Out With The Old Laundry Sink

The old soapstone laundry sink in the basement, the one that came with the house has been having issues. It has a huge crack all around the right (main) bin so it leaks water all over the floor any time you use the washing machine. It has been calked and patched but never holds. There is also an issue with draining, IE it will not drain unless you plunge it, and the second bin also fills up with water. The third bin, well some crazy person drilled holes around the drain. Why?? I guess to help it drain, all over the floor?!?! AWESOME! So it's a three chamber soapstone laundry sink that has one semi-decent working bin in the middle and the two on each side are utterly useless.

RIP 1915 -2013 (soapstone tubs don't observe leap years)

In my laundry sink research I found that the more bins your laundry sink had the more affluent you were...well call me hoity-toity! In 1915 it was common to have a laundry tub, meaning a portable galvanized tub to do your laundry in. If you had money you had a permanent laundry sink in the basement of your house. If you had even more money you had a two chamber laundry sink to wash your clothing in, one for wash water, and one for rinse water. If you were rolling in the dough you had a three chamber laundry sink, one for washing and two for rinsing! Think of how clean the original home owners whites were!    

The smash of a sledge hammer and zip of a sawzall and there are only pieces left. I plan on saving the faucets, they are fun and quirky.

Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit - WIN

Dan and I took a trip to Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit to see what sort of goodies they had. I have been meaning to go there for a while but never seem to remember until the day after. It was cold, snow covered warehouse, and of course we neglected to note the hours of operation because we were there 1/2 an hour before they opened. We pulled up to the gated parking lot and and my eyes widened as I saw it.
It was covered in snow, with a plastic tub parked on top of it. It was big, it was glorious, it was heavy, it was...a two chamber cement laundry sink!
Now to come back when they were actually open.

We spent about an hour looking around the warehouse at all the goodies and finally asked about the cement laundry sink outside - $30. Deal, now how about a delivery service? I recall the exact response was "Hell No!!! Do you know how much that thing weighs?!?!" Nevertheless I managed to talk them into delivering it to the basement for another $30. :)

Bathroom Re-Vamp

The melimine wood board on the shower backslash had to go - iew!
it revealed a lovely hole?
why?
what is that for?
nobody knows

A new stainless steel back splash installed.
Thanks for helping Mushka!








That looks so much better - and the start of painting the bathroom Grey.

The little cubby in the wall will also get a stainless steel liner. 





Removal of Troll Door - also known as a laundry shoot. The shoot is full of pipes, and can not be used as a laundry shoot :( so the decision was made to take off the door and patch up the hole.

Stripping - Bathroom Things

Why so much paint on EVERYTHING???? Wall Sconces, Mirror Frame, and Radiator Shelf/Deflector...

Smells Like Burning

It's never a good thing to smell something funny just before a fuse is blown.
Bathroom light fixture:

I Hate Calk!

Painters calk really erks me!
Calk was my fathers solution for everything, its like duct tape! Over the years I think my dad picked up on my annoyance for the use of calk and started to throw it out as a solution for every problem.

Me: "the brick mortar is falling out"
Dad: "just calk it"

Me: "the wiring is loose"
Dad: "just calk it"

Me: "the handrail lost a screw"
Dad: "just calk it"

Me: "the wheel of my car is making a funny noise"
Dad: "just calk it"

...and thus the hate of calk.

Seldom do people use painters calk correctly, regardless I still hate it!

Stripping - Breakfast Room Wall Sconce

What lies beneath 17 layers of led paint I wonder...START THE STRIPPING PROCESS!

lol - They look like mashed potato swans...ieeewwww

Oh, now that is much better. Why on earth would you want to paint these wall scones white???? look at all that delicate detail...Quick get me some crappy house paint to cover them up with (sarcastic).

I do not believe that the glass shades that were on the sconces are original, I think they are a generic glass shade; I'll need to do some research on them. However during the Boston Edison Attic Sale I met a neighbor that was selling three frosted glass shades that she dated back to the late 20's. The price was a bit higher that I wanted, and I really only needed two shades. I walked away...only to return the next day to purchase them at a slightly lower price.

Please note, the breakfast room has not been patched or repainted and the scones are screwed in with temporary screws to hold them in place on the walls. 

Master Bedroom Plaster Demolition

Some days it just feels good to take a sledge hammer to a wall...

Coming back form a really bad vacation, frustrations were take out on the bloody bedroom - the wall in the bedroom bumped out about 2 inches around the chimney; it looked dumb, and part of the plaster was lose to the touch, and cracked. So instead of fixing it, the wall came down. 

I Need a Closet

The house is not too horrid in paint choices from the prior owners,

The first to be painted: Master Bedroom Closet

There was a cheesy flimsy white wire shelf unit in the master closet, it had to go, and since I am a pack rat I have an expensive closet unit that I removed form my former home in 2008. Yes, I took the closet system with me when I left!!! That unit and I have history, I had to go to the hospital because I got a piece of metal in my eye when I was custom fitting it; have you ever had a Dr. remove metal form your eye with a "flick" of a hypodermic needle!?!?! Anyhoo...the orientation of the closet was all wrong, and no room for my "Wall-O-Shoes". Holes in walls patched and I had a small amount of ceiling white (as if I ever paint a ceiling or anything white) that my mom gave me, it was enough to cover the top half of the closet - figured the white would freshen it up. Then I stripped the paint on the molding, patched some hook holes and went out to get some real paint. I decided to only paint the bottom half cream, the white is nice, but way to bright. 

