I Got It! I Got It!

What, you ask, makes me so happy?

I took the recommendation of several blogs who used them and liked them. Jeanne at The House in Progress gives a very good review http://www.houseinprogress.net/archives/000108.html.

Clarke didn't think he would be able to make one like Dave at Ocean Manor House http://www.oceanmanorhouse.com/paintremover.html.

The cost of the product which was about 450.00 Canadian after exchange but what frightened me was the cost of getting it across the border. You never seem to tell what you are going to get charged. I certainly didn't want to be charged half of the product like I did with the electric paint remover. It is on the left. It cost about 100.00 Canadian with the exchange but I got charged 49.00 by UPS to get it across the border

It strips paint alright but I might as well had just kept at it with the heat gun. I found that it was easier to scorch the wood with it.

Finally I found a Canadian distributor and I ordered the Silent Paint Remover. Clarke used it around the kitchen windows and he thought it worked really well on flat surfaces. I used it on the back door and it worked well there as well. It is rather large and I haven't quite gotten used to manoeuvring it around the windows I am restoring so I feel more confident with just the heat gun. I really have to get some pictures of those windows.

I will keep you posted on my experiences with my new toy.

Nancy

Where did the time go?

I can't believe that it has been so long since I posted. Summer just sped by. We were working on the house over the summer I just have been negligent about posting. At nights I seemed to be too tired and I kept saying tomorrow but tomorrow, it seems, has taken months. So to get you up to date.

Our bees have grown since the summer. We started with about 3000 and our bee keeper extraordinaire, Wes, he is helping us with our bees. He estimates that we have about 30, 000 now.

Here he is checking the hives.

What he is doing is checking for queen eggs. You have to destroy them so that another queen isn't born and cause the hive to split. I learn all this stuff from a distance because you aren't getting me any where near 30,000 bees!

The bees are all feed and tucked into their hives for the winter.

The last project I blogged about was my porch project. In my last post we had torn out the bottom piece and replaced the two large posts and some boards at the top. Next we had to decide what to do for spindles. So I checked out the Internet. I found some I liked and we tried to reproduce them.

I really liked them and was so pleased thinking that I was going to have spindles that not too many people would have. Isn't it funny I now have seen at least two houses in our community with similar spindles that I never noticed before. No they didn't copy me I just never noticed their spindles before. Maybe I copied subconsciously.

We have other porches that we are going to put these spindles on and I think it will give the house a nice finished look.

Here is Clarke's mother making sure everything is level.

yes I do something besides taking pictures..... I did the painting and to prove it here I am in about 100 degree weather.

Overall I am quite please with how the porch is turning out. All the painting including the trim is done. We fixed the parts of the cement that was crumbling but we never got the stain put on the step before it got too cold. I had wanted to put on hard rock, you know the stuff that looks like gravel but it was going to be too expensive especially if we had to repeat it on other porches for continuity, so I went with a stain. I am also making a stained glass light for the porch, that too isn't finished.

Here is the porch so far

Nancy

The Porch........

.....that I thought I could get done on my one week vacation. Ha! Who was I fooling? Me I guess. I thought I could strip the paint, sand and paint and voila it would be done. After all it is not very big.

So I tore off the vinyl siding. And stripped and stripped some more. Some paint came off in strips other parts I tore off all the skin off my knuckles trying to get the paint off. I am using a heat gun but I am really wishing I had a Silent Paint Remover. I started at the bottom and thought I would work my way to the top and that way Clarke could set up scaffolding for me to reach the top. I am regretting that decision now becasue after 3 days of stripping and get ready for Clarke to come fix up a couple of boards only to discover that the insides and both posts were rotten at the bottom. That threw my timeline right out the window!

Almost everything I stripped is now torn out on the lawn. Hear me grieve?

On a more positive note I think it is going to look much better open. We decided not to put the half walls back in.

I have to decide what kind of railings to use. But before I do....Clarke check out those boards do they need to be replaced because I ain't strippin' them if they do.....

Sure enough all around needed new boards. That cut down on the stripping but it still seems like an endless task.

Suddenly this porch is very large!

OOOOHHHHH my aching arms.

Nancy

Gardening time

We are trying to keep ahead of the crows and the weeds in the garden. The weeds are winning for sure. The crows got the best of us before we could find someplace that sold orange garbage bags. You think that would be an easy task but no....anyway the crows ate all the corn seeds. We were pretty sure they were calling Korn! Korn! Korn! as we were planting it and had a feast when our backs were turned. I had read a couple of years ago that if you put up orange garbage bags around the garden it will keep the crows away. And it works! What we found was it also kept the deer away for most of the year until they get used to the sound that the bags make in the wind. Orange garbage bags make a different sound than plain old black garbage bags.

