Door Trim: Master Bedroom

This afternoon I removed the door trim from around the inside of the master bedroom door.  It took me 30 minutes, including clean up.  Not bad.  But what's the old saying?  Demolition is the easy part?

It went astonishingly fast.  First I used a razor knife to break the seal of the caulk.  One thing I've learned living here is that some owner before me really loved caulk as the fix-all.  My goodness it's everywhere.

Then I used a hammer and a cat's paw and moved up and down the side trim, and with very little effort I was able to pop it off all in one piece.  I took off the strip above the door next.

In this close up photo you can see the end of the horizontal tongue and groove boards, (well, really it's tongue and tongue... lol, there's not really a groove...) and the infamous linen vapor barrier that is nailed in place.  It all feels really solid and it's bone dry with no evidence of water leaks.  Excellent.

I was worried that when the trim was off, I'd being saying "hello" to my crawl space -- along with any living creatures that may call it home --but thankfully that isn't the case.  The space doesn't have my hardwood floors in it, but it's some type of wood:

The important thing here is that something is there other than a dark and breezy hole that goes under my house.  In this photo you can also see a horizontal piece of trim sticking out from behind my baseboards.  Who knows what version of baseboards that is from...

Here's a view of the top left corner:

Again, wisps of the vapor barrier and some dust.  Considering this space hasn't seen the light of day since 1929, a bit of dust is just fine with me.  We found.... other things when baseboards were pulled off.  I'll just leave it at that... (although two of the "other things" were two old black and white photographs -- THAT was super cool.  I should scan and post those so you can see them...)

Would you agree that we are all grateful for different things at different times?  The thing I am grateful for this afternoon is that nothing skittered out from anywhere.  In my book (on my blog?) that makes a successful project kick off!  Here's the last photo, with the trim off all three sides:

(My closet door is a mirror, that's why you see what looks like a second door on the left)

The quandry now is, do I continue and take off the door frame?  (Door jamb?)  My current thinking is no.  I think it makes more sense to wait until I have a new door to put in.  That way I don't have to mess around with hanging each door twice.  I've never hung a door, but I've heard that it can be tricky, and since nothing in my house is square or level to begin with, I think I'll just delay that fun for the next phase of the project...

I'm excited to have this project underway.  We'll see how excited I remain when I start cutting sheetrock to fit... but it already feels better to have some of the old paint gone.  Recall my friend up the street who also owns a very old house, and who, when she replaced her baseboards said, "Now any dirt I find behind the baseboards is OUR dirt"?   When I told her I was pulling off door trim covered in 81 years of paint, she said"Liberating."  Yes, yes it is.  Nevermind that I have 12 16 door sides to do... that's a lot of liberation.

Moving Indoors

Okay I give.  Heat, you have outlasted me. 

This weekend I pulled up the remaining contents of my raised garden beds, except for my hot peppers and my basil that still producing.  Gone are the 8 foot sunflowers, and the cucumbers, which were the last hangers-on.  Gone are the sugar baby melon vines, and birdhouse gourd vines.  I still have my herbs --scattered about in various places -- my backyard butterfly bed is still doing well, and I am still tending to my raspberry canes and asparagus.  They both produce next year; they weren't expected to this year.  I have to say, it's sort of a relief to not have so much to water...

I also gave my front butterfly bed some much needed TLC, and got it spruced up a bit.  I need to add some fresh mulch.

So -- I'm moving to indoor projects for August.  First up?  Interior door trim and I suppose by default, interior door frames.

If you've been following along, you know that I've already removed and replaced all the old baseboards.  You can read the final post on that here:  http://my1929tudor.blogspot.com/2009/08/baseboards-progress-completed.html. 

I've long wanted to tackle the door frames, but other interior projects kept line jumping.  I also had some fantasy that the door frame project could encompass new windows, wall insulation* and new sheetrock, on a room-by-room basis.  I think I will save the new sheetrock for new windows -- there is no point in doing all new sheetrock around those very old windows -- and move ahead on the door frames.  Although I suppose that once I start pulling off door frames, I could get inspired to do the whole wall and add insulation on the walls that do not contain windows. I know for sure that at some sheetrocking will be involved in the door frame project anyway.

Here is Exhibit A -- the door trim on the inside-side of the master bedroom:

And before you strain your eyes trying to read the blue sign, here's a close up:

It's true!  New shoes cure most ailments.  But I digress --

The door frame photo is looking out of my bedroom into the short hallway.  To the right is the bathroom, and you are looking into the guest room.  (I don't know what that vertical swath of lighter color white is on the wall; it's some sort of trick of light; it's not really like that.)  I won't even guess how many layers of paint are on the trim -- and in most cases on the door hinges.  (Some day I am going to teach myself how to make new interior doors... Have you ever priced solid wood doors?  Ridiculous.)  And of course, many layers are lead based paint - awesome!  (Not.)  Here is a close up:

At some point, the edge of the trim sunk into the sheetrock -- like it is tipped back -- so you literally cannot find the edge of the wood.  The baseboards were like that as well, and when we took the old ones off we found that the sheetrock didn't extend all the way under the baseboards, so there wasn't anything supporting the wood.  I think that is what is going on here as well.  So, I'll dig the wood trim out, then add a new strip of sheetrock, tape, bed, and then add the new trim.  I used 1" x 6" boards for the baseboards, and my plan is to use 1" x 3" boards for the trim.  I'll stain them, but I am not going to route them; I prefer the clean lines.  I am hoping that I can get away without texturing the new sheetrock, but I'll have to see how it all turns out before I make that decision.  Certainly if I decide to re-sheetrock the whole wall I've have to texture and I can't say that that prospect is appealing to me... 

