Upstairs was looking pretty good. It was at the point where it looked easy to complete. In all renovation or construction it seems like more things suddenly pop up that still have to be done. Plumbing the bathroom looked like the last big project until we realized that the astroturf still needed to be removed from the stairs. Once we moved upstairs we wanted all the mess gone.
Marshell removed the carpet and then removed the boards of the steps four at a time. He ran them through a planer to smooth them out. In the meantime we had a 1 x 8 laid across the opening to enable us to go up and down the stairs. That was interesting and with thirty steps - it took awhile.
When Marshell got to the last few steps at the top we found that the top of the vault underneath had a few feet of original construction material, bricks and dirt laying on top of it. That had been laying up there for a hundred and six years and it was not going to stay. So, Marshell shoveled out all the dirt and materials and we transported them to a creek bed that needed some fill. I must say this was not a pleasant job and one that had a consequence.
About a week after we finished removing all the debris, Marshell had a part of his anatomy become very red and swollen. It was a little frightening and a trip to the local emergency room didn't provide an answer. So, off to our Doctor in Irving, Texas. When the Doctor stopped laughing (we are his comedy routine) he explained to Marshell that old dirt in secluded places can produce a bacteria that affects certain parts of the body. A few days on antibiotics and everything was back to normal. Poor Marshell but lucky me since I don't have the same anatomy.
Now it was time to deal with the plumbing - can't put it off any longer. The original little - very little - powder room was at the south end of the back hall. The room we picked out for the new bathroom was thirty feet to the north. Our options to run the plumbing were (1) pull up the floor and drill thru the 2 x 16 inch beams (2) to go down through the floor to the ceiling below and run the plumbing along the wall to the original drain. Neither was appealing but in the end going through the floor was the logical method. If, in the worse case scenario, the pipes leaked they could be repaired before too much damage was done.
When the Mason's had the building from 1969 to 1996 they removed all the windows and filled the spaces with halite blocks. I have only seen one picture of how it looked at the local tax office. By the time I decided I wanted a copy of the picture the tax office had gone digital and discarded with all the old paperwork.
When the plaster was removed we found that we now had a beautiful brick wall with a halite block filled window. Bummer!
After pondering on what to do with the ugly wall we finally came up with creating a frame the size of the old original window. My first attempt at being artistic resulted in an outdoor scene. Marshell then instaled an old window on the top and one on the bottom. The center one had mirror panes where the glass originally was. Great
way to hide the halite block and have a mirror at the same time.
We managed to find a claw foot tub for the sum of $50.00 and with a little scrubbing and paint it looks great. The pedestal sink came from one of my clients that had replaced it with a new one. The toilet is old and is now against the law to buy or sell. The tank and the bowl are two separate pieces and was in pristine condition. We purchased it years before at a architectural salvage store for $135.00 just "because". The hot water heated was installed on the other end of the building in the room with the HVAC unit. The old little bathroom became a laundry room with a stack unit.
Now we had a bathroom! Move in time! No,not yet. If we were going to move upstairs everything needed to be done. The back porch and the stairs were not in very good condition. We never used them or spent time on the porch because it was forty feet up from the ground and scary. Once again Marshell pulled his tricks out of his hat. I remember looking out the door when there was no porch at all. Must say that I stayed away and listened for the crash. Somehow he replaced all the boards, added a rail and lattice plus tightened up the stairs and added a new roof on it. What a guy!
One last thing before we could move in and sleep in a real bed. The floor had been repaired and sanded but needed a finish on it. We chose to use Danish Oil on the woodwork, liked it and used it on the floor. There were other choices but polyurethane will yellow in direct sun light and is very difficult to repair if it is scratched or worn from moving furniture. Wax would protect it and give a nice dull shine but is high maintenance. Danish Oil brings out the natural beauty of the wood and gave us the look of being an old floor.It is also just a spot repair in case of a scratch or natural wear.
Done! Done! It took us three and a half years to complete all the work upstairs. As much as we wanted or could have finished it faster we did not get in a hurry. Everything was also done to as near perfect as we could get it. Except for the help with the banister and the HVAC system, Marshell and I did all the work ourselves. It was also done as we could afford it with the majority of the supplies and tools purchased from the local hardware store.
Tomorrow I will post pictures of the before, during and since we have moved in. I do have some of what it looked like when the previous owners purchased it. These certainly show that any building can be brought back to life. My rough estimate of what it cost to do the upstairs is pretty close to $15,000.00 which includes the new HVAC system we had installed in 2009.
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