Slate Roof...GrumbleGrumble....StupidIDIOT Gutter Installation!!!

[NYboy]

Does your house have any of the original interior woodwork?

 

[franklinstreetwest]

All the interior woodwork is intact. The house was never remodeled or duplexed. The only thing that wasn't painted was the front hall banister and the hall door. Other than that, we are SLOOOOOWLY stripping the wood throughout the house. Most of the floors had up to 1/4" of paint on them (mostly at the edges. I assume it was paint around the edge and an area rug at the middle for most of its life) Mike spent a month sanding 95% of the floors in the house. They are a full 1" thick X 6" wide northern white cedar (went to a couple fine woodworking places with samples until we figured out what the wood is) Stained a deep cherry.

There is a small house that sits right behind it also. Probably a carriage house? It is a story and a half, all original stained woodwork and oak floor. Other than housing our pool table, we don't do much with that right now. Our hands are full with the main house. Someday that will be a guest house and game room. And all of it is packed onto a city lot that is 140' deep X 42' wide!

The really neat parts of the house to me, are the guts! I go into the basement or the attic and look at the old growth, solid wood beams & joists... the super fluffy thick real wool batting for insulation in the attic(that consequently managed not to light on fire when my mother accidentally let her 1000degree heat gun blast into the eaves where it pokes out a bit!!!). The gas piping through all the walls and even out onto the front porch (keep trying to convince my other half it would be neat to have a working gas lamp for a porch light....I'm not winning). The 6 foot tall windows that (many) still have the wavy glass, and those that don't, I saved the broken glass and intend on fashioning leaded paned window sections so that the wavy glass will still be a part of the house. You wouldn't think that it would make much of a difference, but when I can spot the modern panes from a block away and it bothers me. It's like a solid feather on a laced bird! And the skill with wich the original woodwork was assembled......I know I mentioned it already, but it awes me! My house isn't even "unique" really...it's quite common looking overall. But the care that was taken in it's construction will give it the chance to endure for another 100 years and beyond.

Front entry hall. Before we moved in.

while we were sanding floors...

Cherry stain & semi-gloss finish. Might be going over it with high gloss.

Simple linen cupboard built beside the upstairs bathroom. Looks like the bathroom was a later addition. Still has clawfoot tub and you can see the fabric covered wiring running up the wall, completely exposed!

Magic Chef oven that we found in the upstairs "kitchen/pantry". As far as I've found so far, this model was made between 1900-1920 before it was dicontinued. It does not have a thermostat setting. You have to eyeball the flame and self regulate the oven temp just by "knowing" when to open the door and adjust the heat. We didn't have a real/modern stove so this is what we use to cook, and to heat the downstairs rooms that we use in the winter.

 

[franklinstreetwest]

effie

Where are you located? I have been searching through Craigslist and the greater internet public in my area. I just don't live where it's common. I found a lot of places in Pennsylvania, Southern Ohio and West Virginia. That was as far east and south that I looked.

 

[effie]

I live in St.Marys,WV.About an hour south of wheeling along the ohio river. We have gas lights in our log home we reconstructed. I love the soft glow and we don't mind the electric being out at all

 

[franklinstreetwest]

effie,

That is so cool! I keep trying to convince him that we should preasure test the lines for safety and fit them out to function...he hasn't made it past his idea that it's "unsafe". I'll get him there...some things just take time. I did a search on Craigslist for slates....found a lot through souther Ohio, Pennsylvania & West Virginia as I'm sure you would expect. If I find a listing that has them the right size, I'll probably make the drive. It'll be win/win. I LOVE driving through the Appalachians.

 

[effie]

I went to the antique shops and found our gas lights and my husband cleaned them up and they work fine. I got old gas light shades for them. I love the ones that are on arms that can fold out into the room. I even have a couple that are gas and electric combined(two arms) they are really nice because you have both lights right where you would put an electric light anyway. The new ones are UGLY!!!! I hope you find some slates.