Adventures in Sandblasting

It's been a while since the last post, mostly because we haven't been doing much preservation-related. We got a sandblaster back in July that sat in the living room for a couple of months because a part was broken. We had gotten so used to it being part of the scenery that I had forgotten it didn't belong there until I started to dust it. We've gotten the sandblaster fixed now and moved it from the living room. We've also gotten the cast iron claw foot tub that precipitated the need for the sandblaster. This is a friend's tub that had been used outdoors as a horse trough for a while. The inside enamel is fine, but the outside wasn't quite ready for prime time. Enter the sandblaster.

We're learning about sandblasting as we go. While we've done it before, it was in a shop situation where everything was set up for us. We didn't have to choose the sand and find out the hard way that a sieve is really, really handy. In other words, the first day's sandblasting was a bit of a dud. The play sand clogged up the hose and more time was spent unclogging than blasting. We found blasting media at a local Tractor Supply and tried that next. It worked much better, though still clogged periodically.

The tub is going in our downstairs bathroom which has white tile with black accents. We decided the outside of the tub would be shiny black so it was primed first.

We then used 3 coats of black spray paint to cover the tub. We did this Labor Day weekend, which, anyone in the eastern half of the country knows was still stuck in the weather patterns caused by Hurricane Isaac. There were storms popping up here and there all weekend. It seemed that every time we went out to sandblast or paint, it would start sprinkling, then pouring rain. Persistence paid off though and we got it done!

Now the other story that goes along with the clogged sandblaster and the popup showers is that a cast iron claw foot tub is HEAVY!  We got it onto the truck with help from friends. The sawhorses you see it sitting on in the photos were about the same height as the truck bed so we could just slide it off and onto them. But getting in the house?? Not a job for the 2 of us (the one of us not pictured is just too whimpy!) So the tub sat in our yard for a week under a tarp and, since we live 30 miles away from our strongest friends, once it was painted we had no idea how to get it into the house. Fortunately, we were saved by a Virginia Tech football game. Friends dropped by our house to see us and we got them to help move the tub in.

Now the tub's inside and sitting on its side. We got to see inside the tub for the first time and are now working to clean all the stains from its previous life. We also need to decide what color to paint the claw feet and find the missing cleat for one of the feet to attach it to the bottom of the tub. Then we can flip it upright, plumb it, and relax in warm, blissful bubbles!

Salvaging What We Can

We're currently in the demolition phase of the rehabilitation of our project house.  That means we've been wielding our sledgehammers and have got a dumpster outside.  We're pretty selective about what we're throwing away though:  

• The old wood windows will stay and be reworked.  We'll add storm windows to make them just as efficient as new double-glazed windows.
• Some of the doors will stay and be stripped and repainted.  The front door is a new door so we'll get rid of that.  Not all of the interior doors match and we'll be changing the layout of the rooms, so we'll be visiting our local architectural salvage to buy some solid wood 5-panel doors.
• The wood floors just need to be refinished.  The old yellow spotted linoleum kitchen floor and vinyl bathroom floor will go.
• Lumber and trim will be reused in this house or another.
• The bricks from the chimneys that are no longer necessary will surround planting beds and create a retaining wall in the yard.
• The acoustic tile ceilings?  Outta here.
• Old insulation? What old insulation?
• Old metal pipes, electrical wiring with copper in it, and the old appliances will be recycled.
• The old kitchen cabinets will find new life in the shed in the backyard.
• The old blue bathroom fixtures will be donated to the local ReStore.  (Can you believe the architectural salvage place wouldn't buy them from us?!?)

It's in everyone's best interest to be selective about demolition debris.  The bottom line for us is money savings: a lighter dumpster means cheaper tipping fees and reusing materials means we don't have to purchase them new.  The less that ends up in the landfill and the more that we can reuse, the better.  Reused materials mean less energy is consumed in making new and probably inferior products.  It's a little more effort for us, but worth it in the long run.

A Credo for Do It Yourself Shows

We watch a fair amount of DIY shows (some would probably say too many), and here's the thing: there are a lot of yahoos out there that take these shows as gospel.  They don't have a clue about how to actually do anything, but they see it on TV and think they can do it too.  If for no reason other than that, it is the responsibility of all DIY shows to do it right:

• Be a good example.  If you don't work safely and responsibly, how can you expect your viewers to do so?
• Don't mock the homeowner who got himself in too deep.  You are the expert.  That's why you have the show.  Mocking that one homeowner makes other homeowners feel like they shouldn't ask questions which leads them to more trouble.
  
