Category: Crooked House Renovation

Chronicling my adventures restoring and updating a quirky old Philadelphia rowhouse

Of Mice and Bloodlust

I went home Monday after 4 nights with my parents. It was kind of late when I got home and I was tired so I put off unloading non-perishable groceries until right before my bedtime. And then I noticed green dust coating most of the bottom of the cabinet. It was always a little dirty…
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Closing Out the Irish Labor

I bit the bullet and hired the Irishman twice more. Here’s what I have to show for it. The oak counter next to the stove is in! I plan to sand off the old finish and oil it. (Also, the kitchen is getting tidier) The missing chip of wood on the banister has been patched.…
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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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Hooray for Irish Labor!

Yep, I finally got someone to come work for me again! Remember how I abandoned cutting down the bookcases? This cut was me and my dad working together with a cutting fence. He freehanded all his cuts!   Remember the too deep before? Now, they’re much more gracefully proportioned! And even more importantly, that hump in…
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In With Old Windows?

So we’ve been through the brick and the cornice. Finishing off the Phase 2 façade work means replacing the windows. Remember what I have? Total junk. I was glad to learn how bad they were because I didn’t want vinyl windows under any circumstances and I can replace these without feeling guilty. To review: I…
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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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Facade Plans Post 3 – How NOT to Restore Historic Masonry

Then comes restoring the brick, and this job is scary. I’m going to take the paint off my brick. Many sources recommend avoiding this as it can damage the substrate, but you saw what the paint looks like on my house. For further reading, I suggest this piece from the National Park Service, the preservation guidelines…
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The Great Soap Dish Dilemma

I’m taking a break from expensive and time consuming projects, but there are smaller things I should be doing. My roommate has been away for 3 weeks and I promised her that stuff would happen while she was gone. I didn’t follow through. Some of this is dependent on the Irishman, who also promised to…
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Facade Plans Post 2 – A Cornice Vocabulary Primer

The first day of façade work is gonna be fun. I’ll triumphantly rip down the awnings, the capping around the windows, and the siding over the cornice. This will wait until after there is no danger of frost, probably next spring. All façade work including the brick and windows will then need to be done…
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The Dreaded Post-Construction Clutter

Amid all the odds and ends and this goal to not work too hard on the house, I’ve been chipping away at the dreaded clutter. And there were some pleasant surprises. First, I had some old kitchen cabinets in the basement but decided they won’t be reusable after all. I was ready to drive them…
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