Paneling the Panel, The Fun Part of My Stairway Upgrade

I thought my first post of 2015 should be something about planning ahead, but the truth is that with 10 (mostly small) pieces of Sheetrock left to hang, I’m not at a clean stopping point and don’t really feel like writing that.

And the other truth is that I just sketched what the paneling is gonna look like and I WANT IT RIGHT NOW!

Outside the Crooked House, the Christmas Theme Is Hoarders

Apparently having Christmas decoration themes that change every year (and require you to buy new decorations) is a thing for some people. But nothing so absurd and wasteful will ever be a thing for me. This has nothing to do with decorations, really. My grandmother moved to assisted living on Tuesday. Yes, on Christmas Eve Eve. So this year the holidays were a weensy bit hectic.

A removable Panel for My Basement Stairs

Let’s start with a look at my stairs from the archives, when they still looked like something.

Stairs

10 inches narrower than code requires, but attractive and well built. This stairway is not original to the house; I think it was installed in a 1930’s remodel of the first floor. That triangular wall under the stairs looks right the way it is, but it encroaches on the basement stairwell, as if it wasn’t too narrow before.

Decking the hall

Whoo hoo! The hall done! (ish) And still crooked.

If you were hoping to see boughs of holly on this blog, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Next year I’ll put up real Christmas decorations. This year, you can see a wreath though.

Back to real work: The crooked teeth wall

You remember I said I had to cut notches for 5 beams at the other wall in my kitchen? Well, the Irishman did it. He did the same thing I would have done, but probably 3 times as fast. I’m not a master carpenter

Here’s how it worked. First the piece at the top of the wall went up a few inches low so the beams could be marked out.

Charm on the back of a truck

It’s a common sight in South Philly. But usually it’s being taken out to landfill, not in. The good news is, the woodwork is great quality, the price was good, and it’s in 16 foot lengths. All the baseboards in the house should have just one seam. Except in the closets where I’ll throw together whatever is left over. The bad news is I don’t have a living room anymore.

But you remember what a good match I said the upstairs trim was? Look now! The real life version of that photo I took of the catalog and have been overusing for the past year and a half. Like I said, the new stuff is a little too fancy. But I can live with that.

Kitchen Drywall Resumes: The Hardest Part

So my kitchen is coming together. The sink and interior doorway walls are mostly done, but the fridge/stove and patio door walls are not. You might remember this framing for the soffit on that side.

Square soffit to cover crooked joists

Gotta love the crookendess, right? So to resume work in the kitchen I started with building this:

#controlissues as the Sheetrock Wraps Up

Yes, it’s getting close, but extra hard toward the end. First on Saturday I freaked out about the Irishman starting work while I was helping my dad fix his car, even though it turned out that everything he did without me was FINE. But I got down there to help/micromanage him for the second half of the day. Then today, more of me being difficult. It was finally time to confirm my second woodwork order, closing out a purchase that I started planning last April. So I should show you, the Tague Lumber place in Malvern is the fanciest lumber yard in the world. Literally.

The fanciest lumberyard in the world

Kitchen progress: I’ll oil your beams.

Not really. I’ve put a moratorium on a few things including working on other people’s houses and clothes shopping since I bought the Crooked House. And another pair of work pants just fell apart this week.

So before we talk about actual work I have a story that’s too good not to share. I was coming into South Philly on Monday with my parents to have really good burgers at a neighborhood bar. This isn’t usually my mom’s thing but that day she was ready for a large serving or (half price, local, grass fed) red meat with a side of fries. And we’re in the car and she shouts “Dammit, I forgot the hand towels!” My dad and I looked at each other and I asked why she didn’t just give me rags and she said, “I have to figure out which color matches the tile.” So yes. Apparently I have nice hand towels. I haven’t seen them yet, and now that my mom has a tile in her purse the ones she bought might get exchanged for a different shade of blue anyway. I guess I’m set. Who needs heat or a stove? I have color coordinated linens.

And back to the house, I put a couple of nights in  and after getting fed up with hanging ceiling drywall by myself, I t treated the exposed joists with linseed oil instead. This brought out the grean really nicely, which I love, and darkened them to a mahogany color, which is fine with me although I liked the old color too. Here you can see the difference. What hasn’t been oiled will be covered.

What linseed oil does to old rough sawn wood

Kitchen: Sorta a room now

This weekend I got about half as much done as I had hope to. How many of you are surprised? Believe it or not, the Irishman is. You see, everything in the house is so crooked and wonky that he underestimated what he was up against. Scribing and cutting 2×3’s into wedge shaped shims everywhere! Anyways, he said he can see why it’s taking so long. Anyways, here’s this week’s progress.

So yeah. One wall. And it’s level. And there’s OSB behind the drywall, so installing cabinets should be easy.