Our stewardship journey has ended and the baton has been passed.

Life

Over the past couple of years, the kids have gone off to college. As a result, most of the time it's just the two of us and the Guardians of the Garden bumping around in the house. We've had the "cocoa puff" for a while. We rescued the "cream puff" in the fall. I guess you could say he is our pandemic "pup", even though he's over two years old..

We'd been thinking for a while about downsizing. We had a particular new development in mind and the timeline seemed to fit what we had in mind, but it turned out to not be the right fit for a number of reasons.

So we switched gears and started thinking abut other options. In the process of exploring the new idea, some interesting properties popped up and we looked at them to get a feel for things. They sold quickly which was OK, because we still had the longer timeline in mind. And we learned enough to confirm the new direction as a possibility when the time came.

Then, out of the blue, we heard about a place that would soon be coming up for sale. We went and saw it and bought it before it even went public.

As of today, Farrington is on the market.

The Southern Wall

 Over the past couple of years, we've slowly been tackling the brick work.

Mostly that's just been tuckpointing. The plan was to do on side of the house at a time to manage costs.

This year was the south-facing wall.

It required more than just tuckpointing though. The brick columns between the original kitchen windows in the basement supported the entire south wall at the back of the house. It was time to give them some help.

The help came in the form of some steel support columns which are installed behind the brick columns.

They hold up the new steel support beam which holds up the rest of the wall. The window headers are now purely decorative because the steel is doing all the work.

The Front Door

 The back door was practice for the front door.

I didn't have time last fall to refinish the front door before it got cold. Once it got warm enough this spring I started the prep work.

Scope included the outside of the door, both sides of the screen door, the side lights, and the sunburst/transom.

It took quite a bit of time to strip the old gummy varnish and gently sand things down by hand to good wood without damaging any of the detail.

Then multiple coats of varnish until I achieved the desired result. Many days passed between coats waiting for the right weather conditions, but it's finally done.

As with the back door, the front door got new bronze screen.

Study Bath Update

The study bath was another one of those projects that didn't quite get completed. (Previous post about this room)

This room was mostly done except that I didn't paint the woodwork and I didn't strip and repaint the radiator. Because I didn't want to deal with it at the time, I allowed myself to get distracted with other projects. Now I have no excuses.

There isn't much woodwork to be painted in this room. A single small window, the rolling door to the storage area under the stairs, and the back side of the entry door.

The woodwork preparation exposed quite a history of color in the the various layers of paint. The oldest is cream, followed by tan, federal blue, red, green, and then a couple of variations on off-white/cream. I used Ivory Tusk, since I still have some of that and it's not far off the oldest of the colors...

I tented the radiator to catch most of the dust and debris during both prep and painting. The bulk of the old paint just flaked off the radiator when I ran a 7-in-one tool's blade across the surface. 

After a very short debate, we decided to go with a pewter metallic in this room because so many of the fixtures are in the pewter/nickel/silver family.

New Attic Bath - Part 6

There's been a long delay between this post and the previous one for the attic bathroom. That's because I never really finished the work. I got 95% done and got distracted with other things.

The remaining work was installing the door latch and then painting the window frame and door.

The latch came with a nice template, but the template was for a 1-1/2 inch thick door. This door is 1-3/4 so I had to cut the template apart and line up the pieces with a laser level. One piece for the edge of the door, another for the face, and the third for the jamb.

I lined up the template with the existing mortise for the old latch to minimize the amount of material I had to remove, as well as minimizing the amount of filling. There were some areas that needed to be filled because it looked like a previous owner's dog had chewed significantly into the edge of the door. I used Abatron WoodEpox and am happy with the results.

It took a little while to remove the material and dry fit the latch. Then I did all the surface prep and primed the places where there was bare wood.

Then came the Impervo as the topcoat in the usual color, Ivory Tusk, to match the rest of this part of the attic.

Historic Hill Holiday Tour

The Ramsey Hill and Summit Hill Associations decided to collaborate on a Historic Hill Holiday Tour (the "1895 Georgian Colonial"). Along with seven other homes in the neighborhood, our home, holiday decorations, and some stories are featured in the video and the blooper reel. Proceeds go to the two associations.

