The Histories: October 2009

As shown in my post from Sunday (10/4/09), more trim was required beneath the front door corbels. This post describes making and installing the additional trim.

It might be better to skim through this post, then read it again to understand these following details!

For additional trim, I cut 2-ft high pedestals, and a series of 1-inch wide strips to connect the pedestals to the corbels. The strips were 1-inch wide spaced 2-inches apart to match the relief on the corbels.

Wood board sizes are described in cross sectional area, so a 1x1 board is 1 inches square in cross section, and could be of any length. I wanted 1/2-inch by 1-inch pieces but could only find 1x1 at home depot. Below, I used a table saw to "rip" 1 x 1/2 inch strips from 1 x 1's. Ripping means to cut a board along its length. Using table saw, I ripped 1 x 1 boards in half to create 1 x 1/2 in. strips. It is done by feeding the 1 x 1 through the saw, sliding the board along an adjustable guide to get the desired thickness.

Then using miter saw, also called a chop saw, I cut an 8-ft 2x6 pressure-treated board (about $20 at home depot) into 2-ft boards, to make the pedestal. A chop saw is easier than table saw to cut boards crosswise.

It was a gorgeous day and setting up your power saws outside is helpful because you don't have to deal with sawdust.

Below, I cut angles at top of pedestal boards, using miter saw, for an angled look.

My door trim is a composite of layered wood strips and boards. This means moisture could get between the pieces. I painted all surfaces, including the inside surfaces that will not be seen, for protection and life. I painted all surfaces with Rustoleum oil-based black, figuring that will be a thick protective coating from mildew and moisture. Once installed, I used silicone caulking along the edges so water does not get between the pieces. The silicone caulking hardens like rubber.

Each pedestal consists of two 2x6 pieces. Below, you can see the first pedestal pieces. The second 2x6 pieces get nailed to the first, so the pedestals stick out more and complement the corbels. Below, I am getting ready to nail the 1/2 x 1-inch strips up to the 2x6 trim that runs the full height of the door.

Below, 1/2 x 1 strips partly in place. Up by the corbels, you can sort of see how I spaced the strips to match where the corbels flare out.

Below, I made 1/4 x 1 strips to go beneath the 1/2 x 1 strips, for further relief. This is because the corbels are so intricate that I think the rest of the trim must have some variety to complement.

Also below, you can see I've nailed the outer 2x6's to the pedestal.

The pedestal top is consists of two angle-cuts and two quarter-round molding pieces. It serves as a break between the strip lines above the pedestal and strips that I will put on the pedestal.

Below, two strips on the pedestal and blocks are used to create a recess on the pedestal, that is wider than the recess created by the strips above the pedestal. This is to give the pedestal a wider look, as it should since it is the foundation piece for the door.

I am pretty close to a color I like for the door, as you can see below. Note how Midnight Black and Gloss Black seem to go well together. Gloss Black is on the more intricate parts such as strips and pedestals, and Midnight Black is on the flatter, less interesting pieces.

ta da!

This blog post is the tale of redoing the kitchen/downstairs hallway and front door.

Part 1 is the kitchen/hallway. Part 2 is the front door replacement and includes a brief discussion of Italianate Victorian architecture. This post includes 48 pictures.

Part 1: kitchen.

Below is kitchen photo taken during the open house (Feb. 2007) first time I saw the house before putting in an offer.

As shown below, clamshell molding was around all doors/windows. Clamshell is a very basic, common and relatively cheap molding. Clamshell molding is under 3 inches wide, which I think is too narrow and looks flimsy. In this post I replace it with wider molding (1x4 or 1x6 plank).
Also note ceiling light, which is to be replaced with track lighting.

Clamshell molding was also around the kitchen window:

Clamshell molding around bathroom door, pried out using small prybar. Clamshell because of the shape in profile. Note vintage blue color underneath:

After pulling molding and door stops, door frame needed to be planed, mainly because rough paint edges.

During planing, alot of shavings end up on floor:

Below, installing pinewood planks. I started with 1x6 around living room entryway (right) then decided it was too big and went with 1x4 around both doors shown here:

Various planks. The 1x4 and 1x6 shelves shown here are the window sill shelves that will go under the two kitchen windows. They have keys cut along one edge which keys into wall below window. Keys cut by a friend using a dado blade:

Below, nailing 1x6 around bathroom door. Finishing nails have small heads so you can nail them into the wood and they don't stick out. Nail punch is used to get nail further into wood. Then you putty over nail head to smooth it off and the nail is no longer noticeable.

