About a week ago, in an energetic burst of fixer-upperness, I decided I would strip the bathroom door. The paint was peeling and cracking, and I was itching to try some Peel-Away to see what the fuss was about.

While painting the kitchen, I noticed a cold draft coming from the space where the back wall meets the floor. Since drafts are our enemy, I got down on my hands and knees to check it out. What I found was a sizeable gap between the floor and the bottom of the wall; I could […]

Mindy began to paint the kitchen tonight to freshen up the walls and attempt to disguise the door that has been poorly sheetrocked over. As Mindy and I began to move the fridge away from the wall she suddenly paused and put her hands over her mouth saying, “Honey… I found a dead mouse and […]

It’s 8:00am Saturday morning, I’ve just finished carrying a couple hundred pound I-beam into the basement, with much needed help from my father, to use as a linear support for jacking joists back up flush with the girders and sublfooring and replacing sagging ledgers. We began at what so far seems to be the more […]

Now that the dining room is painted, the giant gouge of a doorway that leads to the stairs stands out even more. Here’s what it looks like right now: (click for larger) Why the hole-like appearance of what appears to be an original doorway? Well, our house was a two-family for some period of time, […]

This Saturday marked our second full week in the house, and once again we managed to make a dent in our project list. Hurray for being young, able-bodied, and energetic. On Thursday, I made a stop at Sherwin Williams on my way home from work. I am extremely picky about paint colors. I used to […]

Our walls have cracks, bulges, and holes galore….but after researching (can you tell I’m bored today??), I’ve read that we shouldn’t gut the rooms and put up all new wallboard if we can help it. So here are some informative articles on repairing plaster and lathe walls: http://www.stretcher.com/stories/990621d.cfm http://www.phouka.com/oldhouse/ren_plaster.html

The Victorians loved their wallpaper. If I was a millionairre, I would be shopping at Bradbury & Bradbury for my wallcoverings. But that’s not in the budget right now (or ever!), so we’ve got to improvise.

Plans are in the works to start repairing our foundation problems. We’re doing it ourselves because we can’t afford to do it any other way, and because Teague’s father has a good understanding of the process and some hands-on experience as well. If you’ve got the cash, I imagine it’s probably better to hire a […]

The downstairs tub was covered in old, crusty non-slip decals. Look what a little hot water, a putty knife, some Goo-Gone and a little elbow grease will do: Before After