Home Improvement Projects

BrianR · 11-28-2004, 08:05 PM

Since we no longer have LJs Office with it's attendant wood project thread, I started this one.

First off, I now have a load of furniture to refinish. Chest-of-drawers, highboy, two night tables, a buffet table and a kitchen table and chairs (veneer, I doubt I can do much with those). The bedroom CoD and night tables all have real marble tops.

Stripper (no jokes, please) seems to take off the finish and the underlying coat of (paint/primer/undercoating) with no trouble. I will try to scrape out the scrollwork with a plastic scraper but may have a little trouble there. The buffet table has a broken/missing leg that will have to be replaced. I will try to duplicate the other one on a bandsaw and a sander but may have to fabricate all new legs. Hardware is mostly good, but one drawer handle looks cracked...maybe I can solder it back together.

Pictures will happen when I can borrow a camera and get back to the house. Figure on the second weekend in January. I have to go there anyway, might as well make a long weekend out of it.

Brian

Clodfobble · 11-28-2004, 09:07 PM

Ooh. I love this thread.

My house is nothing but one big home improvement project. The BIG big project happening right now is the disassembly of the above-ground pool and surrounding deck. Been in progress for a little over 3 months now. I'll take a current picture tomorrow, and post the in-progress series (working title, "How My Backyard Turned Into a Deadly Construction Zone.")

The other four projects currently in progress are: re-hang the cabinet doors in the laundry room once I finish painting them; apply texture to the walls of both bathrooms to cover up our crappy drywall seams, then repaint them; finish caulking the playroom (a roughly enclosed porch) so the damn spiders will stop coming in droves; and replace the sliding glass back door with a French door.

Happy Monkey · 11-28-2004, 10:21 PM

Just for my vanity, a link to the old thread...

xoxoxoBruce · 11-28-2004, 10:52 PM

You lie, that's not a vanity. That's a (beautiful) bookcase. :p

Brian, why? Is this furniture particularly near and dear or antique or unique?
Refinishing is like major work if there is much detail. Usable furniture is cheap and plentiful, often free.
I mean trying to solder a piece of hardware you can buy for 39 cents doesn't make sense unless it's a rare or unique piece. The cost of stripper, sandpaper, steel wool, brushes, thinner, stains & finishes can add up fast.

BrianR · 11-29-2004, 01:45 PM

Bruce: The pieces need the work...the finish is chipped, yellowed and yucky. It's not near and dear or valuable. I will repair the handle because it's not generic and I cannot replace it without buying all new ones. It's not covered with many coats of paint, just the one varnish and some base coat or other. I want the furniture to match the decor and I like dark brown anyway. This stuff is a kind of yellow-white. I have the stain already, and enough stripper to do two pieces. I will get more when I get back to work on it in January.

Brian

garnet · 11-29-2004, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

My house is nothing but one big home improvement project.

Geez, aint that that the truth! I've got a 55-year old house, and some of the interior has been painted so many times that you can literally just peel the layers of paint off with your fingers. It had a major renovation before I bought it, but the list of stuff to do never ends...

Griff · 11-29-2004, 05:41 PM

I'm making and installing cherry plank flooring (10" 8" 6") in the breakfast nook/kitchen right now. Its fun but seriously buying flooring is prolly smarter.

Happy Monkey · 11-29-2004, 06:00 PM

My parents have a Civil War era stone house in West Virginia that has suffered a large number of hamhanded renovation attempts, including sawing a hole in the floor through which to pour a concrete floor in the basement.

My parents have recently had the roof replaced, and are now in the process of replacing the windows and sills, which have eroded a great deal over the decades. At some point the porch (not original) will need to be replaced.

jinx · 11-29-2004, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

My parents have a Civil War era stone house in West Virginia that has suffered a large number of hamhanded renovation attempts, including sawing a hole in the floor through which to pour a concrete floor in the basement.

My parents have recently had the roof replaced, and are now in the process of replacing the windows and sills, which have eroded a great deal over the decades. At some point the porch (not original) will need to be replaced.

I happen to know of a cute little civil war era stone house in PA that they could practice their skills on first... you know, practice makes perfect and I'd want their house to look its best and everything.[img]images/smilies/blush.gif[/img]

xoxoxoBruce · 11-29-2004, 07:51 PM

Quote:

including sawing a hole in the floor through which to pour a concrete floor in the basement.

That's great! I'd make an inlaid patch of contrasting material so people would ask and I could tell them a great story.

Happy Monkey · 11-29-2004, 08:05 PM

Not if you saw the resulting basement floor. It had to be smashed up and removed. Previous owners also walled up the massive fireplaces, probably to prevent drafts. The chimneys are now home to a huge colony of swifts, which are fun to watch in the evening.

xoxoxoBruce · 11-29-2004, 08:07 PM

And they eat bugs.