Of course these don't really help but every good gardens needs one. Yes a husband too!

If you look behind Clarke and the scarecrow you will see that we put hay over our potatoes. A neighbor gave us that tip to help with potato beetles. Apparently the beetles don't like climbing through the straw to get to the potato plant. Verdict so far is that it doesn't eliminate but it certainly cuts down on them. Last year we couldn't get ahead of them. It is probably better to use straw because of the fewer weed seeds but straw is very hard to come by in our area.

Nancy

You have to think more than just the house

When you are restoring an old farm you have to think of more than just the house. We also have to get the fields back into shape. We decided to do one field and lease the other field to a local farmer. We knew that we would never be able to do both fields this year so for us this was the best plan. That way both fields would be worked.





The field that was leased was plowed by the farmer and seeded with oats. I have to say that the fields look so much nicer plowed and something growing in them instead of being over run with bushes.

Below is our field. We planted buckwheat. There are two reasons for this; 1) buckwheat is a good green manure and these fields need help because much of the top soil had been removed. Very little will grow in a place that the top soil has been removed. so in our attempts to restore the soil we planted buckwheat.

Ah but you said two reasons and you only gave one. The other is too feed out new babies. What would feed on buckwheat you ask?

Honeybees of course! About 3000 per hive. Can't wait to taste the honey!

Nancy

OOOOOHHHHHH a Treasure!

On the veranda there was a sign that had been completely painted over. Every time I walked through the veranda I wondered what kind of sign it was. You see the veranda and the part off the veranda had once been the local store so I had an idea that this was an advertisment. It looked like tin or some kind of metal. Finally curiosity killed this cat and I stripped it. Now I was careful not to scratch it so I still haven't uncovered the screws that hold it to the wall. But I think it is beautiful, the colours are still so vibrant after all these years behind all those coats of paint.

For those of you who don't know the brand King Cole, it is from the Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) in Canada. It is still being sold and I believe the maritimes is the only place you can get it.

Nancy

The Old Red Shack

On the property is a building which is lovingly referred to as "The Red Shack". This building has historical significance since it was used by Willard as a cook house for the men who worked in the woods. Over the years the building was just used for "storage". Most of the "storage" was lots of broken stuff that should have really been thrown away but ended up in the "Red Shack" because I guess it was just easier. This past weekend we decided it was time to clean out the "Red Shack" to:


1. Get ready for garbage day
2. Because we had the metal recycling fellow coming
3. Maybe just maybe there might be some hidden treasure.


Oh well two out of three ain't bad. We certainly got lots of garbage. Two half ton loads that went for metal recycling. And some doors and windows that might be able to be used in the house or at least the glass since just about every piece of glass is cracked in the house. We did find something that was rather interesting was a large bag (about 40 lbs by Clarke's estimate) of red oxide. We figured that Willard (because his name was on the tag) had it to make paint for the barns. We can't think of anything else he could have used it for, what else would a person use red oxide for in the 20 or 30's?


We are not sure that the structure can be saved. The front doesn't look too bad.

The back shows signs of collapse. I didn't take a picture of the tree growing out the side.

Clarke is struggling with the decision. Too me I think it is just too far gone to save but I don't have the sentimental attactment to it that Clarke has. I am sure that the racoon that we found living in "Red Shack" is hoping that sentiment prevails.

Nancy

Now that spring is here......ok summer!

It is time to finish the front of the barn. The restoration of the structure and the inside took place last summer and fall. Winter hit before all the cedar shingles were able to be put up.

This is as far as was done.

My, it doesn't look nearly as crooked with the new shingles on.

With the new window and a new upper door and some barn red paint I think it looks wonderful!!!!!!!

Here is the finished product.

Nice work Clarke.
Nancy

One thing leads to another....interesting piece of history!

Well, remember in my last post we had removed a small doorway that lead from the kitchen to the dining room. When we were removing that doorway a piece of the tiles in the dining room came down and through the hole we could see hand hewn beams! So what were we to do but........tear down the ceiling. I think in the project management role it is called scope creep. Well we creeped right into the dining room and began demolition.

Under the ceiling tiles was, what was left of a plaster ceiling and lath.

After all the plaster and lath had been removed we discovered something that was very puzzling. We knew that we were in the oldest part of the house (1878) so the fact that there was hand hewn beams under all that didn't suprise us but what did suprise us is part way through the room the beams changed from hand hewn to mill sawn which was not possible at the time the orginal house was built.

