New York Renovator

Well, well. Learn something new every day. LOL

… when you just HAVE to expand.

This is my book area in the office. UGH. The monster is growing and growing! Not in the photo are another two bookcases of books and stacks of books around the room. LOL. Hey, I like books! But I also need them, because I used them for the writing business I maintain. Because I write about so many different topics– everything from WordPress PHP to gardening — I need a variety of resource books. And those resource books are usually 20-pound mamas. Sheesh. My cheapo Chinese MDF bookcases are burgeoning. Time to crack out some serious plans.

So in between all my jobs, I am reading books (yes, books!) and watching online videos of how to make a huge built-in bookcase. I just can’t wait!

I want to turn this ugly, inefficient area

into something more like this. I know the sketch is pretty rough, lol. It’s still in development form.

I’ll use stock cabinets from my local discount lumberyard. I may find something that is similar to the ones in the kitchen, which will lend a bit of continuity between the two rooms (my office is just off the kitchen). I also have plans to install a nice gas log fireplace as a “focal point” for the room.

I’ve already got some fabric material for making curtains. I’m going to change the decor of the room to make it a sunnier, more colorful room– English country style.

I may even be able to get some carpeting, too! There’s a budget carpet center in the area, and they sell remnants very inexpensively. Or maybe I can get a nice area rug. I wouldn’t even mind getting one used, as long as it is as clean, rug cleaning round rock tx style. Ha ha!

Yes, yes, all dreams. But the kitchen was once a dream, too, and I got it! I hope to work on this built-in cabinetry when the kids finish school later this summer and I have more time to devote to the project.

Do you have any home or yard projects planned this year?

Well, I know you’ve been waiting with BAITED BREATH our review of a cool cat video we picked up recently. It was vigorously advertised, claiming to entertain your cat for hours! Gee, you could almost leave your home for a week’s vacation and the cat would be riveted to the TV screen, right?!

We decided to get Livvy, our Tabby-Point Siamese cat, to give her personal opinion of the video. I won’t bore you with a text transcription of her review results, I’ll just post the video here. Enjoy!

I’m going to finish the living room this year, Lord willing. This is easier than ripping out rooms and rebuilding them, but it’s still no easy task. The hardest and lengthiest job will be building the built-in bookshelf units. I have never done anything remotely like it, so I must study up and find some good plans. It involves precision carpentry which, I admit, is not my forte. I have little patience for slicing and dicing dove joints and picayune stiles, so…. I may go with some stock cabinetry pieces if I can find some cheap enough. My local store sometimes sells defective or broken units which are easy to repair.

I got this cabinetry very inexpensively. It doesn't look pretty yet because the set is not complete, but it's a start.

I also plan to move the gas fireplace unit to a better location. I will create a nice fireplace box and mantle and The Hubs will reroute the gas lines. I’ll paint the walls, the trim, and sew curtains (I’ve had the material for a year!). I’ll install carpeting (first time for this) and *hopefully* get new furniture. All we have is hand-me-downs (one huge couch and a broken but beautiful wing chair). There will finally be enough storage space and organized working space for all the home office, school stuff and laptops notebooks and all the computer stuff. The more I think about it, the more excited I am getting!

Of course, nothing is budgeted yet! I will have to take it on a pay-by-pay basis. That’s how I did the kitchen in 2010. So I have to make a list of needs and then start bargain hunting at the scrap yards. It’s amazing how much money you can save in the “dent and ding” aisle!

Spring is faking us out. We had some snow last night, and it’s been chilly today. This after 80 degree temps and a yard full of blooming plants!

Oh well, such is New York State.

So I’m hunkering down again and replanning my summer activities. By now, I’d hoped we’d have the gardens ready but I think this realistically won’t be done until the end of April.

I am, Lord willing, finally going to finish the living room this year.

I gutted it and rebuilt it in 2007, but I never finished the final touches. We still have some molding to install here, paint to apply there…. and I have yet to build my biggest project– a wall-to-wall bookshelf unit. I want to convert the living room into a library. It will be my office and a place where I can retreat when I need to work or relax. Currently, it is the half schoolroom, half living room, half work office and half home office (that’s a lot of halves!). It’s a disaster, with books and boxes and papers piled everywhere. Since we have no storage space in the house (thanks to no attic and a basement that floods), I have to build all my own storage spaces. The bookshelf unit will store basically ALL my electronics, books, papers, parts, files, everything!

I ADORE these built-in units! And what beautiful furniture! Oo la la

Then I am going to get some new furniture for the FIRST time in my life. I may even get some fancy new Lexington furniture, really classy, traditional stuff! Lord willing, it will be beautiful and it will be my haven.

