Removed a front stair tread that was severely broken. It was built originally in three pieces and those three pieces were no longer level with each other. Held together by a bunch of caulk. We are trying to decide whether to repair it (time)or replace it (money).
The sad part is that after the hours and hours of work to remove all the layers of paint and sanding every little nook to then put the stain on, the trim looks fantastic but also further reveals the work needed on the door.
Gonna wait for spring for that.
These stairs used to be covered with layers of paint. The tip layer black. And, at some point, there were runner pads glued and stapled down. All cleaned up and ready for repair and stain.
First pass of new stain on the door trim. This trim used to be covered by several parts of paint. Now on the way to matching the rest of the downstairs trim.
I suck at taking before pictures (which I’ve established previously) so I failed to get a before shot of the front door latches but suffice to say they were a hot mess of poor choices and not secure at all. I cut out the whole section and replaced it.
Just because things have been quiet here does not mean we haven’t been active on Hague. The work is just slow but steady. Jason’s been removing paint from the front stair treads and spindles. Looking good so far…
Owners and Stewards
Current Thought Pattern: There is a difference between those that own a house and those that live in a home. House owners see investment, profit. Home livers feel themselves as stewards, part of a continuum of caretakers for a place for a time in its history.
Not to say one or the other is bad. Nor am I saying they are mutually exclusive. Just to say that one ideas/sense usually takes priority over the other and drives the choices one makes about a place.
For instance, if I chose to view the Hague House as simply an owner, it’d be done and back on the market right now. Instead, I’m restoring a home, a place with history and built to house generations (as homes of that time were).
This drives the choices we’re making about it and the time we’re spending on it and, hopefully, we will sell it to folks that will have a similar sense (though we can’t control that, but we can hope). So the money and time become secondary to making it feel like a home.
So, I guess the current wrap up thought is this: Are you an owner or a steward? Not just with a house/home but with what you have in general? Because how you view/position yourself will ultimately drive your choices/actions.
The Specialist
To better get to the paint that needed scraping on the more difficult areas of the inside front door trim, I drove around to many places trying to find a 1 inch carbide scraper. I checked a few of the big box hardware stores and came up empty. I checked a couple of the mom and pop hardware stores — nada.
I then went to the specialty paint store. The one the true pros use. I figured if they didn’t have it, no one would. They didn’t.
But, just as I was about to walk away dejected the young man there asked what I needed it for. I explained the trim section I needed to get to. Even whipped out my phone and showed him a picture. That’s when he suggested this.
He said he uses it himself and that it is the best on the market. Says it works like a charm.
He only had it in gallon size buckets because that’s what the pros buy. But he said I could likely find the quart size pretty easily and even suggested some places he knows carries it.
I painted some on the trim today. The first test worked well enough. We’ll see how it goes.
This is why it pays off to go to the specialty store and talk to the people that work there. They know things.
Front door cleanup continues today. More scraping of paint by Jason while I cleaned up the hinges. Still more cleaning on those to do but good so far. Why someone would decide to paint over beautiful oak trim and ornate brass hardware is beyond me.
The trim is now installed on the out side of the transom. And, we’ve begun scraping the paint from the inside door trim. The only painted trim in this section of the house. Gonna try to clean it up nice enough to stain it (it is oak).
Today we began the installation of the transom window. Mainly just added some framing to allow it to fit. Need to install the trim and then paint but here’s a before and after of the work this far.
Today, on the basement stairs we replaced the treads and riser that were removed in order to tie the new powder room plumbing into the main a few months back. They’ll get painted eventually.
Finished painting the door trim today. Next up is to put the transom window in but not sure we’ll get to that before it gets too cold.
Here’s a before/after of the door though…
Today, we scraped and cleaned up the front door trim, removed the board covering the transom to prepare for putting a window back in there, and then primed the trim for painting.
Today, removed the purple screen door and started scraping, sanding, and prepping the exterior door trim for paint.
