So here's a short, 5 minute, 50 second slide show capture some of the highlights of our home.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
5:50 for 5...
It's difficult to summarize everything that Robyn and I have done over the past 5 years. As part of the MSP home tour, I'd love to share all 2000+ photos we've taken since we bought our home. That's just not realistic.
So here's a short, 5 minute, 50 second slide show capture some of the highlights of our home.
So here's a short, 5 minute, 50 second slide show capture some of the highlights of our home.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
MSP Home Tour...
Our big push to finish up work on the house is a direct result of its appearance on the Minneapolis & St. Paul home tour on Saturday, April 30 from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday, May 1 from 1 pm to 5 pm.
We'd love to see you. If you stop by as part of the home tour, you can check in on Facebook at "The Iverson House"
If you're contemplating your own projects, there are also 50 other locations on the tour offering tons of inspiration Go to http://msphometour.com/ and click on "The Tour" to see the list. It's filterable by type of project. You can browse the printed Guide which is available at local libraries, or downloadable from the website; we also have them at our house. Take some time to read through about each home if you can. The website also contains downloadable maps to the houses.
Our house, 1064 Pacific St., Sain Paul, is entry #36; here is the weblink: http://msphometour.com/homes/1064-pacific-st. You can start your tour here.
We'd love to see you. If you stop by as part of the home tour, you can check in on Facebook at "The Iverson House"
If you're contemplating your own projects, there are also 50 other locations on the tour offering tons of inspiration Go to http://msphometour.com/ and click on "The Tour" to see the list. It's filterable by type of project. You can browse the printed Guide which is available at local libraries, or downloadable from the website; we also have them at our house. Take some time to read through about each home if you can. The website also contains downloadable maps to the houses.
Our house, 1064 Pacific St., Sain Paul, is entry #36; here is the weblink: http://msphometour.com/homes/1064-pacific-st. You can start your tour here.
If you, family or friends are thinking of moving to, or within, the Twin Cities, the Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour is also a good way to check out neighborhoods.
See you April 30 or May 1 !!!
See you April 30 or May 1 !!!
It's 114 years old...
March 23 was five years since Robyn and I purchased our home. After an intense couple of months, we started to move in Memorial Day weekend.
As you can imagine, with a house of this vintage, there are always maintenance items. Some because the age of the house and it is just time. And some, because I was a dumbass.
One of the things we have enjoyed about our home is being able to enjoy the outside. The outdoor fireplace in front of the concrete patio that has been there 50 or 50 years.
The deck we built last year.
Greatly expanded our outdoor entertainment area.
As you can imagine, with a house of this vintage, there are always maintenance items. Some because the age of the house and it is just time. And some, because I was a dumbass.
One of the things we have enjoyed about our home is being able to enjoy the outside. The outdoor fireplace in front of the concrete patio that has been there 50 or 50 years.
The deck we built last year.
Greatly expanded our outdoor entertainment area.
Enabling us to introduce some Minnesotans to a New Orleans-style crawfish boil.
But Minnesota winters are rough.
The water treatment and stain didn't last as long on the deck as I hoped. So it had to be reapplied.
And did you know that the wind can really blow in Minnesota? Last summer, high winds blew our barbecue grill all over the deck. One time, even blowing it completely off the deck.
These treated 2x2's should keep it in place this summer and the grill mat will keep the grease off the deck.
One of the hazards of having a big dog (190 lbs or so) it the danger he poses to household items. His tail sweeps things off TV trays or leaves a bruise on your leg. Leave a cabinet door open...
And the big klutz will run through it. Not around it.
But Menard's does sell reasonably priced replacements.
Sometimes the unexpected happens as well, tilt an upstairs air conditioner too far forward....
And it will run down the ductwork and mess up the paint on the living room wall.
Which is why we kept the leftover paint. (Speaking of which, "Robyn, do you know where the bright white ceiling paint is? I can't find it.)
And sometimes, the fact that I am an amateur DIYer shows. Who knew there were adjustable legs on a dishwasher? Obviously, I didn't.