The rest of this post is the free tour...

Most years we go to the local hardware store and buy the tallest tree they have. We don't bother having them unwrap it because we put it on the opening of the main staircase. If the tree is misshapen or has a flat spot, we can just put that side in the corner. They are all listed as being 6-8 foot trees and are the same price. This year's tree is the biggest we've ever had and is close to 12 feet tall. It is also larger in diameter than in previous years. As a result I only got about halfway before I ran out of lights and had to purchase more...

In total there are 2000 lights on this year's tree.

On the opposite side of the entry is the poinsettia forest and its reindeer.

And the demi-lune table with its trees.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care in the living room.

The Twelve Days of Christmas make an appearance below the dining room mantle.

The study is a cozy place on a cold winter night.

There are other decorations scattered throughout the house but none are significant enough to warrant inclusion here.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Carriage House Re-Roof

The house had been re-roofed shortly before we bought it, but the carriage house was not done at the same time. The seals in the double-paned skylights had failed, so the glass was foggy, but the roof wasn't leaking. No big deal from our perspective; we could wait and do some other things first.

Well, eventually we started to get some small water stains around one of the skylights, so it was time.

We contacted a couple of local roofers to get estimates and picked  one. It took a while to get scheduled, but we weren't in a hurry. Eventually, after some weather- and COVID-related delays, the day arrived.

They were able to strip the old shingles off and install the new ones in (almost) a day. The removed the old skylights and installed new ones while they were at it. Because of the hipped roof, they ended up a little short on the cap shingles, so those had to be delivered and installed later in the week.

We're happy with the results! (slideshow of the work in-progress)

What We've Got Here Is Failure to Communicate

This is another one of those posts that's not really about the house. It's about a common issue that isn't really that hard to fix.

Once again one of the bathroom sinks was draining slowly. We took all the items out of the cabinet under the sink. I disconnected the actuator for the stopper and removed it. The stopper was full of hair and other gunk so I cleaned it.

Then I shone a light down the drain to see of there were other restrictions. There were, so I started loosening the tailpiece extension and p-trap so I could clean them more easily. The p-trap came out without trouble.

When loosening the tailpiece extension, the tailpiece sheared off immediately below where the stopper actuator joins the tailpiece.

Weird.

I called the plumbing supply place where we purchased the fixture to see what options we had. If we could find the order/receipt and send some photos, they would submit a warranty claim with the manufacturer.

I found the necessary papers, took photos of the papers & broken pieces, and emailed the photos.

A week passed and I heard nothing. No reply to the email. No phone call. Nothing.

I called. He did not answer the phone, so I left a voicemail.

A week passed. No return call. No email. Nothing.

I had a Friday off and was running errands more-or-less in the neighborhood, so decided to stop in to get an update.

I introduced myself and explained why I was there.

Turns out he had received the email and had submitted all the information to the manufacturer. They had agreed to replace the part at no cost, but because the finish is not one of the most common (satin brass rather than nickel or chrome) it might take a while to get one. He wasn't sure when they might ship it or whether they would ship it to him or directly to me.

Two more weeks passed. The new part was shipped directly to me. I received it yesterday and installed it without issue last night.

So, here's my frustration. Communication. Why is it that businesses are so bad at communication? It's the simplest thing that requires so little effort and makes such a huge difference.

Did I mention that I was the only customer in the store? Did I mention that every time we've been in the store (many times over the years for the kitchen and this bathroom) we've been the only customer on the premises? Given that, how much time does it take to reply to an email to say you've received it? Or return the phone call which specifically asked if you'd received the email? Should I really have to come in person to get an update when you're only open from 9am-4pm on weekdays?

Winterizing the Fountain Pump

 Manufacturer instructions on the pump say it should not be allowed to freeze. As the weather started to get colder, it was time to remove the pump for the winter.

The first step was to move the rocks from atop the pump access cover and then remove the cover plate.

