If you’ve ever lived in an old house you may have noticed a small little piece of trim running horizontally somewhere in the top 12” of your wall. There is a good chance that small piece of molding is an incredibly unique, and functional, molding called picture rail. Picture rail molding, is a type of […]
If you own a home there is a very good chance you’ll need a contractor at some point. And when it comes time to hire that contractor you want to be sure you are not only getting a good price and the quality of work you’re expecting, but you want to know if your contractor […]
Linseed oil is one of the oldest and most versatile finishes that has been used for centuries to protect and seal wood, metal, and a variety of other products. Linseed oil is derived from the seeds of the flax plant. The oil is obtained by pressing the seeds to withdraw the oil. Linseed oil, also known […]
Sandpaper is an integral part of any almost every kind of home repair- especially finish work. Painting, carpentry, drywall, flooring, they all need sandpaper at some point and you need to know what grit sandpaper for each application. There are a least 1,387,902 different types of sandpaper (that may be a guess, but there are […]
If you are looking to hang out your shingle and start restoring windows for pay then this post is for you. Whether you plan to operate as a solo-preneur, build a small team of dedicated restorers, or have plans to build a major window restoration outfit with dozens of employees tackling the largest restoration projects […]
If you’re restoring historic wood or steel windows then you’re probably dealing with glazing putty rather than the modern glazing gasket systems. Glazing putty is a wonderfully versatile product that was used for centuries to install glass into the earliest windows. In the 1950s and 1960s it began to fall out of favor and things […]
It seems like every tongue and groove porch floor suffers from the same problem. End rot. It makes sense that the ends of the boards exposed to the elements will take in water and begin to rot so fast it makes you want to pull your hair out. On my house, we have a huge […]
I’ve built a few decks in my time and I can assure you that staining a new deck made of pressure treated wood is in some ways easier than restoring an older deck, but it has some unique challenges that trip a lot of people up. So you’re not one of those people who have […]
Old houses get cracks in their plaster walls and ceilings there is just no denying it. Some of those cracks are a sign of trouble brewing while others are completely innocuous. So, how do you know which cracks are which and when you need to take action? In this post I’ll help you diagnosis plaster […]
Transom windows seem to have a bit of mystery about them. A lot of people don’t understand exactly what a transom window is so I figured that it was high time that this window guy wrote a post explaining the ins and outs of transom windows. A transom window is essentially another window above a […]
What is linoleum flooring and is it worth saving? This is a big question a lot of old home owners ask. If you’ve got an older home there is a good chance you have or had linoleum flooring in your kitchen at one point. Linoleum was an extremely popular and affordable flooring choice for decades. […]
So you’ve got an old house. You love it, you hate. Welcome to the club! Historic homes can be a great joy sometimes, but they are definitely different from new homes and understanding those differences can make life in an old house more enjoyable. LIfe was different 100 years ago and these houses were built […]