Not knowing that meant I had to cut off 1/2 inch from the sink rail tile to be able to open the door. But it still banged up the tile and broke.
The old tile actually wasn't that hard to remove. And once the dishwasher was lowered...
the tile saw didn't have to be pulled out to trim the tile before it was installed. (ROBYN, DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE BLACK GROUT IS????)
...and the work continues
Over the past couple of months, Robyn and I have continued our work to get ready for the home tour. The punch list has also managed to creep up from around 30 items to nearly 60. We've been gradually picking items off the list, with several things often in progress at the same time.
Not long after we got started staining the quarter round to go around the base moulding. The staining station was set up in the basement (not on the home tour).
And gradually started installing the quarter round.
The seat of this one had split...
This one fix was a bit difficult because oak door stops weren't available in a close enough dimension and the stain on pine was difficult to match.
Another one of Robyn's Craigslist finds, was this vintage armoire. We use it to store winter coats.
Not long after we got started staining the quarter round to go around the base moulding. The staining station was set up in the basement (not on the home tour).
And gradually started installing the quarter round.
Hopefully, we'll be able to refresh the shine on these baseboards.
As we were waiting for stain to dry, we worked on repairing some of the chairs that were showing their age.
The seat of this one had split...
I reinforced it with a stained piece of oak that was glued and attached with wood screws. (and dang, was it tough. I broke a couple of drill bits and 2 or 3 screws.)
I also got around to replacing one of the door stops that had broke when we put in the flooring.
This one fix was a bit difficult because oak door stops weren't available in a close enough dimension and the stain on pine was difficult to match.
Another one of Robyn's Craigslist finds, was this vintage armoire. We use it to store winter coats.
But we didn't have a key for the locks so we had to hold the doors closed with a scarf.
But some double roller catches, with spear strikes...
...took care of that. They worked so well....
I used them on the kitchen cabinets where decades of accumulated paint kept the cabinet doors from staying closed.
In amongst all of the work, we did take time to relax. We had a great St. Patrick's Day.
Beef... not so much.
One of the challenges with staining the quarter round was all there was at least 4 different tints on the baseboards. I usually had success matching, sometimes with some trial and error.
For some reason, the baseboards in our bedroom were a bit rougher than most others (except for those that a dog had chewed on before we bought the house.)
A little mahogany stain and some poly made them look 100 times better.
Even if they are behind the dresser, I know how they look now.
And as soon as the last bit of quarter round went down...
Robyn was able to take advantage of this Ikea hack, we'd seen on HGTV's Tiny House Hunters (or was it FYI,'s Tiny House Hunting.)
Ticking the items off...
Back when we were rehabbing the front porch, we replaced one of the outlets with a GFCI outlet and then extended the electric line to the outside as we didn't have an outdoor outlet. At the time, the line was just capped off and a cover put on the box.
I had an extension cord from the inside that we used for the Christmas lights and a temporary light for the front.
It was a simple matter to take the cover off and install the outlet.
The cover... That's another matter. It was a bit challenging to hold both spring loaded outlet covers up to screw in that small center bolt. (You can see here why the front trim needs painting.)
Caulked it with some clear silicon caulk to weatherize it and called it good. It was still too far away from where I have the temporary light so an extension cord was still needed.
Eventually, I'd like to have a new line run from the breaker box to have a permanent flood lighting installed, (and maybe one of those new-fangled combo window air conditioners / heaters.)
By the way, I think that red trim would look good around that blue door and the windows.
But Robyn said, "Not so much." So it was back to get a new sample.
Another coat is still needed on the top half of the front but it has already completely changed the street view of our home.
I had an extension cord from the inside that we used for the Christmas lights and a temporary light for the front.
It was a simple matter to take the cover off and install the outlet.
The cover... That's another matter. It was a bit challenging to hold both spring loaded outlet covers up to screw in that small center bolt. (You can see here why the front trim needs painting.)
Eventually, I'd like to have a new line run from the breaker box to have a permanent flood lighting installed, (and maybe one of those new-fangled combo window air conditioners / heaters.)