Then, with Hayden’s help, reach into the basin, remove the pump, disconnect the hose, push the hose back into the basin, and pull the cord through its cutout. I put the pump into a bucket and brought it into the basement for the winter.

Lastly, put the cover back in place and cover it with rocks again.

Once everything thaws in the spring, I can reinstall the pump.

And a final photo showing the pump, 90-degree elbow, flow control valve, and connector for the vinyl hose. The hose is snug enough, and pressure low enough, that a clamp isn’t necessary.

The Pedimented Window - Part 3

 Last fall when the front porch got a new roof, the guys removed the storms for the Pedimented Window. The storms didn't get reinstalled because they needed some work first.

The oldest of the glazing compound was failing and the paint was starting to peel. Over the past couple of weeeks in the down periods waiting for varnish to dry, etc on the the back door, I scraped, sanded, and removed the glass from these storms. Of course, when removing the glazing compound and glass I broke one of the panes (the one I'd replaced last time, I think. Its putty was in good shape but I figured I'd do a full restoration...). Fortunately I had a piece of glass that was big enough. It just needed to be cut down to the correct size.

Over the weekend I started the next part of the process, including final sanding, primer, and re-installing the glass. All the glass is bedded and pointed, but only one of the storms has been completely puttied. The other one will get the exterior putty sometime this week. Then I wait for it to skin over before final coats of paint and re-installation.

I'm using Sarco putty this time. It's way easier to work with. I highly recommend it.

Maybe in the Spring

The back door was practice. As you can see, this is a little more involved.

And I'm especially not looking forward to the prep work for all this detail...

There is no way for me to get all the prep work done on a timeline that still allows me to be varnishing at reasonable temperatures before the snow flies.

The Back Door - 4

Over the weekend I put on the finals two coats of varnish.

The final two coats used Epifanes' Wood Finish Matte sanding with 320 before the first coat and in between coats. The resulting satin finish looks great in my opinion.

After the final coat of varnish was dry I reinstalled the hardware, including the new deadbolt.

And then finished installing the weatherstripping on the hinge side and top of the door frame.

As usual, the screws for the doorknob escutcheons are a mishmash. Of the four, only one is correct; the other three don't match (and even then they are not self consistent...). I've already gone through my stash of saved hardware and don't have ones that match the correct one. So another trip to the store to get the correct size and length...

And the local neighborhood hardware store for the win!

The Back Door - 3

Throughout the week I've added two more coats of Captain's Varnish.

Get up. 

Remove the hardware.

Sand.

Vacuum.

Tack rag.

Varnish.

Wait 12 hours for it to dry.

Reinstall the hardware for the night.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

This weekend I plan to do the final two coats.

During the down time while waiting for the varnish to dry I've been picking away at some of the other little things.

Drilled out and glued dowels into oversized screw holes for the hinges, etc. and installed the new spring bronze weatherstripping, including lockstrips.

Everything fits properly and no daylight shining through the gaps!

The Back Door - 2

Throughout the past week and over the weekend in between steps on the screen door, I've been making progress on the back door.

Mostly that involved using a chemical stripper to get the old finish off and then sanding with progressively finer sandpaper to get the surface fully prepared.

Then a once-over with the vacuum and a wipe-down with a tack rag to get a dust free surface.

And today a first coat of varnish. Now we wait for it to dry enough that I can sand it down before the next coat.

The recommendation I got was 2 coats of Pettit Marine Captain's Varnish (sanding with 240 in between coats) followed by 2 coats of Epifanes' Wood Finish Matte (using 320 in between coats).

The Captain's Varnish has a bit of an amber hue to it which darkens and warms the wood tone nicely.

Based in this first coat, I think I might be doing 3 coats of the Captain's Varnish, but time will tell.

Back Screen Door

 While I've been preping the back door, I've also been chipping away at the back screen door. It has a number of issues as well:

• the screen has holes in it (not the normal kind; big ones that would allow decent sized animals through)
• the latch is a mess and doesn't keep the door closed

So I ordered proper replacement screen and a new latch that looks more appropriate to the age of the house.

