Wiring your own subway

I have often wondered, as I race around the footstool and couch and basket of newspapers and floor lamp at the farthest corner of the house to answer the phone, why is the phone line installed on the fireplace? Is it so when the fireplace catches fire, the fire can call for help? Was this someone's attempt at wiring the intelligent house of the future? After researching on TOH's website, and here, I decided, I've got wire cutters, I'll go under the house and re-wire. It took the usual 6-7 project hours (never feels like a quality job unless it takes at least 6-7 hours) and two trips to Lowes. Now I have a fax machine in the office rather than on the fireplace bookshelf, and a corded phone on the kitchen wall so I can sit there, like in olden times, and talk on the phone. I made sure to call my mom to tell her what I had done.

Sometime in the past, when a cable-co. person was installing a line for the office, they guessed at the location of the wall and drilled through the living room floor instead. Rather than go back under the house and re-do the hole (oh that crawl space is nasty!) they continued to feed the cable up through the floor and drilled another hole through the wall and into the office. I removed it and paired it up with the phone cable in a correct new hole between studs and then attached a fancy new coaxial/phone line plate to the office wall. It looks like we're high-tech! And I used to be afraid of wiring. I'll use the remaining wall hole for another line in the living room, as it's a central location.

To add these outlets, I mapped out all our wiring. We have 7 phone outlets installed (only two working) and also two boxes with separate electric supplies. The house is only 1000 sq feet. You can stand at one outlet and spit to another. So why did the existing kitchen phone alone need a second phone line? Why pay monthly for another phone line when so many things around here needed fixing? Like, you know, attaching the kitchen sink drain to a drain pipe.

Phone wiring diagram, all non-right angles are the cables, including the one which circles around the eaves (see, no one else wants to go under the house either):














Then I decided to map our electric system in the attic, too, for kicks:
It's like a badly designed version of London Underground. Each color is a different circuit. The red is fabric from 1928, as is part of the blue. There are a few minor things that need to be done electric-wise, like three-way switches. Some people are afraid of sewing machines, I'm afraid of electricity. But I'm getting better.

Free undies!

This morning we went out to mow and fertilize. In the ferns, just where our house meets the neighbor's, was an expensive new but probably used pair of men's white underwear. Our neighbor was locked out of his house at 4AM, probably a little wasted too, what with the window screens down and him yelling, but there didn't seem to be a good explanation for the nicely laid-out lingerie. By the time I realized what fun it would be to take a picture of the renter randomness, the underwear was gone.

I know the deck doesn't look so 1920's. Some may say the railing appears out of scale or too busy. Sometimes I like it, sometimes not. If only I could have Martha Stewart 1928, on call to answer my questions about lights and cabinetry and plants and dinner. I do tons of period research, but I hardly ever look at it. The research is more fun than planning the project. And I'm encouraged to be an impulsive shopper, although I move like a snail when making decisions.

However, the pine will only last 15 years in our climate (ooh, even less if a hurricane comes along! not that I'm asking), and then something else will go up. Besides, the deck rail is good practice for the eventual front porch railing, which will have wider, flat boards, closer together.

I have good pictures of a pergola, for the deck extension, from 1928. I will follow the picture this time. That helps me feel I'm making progress toward restoration rather than just adding on. And because our brick was too soft to attach ledger boards to, the only alteration done to the house was to knock out the top two steps, which were cracking up anyway. My theory on restoration is to only do things which won't cause future loss (i.e. cracks in the foundation) and can be reversed. Pergola:

Wow, I want a house for $696. Elmhurst #3 (top right) is most similar to our layout. Looking at this now, maybe beefing up the posts (hee says the vegetarian) will help my deck, and perhaps by adding more balusters? And window boxes with cascading vegetation. Totally. Or what if this car was parked in front of it?

Nearly a year in the house

So it's about time I fixed what's been bugging me since before we moved in: the popcorn ceiling. Actually, it's more like sprayed-on, chewed-up oatmeal. It's just awful, especially when I go into houses our age and older, and see beautiful, smooth ceilings. Or even textured ceilings with patterns. It's nauseating lying in bed looking at it. If I had known how easy it was to remove it, I would have done it long ago. Now, I know it was applied in the 70's or after, because it covers the drywall which was applied to cover up the wall and ceiling cracks when the house went through its massive exterior face lift. However, I have not had it tested for asbestos. I don't necessarily recommend doing this without testing.

Recently, sections of it were loosening above the oven because of the steam, and I thought, water! Water took down our plaster when the AC unit's drain plugged (a few days after we moved in) so why not use it to loosen something attached to plaster? I squirted water in 2ft. areas on the ceiling with a spray bottle, waited about a minute, and used a spackling knife to peel it off in large sections. It didn't really drip while I was waiting, it absorbed so quickly. It peeled very easily in sheets and the new surface is nearly smooth because it was previously painted with enamel. This might be the stuff you can buy in five gallon barrels at HD; it seems like little smooshy pebbles encased in drywall mud. Or someone decided they didn't care for their oatmeal breakfast and spat it at the ceiling. Whichever. The recent layer of latex paint seems super important in the process; it holds water inside the oatmeal and helps the stuff come down in sheets rather than clumps.

Since the ceiling underneath is not entirely flat, bits of the mud-like stuff (plaster?) remain in divets on the enameled sage-colored ceiling, causing a splotchy look. I'll paint over it. It's very nice! I'd rather see the cracks in the ceiling (and fix them properly) than look at this stuff!

Steps to a happier, healthier deck

Because, who wants to fall off the deck?

The balusters were cut as one piece.











This Old House #2615 described how to frame the balusters with lath and then mount them on the rails, rather than toenailing. Instead of staples, I used 1 1/4" self-drilling screws in my lath. These screws also secured the lath to the top railing, from the underside.













The bottom railing is screwed into every other baluster from the bottom, with 2 1/2" deck screws.














View from the underside, attatching rail to post.















This may happen to our deck someday.














Please take this cat home with you. Not only is he pettable, with parti-colored eyes; he now has carpentry skills.