Over the past 4 months, the project I have been unable to overcome is my ATTIC HATCH! This story begins back in December 2009 with some poorly thought-out work by my HVAC contractor. The existing attic access in laundry room was not large enough for the new air handler. Without my permission, the contractor cut a section out of my original bed board ceiling and one of the structural trusses. I was so aggrevated! It reminded me – yet again – that subcontractors need more supervision than you’d expect. Because they don’t have the whole project in mind, they don’t think past their trade or immediate tasks.
For the past 6 months, a piece of plywood has covered the hole. With summer in full swing, it was time to solve this problem. The plywood panel is not sealing the hole well and allowing our cool, conditioned air to escape. To remedy the situation, I will build a new frame that does four things: covers the damage, seals the opening, is sized to reuse the original hatch panel, and can be removed if HVAC maintenance is ever needed.
The original panel is 23″ by 26″. I will make a frame with the inside dimensions of 21″ by 24″ to hold the panel.
I used my chop saw to cut the wood to the correct lengths. Then, I used small metal angles to join the pieces together. These angles did not provide the rigidity I needed, so I added 4 additional metal straps in the outside corners. Because I may need to be able to remove the frame in the future, I’ll use metal L brackets to hang the frame from the truss members. With my frame in hand, Liz helped me hold the frame in place to confirm the measurements and locate the existing structure.
With help from Liz and some clamps, I successfully installed the frame! Weatherstripping and caulk helped seal the edges and create a tighter seal. In the future, I’ll finish up the painting when I tackle the walls and ceiling!
Last weekend, I traveled to New Orleans for my cousin’s graduation from law school. While in town, I was able to visit with old friends and see their rehab projects similar to the Depew Redo! Today, I’ll report on Emilie Taylor’s future masterpiece!
The 1880′s house is on Louisiana Avenue tucked beneath large trees and some convenient on-street parking. Emilie is an experienced design/builder working with Tulane’s URBANbuild and City Center, first as a student and now as studio instructor. She bought the home last year and has been renovating it with Seth Welty, a fellow architecture grad and current Rose Fellow in Biloxi. The house is a traditional camelback, with one story to the front and two stories at the rear. The original layout was 3 bedrooms/one bathroom. The new layout will be divided into two units, a studio apartment and 2 bedroom unit. [Unfortunately, I forgot to take pics during my visit, so I pulled the pictures below from Emilie's Facebook page.]
The exterior – note the front and side porch!
They modified the rear facade turning windows in doors and adding rear balconies on 2 levels.
Similar to the Depew House, the walls are wood. These walls are barge board with vintage wall paper, which were later covered by tongue-and-groove shiplap.
Congrats Emilie and Seth! The house is looking amazing! Maybe you’ll share more pics with us in future?
Filed under: home improvement, How To, Painting | Tags: home improvement, How To, Painting, renovation
I’m getting a crash course in home renovation! This past week I learned the basic prep work that needs to be done before painting a room. Now, most houses don’t have 80+ years of paint peeling off the woodwork, random holes in the ceiling, walls, and trim, and remnant of cat pee odor lurking somewhere in the walls. But, whatever the need, here are some basics I’ve learned:
-Metal scraper (make sure its sharp! I spent about twice as long on a room with a dull scraper! Thanks, Tim ;)
-Face mask (to block out dust, not to mention all that lead!)
-Wood filler
-Drywall spackle
Depew’s walls are drywall covering the original lap board siding. We just focused on the wood trim… which was no small task!
Basically, I went over the wood with my scraper, and if it didn’t come off fairly easily, I moved on. There was a good bit of elbow grease that went into it, and my arms felt like spaghetti afterwards, but I learned that if I had to press into the wood too hard, it wasn’t worth it. That’s what the sander is for.
After we finished scraping the trim, we used wood filler in all the holes in the wood. Sarah went back over my (and Liz and Tim’s) handywork with an electric sander after the wood filler had dried (usually we left it overnight). I kept asking to use the sander, but she always politely suggested that I fill holes and let her sand… I suppose the idea of me handling a power tool made her a bit nervous. Can’t say that I blame her.
As Sarah sanded, I filled in the holes in the drywall with spackle. Once the sanding and hole-patching was complete, we had ourselves a room ready to paint! And that’s Paint Prep 101!
So, I had this great idea that I would save some money and start demo-ing the bathroom myself. My friend, realtor, and contractor Joe Honegger has signed on to help me rebuild the bathroom, but my tight budget means I need to pitch in.
Last night, I went over to the house to test my methods.
My chisel was completely ineffective demo-ing bathroom tile like this. This floor is a rock – with 1″ of concrete with metal lath beneath the tile. It took me 15 minutes to remove one bullnose tile from the bathroom entry.
As for the walls, I was surprised to discover wallpaper behind the drywall. I love that all the walls are wood – and fun wallpaper makes it even better.
Demo is difficult. Joe – when can you start?
While the Depew house has wonderful, yet-to-be-unveiled charm, a darker side (in the shoddy renovation sense) still lurks around every corner.
I thought I’d document some of the more absurd home improvement techniques left behind for us to clean up at the Depew House.
Don’t try this at home. Or anywhere, really.
Signing off, Sara Vahle
Duct tape patch job
The best part of waking up is Folgers on your porch light
Door won't open? Just carve out some floor!
I don't really know what this is. But it looks gross.
A hole of some kind - hopefully undiscovered by vermin.
Apparently Zorro was a former tenant.
