Project # 1: Trim

These projects are not necessarily in the order that they will get completed. Some will get started in the next few weeks. Some will be done before I get there in August. Some I want to do while I am there in August. Some will happen later.

 

Trim

Because the house has new floor structure throughout, and the new floors are thinner and lower than the originals by almost an inch, the trim around many of the doors no longer fits, and is too short. Dad used up all of the salvaged trim for the windows, some doors that we were able to drop, and some windows in the basement. But the big opening between the Dining Room and Butler's Pantry has had no trim now for 4 years. Thats James and Dad the day we brought in the dining room table last year and you can see the rough opening with no trim between rooms.

The passage from the Kitchen to the Butlers Pantry was just a door before the project, and now its a wide opening without a door, so there was no trim to fit this opening. Also, there is now a full height door to the right of that opening, where there wasn't a door before. I need trim for both of these openings. Below is Mom's sister Alva and Dad doing the dishes last July 30th, and you can see the two doorways with no trim.

The front door of the house has no trim, because the original trim is now too short, see below.

When David, Dolly and I were on the Island in 2012 we took a road trip with Mom and Dad and found Wood Millers in Clyde River. They have many knives of old trim profiles that are very rare and hard to find these days, and I want all of the new trim to match the original, or at least be close. I showed them a piece of original trim and they found the matching knife. You can't order from them directly, but you can through Kent Building Supply in Montague, so I set up an account there and got a quote for the trim. I knew I wouldn't get to this for a while as there were other priorities then, but its finally time to make the order. Wood Millers will make 200 linear feet of door and window trim, see image below of the profile. They will make it in two pieces, same as the original, becasue it is too large to make as one piece.

I am also adding picture rail to the Parlour, Dining Room, Butler's Pantry, Basement and Mom and Dad's bedroom. The house never had that before, but it was a common item in the Victorian era. It acts as a crown moulding around the ceilings, with a lip for hanging picture hooks from.

 

This is a photo Dolly took in Beaconsfield, headquarters of the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation, in 2010. The way that the picture to the left of the bed is hung is how the pictures in the house will be hung. Incidentally, if I ever paper the kitchen, it will be with this wallpaper. Its Pomegranite by William Morris, 1860.

 

I am ordering 200 feet of this as well. This is a link to Wood Millers and the picture rail I chose: WOOD MILLERS

 

This is what the hooks that will hang from the rail will look like. The colour I have chosen is Oil Rubbed Bronze to match the faucets and curtain rods in the house.

Below is the rope that I will hang the pictures with and the colour I've chosen is Antique Gold, a traditional colour for picture rope.  

Some larger pictures, Like Dan Munn and the painting over the mantle in the Parlour, and The Lord's Prayer in the Dining Room, will get these special rope and rose sets. Again, the colour will be Antique Gold. You won't see the hook, and the tassle will hang down from the picture rail. I found these all on-line at House of Antique Hardware.

We can't install wall base until the door trim is in, so none of the rooms in the house have baseboards other than the kitchen because its different than all the rest of the rooms and we reused the original. Also, when all the floors fell out, the original wall base went with it. So I'm also ordering 200 feet of base. It is 1x8, with a chair rail moulding on top, and quarter-round at the floor, so three components to the wall base.

 

200 feet isn't enough to finish the whole house, but will get us pretty close, hopefully more than 2/3 of the way there. Once this is all in, we can measure precisely how much more we need and finish it off later. There will be enough to do all of the main floor including the kitchen porch and the bathroom, and enough hopefully to do some trim down the stairs and in the basement.

 

The trim will all be factory primed. After it is delivered, Dad will paint it all Blackened, the white trim colour that we are using through the house, before it goes up. After its up, it will need another quick coat of paint to cover the nail holes. I'll bring the picture hanging hooks and rope with me in August and rehang all of the pictures. Once this is done, the whole main floor will be complete. Well, almost...