• Use the safety gear you hate.  The safety glasses?  They make you look like a total geek.  The mask?  It hides your luscious lips.  The gloves? They make you seem oh so much less manly.  The ear plugs? What?  USE THEM!  ALWAYS!  If you don't, your viewers won't.  And then you can feel responsible for the lost eyesight from the spraying tile saw, the inhaled fiberglass insulation causing an asthma attack, the mangled fingers during demolition, and the deaf ear from the jack hammer.  Pretend OSHA is looking over your shoulder.  For your newby viewers' sakes.
• Use the right tool for the project.  No axes for demolition please. That just gives me the heeby jeebies.
• Get a building permit.  This part is often not shown on DIY shows so many homeowners don't even know they need a building permit for the work they are doing.  That can cause all kinds of problems when the cease and desist orders start flying. 

• Work with the building inspectors and historic district commissions instead of indicating that they are just there to derail your project.  Building inspectors and historic district commissions are there for a reason: your safety and the integrity of your home and the neighborhood.  Often they will work with you.  If you ask.  Not if you try to power your own idea of code through and expect them to accept it.  Having a good working relationship from the beginning is far better than an adversarial one that begins three quarters of the way through the project.  Make your viewers aware there are building codes and there might be other covenants on the property before the inspectors strike.
• Salvage what you can.  In our new greener world, don't replace all of the windows, and doors, throw out the old fixtures, wood paneling and trim, or destroy the radiators.  If you really can't reuse them in your project, bring them to an architectural salvage yard or a ReStore.  Someone else can often reuse these things and keep them out of the landfill.  But only if you don't throw sledge hammers at them or shatter them in the dumpster.
  
• Make it clear that if you don't have experience, you shouldn't do it at home.  There are certain jobs that should be left to the pros.  There's been a lot of DIY wiring going on on shows lately that makes me cringe.  People are shocking themselves and laughing it off.  They could die.  They could burn their houses down.  If you don't know what you are doing with something as potentially dangerous as electrical wiring, hire an expert!
• Don't glorify the yahoos who shouldn't be doing it at home by giving them their own shows, it just encourages more yahoos.  'Nuff said.

The French Doors - Oui Oui!

We have had a number of pleasant surprises in this house as we undo the work of previous owners in an effort to return the house to its former configuration.  Since the house had been turned into 3 apartments in the 1940s, some odd things happened - like the closing off of the foyer so that a bathroom could be placed there!  Access to the living room was probably closed off to the front door as well, since the front door probably accessed the upstairs apartment.  The exterior door in the living room accessed the apartment on the right side of the house and the exterior door into the former doctor's office accessed the third apartment on the left side of the house.

For those of you familiar with houses from the late 1800s and early 1900s, there was often a set of French doors separating what most of us use as a living room now from the main foyer.  The previous owners of our house had re-opened the doorway from the foyer to the living room, but only to the width of a single door.  It was obvious to us that there had been a wider doorway there.  There was a square indentation in the floor for the French door to lock one of the doors closed and the framing was new.  When we were at the stage of removing walls that didn't belong, we found that - yes, indeed! - the original opening was wide enough for French doors!

Unfortunately, though some of the trim and doors that had been removed had been stored in the basement by some forward thinking person (or pack rat!), we did not still have the French doors.  Fortunately, Black Dog Salvage is nearby.  Now, if you enjoy looking at treasures from old buildings, check out your nearest architectural salvage store.  It's great fun and you can find details you didn't even know you needed.  Fortunately for us, we found a great set of oak French doors that are stained the color of the rest of our woodwork.  My husband swears they might be our original doors.

Because we needed to build the oak door frame and had far more important tasks on our plate, these doors have been languishing in our doctor's office waiting room/library/dining room/office for far too long.  As part of The Great Rearrangement, it is finally time to install the doors.  As of Sunday afternoon, we have the stationary French door installed.  The little matters of some missing hinge pins and a need to rearrange the living room so that the other door has room to swing kept us from completing this task, but those are quick fixes that should happen this week.  The door looks great and really adds some class to our foyer!