We also have to finish installing the windows. And we have to renovate the upstairs yet. The black mold is becoming a big problem up here. It’s because the interior of the house is so warm and the upstairs is uninsulated. When warm air meets cold air inside the walls, it creates condensation and mold. We wash it off but it always comes back. I’m looking forward to gutting the upstairs, believe me.

So there are many plans in the making. How about you? Got any projects coming up this year?

I love this site “There I Fixed It.” It’s the only site that makes me feel good about my own rickety old house. Because no matter how bad I think my house is, there’s always something worse.

…my living room has new windows!

I’ve endured these old windows for a long time. When we first moved here, we got a few new replacement windows to replace the broken ones. The remaining windows had to wait until we had the cash to buy new ones. I reached my tolerance level last year, when these old windows developed icicles on the panes in the winter and no longer kept the bugs out in the summer. It was almost better to have an open hole in the wall than these old windows!

They would no longer hold paint. I had painted them and painted them, but every year the paint peeled off. Time to replace.

These windows are not original to the house. They were installed in 1910 or so, after the builder died and his housekeeper bought the place. She did many “improvements,” such as replacing the old 9/6 windows and painting over the beautiful Black Walnut trim in the living room.

This is one of the original windows, protected behind a storm window. They are called 9/6 because they have 9 panes on the top and 6 on the bottom. Hstorians can determine the age of a home by inspecting window styles.

Well, after 100 years, the windows have reached the end of their life span. (Actually, they reached the end of their life span about 25 years ago). On with the new.

The hardest part of replacing the windows is removing the old. We have to cut through the paint seal (more like HACK THROUGH the paint seal) and pull off the sash stops and the parting stops. 160-year old wood does not like being removed, you know that?

You have to be very, very careful with this kind of job. Old timers put all sorts of toxins in their paints back then. We had to clear the living room, cover everything with sheets, and make sure no one spread any of the paint chips or dust. I frequently misted a spray bottle to keep the dust from flying around.

Another problem was fitting the window into the existing frame. The height and length were very good, but the depth of the window gave us trouble. The old sill was too narrow for the thick replacement window. Our only option was the chisel away the 3/16-inch wood off the sill.

AH! Success!

We got two out of the three done so far. One more goes in the living room, and then it’s to the upstairs. And because we had to remove the old window stops and chisel the sill, I also have some patching up and molding replacement to do. But it is SO GOOD to have new windows!

Windows are not difficult to replace yourself. Oh sure, you can pay a professional, but expect the bill to be twice the amount. I figured that our labor was worth $100 an hour. No need for kroger jobs for this– we just watched a few instructional videos on the computer, read a DIY book, and away we went. It’s not that difficult. The hardest part is making sure you measure for the new windows accurately and removing the old window…. And containing the mess!

Originally I planned on making this great big kitchen in there. But then I realized it was less expensive to rebuild the existing kitchen in the house.

Then, I figured I would make this huge master bedroom suite, with a bathroom!! We are six people and the house has a mere 1 full bath and a tiny half-bath. It’s just not enough bathrooms. Additionally, the four bedrooms are oddly shaped. One is 10×12, two are 8×14 (that’s a tough dimension to work with when you have a 6-foot long bed, believe me), and another is a huge 15×17! The original builder, Mr. Rogers, did a great job building this home but when it came to the sizes of the room… well, FAIL. So we have three too-small bedrooms with one bedroom that is too large.

Anyway, I think I will have to forsake the master bedroom suite thing. I think I will have to convert the garage into a huge “conservatory,” kind of a combo music room and family room. Every single person in the family plays instruments, most of us two or more instruments. Do you have ANY idea how much space instruments consume?! TONS! And now my son is begging for a drum set! Gah!

Glorious space.....

We can’t put anything in the basement. It floods. Terribly. There’s no attic space and you know now how small and impractical the bedroom spaces are… currently, all the instruments are carmmed into corners in the living room and dining room– the DOZENS of acoustic and epiphone sheraton ii guitars (yes, dozens), amplifiers, keyboards, microphones, track recorders, pedals, tapes, etc etc etc. I’m drowning in music supplies!!!

So I have resolved that I have to create a WHOLE room devoted to musical instruments. Wow. maybe I can shoehorn another bathroom in there… I hope…

If you had an attached garage, to what would you convert it? And don’t tell me you’d use it to park your car, what a silly thing!

One of the best investments you can make for your old home is new windows. For the average homeowner, vinyl replacement windows is a good choice. But all vinyl replacements are not the same. Here’s how to choose the best window for your money and your old home.

Making your Selection

It comes as no surprise that the best window is the one that is the most attractive at the most affordable price. This is easier said than done, however. Window manufacturers seem to love to confuse the consumer with strange terms, baffling “new” “technology” and other slick marketing techniques. I’ll explain what some of these terms mean.