First the screen.

Along the right edge of this photo you can see some of the holes in the screen. At least one of which was caused by an umbrella...

Friday afternoon I carefully removed the screen molding, damaged screen, and as many staples as I could. Then I cut the new bronze screen material to size, stapled it in place, reinstalled the screen mold, and painted the exterior of the door.

The new bronze screen looks much better than the old black aluminum stuff. In most light it is less obtrusive and easier to see through.

The new latch arrived a week or so ago. It is a simpler version of what is installed on the front screen door. As the back is not a "public" entrance, the less ornate design is appropriate.

That it is brand new polished brass is less appropriate, so I used some of my leftover aging solution to make it look like it's been here a while.

The shape of the strike can be clearly seen in the upper right of the photo. This will become important later...

I also tackled the door jamb along the way. On the left edge of this photo you can see the old latch and the mess in the jamb.

I first fixed the mess in the jamb by piecing in some new wood, filling in the voids, and painting it when I repainted the door. I needed a little more structure here because the new strike is morticed in around both faces of the larger piece. (Refer to the shape of the strike in previous photo.)

Once the paint dried, I could mortice in the new strike and install the latch. Photos follow.

First the outside.

Then the inside.

And finally a video of a working latch that keeps the door closed!

The dog won't be able to treat this as a "dog flap" any more...

The Back Door - 1

This is the first in what I know will be several posts about the back door.  It has a number of issues that need to be corrected.

• The exterior has needed new finish for longer than we've been in the house.
• The weatherstripping doesn't seal properly - you can see daylight between the door and the jamb.
• The gap between the door and jamb is inconsistent. The bottom half is fine, but the top half is more than a quarter-inch.
• The doorknob latch doesn't.
• The rimlock night latch is sketchy. The latch keeper looks like it would fall off at the slightest touch.
• Several of our keys stopped working reliably, which means the cylinder is worn  and is about to give it up.

So the time has come. Night latches aren't that secure, so I found a deadbolt to replace it. It arrived just before the kids went off to college. That meant my threat to change the locks wasn't really a joke...

As you can see in this photo of me removing the old bits, there are failed attempts to bridge the gap between the door and jamb. The spring bronze should work, but the adhesive-backed foam in the background is applied to the jamb as a backup.

In several places the spring bronze had cracked along the crease between the nailing flange and the leaf. It's hard to know for sure, but maybe that the reason for the (ineffectual) foam strip.

In more than a couple of places there were random nails through the spring bronze (needle nose pliers points to one example). These were usually long brads rather than the (appropriate) copper nails. If there is a reason or rhyme to this, it escapes me. I don't see why you'd want to prevent the leaf from pushing against the door; that's the whole point of weatherstripping.

Once I got the old weatherstripping bits off, I fashioned a filler strip to even out the gap, much like I did on the second floor door eons ago.

It is tapered to get the gap between the door and jamb to a consistent 1/8-inch from top to bottom. I had to use some spare copper nails to keep it from curling on the thin end while the glue dried.

I also used some Abatron WoodEpox to fill the old holes in the jamb. The old hole for the doorknob's latch plate was a mess and the plate was installed improperly so that it didn't line up with the bolt. That's mostly fixed now and the strike plate and bolt line up so that they function properly; it actually latches now. To get it to look nice will require a bit more filler.

I then morticed out the new deadbolt strike. (But kept the old rimlock keeper in place while all this was happening. I needed to make sure I could still lock the door at night until the new deadbolt was in place... I'll have to fill in the casing later...)

Then I could install the new deadbolt. It required enlarging the hole through the door and drilling a hole through the edge of the door for the bolt (rimlocks are surface mounted). The thumbturn on the back of the door still isn't installed because ... this door is 2 1/4-inches thick. Despite what the manufacturer's specs say, the standard tailpiece only works with doors up to 1 3/4-inches thick. They're sending a new cylinder with the extended tailpiece. And there is other stuff I can do while I'm waiting.

For example, you can also see that I started sanding the door in preparation for its new coat of finish. 