Happy Monkey · 11-29-2004, 08:13 PM

For reference, here's the house. With the new roof, but the window directly over the door hasn't been replaced.

lumberjim · 11-29-2004, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianR

Since we no longer have LJs Office with it's attendant wood project thread, I started this one.

OH, shit. sorry. i wasn;t thinking about all that. maybe UT could momentarily un-archive that forum, and move the threads you guys still want to read.

i just don't have time for much more than trolling the turds. i'll try to stay on them, cuz i like to do it, and it needs to be done, but i haven;t much time for creating anything useful or uplifting.

party on, cellar.

xoxoxoBruce · 11-29-2004, 08:20 PM

Cool...9 over 6s......unusual. That's not the house you built the bookcase in so it must be the one for the revolution.

3 stories from the back?

11-28-2004, 08:05 PM	#1
BrianR Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,338	Home Improvement Projects Since we no longer have LJs Office with it's attendant wood project thread, I started this one. First off, I now have a load of furniture to refinish. Chest-of-drawers, highboy, two night tables, a buffet table and a kitchen table and chairs (veneer, I doubt I can do much with those). The bedroom CoD and night tables all have real marble tops. Stripper (no jokes, please) seems to take off the finish and the underlying coat of (paint/primer/undercoating) with no trouble. I will try to scrape out the scrollwork with a plastic scraper but may have a little trouble there. The buffet table has a broken/missing leg that will have to be replaced. I will try to duplicate the other one on a bandsaw and a sander but may have to fabricate all new legs. Hardware is mostly good, but one drawer handle looks cracked...maybe I can solder it back together. Pictures will happen when I can borrow a camera and get back to the house. Figure on the second weekend in January. I have to go there anyway, might as well make a long weekend out of it. Brian __________________ Never be afraid to tell the world who you are. -- Anonymous

11-28-2004, 10:21 PM	#3
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	Just for my vanity, a link to the old thread... __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

11-28-2004, 10:52 PM	#4
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	You lie, that's not a vanity. That's a (beautiful) bookcase. :p Brian, why? Is this furniture particularly near and dear or antique or unique? Refinishing is like major work if there is much detail. Usable furniture is cheap and plentiful, often free. I mean trying to solder a piece of hardware you can buy for 39 cents doesn't make sense unless it's a rare or unique piece. The cost of stripper, sandpaper, steel wool, brushes, thinner, stains & finishes can add up fast. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

11-29-2004, 01:45 PM	#5
BrianR Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,338	Bruce: The pieces need the work...the finish is chipped, yellowed and yucky. It's not near and dear or valuable. I will repair the handle because it's not generic and I cannot replace it without buying all new ones. It's not covered with many coats of paint, just the one varnish and some base coat or other. I want the furniture to match the decor and I like dark brown anyway. This stuff is a kind of yellow-white. I have the stain already, and enough stripper to do two pieces. I will get more when I get back to work on it in January. Brian __________________ Never be afraid to tell the world who you are. -- Anonymous

11-29-2004, 05:41 PM	#7
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	I'm making and installing cherry plank flooring (10" 8" 6") in the breakfast nook/kitchen right now. Its fun but seriously buying flooring is prolly smarter. __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

11-28-2004, 09:07 PM	#2
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	Ooh. I love this thread. My house is nothing but one big home improvement project. The BIG big project happening right now is the disassembly of the above-ground pool and surrounding deck. Been in progress for a little over 3 months now. I'll take a current picture tomorrow, and post the in-progress series (working title, "How My Backyard Turned Into a Deadly Construction Zone.") The other four projects currently in progress are: re-hang the cabinet doors in the laundry room once I finish painting them; apply texture to the walls of both bathrooms to cover up our crappy drywall seams, then repaint them; finish caulking the playroom (a roughly enclosed porch) so the damn spiders will stop coming in droves; and replace the sliding glass back door with a French door.

11-29-2004, 06:00 PM	#8
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	My parents have a Civil War era stone house in West Virginia that has suffered a large number of hamhanded renovation attempts, including sawing a hole in the floor through which to pour a concrete floor in the basement. My parents have recently had the roof replaced, and are now in the process of replacing the windows and sills, which have eroded a great deal over the decades. At some point the porch (not original) will need to be replaced. __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

11-29-2004, 08:05 PM	#11
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	Not if you saw the resulting basement floor. It had to be smashed up and removed. Previous owners also walled up the massive fireplaces, probably to prevent drafts. The chimneys are now home to a huge colony of swifts, which are fun to watch in the evening. __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

11-29-2004, 08:07 PM	#12
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	And they eat bugs. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

11-29-2004, 08:13 PM	#13
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	For reference, here's the house. With the new roof, but the window directly over the door hasn't been replaced. Attached Images __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

11-29-2004, 08:20 PM	#15
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Cool...9 over 6s......unusual. That's not the house you built the bookcase in so it must be the one for the revolution. 3 stories from the back? __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump. Last edited by xoxoxoBruce; 11-29-2004 at 08:22 PM.

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