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The fun part here was coming up with a nimble enclosure to satisfy the OSHA requirement that any exterior work which generates dust be encapsulated from one’s hapless neighbors.
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French door restoration
Is restoring salvage pieces worth the effort? It depends.
What will the final finish be? | |||
| ↙ | ↘ | ||
Clear or transparent varnish or stain over wood | Painted | ||
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Ok. Are there a lot of millwork grooves and ridges? | Go for it! | ||
| ↙ | ↘ | ||
Yes | No | ||
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Don’t bother. | Go for it! | ||
Bathroom refresh
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The most interesting part of this one was the vanity. Based on the square pegs and nails, the thing was easily 100 years old. Stripping off 4 layers of paint revealed a reddish wood that I’m guessing is fir. I built in the shelf and the lip around the top out of poplar, which necessitated a bit of work with stain and polyurethane to get the colors to match.
Read More →Water damage repair on a 1920’s style paneled apartment
Mostly minor stuff on this Park Avenue apartment, but the water damage and slap-n-dash repair jobs over years meant a lot of gaps and flaking and mismatching elements that needed to be patiently coaxed back into order, one bit at a time around the entire perimeter of the room. To add to the fun, things had gotten done out of order (why do so many people want to START with flooring??), which meant carefully sneaking around and behind elements to repair things you wish they had scheduled first.
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garden bench restoration
Replaced rotten boards with weather-treated 2×4’s dadoed with a circular saw to fit and lightly stained. I expect this to last decades longer than the thin polyurethaned slats that typically come with these models. Couldn’t find brass bolts in the right size, so I ended up spray painting some carriage bolts gold.
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