My back yard.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
A picture of Spring
A bit of spring for everyone still dealing with snow. Things are in bloom here.
My back yard.
My back yard.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
At least our disasters are sudden and over quickly
Now that was a pretty good earthquake I just felt there. Enough to make me get up and go stand in a door frame. It was strong, and thankfully quick. I'd say in the mid 4's at least. I could feel the house twisting a bit beneath me. Not a good feeling.
Earthquakes aren't nearly as amusing when you've an old house.
Earthquakes aren't nearly as amusing when you've an old house.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Heating woes
My kitchen is always *freezing.* California standards, but to me it is still cold. It gets into the mid to low 30's here at night in the winter, winter being an actual season we Northern Californians have.
Very few substantial changes were ever made to my house, save some minor remodeling in the kitchen, which left the original cabinets intact. The kitchen doesn't have a heating vent, and the original back door isn't insulated and leaks like crazy. (an aside - I've use a curtain from a decorating project 3 homes ago and a bath rod that didn't fit over the bathtub to put in a press fit curtain over the door. It's really helped with the heat loss, big time). It gets cold in that thar kitchen.
So here is my vintage 1938, American Gas Association approved furnace, built in Beverly Hills (ya think they're still in business? ;) )
I love this thing. Unlike modern forced air furnaces, it is dead quiet. It heats up the house nice and quick. I loath to replace it, though I know I will have to one day. Something modern that is more likely to break and noisy. Just wish you could have energy efficiency *and* quiet at the same time.
I was twiddling with the valves in the ducts to try to balance out the heat to the house. The bathroom received the lion's share of the heat, and the living room would freeze. Tweaked the bathroom, bedrooms, living room and dining room vents. I had an extra duct.
It went to the kitchen.
When the prior owners did their minor kitchen remodel they closed off the vent. So I get to freeze my butt off every morning when I make my breakfast. Joy!
Very few substantial changes were ever made to my house, save some minor remodeling in the kitchen, which left the original cabinets intact. The kitchen doesn't have a heating vent, and the original back door isn't insulated and leaks like crazy. (an aside - I've use a curtain from a decorating project 3 homes ago and a bath rod that didn't fit over the bathtub to put in a press fit curtain over the door. It's really helped with the heat loss, big time). It gets cold in that thar kitchen.
So here is my vintage 1938, American Gas Association approved furnace, built in Beverly Hills (ya think they're still in business? ;) )
I love this thing. Unlike modern forced air furnaces, it is dead quiet. It heats up the house nice and quick. I loath to replace it, though I know I will have to one day. Something modern that is more likely to break and noisy. Just wish you could have energy efficiency *and* quiet at the same time.
I was twiddling with the valves in the ducts to try to balance out the heat to the house. The bathroom received the lion's share of the heat, and the living room would freeze. Tweaked the bathroom, bedrooms, living room and dining room vents. I had an extra duct.
It went to the kitchen.
When the prior owners did their minor kitchen remodel they closed off the vent. So I get to freeze my butt off every morning when I make my breakfast. Joy!
Friday, February 23, 2007
Me vs the Locks Round 2
Locks 1, Me 0.
aaaarrrrgggghhhh.
So I finagle the door into letting me put a vertical mount door knob. Nothing major to report there.
Remember that decorative plate I talked about?
It made the door about 1/4 too thick. The screws can't engage with the door handle on the other side.
*mutters cursewords under breath*
Guess I'll have to put the old knob back on.
aaaarrrrgggghhhh.
So I finagle the door into letting me put a vertical mount door knob. Nothing major to report there.
Remember that decorative plate I talked about?
It made the door about 1/4 too thick. The screws can't engage with the door handle on the other side.
*mutters cursewords under breath*
Guess I'll have to put the old knob back on.
Weeee!
I was going to keep this blog 100% house stuff, but I can't help it. I just accepted a promotion and a hefty pay raise! Excited doesn't even cover it. I made Senior in less than 4 years out of college. I'm still in absolute shock at how this played out.
So this means I can get the house painted this year *and* not feel guilty for spending the money!
*does happy dance*
So this means I can get the house painted this year *and* not feel guilty for spending the money!
*does happy dance*
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Vanity Post
Because I feel like showing off, pictures of my house's details
While the fixture is rather hokey I like the light pattern it gives off. It amazes me that in 70 years the faux wood grain was never painted over and is in such great shape.
The evil door knot that wouldn't be changed. It *really* doesn't go with the door! Love the inset door, so 1930's! Again the faux grain, though it has experienced some wear and tear. Any ideas on how to clean it up without destroying the finish?
Nice floor to ceiling arched window, with built-ins on either side. I'm finding I like the detailing found in homes in the 1930's more than earlier homes, it has plenty of personality yet is cleaner in its lines and not as fussy.
