Timeless Fence

Or, at least, I'd like to believe so...  A white picket fence for a nearly 100 year old house is fitting.  Last September, the old picket fence was removed to make way for extensive concrete work to be completed.  Due to the lateness in the season and a quick onset of cold weather, I delayed building the new fence until this Spring.

Lumber, specifically the posts and stringers, was purchased and allowed to dry.  Once there was high confidence there wouldn't be any more hard freezes, the sprinkler system was turned back on only to discover a leak under the driveway (I had my suspicions when they repaired it while pouring concrete). The leak was in close proximity to where the gate post would be set, so I'm thankful I kept a watchful eye on this possible issue before beginning.

It took several weeks before I could get the irrigation company to reroute the damaged line, which meant a setback in starting the project.  An uncommon rainy Spring resulted in even more delays.  But, thankfully, I was, eventually, able to begin.

The fence is one hundred percent Western Red Cedar with all fasteners (aka screws) made of stainless steel.  Since Western Red Cedar has natural tannins in the wood, it is important to use fasteners that will not corrode or rust.  There was a lot of thought that went into selecting the picket style and I chose, with input with my Wife, to go for something simple and befitting of the simple nature of the house.  The gate handle and latch  is the same style that would have been used for the era of the house and is almost identical with what was on the picket fence that I absent mindedly let leave the lot last September.

I hand primed every piece of wood twice and sanded everything before assembling the pieces. Then, a solid coat of acrylic latex paint to finish it off.  I know I drove my Wife nuts with all the meticulous measuring, thought, and detail I put into the fence.  I'm certain she's happy I won't be talking about it, ad nauseum, in the future.

Another project complete!

Hand Cast by "Coastal Bronze"

Latch with gate stop

Important for the "non-public" side to look as good as the front side

Another Project Done!

 After, almost 3 months of waiting after the initial quote, the new garage door has been installed!  The goal was to tie the garage door style with the front door, which is solid, straight-grain Douglas Fir.  The one caveat--I was not going to has a solid wood garage door installed due to fear of longevity.  Instead, it's a steel, 3-section door (every other garage door I've seen is 4-section) that is fully insulated and has frosted glass to curb curious souls.  From a distance, the door looks like wood. In fact, you'd have to touch it to realize it's a constructed of metal.

Before

Finished!

Hopefully, by the end of this weekend, I'll have another outdoor project completed, weather permitting...

Spring is Finally Here!

 After many false starts, it seems Spring is, finally, here!  A year ago, I published this post about discovering some tulips on the side of the porch.  I dug up the bulbs late last Summer and stored them until replanting them in the late Fall.  In all, there were about a dozen bulbs.

After a slow start this past month, they have all, finally, bloomed!  Five red, 4 salmon pink, and one lone yellow. This was my first experience planting tulip bulbs and I'm relieved they all bloomed, considering I saw only half of these (the red ones) bloom a year ago.

Now that the colder nights are behind us, I'll begin on several house projects: 

• building a new picket fence between the house and garage
• updating two outdoor outlets to the latest electrical code
• weather resistant, tamper proof, GFCI, ultra-duty outlet covers
• installing water table boards around the perimeter of the garage
• replace the front gable fascia boards on the garage
• make minor exterior repairs in preparation for house painting
• repair minor cosmetic cracks on the above grade foundation wall
• landscaping the back yard patio area

This should keep me busy for several weeks, but the longer days will definitely help.

Hardscaping

Still getting caught up with the progress that has occurred. Late, last Summer, we had four companies provide bids to remove and replace our entrance sidewalk, driveway, garage floor, and back yard patio/sidewalks.  It was a large undertaking, hence, the reason for getting many quotes.  Interestingly, all estimates were within 20%, although each had their own specifications of the method of completing the work (i.e. concrete compression strength, reinforcement methods, drainage considerations).  In the end, we chose a company that was family owned with over 30 years of experience.  The owner would be on-site the entire time and all the workers were full-time employees.