So Clarke went into the attic and there too was a change in the beams but the interesting part was the very front of the house went back to hand hewn. So we figure that the very orignal house was actually quite small and Willard (determined through process of elimination) wanted/needed the house to be bigger so he cut the front off the house with the windows and doors still intact and moved it forward and built in between and then reatached the front piece.

It is times like this you would really like to be able to talk with your ancestors about why they decided to do it that way or if our assumption is even correct. If only the walls could talk.

Nancy

Kitchen Demolition Continued......

I am not sure it is ever going to end. It just keeps going and going....not the Energizer bunny but the kitchen demolition. It seems everytime we go into the kitchen we decide we should tear out something else. Case in point. After hours and hours of wallpaper removal it came to the wall that encased the brick chimney. I said "I wonder what the brick looks like? Maybe it would look good exposed!" Clarke said "let's see!" So off comes the wall.

We liked what we saw so we are keeping the bricks exposed. This also solves another problem for us because we would have had to redo the wall anyway because of how close it is to the woodstove. For insurance purposes the wall behind the stove had to be made out of non-combustible materials.


There was this little doorway that went from the kitchen into the dining room that had a swinging door. The corner of the wall came out pretty close (too close) to the woodstove so we decided that had to go too! Willard and Sarah again weren't here to explain their reasoning behind the doorway and it just didn't make any sense to us so it's, off with its door frame!

If you look at the ceiling you can see how big this little doorway was. Although the doorway was small, its removal makes the kitchen look so much bigger. This also gives us opportunity to fix the rot in that corner. This is where the old part of the house (1878) attaches to a newer part (1943). When you look at where they join you can see that the old part of the house has birch bark under the clapboards. We are guessing that it was 19th century tyvek.

So the kitchen has one wall torn down to the studs. The rot repaired and reinsulated. The cupboards removed, the floors removed. The doorway removed and rot fixed. The chimney exposed. Now we have to put it all back together but before we can we have to decided about the electrical and where it is going upstairs. Which poses a whole new area of demolition.

sigh!

Nancy

Can't Judge a House by its Cupboards

When we first began to fix up the kitchen we thought that it wouldn't be too drastic of a change, take out the island, fix the rotten corner, fix the floor, paint and all would be well. Hey ok for all you seasoned Housebloggers quit laughing...the mushroom effect has taken hold and is growing rampantly. So far we have ripped out the island, http://wilsonfamilyhomestead.blogspot.com/2007/01/hi-ho-hi-ho-it-is-off-to-house-we-go.html. Then removed the corner wall and a section of countertop to get at the rotten piece.

Realizing more needed to be done to get at the rotten piece we removed a section of the cupboards and the sink.

Next came the floors. There was vinyl flooring, press board underlay, tiles and linoleum and then boards which we believe is the subfloor. No hardwood treasure under here! Just hard work getting all those layers and all the nails that went with those layers up off the floor.

Behind me in this picture you can see a little room called the pantry. I am not sure why it is called the pantry because it is really too small for a pantry. I have been told that it had been used for a ringer washer and later a small spinner washer but the room is really too small for that too but since the Wilsons who built this piece (Willard & Sarah) aren't around to ask what their intentions for that room were we call it the pantry. Not to be confused with the old pantry that was part of the older portion of the house. But I digress, the reason I am bringing up the little room called the pantry is the tearing apart we did in that room. I am really beginning to like tearing things apart! We tore down the walls, ceiling and the floor. I don't have any pictures of this part Well actually Clarke was trying to take up the floor when his crow bar went through the floor, so hence Clarke and Stephen had to put in new beams and a floor. It had a little bit of insulation but it was looking in not the best of shape, so we ripped that out and put in new. Similar situation happened when they removed the ceiling and discovered that the floor and beams of the bathroom above was rotten and needed to be repaired. So the little kitchen project is getting to be a large kitchen project.

And the demolition has only just began.........the saga continues, stay tuned.

Nancy

Behind Closed Doors

The best way to get a good view of what is behind closed doors is to take the doors off! With the hope of restoring the cupboards we removed the doors to make it easier to repair and paint the interior. I am going to paint them whether they need it or not, it has only been about 50 years since their last paint job. We had a crew helping us. Thanks Stephen & Zachary! It was amazing how long it took to remove the doors and all the old hardware.

What surprises lurked behind those doors? There was 3 cedar shingles nailed to the back wall of one of the cupboards. When we removed the singles to reveal this.