By the way, I think that red trim would look good around that blue door and the windows.
But Robyn said, "Not so much." So it was back to get a new sample.
Formal Maroon met with her acceptance. So on to the front of the house.
After power washing the old loose paint off, I got started on laying down some formal maroon paint.
Who knows the last time this trim had been painted. We were fortunate that it was not in worse shape.
Another coat is still needed on the top half of the front but it has already completely changed the street view of our home.
Gas????
Robyn just loves to go to vintage and thrift stores. Last summer, we found an art deco style light fixture at the Your Turn vintage store down on lower East 7th Street close to downtown St. Paul. (Unfortunately, it has since closed.)
We had an Ikea POS light up. It looked okay but you could tell it was cheap. (and I forgot to take a before picture.)
Since we were already into early April, getting the vintage light up was definitely on Robyn's list of things to get down before the home tour. Once I got the old light down, I was reminded about the gas line that was there.
We had an Ikea POS light up. It looked okay but you could tell it was cheap. (and I forgot to take a before picture.)
Since we were already into early April, getting the vintage light up was definitely on Robyn's list of things to get down before the home tour. Once I got the old light down, I was reminded about the gas line that was there.
In the kitchen, I just cut the old gas line down flush with the ceiling when I put a new fixture in. But this line was capped and I decided discretion was the better part of valor and decided to leave the line be.
That meant that I needed an alternative. I had already planned on retrofitting an electric box but I was planning on recessing it. Because of the gas line, I needed to have the box extend past the line.
Let's just say it was a bit frustrating to get everything situated so the hardware was secure enough to hang the light and also fit around the gas line.
Three trips to Home Depot, a bit of cursing, and 4 hours later, the light fixture was in place.
Stained...
Stained glass is much a part of Victorian era homes such as ours, and one of our bigger disappointments with our home was that it contained no stained glass. Even though all of the original windows were replaced in the sometime distant past, we haven't found any indication that there was ever any stained glass in the house. Not even from looking at this 1930's era photo.
So back in early March, 2016, Robyn got a wild hair to go find a piece for the front door since are scheduled to be on the Minneapolis St Paul Home Tour at the end of April. We found this piece at Wescott's Station Antiques on West 7th Street in St. Paul.
Putting this in the front door and refinishing the door was not on my original punch list of items to get done for the home tour. But the door was in rough shape.
The window was just a bit smaller than the opening so we needed to add some shims.
But first, decades of old paint needed to be removed from around the frame.
Once the frame was stripped down...
It was installed in the door...
...and stained. Because of the different wood types (and some residual old wood putty) the stain didn't match exactly.
The door was finished off with some trim to cover up the shims.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Punch List...
So our house is going to be on the 2016 Minneapolis Home Tour which is on April 30 and May 1.
Robyn agreed to do it provided I committed to finishing up all of the little items that have piled up undone. So I put together a "punch list" of the items remaining. It's a bit longer than I expected.
The most time consuming items are those that require staining. It usually takes at least two days to get the required number of coats.
Several of the items are in flight but the highest priority is being placed on getting the floor quarter round installed. The molding is coming in 11 foot and 12 foot lengths which makes it difficult to take down the inside stairs and the outside stairs have a piece of OSB covering the exterior basement introduced.
What to do???
Well, use the 1 1/2 inch hole saw...
Another of those leftover items to do, was to put casing around the inside of the front porch door. You can see the slope the porch has (and the spray foam I put around the door.)
1x4 oak planking was just about the perfect size. I thought about using pine but wanted something a bit more durable.
I did have an "oops!" when I misread the tape measure as 6'9" when it was only 6'7". Had to cut a two inch piece to go on the bottom. Fortunately this was going to be painted and not stained.
Added some wood putty to the joints and then primed the bare wood.
And with the coat of semi-gloss Banana Cream, I was ready to put those blinds up I bought a couple of years ago.
One of the things we've be wanting to do to dress up the outside of the house since it was a beige vinyl siding was to change the trim color from white to another. We decided that we liked the color that we spray painted the back door so we tried to match it.