The original driveway was a traditional ribbon driveway.  While I'm not certain when the driveway was poured, I know for certain the concrete directly in front of the garage was poured in 1937 (there were still faint initials "WW" and the year etched into the concrete).  Additionally, the garage floor was in very bad shape with major cracks.  That floor would be replaced, as well.  Essentially, every inch of existing concrete, sans the city sidewalk, which is fairly new, was replaced.  It took 7 days to complete the work after an initial start delay, due to an early September snow (see "Before" pic below).  

Before

After

I won't show all the boring in-progress photos, but the end work is amazing and an absolute pleasure to use. Since my work office is in the front of our home, almost every day, I witness people walking by who stop to admire the work. Maybe, it's because there aren't many homes in the neighborhood with this amount of concrete work. The next step will be sealing the driveway and garage floor, once the temperatures are more favorable.  On to the next project!

Do people still roast chestnuts?

Maybe, not.  But, we do have an officially functioning fireplace, as of, this week! But, before I delve into that, some background is needed.

Last May, I had the original chimney that was used, specifically, for the original coal furnace and kitchen stove, repointed.  This appears to be the first repair ever made on the chimney as the mortar joint color appeared consistent.  Throughout the neighborhood, there are several examples of repairs and it is painfully obvious, based on the mortar color differences.  Repointing a chimney entails removing most of the existing mortar between the bricks and replacing it with new mortar. Completed correctly, the repair will last a very long time.

Before

 

 

After

Afterwards, the mason provided an assessment of the fireplace.  He said the existing flue was not salvageable and needed to be removed and replaced with a metal flue liner. This would entail cutting a hole in the existing (original) cast iron dome damper (think of it as the roof inside the main firebox) to retrofit the new flue pipe. In addition, it was recommended to have an insert put into the existing firebox.  In all, the quote was almost $20k.  I said, "thanks" and told him I'd needed to think about it.  I paid for the repointing work and that was my last contact with him.  Nice guy, but $20k is a lot of opportunity cost.

Since it was Spring, I decided to put the entire idea of having an original, functioning fireplace out of my mind, mainly because it appeared to be a very expensive proposition and, also, I wasn't interested in destroying an original feature of the house.  I had succumbed to having a fireplace with a bunch of lit candles decoratively displayed in the firebox.

In the early Fall, after some thought, I began looking for someone to provide a second opinion and whom would be more sensitive to preserving old home character.  Eventually, I found a local, small company to inspect the fireplace. The challenge was scheduling--he was very busy, mostly because there are so many old homes in our area.  This past Monday was his first opening and I was both excited and anxious about his visit.

He inspected the entire fireplace, top-to-bottom, and said it was in very good condition, including the clay tile flue. That was a relief!  The fireplace was thoroughly cleaned and it was amazing how much creosote was removed from the flue.  A minor repair to a firebrick in the firebox was made and we had an official Level II inspection completed--$145 total cost!

One of the neat things about the fireplace is the cast iron fire basket (technically, it is a coal basket as that what was mostly used in 1920s fireplaces in our area). It is in fantastic condition and original to the fireplace.  I'm confident it is original, since it fits perfectly inside the not so perfectly square firebox.

Built-in swivel ash dump

Fits like a glove!

The next phase will be having the entire facade of the fireplace updated to a style common in many Arts and Crafts bungalows.  While the fireplace is originally brick, in the past (guessing the '90's), someone decided it would look better with a thin skimcoat of mortar applied and painted. I assume this was done to mimic a more Mediterranean style. Ugh! Unfortunately, it is impossible to restore the facade back to its original condition without damaging almost all of the brick. But, I abhor how it currently looks. This past year, I found and and have been in communication with an individual in Pasadena, California who specializes in creating Arts and Crafts fireplaces.  They will create the design, custom make every tile, as well as, glaze and fire every tile.  Amazingly, they are in possession of original tile casts from Ernest Batchelder.  That, however, is a project for later this year. The main reason for pursing this is due to the deep history within our own neighborhood of Van Briggle fireplaces.  There are dozens and dozens of homes in our area containing the coveted work of his local early 1900's kiln, which is less than a mile from our home. While it is impossible to have a Van Briggle fireplace in our home, I can have one created using the identical process.

Finally, however, we get to enjoy our fireplace for the first time. So, until the next phase, this will have to suffice...