 

The final detail is the pair of sconces over the mantle in the Parlour. I will have them made and sent to the house so I can get them installed either before or while I am there. Then the main floor is done!

 

I think

James and Dad installing the mantle last year, with glaring bare bulbs above

 2 glaring naked bulbs

The sconce that will replace the bulbs. They will be finished in antique brass to match the other lights that were hand made by Authentic Designs in Vermont. The dining room chandelier and bathroom sconces came from the same place. These lights will be a tribute to the kerosene hurricanes that were the only light source in the house before we started all of this in 2010.  

Updated Look

Last night I was looking at James' photographs that I posted yesterday and really liked the picture of the porch, and thought it might be time to update the look of ther blog a little. Hope everybody likes it.

 

I've discovered a company on-line called allposters.ca that you can send a photograph to, and they will print it on a stretched canvas. It is a great way to turn photographs into art. Last week I sent them this photograph. I plan on sending more if this one turned out well.  

It was delivered to Mom and Dad a few days ago. I had it enlarged to about 2 x 3 feet, and I intend it to go over the west doorway in the kitchen on the high wall. Hopefully it will fill the space. I remember the day this was taken. We had just arrived as Uncle Jim Burtt was repairing the shingles above the porch roof. I think he and Grampy had just finished reshingling the kitchen roof with asphalt shingles (the same shingles that were removed in 2010. They lasted a good long time and didn't owe us anything!). Thats me on the ladder (I was 10 at the time), my cat Tiger with Mom on the step by the kitchen door. Carl, Audrey and Dad standing, with Ola and Jim sitting. Another Uncle Jim, Dad's younger brother, took the photo. It is the summer of 1977. Mom was about 4 months along with my brother Christopher at the time. I like it because there is so much going on, and reminds me of what it was like when there was a big crowd staying there. You can almost hear all of the conversations, and the voices from the past.

The House Wins Heritage Award

The Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation awarded us their annual Heritage Award at their annual award ceremony at the Eptek Center in Summerside on February 18th.

 

More about the ceremony: PEIMHF

Mom and Dad got a room in a hotel across the street and made an adventure out of it. Below is Mom and Dad receiving the award from the Lieutenant Governor of PEI, the Honourable H. Frank Lewis. When I get home we'll get a frame and hang up the award.

More about the Lieutenant Governor: Lieutenant Governor of PEI

Carter nominated us, and didn't tell me, so it was a great surprise to get a letter out of the blue saying we won. Thanks Carter! Its a nice feeling to be recognized for all of the hard work, and a big thank you to everyone who has helped along the way. This is and continues to be a team effort.

 

The following photographs were taken by James way back on October 28th, 2013. I'm finally getting around to posting them, thanks James! He and a friend were over to the Island and went to visit but Mom and Dad weren't home that day. They were sorry to miss you James. At least we got some fantastic fall photos out of it.

So now we are caught up, and time to look forward. The next few postings will each describe a project that we will tackle this year. Onward!

Second Wind

It has been so long since I posted, I don't know if anyone will read this. There are a number of reasons for the hiatus. One is that my job has evolved over the past year and has been very intense. I poured all of my energy into it, and now that has leveled out, I feel like I can take a deep breath and think about other things again.

 

Two: I have not pursued any projects on the house for a while to catch up and pay off the bills I incurred for the work so far.  

 

Three: Maybe its good to take a breather and let the dust settle a bit before moving forward. Mom and Dad have been working away, and got a lot done since I was there last July. But it has been a long winter as everybody knows. With spring comes a fresh look at what is left to do, and renewed energy to get it done. Priorites have surfaced, and its time to get rolling again.

 

So, I am planning for the 2014 projects, drawing plans, making calls, ordering materials, and lining up contractors. I will describe the projects and update their progress between now and when I get there in August. Hopefully some projects will get done before I get there, and I am already planning the projects I want to do while there. This is the beginning of the big final push to substantially finish the house. There will always be things to do, but my goal is to have all of the major work complete this year. Wish me luck!