The Fountain

Ever since we moved in we'd talked about putting a fountain in the "grotto" in the wall at the back of the property.

A couple of years after we moved in and had been doing a lot of work, we were at a party and met a local architect who is regarded as an expert on Cass Gilbert houses. He mentioned that he liked our renovation work and that he previously had lived in the house immediately behind ours (see the red garage in the first photo).  He said that there indeed had been a fountain in the grotto years ago. He had rented out the second floor of his house to some college students and when they eventually moved out, they left behind what he believed was the original fountainhead from our fountain. He had it at his second home an hour or so away and would be willing to return it to us. Though we've worked with him on Cass Gilbert Society functions several times since, we never got it from him.  I'm not certain he recalls the offer due to various other circumstances, so we had to make alternate plans.

The grotto had a bunch of dirt and decomposed material in it. In addition, SWMBO had been dumping our old potting soil in there. So the first step was to dig all that out. I discovered that at the bottom there was an old layer of concrete. It was cracked in several places and was uneven. In addition, the stones surrounding the basin had shifted over time and had large gaps between them, so there was no way to make it water tight.

Another solution needed to be found. Much internet searching and measuring followed before I found the solution; a pond-less water basin.

But on the bright side, the grotto contained a cool block of stone with a fountain carved into its face (see previous photo)...

The first step was to move that block of stone. Little Man (who is now a collegiate offensive lineman and is bigger than me) and I "rolled" it out and onto the ground to the left of the grotto. We later determined that it probably weighs 325+ pounds given that limestone weighs about 150 pounds per cubic foot.

Then I leveled the bottom with a layer of "paver base". Basically paver base is sharp sand and small aggregate that compacts well to provide a solid and level base.

It didn't take long for the basin to arrive. Due to its size it comes on its own pallet and is shipped by truck rather than by USPS, Fedex, etc. For reference, this basin is 36 inches in diameter, 16 inches high, weighs about 40 pounds, and holds about 60 gallons of water. There are several internal pillars and a central column that support the grate and up to 750 pounds of static load (whatever you use as the fountainhead). The pump can be accessed through the pump cover (the white plate on the left side of the grate).

Once it was level, I filled it halfway with water so that it wouldn't shift while I put topsoil around the exterior of the basin.

Our mason, Dave, stopped by Thursday to drill the hole in the stone block. It is a 1-inch hole that goes straight down through the block, centered about a third of the way back from the front edge. That evening, Little Man and I moved the block into place (did I say it weighs over 325 pounds?) and ran 1-inch vinyl tubing from the pump and up the full length of the hole. I had to make some adjustments to get the proper flow rate and to get the tubing to route properly without kinking. A 90-degree elbow connected to the pump outlet, a valve to control the flow, and barbed fitting for the tubing were all that was needed.  I also needed to cut a little of the lip of the grate away to be able to get the pump cord in and out easily. Because it will get damaged if it is allowed to freeze, the pump needs to be removed for the winter.

SWMBO gave me "permission" to select the stone that covers the grate. We'd had some discussion about going to a local landscape center, but I wasn't convinced we could find something with stones in the Goldilocks zone: not too big, but not so small they fell through the grate. I didn't think that river rock would look right. We had a couple of extra limestone blocks laying about, so I grabbed great-grandpa Joe's stone mason tools and went to work breaking stone into the proper sized pieces. It took me a good part of the afternoon...

Saturday I added a bit more soil and transplanted some perennials to soften the edges and camouflage the pump cord, etc. In the back are variegated hosta. Along the sides are Japanese painted fern. We plan to put annuals with a pop of color along the curve in front.

Lastly, the fountain in action:

The Front Porch - 3

 After some unfortunate delays with our contractor (abdominal surgeries, bee stings, car accidents, and a need to re-make the half-columns after the first set wasn't done properly), the front is finally done.

All the previous repairs have been painted.

Some of the round columns needed repairs to their bases. All have been repaired with new wood, joints caulked, and repainted.

The new half-columns against the house have been assembled, installed, and painted.

We'll have to work on removing the "ghost marks" from the previous columns.