home improvement
Greetings from Brooklyn... fuggedaboudit!
Submitted by Steve on Fri, 09/15/2006 - 10:00am.This blog is about the challenges of renovating an old Brooklyn, New York row house.
My last renovation project, begun in September of 2006, was the master bedroom, most of which is about finish carpentry. You can follow the progress here.
You'll find other completed home improvement projects in the photo diary menu to the left.
My last renovation project, begun in September of 2006, was the master bedroom, most of which is about finish carpentry. You can follow the progress here.
You'll find other completed home improvement projects in the photo diary menu to the left.
A Case of the Mightaswells
Submitted by Steve on Mon, 06/25/2007 - 12:55pm.If you own home in progress, whether you're a DIYer or someone who calls a contractor to change the lightbulbs, you know the syndrome.
"As long as I'm updating the kitchen, I might as well make it larger."
"As long as I'm pouring a new basement floor, I might as well replace all the old plumbing underneath. And then I might as well rough out for another full bath. Then I might as well build it."
"As long as I'm opening up the wall, I might as well add a central vacuum system, split-unit air conditioning and a new 50a riser to the second floor. And a whole house beer tap!"
You think I'm making this stuff up? That's me, folks! Well, except for the beer tap but, believe me, I came very close to doing it. And compressor outlets on every floor too.
Anyway, the mightaswells struck this weekend when I decided I needed to sand and add a coat of Danish oil to the ipe table I made for the living room deck a couple of years ago.
Karen found the wrought iron base in one of her dumpster dives and gave it to me. I picked up some ipe at Dykes and made the top. Unfortunately, I found that ipe and marine urethane don't play well together. Maybe it's the oils in the wood, maybe it's because I sanded it down to too fine a grit, but it was all flaking off.
"As long as I'm updating the kitchen, I might as well make it larger."
"As long as I'm pouring a new basement floor, I might as well replace all the old plumbing underneath. And then I might as well rough out for another full bath. Then I might as well build it."
"As long as I'm opening up the wall, I might as well add a central vacuum system, split-unit air conditioning and a new 50a riser to the second floor. And a whole house beer tap!"
You think I'm making this stuff up? That's me, folks! Well, except for the beer tap but, believe me, I came very close to doing it. And compressor outlets on every floor too.
Anyway, the mightaswells struck this weekend when I decided I needed to sand and add a coat of Danish oil to the ipe table I made for the living room deck a couple of years ago.
Karen found the wrought iron base in one of her dumpster dives and gave it to me. I picked up some ipe at Dykes and made the top. Unfortunately, I found that ipe and marine urethane don't play well together. Maybe it's the oils in the wood, maybe it's because I sanded it down to too fine a grit, but it was all flaking off.
One Dog Night
Submitted by Steve on Wed, 02/28/2007 - 1:35am.After a long day at the terminal, like today, every so often, like tonight, I get the overwhelming urge to head downstairs to the shop, turn on my noisy dust collector and even more raucous bench tools and finish off some project, like the radiator grill for the bedroom reno.
However, this being a row house on a quiet block that pretty much blacks out by 10:30pm, I'd get lynched. I even turn off my motorcycle engine and coast the wrong way down the street to my garage rather than rouse the neighbors, and I have street legal pipes on my bikes.
But it wasn't always this way ["...always this way", "...this way" -insert dreamy, way-back transition music]