Installing wainscoting

Wainscoting is decorative trim that covers the lower 1/3 of a wall and has a chair rail border along the top of the wainscoting. Wainscoting can be purchased as either planks or panels. I used planks in the hallway and panels in kitchen. Hallway shown below. I glued planks and used drywall bolts every few planks. The hallway wall didn't have many 2x4 studs behind it, to nail planks into, which is why I used bolts and alot of glue. Each plank has side slots, so they key into each other to form a continuous panel.

Hallway after woodwork complete, shown below. Originally I went with Victoriana purple and dark stain, before deciding it was too dark.

Kitchen window:

Paint/stain experimentation:

Final offwhite used for trim was same as for living room:

Panel wainscoting was used in kitchen. Cutting to size with table saw:

Holes were cut accurately in location of wall switches and outlets:

Marking out cutout where wainscoting needs to go around bottom of kitchen window:

Final hallway (doors painted same as trim):

Rail Lighting Installation:

The original ceiling light didn't have a wall switch, so the first thing was to install a switch. (The original light switch was on the hanging lamp itself). Here I marked holes where to search for the wire and where the switch should go:

I had to cut holes in the wall to find the wire. Wire was found to the right of where I thought it would be based on a nearby outlet. I cut a very big hole to provide working room for switch installation:

New switch and everything in place to patch the hole with another piece of drywall cut to size:

New wall switch & wainscoting around it:

Rail lighting is suspended from seven anchors like the one below. The white everywhere is from drilling through ceiling.

Rail (flexible guide) below, also check out the window grill, custom order for Anderson windows, grilles go for $20 or 30 apiece:

ta da!

Funky euro kitchen. I haven't hung any pictures yet, that will be in the coming weeks!

Part 2: Door Replacement:

In this Part I replace the steel oval-window door with a twin-pane fiberglass door.

To remove old door and frame, I cut around the frame from the inside of the house, along the outside edge of the frame, using reciprocating saw which cuts through all nails. Then I banged it out with a sledge hammer. Finally, the door gave way at the top as shown below. It was loud and took a long time and the next day my neighbor asked what I was up to.

I was glad to see the ugly oval go. With door and frame gone, the opening for new door is the opening built into the original house frame:

Italianate

My reconstructed front entryway is of the Italianate architecural style which is a style from the mid 1800s that included tall, arched windows and cornices and other elegant trim work. It started in Britain as a combination of Victorian and Italian Tuscan styles. Itailianate is used in both commercial and residential buildings. Applying this style to a Cape is definitely experimental but I think that the Cape's steep-pitched roof and front eave overhang provide enough visual framework for the door, which emphasizes the height of a structure.

Below is an Italianate building. Note the corbels (ornate brackets) under the eaves, and the twin front doors with arched windows:

Below is the new prehung door, Therma-Tru fiberglass twin-pane custom order from Lowe's about $400:

Here it is painted black. I tried a few colors before going with green (for now at least):

The original storm door didn't fit over the new door, it was one inch too narrow. So I don't have a storm door for now, but that should be easy to do before the winter!

After fitting the prehung frame into the house opening, shims are cheap wedges of wood that you bang into the opening between the door frame and house, to fine-tune the door and make the door vertical and swing correctly. Because with even a small tilt or shift, the door could hit an edge and not close.

After installing the door and a $120 lockset, I discovered the wood "brick molding" trim that came with the door was too thin and made the door look awkward.

Below, I cut out shingles alongside the door, a 6-inch wide removal to install wider trim on either side of the door. The purpose of wider trim is to emphasize the door as well as make a transition from the fine detail of the door to the practical and much simpler shingles on the rest of the house. Beneath the shingles was fiber board and sheathing in good condition:

I used 6-inch wide pressure-treated wood for the trim, since this is exterior use and replacing shingles. Shown below I am coating it with Rustoleum for even more protection and long life:

Close-up of 6-inch-wide cut along new door frame (yes, the new front door is a different color in every picture):

Ready to nail up new trim!

new door!

From the Inside..

Corbels

Below is an example of corbels, which are ornate brackets, the finest architectural elements of which our age is capable (in my humble opinion).....

Below are authentic, period corbels at Brooklyn Restoration, a dusty old warehouse near Putnam full of dusty and peeling but fantastically gorgeous old house parts for sale. Don't just take my word though, MacConaghey and Zellwieger also shop there. These corbels shown below are about $20-30 apiece. I bought two of the kind in lower left for above the door, plus two more for the far ends of the eave: