2005 Home Improvement Projects

[[AK]Clay]

Most of us are home owners of some kind. And as such, there is a never-ending list of home improvement projects to do. My current one involves wall coverings.

Here's the background. The house is 70 years old, and as such has plaster for walls. A long time ago - maybe even when the house was built, someone put up wallpaper in the living room. That wall-paper has been painted over so many times that the walls don't look so good anymore. That, and some of the wallpaper is starting to fall off. So we're going to peal it off and repaint underneight.

The problem is, the plaster underneith is old and was never finished smooth. It also will likely not take kindly to the wallpaper coming off. On some of the wallpaper parts that are falling off, it looks like it may even be mildewed on the plaster.

So we're probably going to have to replaster - at least with a thin topcoat. We could hang dry-wall, but there are many rounded countours to the walls (for example, one corner isn't a corner at all, but curved). Soo..., we've been experimenting on some of the basement walls to learn how to do plaster. It's actually kind of fun. We've even figured out how to add paint to it as a pigment while we're mixing it up. As soon as it warms up and we can open up the windows, we're going to attack the living room and redo the walls for real. It's going to make an unholy mess, but that's OK because the carpet is next on the hit-list. Actually, all of the flooring in the house is about to get replaced - hopefully this summer. Looks like there may be hardwood in the dining room already - we're sure to make some interesting discoveries as we rip the 20 year old carpet out.

Since we're learning as we go, this could be a complete fiasco - I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

So what's your home improvement project?

[[AK]Hylander]

Our house is 105 years old, plaster walls. Luckily, nobody has ruined the walls too much and the two rooms that were wallpapered came off pretty good with gel and a steamer. Written on the wall in the kitchen in pencil under the paper was february 1979.. it was chuck wagon wallpaper. LOL

I haven't had to re-plaster, but just do touch up with joint compound.. nothing major knock on wood.

One interesting thing I discovered besides the old knob electrical system still there (but unhooked of course since they upgraded the electrical system when they added central air in the late 80s) was when I went to replace one of the wall skonces. I took the light down and behind it wsa piping.. I couldn't figure out what it was. The electrician I had called to do some other work (break up the rooms on the circuit boxes) told me the house use to have gas lighting fixtures. Amazing what these old houses can tell you. =)

Luckily for us nobody ever painted the woodwork around the living / dining rooms or the fireplace mantle and built in book cabinets. It's still natural.

My projects this summer are mostly outside though. We do need to finish up the painting in the upstairs hallway, but I want to get a front stone retaining wall put up for landscaping and then I need to replace the front and rear storm doors. When I have the roofer come to inspect our slate roof (as I do every spring), I'm going to have him hang a couple new gutters for us. I also want to have some work done outback in terms of decorative concrete / cement.. but not sure that will be in the budget this year or not.

[[AK]The Beast]

I've got three projects I want to get done this year.

1. My house is an old one as well--dating back to the first half of the 20th century. It has hardwood floors, but all of them have been carpeted over. Eventually, I'd like to bring them all back, but for this year, I'd just like to get the guest room floor refinished, and maybe retile the kitchen floor too.

2. My front sidewalk has more cracks than a sumo tournament. Gotta get them all patched up. One of my neighbors had their walk redone a couple of years ago, and the contractor told me I should get mine torn up and completely redone as well. Of course, he was just telling me this in the hopes that I'd hire him to do it--and when I refused, he tried to borrow ten bucks off me "for gas". Leads me to believe that I'll be fine just patching up.

3. Operation Green Thumb--this one's the biggie. Last summer, it rained just about every time I was home with time to spend with the beds around my house. (That, and my ex was always the one with the green thumb.) The place is an overgrown mess, in need of a weeding, mulching, and replanting. Add to that the fact that a section of my back fence collapsed this winter, and I've got my work cut out for me. Hopefully the weather'll be nice on Friday so I can get started on my day off. I'm going to be taking pictures to document this one.

[The Wraith]

I'm not going to be as wordy as the rest of you, but my house is 4 years old and I'm hoping to find out from the city engineer that I can actually build a third car garage on top of a sewer easement with the understanding that should it never need accessed, they will demolish the garage with no reimbursement.

I'm also finishing my poured basement; from framing to wiring fiber. Framing, I've learned, is rather fun work. I think I enjoy the architectual design aspect of it. You get this feeling of control over the walls...within reason. Building a full bath down there, a pool room, a workout room, and a workspace/office.

Building on a deck platform/addition. Building a garden in the backyard.