Author: Chad's Crooked House

Chronicling my adventures restoring and updating a quirky old Philadelphia rowhouse

Scope Bloat: Appliacnes

This wasn’t part of the plan, but the dishwasher decided to turn itself into a dish rack in the middle of this project. And giving it a bit of thought, we decided that while we’re at it all the appliances should be stainless steel. As proud as I was of buying the opposite of what…
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3 Room Non-Challenge: Getting to the Counters

So, apparently part of not challenging myself is not sticking to a regular posting schedule, but I will be writing because stuff is happening! Remember these secondhand Formica countertops I picked up at the ReStore and cut up with a saw to fit the space? Early this year, we were finally able to thank them…
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The Three Room Non-Challenge

Hi everyone! It’s October and I’m writing my first post of the year. There’s been a lot of awfulness that I don’t want to write about this year, so I’ll just give you the bare minimum. My mother-in-law bought a house. We spent half of 2020 in Florida, mostly helping her. I have no love…
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The Back Trim, Done! (Almost)

  Where we left off, the level siding didn’t meet up at all with the crooked original beadboard. So after all that trouble making the siding normal and level for the neighbors to see, now I wanted to move the weird part where things don’t match up into their view and out of mine. So…
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Back to the Porch Ceiling

We don’t really have a porch, but that’s the best name we’ve got for the underside of the cantilever out back. This project has been on hold for years, so here’s a recap: When I bought the place the bay was crudely stuccoed and the underside of it was clad in that faux rustic textured…
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The Front Window Trim That Was

I want to take a look at the front wall before I bought the house. But first, here’s what it looks like now. And here’s one of those few I remaining spots where the before was nicer, at least in some ways. The casing on the left window was super super crooked even though the…
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Let’s Pretend We Have My Favorite House

I’m terrible at picking favorites. Ask me my favorite color or food and I’ll tell you I can’t pick just one. You’d think I’d have just as much trouble with houses. But you’d be wrong. This has been my favorite house for a solid 20 years. It’s in Atlantic City. More specifically, it’s in the…
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Beating Back all the Clutter

Would you believe that my parents had a normal looking basement in the beginning of May 2010? But we were already losing the battle against clutter. My grandmother and I both moved that month. But we were already losing because for over a year before that my grandmother fought tooth and nail to keep things.…
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The Bookcases Are Looking Like Something

I wasted no time getting them set up – doors back on and books in the house. Now it looks like someone lives here, in a non-messy way. At least at this corner. Then as soon as I got it looking like this I took everything out of the base cabinets and drilled about 10…
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More Civility in the Bathroom, It’s Complicated Out Back

Last week I got started lining up missing parts for all kinds of things. Like my bedroom door. I got the other bedroom done to rent it but mine? Pfft. A lot of the work is on hold for the Irishman. (The door is on hold until the goods arrive.) But the bathroom stuff, at…
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