Now this plaster wall texture in the front bedroom has me a bit confused. I've never seen anything like it before. The lines to straight up and down wall with no wavering, you can *just* tell is was a 6" float because the lines are ever so closer or wider every now and then. I can imagine it would have been cheaper for an experienced person to do, but it would take some skill to get the float from ceiling to floor without it wiggling at all side to side.
While the fixture is rather hokey I like the light pattern it gives off. It amazes me that in 70 years the faux wood grain was never painted over and is in such great shape.
The evil door knot that wouldn't be changed. It *really* doesn't go with the door! Love the inset door, so 1930's! Again the faux grain, though it has experienced some wear and tear. Any ideas on how to clean it up without destroying the finish?
Nice floor to ceiling arched window, with built-ins on either side. I'm finding I like the detailing found in homes in the 1930's more than earlier homes, it has plenty of personality yet is cleaner in its lines and not as fussy.
Now this plaster wall texture in the front bedroom has me a bit confused. I've never seen anything like it before. The lines to straight up and down wall with no wavering, you can *just* tell is was a 6" float because the lines are ever so closer or wider every now and then. I can imagine it would have been cheaper for an experienced person to do, but it would take some skill to get the float from ceiling to floor without it wiggling at all side to side.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Me vs door locks
I finally got around to replacing all the locks on the house. Yeah yeah, I should have done it ages ago. Was going to replace all the door knobs too but I decided enough was enough after the front door knob considering how much I was spending just on the locks.
I received them yesterday and have attempted to install all of them.
The original deadbolt on the door down to the garage was a quicky, home done job and not *quite* to modern standards. The hole for the bolt was drilled in crooked so one side of the lock barely engaged (and only if I removed the trim around the lock), and the recess for the plate is about 1/4 too small, so the new lock plate doesn't sit flush. The door had a fatal crack along the side not because it'd been kicked in like I'd thought, but because someone did a lousy job at installing the dead bolt orginally and it caused the door to crack. Something catches internally too because bad drill job, so fully unlocking the door is a major pain. Thankfully I don't have a need to lock that door much.
The back door went fine, no problems. The front door, not so much. The deadbolt just wasn't working right, until I figured out that I'd installed the interior thumb latch upside down twice. D'oh!
The door knob on the front door, aye. I've a pretty little cast iron decorative plate underneath a modern ugly cheap and worn door knob. I want to keep the plate, and use this latch. Turns out the old modern knob only works because someone tweaked the door and plate in the horizontal direction, widening both by that 1/4 of an inch on each side to allow the screws to pass through. My problem? The screws on the knob I'd bought are mounted in the vertical direction and those tweaks had been made horizontally. There was no way I could canniblize the old stuff and/or reconfigure the new stuff to work either, I tried. I'll have to take the door off its hinges to drill out 1/4" on each side or buy a new door knob.
And the down stairs side entry.... It has always been a tricky door to close, but it isn't used too often. The door knob wouldn't latch, and you had to lean on the door to latch the dead bolt. Replacing the lock was easy. The bolt just wouldn't fit into the latch plate in the jam any more, no matter how much leaning you did or jiggering. And of course the latch plate in the jam had rounded off screws so I couldn't move it easily. Back to the old lock we go . . .
Final Score: Me 2, Doors 2.
I received them yesterday and have attempted to install all of them.
The original deadbolt on the door down to the garage was a quicky, home done job and not *quite* to modern standards. The hole for the bolt was drilled in crooked so one side of the lock barely engaged (and only if I removed the trim around the lock), and the recess for the plate is about 1/4 too small, so the new lock plate doesn't sit flush. The door had a fatal crack along the side not because it'd been kicked in like I'd thought, but because someone did a lousy job at installing the dead bolt orginally and it caused the door to crack. Something catches internally too because bad drill job, so fully unlocking the door is a major pain. Thankfully I don't have a need to lock that door much.
The back door went fine, no problems. The front door, not so much. The deadbolt just wasn't working right, until I figured out that I'd installed the interior thumb latch upside down twice. D'oh!
The door knob on the front door, aye. I've a pretty little cast iron decorative plate underneath a modern ugly cheap and worn door knob. I want to keep the plate, and use this latch. Turns out the old modern knob only works because someone tweaked the door and plate in the horizontal direction, widening both by that 1/4 of an inch on each side to allow the screws to pass through. My problem? The screws on the knob I'd bought are mounted in the vertical direction and those tweaks had been made horizontally. There was no way I could canniblize the old stuff and/or reconfigure the new stuff to work either, I tried. I'll have to take the door off its hinges to drill out 1/4" on each side or buy a new door knob.
And the down stairs side entry.... It has always been a tricky door to close, but it isn't used too often. The door knob wouldn't latch, and you had to lean on the door to latch the dead bolt. Replacing the lock was easy. The bolt just wouldn't fit into the latch plate in the jam any more, no matter how much leaning you did or jiggering. And of course the latch plate in the jam had rounded off screws so I couldn't move it easily. Back to the old lock we go . . .
Final Score: Me 2, Doors 2.
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