Vinyl
Vinyl replacement windows are made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the same material used for PVC pipes and vinyl siding and fencing. PVC is a veritable soup of chemical ingredients. One manufacturer may use more of one ingredient to produce a better window while another manufacturer may use less and produce an inferior window. For this reason, it is best to stick with a name brand manufacturer who has a history of producing quality windows. Avoid the cheap no-name brands because chances are these products use cheaper ingredients that may cause problems in the future. Look for windows that have the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) label on them. This means that the window is certified by the AAMA for high quality materials and manufacture.

Two of the big problems with vinyl windows are their propensity to warp or sag with extreme temperatures and yellowing that occurs under direct sunlight. Look for a window that contains titanium dioxide (TiO2), an additive that helps vinyl keep its white color. There’s not a whole lot you can do about the warping from temperature changes– vinyl siding suffers from the same plight. If possible, install awnings over the windows that face south as these generally receive the brunt of direct sunlight year round.

Double Glazing
Most vinyl replacement windows are “double glazed.” Double glazing is also known as insulated glazing. It’s basically two panes of glass separated by a small pocket of air space. This type of glazing is marvelous, in my opinion.

A double glazed window. Image courtesy of pvc-window-manufacturer.com

Old homes with their original windows have single pane glass. As many of you old-home owners know, heated or cooled air and sounds pass very easily through single pane windows. But add another pane to the window and air flow and sounds are sharply restricted. Years ago, the double glazing cost for new windows added greatly to the entire cost, but today, double glazing is very common. Some companies will even offer to add double glazing to older windows and doors. It’s incredibly more energy efficient.

Gas
Some window manufacturers boast that their windows contain argon gas or some other inert gas, claiming that the injected of gas between the two panes help prevent damage from UV rays and add additional energy efficiency to the windows. Personally, I don’t think the gas does much good and I will never pay extra for it. Over time, the gas leaches out. It’s not toxic in such tiny amounts. But seeing that it is not a permanent feature and that it does very little good anyway, I won’t ever pay more money for a window that has it.

Screens
Vinyl replacement windows screens are, in my opinion, substandard.

Kitty cat screen damage.

They are usually made of fiberglass material and they tear easily (especially if you have cats!). They are very pretty at first, when installed, but over time they start to sag and the fibers weaken. They fill with dust and dirt, and if you wash them, the fibers sag and weaken all the more.

I don’t know for sure if any window manufacturers make metal screening in a smart-looking black color. They certainly should. Metal screens are much easier to keep. If you get a vinyl window with fiberglass screens, expect to have to mend or replace the screens pretty regularly, every 7 to 15 years or so.

Tilting Sashes
In my estimation, the sashes of a vinyl replacement window are one of its best features. Many models feature “tilting” sashes. You press two small clips on each side of the bottom sash and the sash will tilt in for easy cleaning. What a marvelous, magnificent feature! No more clambering 40 feet up a ladder to wash windows!

Another great feature about these sashes is that you can lift the bottom sash up AND the top sash down. This is a great feature for homes with small children or pets who may try to poke through the screen. You can simply open up the top sash of the window to protect the lower screen, and still get fresh air.

Things to Avoid

Besides the usual features I’ve mentioned, check the window for any possible future problems that may develop.

Stupidly Designed Safety Clips
When we bought our first bunch of vinyl replacement windows, the window installers proudly pointed to their “safety clips” as an exclusive added feature. These clips were simply plastic triangular pieces that, when flipped out, would “lock down” the windows yet still allow the windows to be cracked open. This would keep the windows secure but still allow fresh air to circulate especially during hot summer nights.

While a terrific theory, the clips didn’t last long. They were poorly made and they were not attached to the window at all. After a year, they fell out and left ugly gaping holes.

Thin Vinyl “fin” Opening Handles
I would have gladly skipped the Amazing Safety Clips for better opening handles, that’s for sure. If you expect to open and close your window more than a dozen times, look for thick handles.

A broken handle on my window.

Blue-Tinted Windows
Some manufacturers tint their windows various colors, because homeowners may not want only white. However, avoid blue-tinted vinyl windows especially if they are a no-name brand and do not come with any AAMA certification label. Like supermarkets that color their old beef a red color to make the meat look fresher, blue-tinted windows hide the sub-grade vinyl used for the windows. These windows are tinted blue to hide their lack of titanium dioxide, the additive that makes the vinyl a white color. Over time, the blue tint will fade and the vinyl windows will become an ugly light yellow color.

Despite the caveats, I love vinyl replacement windows. They are more energy efficient and easier top operate than my old 100-year old windows. While no one is quite sure how long vinyl replacements will last (since they have only been around for 30 years or so), I think they can certainly last the lifetime of the homeowners. I’m hoping that manufacturers continue to offer us better technology and better features in the future.

Thanks for reading!