Category Archives: Foyer

I’m headed back to Building Value on Monday morning to take apart then transport these columns and knee walls to my foyer…where they will no doubt sit for a little while before I get around to installing them. I decided … Continue reading →

At the Lie-Nielsen Toolworks 35th-anniversary open house last weekend, almost everyone with whom I talked asked one thing: How are the stairs coming along? Those who didn’t ask about the stairs asked about the house in general. (Except for the … Continue reading →

I vowed to use period-correct tools, techniques and – as much as possible – salvaged materials from the early 1900s for the house rehab projects. And I’ve caught a bit of grief for it, because, as several people have mentioned, … Continue reading →

I was hanging out with Chris Schwarz at his first Lost Art Press Saturday open shop a few weeks back, and in walks his neighbor, Dave. Dave and his wife, Marissa, are rehabbing a Victorian about a block away. He … Continue reading →

This weekend, after dithering a bit about how to go about it, I decided to cobble together the staircase landing from the original 2x8s (really that size) and some new materials…because much of the old was missing, thanks to the … Continue reading →

The cats have lost their favorite hiding place. I finally got off my duff and removed the three bottom stairs today, in preparation for rebuilding them with a landing and a turn. Clearly, the above is cobbled together, with what … Continue reading →

After almost two months of tear-out, I’m about ready to start putting things back together in the front hall. That’s good…because with an open 12′ drop from the second floor, I suspect I’m just asking for trouble (as a result, … Continue reading →

But for a tenacious few bits of rock lath (or whatever that old drywall-like stuff is called) on the side of the Harry Potter closet and staircase, I have the major tear-out in the hall completed. I courted my own … Continue reading →

I highly recommend house renovation as a weight-loss regimen. Not only will you work your ass off (literally), you’ll use muscles you forgot you had (you’ll know, because they’ll hurt like hell the next morning), you’ll be too tired to … Continue reading →