I learned my lesson from the front steps which came out redder than we wanted so I bought a sample to try on the back door trim. It didn't match the back door and came out a brighter red than we wanted. I actually like the color but I think by the time all of the trim, particularly the front porch trim, was painted the color would be overwhelming. So, back to the paint store.
While those projects were going on, down in the basement, I was staining the pieces for 4 more "punch list" items: the front door threshold, the door stop for the door between the foyer and the kitchen, the reinforcing block for the chair that has a split bottom and the headboard extension (the light piece in the picture). Robyn had found a mid-century modern bedroom set a couple of years ago. However, our bed is a California king and this headboard which is a standard king is six inches wider. I'm adding a piece of 1x6 hardwood stained maple to serve as an extension.
As soon as I finish staining those pieces and cutting them to fit, I can get started staining these pieces of trim for upstairs.
Robyn agreed to do it provided I committed to finishing up all of the little items that have piled up undone. So I put together a "punch list" of the items remaining. It's a bit longer than I expected.
- Stain and Install Floor molding - downstairs - done
- Stain and Install floor molding - upstairs - molding purchased
- Replace Trim at top of stairs - molding purchased
- Trim under cabinets
- Stain and install front door threshold - in progress
- Resize vent in our bedroom
- Replace foyer light - purchased
- Replace middle bedroom light - purchased
- Remove masking tape on light at top of stairs
- Repair light at the stair landing
- Replace kitchen cabinet door knobs
- Make extension for master bedroom headboard - in progress
- Trim and re-install closet molding
- Repair living room wall from AC leak
- Repair chair in dining room - in progress
- Install casing around porch door - done
- Paint casing around porch door - done
- Re-seal deck
- Repair kitchen tile
- Install stained glass in front door window
- Fix laminate around bottom stair rail
- Touch up kitchen sink enamel - done
- Touch up paint on porch
- Replace pneumatic closer on storm door - done
- Remove paint drips from molding
- Remove paint drips from front door, both sides
- Refresh stain on front door, both sides
- Refresh varnish on molding
- Varnish front door, both sides
- Install catch on armoire doors
- Stain and install door stop for door between foyer and kitchen - in progress
The most time consuming items are those that require staining. It usually takes at least two days to get the required number of coats.
Several of the items are in flight but the highest priority is being placed on getting the floor quarter round installed. The molding is coming in 11 foot and 12 foot lengths which makes it difficult to take down the inside stairs and the outside stairs have a piece of OSB covering the exterior basement introduced.
What to do???
Well, use the 1 1/2 inch hole saw...
...to cut a hole to pass the molding through to Robyn.
There was quite a breeze blowing through the insulation so we stuffed a piece of leftover pipe insulation in the hole.
I was able stain about 7 pieces of quarter round at a time.
And was pleasantly surprised by how close of a match we were able to get.
Each of the door openings were a bit of a challenge to work around, but once I figured out how it looks the best, it went quickly.
Next to the sawz-all, this little one gallon compressor with the 18 gauge brad nailer was about the most useful tool we purchased for working on the house.
Another of those leftover items to do, was to put casing around the inside of the front porch door. You can see the slope the porch has (and the spray foam I put around the door.)
1x4 oak planking was just about the perfect size. I thought about using pine but wanted something a bit more durable.
I did have an "oops!" when I misread the tape measure as 6'9" when it was only 6'7". Had to cut a two inch piece to go on the bottom. Fortunately this was going to be painted and not stained.
Added some wood putty to the joints and then primed the bare wood.
One of the things we've be wanting to do to dress up the outside of the house since it was a beige vinyl siding was to change the trim color from white to another. We decided that we liked the color that we spray painted the back door so we tried to match it.
I learned my lesson from the front steps which came out redder than we wanted so I bought a sample to try on the back door trim. It didn't match the back door and came out a brighter red than we wanted. I actually like the color but I think by the time all of the trim, particularly the front porch trim, was painted the color would be overwhelming. So, back to the paint store.
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