It is not quite what I had in mind for the best way to fix a hole. But then again if you don't fix a leak you get this.......

If you think that is bad you should see the bedroom walls that are above the kitchen!





My favourite story in How Come They Just Didn't Fix It genre?

The Hole

This past spring I had walked into the kitchen and all over the sink was what looked like the makings of a birds nest I looked up under the valance that covered the top of the kitchen cupboards to discover that indeed a bird had built a nest in a hole that was there. Thinking that this was a new hole I questioned Ethel about its origins, to my suprise she said that hole had been there for a long time. The hole that had been cut into the wall to help vent the heat from the woodstove because at one time all their cooking was done there. A vent pipe went from the stove across the ceiling and out the wall. When the vent was no longer needed they removed the pipe but did not fix the hole. I asked is this the first time for a bird to nest in the hole? No I guess the birds have been coming for years. How did you stop the mess inside the house? Masking tape and wallpaper! I just couldn't believe it! Clarke's sister Charlene can remember the hole being there as long as 30 years ago. Nobody had bothered to fix the hole! What was I to do this year? You could already hear the cheep! cheep! cheep! of little birds, so a board was nailed to the wall to stop the baby birds from falling into the kitchen. In the fall we filled the hole with expanding foam. We will have to make a birdhouse and attach it to the outside of the house over the hole because I don't want those poor birds to be homeless after 30 years.

Nancy

How Many Wilson's Does It Take to Strip a Bench?

In the kitchen is a bench that had always sat at the back of the table, next to the window that the children of the family always sat on. The exact age of the bench we can't seem to determine but Clarke's Great Uncle Bill remembers sitting on it as a child and he is 89. So it is fairly old. So this bench as rough as it is, is a family heirloom.

The old brown paint had become gummy and so they had tacked plastic table cloth to the top to stop people from sticking to it. So I decided that I wanted to try and strip it. I searched the blogs for the best stripper that was some what environmently friendly. Many people had good luck with "The Safest Stripper" by 3M. So I got a jug and set about strippin'

Now this bench is very sturdy. Each piece of wood is about 1/2 inch thick and the only place that it is planed is on the top and the outsides of the legs. I slapped the stuff on and waited about 1 hour and began to scrape. The brown came off fairly easily except on the rough part of the legs but hey what do you expect. Off comes the brown and what do we have....a greenish blue. So more stuff goes on and we wait a while again.

Clarke takes over and the greenish blue comes off pretty good to show........that's right bright yellow! So we slapped on some more stuff and we waited.


I guess stripping might be better in the workshop. Stephen, Clarke's brother took at it.





He did a pretty good job but one leg is still quite yellow. It won't budge. I am wondering if it might be milk paint. I just recently read that ammonia will take off milk paint but I haven't tried it yet. If not then the family heirloom will have yellow legs. Stephen oiled the top to bring out all the years of wear and tear that old bench has seen. Despite the sickly colour on its legs that bench will go for another 100 years.

Clarke's Mom also did some scrapping on this bench but I never got a picture...so it takes 4 Wilson's to strip a bench.

Nancy

Hi! Ho! Hi! Ho! It Is Off To The House We Go.....

The kitchen is the heartbeat of every home so we decided that the kitchen will be the first place in the house that we will tackle. The kitchen was added in about 1943. I don't believe much was done to it since then but one thing that was added about 10 years ago was an island. I have never liked the island it divided up the old country kitchen and made it look too small.

Ethel praying that this island is the first thing to go!

Demolition begins.....

Ethel keeping things snugged up as they say around here!

Where am I you ask? I was a bit nervous with Clarke using a reciprocating saw close to electrical wires. I also hate the sound of those saws. So I stood back and took pictures...that is when my eyes weren't closed.

Didn't bother Ethel any...she was right in there like a dirty shirt. She'll have it down in no time!

Watch where you're pointing that saw!

And Voila it was gone.

What a difference it makes. It is a nice big country kitchen again! Ethel your prayers have been answered.

Nancy

Slowly but Surely

It sometimes feels like the barn will never get completed. It is like the energizer bunny...it just keeps going and going! Some progress has been made since my last post. We finally got a wood stove in so the people working in there don't freeze to death.

Stoke up the fire I think Clarke froze!

Clarke found old wooden doors that had different initials carved into them. Some dated back to the 20's. He decide to cover one wall with the old doors and initials. So on they went hinges and rope knobs and all. Many people have had a good time trying to figure out whose those initials belong to. I have to say it makes a pretty cool wall!

We of course can't forget the rocking chairs. Rocking will always solve those tough woodworking problems.

Nancy