As you can see the other woodwork and built in need to be stripped...eventually, but for now they are fine. Three tones of white, how lovely...meh.

I also added window tint to the window - weird?!?!? No not really; I do not want the UV light to damage my clothing & shoes, plus it give me some much needed privacy form a front facing window.  

Shortly after the closet was painted my friend Mark Rinn shot a movie at my house and my big empty white closet was featured as a safe room. - lol

I found these two book shelves in one of the attics, cool thing about old houses, you often find neat things that were left behind. They will work great stacked for a temporary solution for the "Wall-O-Shoes" until a proper shelf can be made.

Stove Dreams

I picked up a stove...it needs a bit of help, but when restored should look like this:

For now, until restored and kitchen remodel it will live in the garage. :(

Un-Packing

Thank Goodness we remembered to pack the puppy!!!!

Official Move In Day

The house keys are in my hand, Yates and Gail were given farewell hugs (couldnt ask for better former owners) alarm system, gate, timers, garbage disposal explained...

Welcome Home!

A you enter the large leaded front door you are greeted by lion scones in the Foyer. The wall paper is deco, and needs to go, and the floor tile has been replaced. Assuming the original tile was the little octagon shaped ones that are in the bathroom, as the wainscoting is also the same tile found in the main bathroom, it has been painted yellow ochre. This room will take some time to restore.  

The wall color through the house is not as horrible as some I had seen when house hunting, mostly they all need a bit of repair and to be freshened up.

The Parlor (Main Room), has wine colored walls and a lovely forest green Pewabic tile hearth, the woodwork is black walnut, coiffured ceilings, and picture moldings. Some days the walls look magenta, pink, red, purple...I would like to keep the color of this room in the red family, but go with a period correct color.

 
The Hall and most of the common areas are painted white with a slight hint of peach that I have only noticed in the sunlight on the third floor.

The Dining Room is all oak, with peach walls and unusual short wainscoting that only goes up to the windowsills. The ceiling is also coiffured, I have picked out a period correct 'Marmalade' color for the walls, I may paper (between the coiffures) the ceiling, depending on the price, or paint a cream or natural thatch color.

The Breakfast Nook (Morning Room) is painted yellow and the wood work is painted white - this room is a hexagon bump out form the side of the house and is mostly glass. By far the brightest room in the house. I hate yellow, but it works in this room - paint color is undecided.

Kitchen, oh you silly kitchen, you need to be gutted and restored into to a 1940's style. The kitchen is long and narrow, galley style, with a fabulous butlers pantry on one end. It was "updated" in the 90's...technically there is one cupboard which looks haphazardly thrown up on the wall over the stove for a vent to be installed under. There are some issues with the kitchen - the dishwasher hits the fridge and the fridge covers light switches - placement is all wrong. I have ideas and a vintage stove in the garage...Also the kitchen is peach, or as my best friend calls it "flesh" now known as "hellraiser kitchen" - lol
 

The Former home of John H. Thompson

John H. Thompson

John H. Thompson was born in 1883 in Detroit. He started as a travelling salesman, then moved to New York City to work as a broker. He pursued a similar line of work in Chicago, then returned to Detroit in 1904 to work as a mechanic in the Cadillac and the Oldsmobile factories. He then brokered automobile parts for three years, and in 1909 organized the Thompson Auto Company, which distributed Federal Trucks (manufactured by Martin L. Pulcher). In 1912 he took two of his brothers into the business, remaining president. In 1918 he began distributing Maxwell and Chalmers automobiles. In the same year, he also organized the Thompson Airplane Company, which distributed Curtiss airplanes. John H. Thompson lived at 1210 W. Boston Boulevard from 1920 through the late 1950s.

My New Old House!

The Back Story: In October of 2011 I began house hunting in Detroit and the surrounding neighborhoods such as Palmer Park, Green Acers, and Indian Village. My Realtor took me on a lovely adventure within the city where I was shown lovely old homes, and some home that unfortunately were now shells of their former glory. I fell in love with a few beauties; an Arts and Crafts home on Virginia Park that was a time capsule form 1915 and a 1930's Limestone Fortress on Lamothe that still had bullet holes in the walls from the 1967 riots when the National Guard fired their tanks at the house! 

Circumstances prevented me from acquiring either of those homes, and I was very sad. 

In December I had just about given up all house hunting hope when I was told a deal feel through on a home in Boston Edison. I rushed over there to see the house and It was a lovely Arts and Crafts home built in 1915. Very similar in layout to the one on Virginia Park (whom I wave to every time I drive past it on the Lodge) but even more quirky and unique. I completely fell in love instantly, this was it, my house!