I'll keep you posted on my progress... if you have any advice or experience, please, share.

*  And by wall insulation I mean "some" not "new" or "additional."

Rain Barrel Follow Up

The concrete pad I poured last week dried, and I got the rain barrel back up.  Only one layer of cement blocks now! 

And another view:

(I am going to turn the cement blocks the other way so it looks better from the front.)

That is one down, 2 to go as far as pouring pads.  I still have this barrel and one other to paint.  I'll probably go with a faux terra cotta color to match the barrels that do not need painting.

Book Review

I just finished reading this book by Jay Shafer:

In it, Jay walks you through his journey of downsizing and tells his story of why less is more.  I was truly inspired ... here in America, we've been (willingly) led down the path of "bigger is better" and "more is better" without exercising any independent thought as to why we seem to readily believe that we need more.   We are encouraged to buy the biggest car (and drive it in the fastest lane) sleep in the biggest bed, order the bigger plate of food, and buy the biggest house we can afford.  It makes me green, and that's in a nauseous way, not in an environmental way...

For me, the book is thought provoking and compelling.  It's opened my eyes to the fact that although my house is already quite small by most people's standards, it now seems too large for me.  I mostly only live in half of it.  What changes can I make?  How can I reverse the trend in my life?

It also outlines the nuts and bolts side of things -- how zoning is the biggest roadblock, and let's talk about plumbing and storage!  I found it to be full of valuable nuggets of practical information as well as beautiful photos and sample floor plans.  Hmmmmm intriguing.

The book is available for purchase here http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/books/

or on Amazon.  I highly recommend it!

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

Kitchen Clean Out

With living simply and living small on my mind, yesterday afternoon I ducked the outside heat and went through my kitchen cabinets to sort out things that I don't need. 

Here's what I'm ditching:

(Okay so not the sewing machine... that was just out!)  Those few plastic containers are pretty much the last plastic in my kitchen -- liberation!  I've successfully replaced plastics over time with glass so I don't need those anymore. 

The horrifying/amusing/amazing (you choose) thing was how many of these items came out of one "black hole" corner cabinet.  I seriously had to lay on my belly and use a flashlight and a three foot grill basting brush to wrangle things out of the back!  I'll tell you -- nothing is going back into THAT cabinet.  I found things that I forgot I had, and things the previous owners had left behind -- two years ago -- and things just kept coming out!  It was like the clown car where more and more people pile out...  I even found an one cup espresso machine!  (Not mine.... but if I can find operating instructions online, well....) 

Here's the cabinet:

The door on the right, next to the fridge?  It's your standard cabinet.  The door on the left?  It goes in, and then the entire cabinet does a dog-leg back to the back of the refrigerator wall.  Supreme planning on someone's part at some point!  Of course now... you can probably predict what's coming...

I want to take out that corner unit*.  Saying the cabinets are primitive is being generous -- you'll have to trust me --  the photo doesn't show you its true style.  The cabinet is virtually unusable... and I'll just mention again how I loathe that tile.  I'm thinking a little butcher block table of some sort... Frankly anything would be an improvement it's such unusable space.  Reality is, though, after taking out the cabinets on the opposite side of the kitchen, removing the unit would undoubtedly leave me with a ragged looking wall.  I rationalize that I don't mind, as it would be a continuation of the gradual demolition of my kitchen and that some day when I win the lottery and do a kitchen makeover I'll have less demo to do...  :::grin:::

Also tackled yesterday:  I've been struggling with my recycle area (a generous description for a paper bag in a cabinet.)  The cabinet has a shelf in the middle that obstructs unnecessarily.  I tried to take the shelf out -- HA!  Whomever installed it planned for it to be there a lifetime -- it wouldn't budge.  I checked a similar cabinet on the opposite side of the sink and that shelf nearly fell out in my hands (two planks were literally held together with shelf paper) so I swapped the contents of the two sides.  One was pots and pans, and one was dog food and recycle.  As we say, it's the little things that are the "Quality of Life Improvements."  As a bonus, I stumbled upon a dreamy under the counter smell good solution:

My empty fabric softener jug.  Have you ever smelled this stuff?  It's all natural, and this particular scent is lavender.  I only use it on my towels (and even then, only when I remember... ahem.)  Anyway -- if you haven't smelled it, next time you are in Wholefoods or your local co-op, give it a whirl.  You will positively swoon.  I am going to leave it under the cabinet, cap off (it's an empty bottle headed for recycle anyway) and see how long the aroma lasts... And, somewhat related, I'll warn you about the geranium scented counter spray also by Meyers:  overpowering.  As in, too overpowering to use, in my opinion... but I am a rather unscented person...

Today I'll bring home a few boxes from work, load up, and head to Goodwill.  Don't you just love getting rid of "stuff"?  It makes me feel lighter, and my house airier, just knowing that I have cleaned out; even if the less cluttered areas are not visible.

*  Truth be told, I want to take out that entire wall behind the stove. 

UPDATE:  The poster up on the cabinets in the photo is actually a cut out from a holiday Wholefoods bag last year.  I liked the sentiment and decided to tape it up as a reminder to be grateful and to give thanks.