Chronicling my adventures restoring and updating a quirky old Philadelphia rowhouse
You know what they say about the best laid plans. Much like those wacky ideas I had about putting 20% down and starting an IRA after confirming that my house didn’t need much work, the furniture painting project was not to be. In this case, the culprit is once again old, beat-up, and painted red.…
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Nope, not the house! Though it is also all of those things, today I’m talking about the car. It’s gotten in the way a good bit lately. You see, my hood hinge started to crack. Which means there was very little holding the hood onto the car and I had my annual scare about having to…
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It’s been a while since I’ve written. But I’m finally done with those doors! They’re now stacked up in a closet upstairs again. For new progress, I’ve moved on to getting ready to spray paint. It might seem like I’m jumping around for no good reason, but (and I’m not going to name names) someone…
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I learned from being in the Crooked House that favors are a form of currency that can be held, exchanged, and transferred at will. I don’t know if this is because he’s Irish, he’s crazy, or he works in the building trades. Maybe it takes all of those things. But I learned from it and brought a…
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Yep, I’m finally back onto doing stuff. All my upstairs doors are now stripped of paint! A few that were never painted still need their varnish stripped! How did I manage this so fast? I found a corner to cut. I’m not doing anything to the back sides of the sliding closet doors. They’ll remain…
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Now that I’m getting toward the end of my burnout, it’s time to remember that the to do list before having the floors sanded is getting tantalizingly short. And none of it is going to cost me much! That’s important right now. I basically have to spray paint the radiators and furniture that I’m doing…
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Yep, that last post was fake, and a lot of people fell for it. Even people I know in real life! I got a nice lady who was pushing a stroller up Pelham road to take the photo, and I stopped traffic when I was putting up the sold sign… with Scotch tape. So to…
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The Crooked house is approaching an inconceivable place: a state of good repair. An as it needs me less and less, I’m finding myself falling out of love with it. I’ve been lusting for places with serious woodwork, light from all 4 sides, and some space to plant things. So, I’ve negotiated early access to…
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What was the problem? We finally figured it out. It wasn’t that I drove a screw through a pipe when installing the sink. It also wasn’t that the Irishman did any damage with his power nailer. (And when I dropped by to offer this suggestion he didn’t take too kindly to the idea.) No, it…
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The start of the weekend was ordinary. I decided that yes, I do like that green in the bedroom. The photos I took at night show the color better even though the room looks better now. Even my dad, who is not a green person, likes it now. (Actually he had told me to ignore…
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