Often times in life, good things are born from seemingly bad situations. And so it goes for homeownership too. We recently had some roofing repairs done to our Spanish tile roof. When the roofers began to tackle a leak around our chimney, I heard the dreaded words you never want to hear from your roofer, “Marc, I think you might want to come up here and take a look at this.” Up the ladder I went, and there to greet me were several gaping cracks in our vintage 1936 brick and stucco chimney. I’m no mason, but I knew it was bad. In fact, I had pretended not to notice them from ground level in the past, but now that I was up close, it looked like the top of our chimney was just about to split in two or three pieces before crumbling down. [Read more...]
Clay Chimney Pot Installation and Chimney Repair Tips
How to Get High-End Building Materials at a Fraction of the Cost
Yearning for a high-end look in your home, but finding yourself a little short on funds? Marble, granite, tile, crown molding and other types of high-end building materials may be just a phone call away for a fraction of the retail cost. Contact local builders, cabinetmakers, tile and countertop installers, to see what treasures they might be sitting on. [Read more...]
Faux Beam Work: Part 2
Okay, so some of you may have read the first installment of this article “Mud ‘n Tape For the Last Time With Faux Beam Work,” and here’s the wrap up. As you can see from the pictures, the project still isn’t totally finished. Paint, hardwood floors, new doors, finished closets, etc. are still to come, but the beam work is up. (And c’mon ladies, what girl doesn’t dream of a Bosch Double Compound Miter Saw as the focal point of the master bedroom?) [Read more...]
Permanently Camouflage Stress Cracks in Ceiling and Corner Joints – Mud n’ Tape for the Last Time with Faux Beam Work – Part 1
Repaired cracks before sanding
If any of you are as sick as I am of dealing with stress cracks, mudding/taping over and over again, and worse yet, repainting every few years, then this may be a solution for you. Stress cracks in sheetrock (which is what we’re dealing with in our second story bedrooms), or other building materials don’t necessarily indicate a structural issue. As is my case, they may be a recurring problem due to high winds and the natural, resulting movement of the structure. That doesn’t mean I have to like having to touch up and repair on a regular basis. I’ve had it, so my answer to the problem is faux beam work. [Read more...]
Get Hot and Bothered With Stair Porn
You’ve heard of food porn. You’ve heard of house porn. And we presume you know of porn porn (and if not, we can’t imagine how incredibly confusing this entire intro must be to you. That, and really? REALLY? You don’t know what porn is? What Internet are you using?). But now we’d like to bring something to your attention that you might not have heard of before: stair porn. Really. [Read more...]
A Step Up from Cardboard Houses – Shipping Container Homes
I had heard over the last few years that there had become an over-abundunce of shipping containers around the world. So much so, that it was just cheaper for China to make more than to ship them back home. More specifically according to Mother News Network there are over three hundred million shipping containers just sitting in ports empty and unused worldwide. As you might expect, just like a redneck with extra cars laying around the garage/yard/living room, people decided to use them to create something else. [Read more...]
Sliding Barn Doors and Carriage Doors – Reclaimed or Custom Built
Sliding barn doors are kind of a “thing” of mine. Really, anything barn and/or door related jazzes me, especially when an old door, be it barn or carriage, has been reclaimed and incorporated into a living space. After stumbling across this article at Cupboards Online, (an Alabama retailer of KraftMaid cabinetry), and being blown away by the photos of different, interior applications for barn doors, I was moved to do some further digging; mainly to answer the question, “Where the deuce can I get my hands on barn doors like these?” [Read more...]
Virtual Floorplans and Online Drafting Tools – Man’s Best Friend
While moving is a total PITA, I have to admit that one of my favorite things ever is figuring out how and where to put things in a room. My husband, however, would rather punch himself in the face than fuss over the placement of our stuff, especially if it involves him having to lift things repeatedly. For us, the best of both worlds is for me to obsessively plot the furniture placement out virtually and have a decision made so that we just physically move our stuff into place once. [Read more...]
There’s More Than Meets The Eye With This Tiny Apartment
Whenever I watch those House Hunters and Property Virgins shows on HGTV, I’m often blown away by how large the homes are for such little money. And yet, the homeowners who are hmm’ing and hawww’ing over these deals often complain about rooms being too small. 2100 square feet of home is too small? For a couple? Ugh. Sometimes us North Americans are the worst. And nothing demonstrates that more than a cool video from the other side of the world: a teeny tiny apartment in Hong Kong that manages to have the functionality of a 24-room home. [Read more...]
Cinder Whit and Company – When You’re at Your Wit’s End About Replacement Wood Turnings for Porches and Stairs
in Architecture, Building Materials, Resources, Restoration, Woodworking
What to do…what to do…when you need to replace only a few porch spindles, but can’t locate ones that match? Or, maybe you live in an older home; you love the finials, but they have deteriorated beyond salvation and no way, will you find the same design at a home store. Cinder Whit & Company might be just the answer. They produce both stock and custom wood turnings for porches and stairs. [Read more...]
