Formal Dining Room

The floor in the dining room is done.  There were also other finishing touches that needed to be made.  The room is  big and we have held some big dinners in it.  This is a great room for entertaining and we are proud to finally be able to show it.  Many great meals are sure to be served here!

A couple of sets of ugly pipes ran through the room.  They were for the radiators upstairs.  Nothing would make them look attractive and since we never have problems with them, we decided to encase them.  These are finished at the ceiling and floor and now they fade right into the wall.  Hiding the pipes gives the room a much more "finished" appearance.

Insulation

Since the carpet downstairs is up, it is time to insulate.  This is being put up under the floor joists in the cellar and should help save on heating bills this winter.  The planks in the living room and parlour are pretty tight as it is and no air is getting up from below, but insulation can't hurt!

This product will hold up well to the sometimes damp conditions common to cellars.  Also, since the furnaces are also directly under that section of the house, it's not quite as frigid as one might think.  Either way, you can't go wrong with insulation in an old house!  This is a wonderful way to insulate an old house because you don't have to tear anything up or close it in.

The open house is on Saturday, November 5th and a lot will be done by then!  This obviously isn't something that is necessary for us as owners who will be moving out, but we wanted to see it done because we  believe in energy conservation and that old homes can be as energy efficient as new ones.

Hit the Floor!

This is the large dining room which is the third room on the first floor.  This carpet was in really bad shape and had to go.

This is enough laminate to cover 300 sqft of floor, which is the approximate size of the room.  There will be a few panels left over.

This is a big job.  The old carpet was torn out and there was a lot of glue on the floor beneath it.  i

As of right now, we are about 2/3 of the way through.  It really brightens up the room!

This was the floor underneath. It seemed to be a very nicely configured parquet.  Not sure why it was covered.  But there was a serious layer of glue on it and it was never going to be salvageable.  We had no choice but to put down a new floor.  Laminate seemed to be the most durable and affordable option.

We hope this room will be done this week! 

Wierd Window

This is the window that goes nowhere.  The porch and closet are on the other side.  One way we can guess that the closet in the living room was an entrance at one time, is that this window would have been right outside it.  Once the porch and closet was added, the window became obsolete.  Luckily, they kept the frame and just filled in the open area.  The shelves are a sturdy metal which we have painted to match the frame.  The ceiling moulding that is going in this week will be painted to match.

This is our make-shift liquor cabinet!

Just Fix It!

This is where we are with the upstairs kitchen.  There was a full counter against this wall and Gary had tiled it along with the back splash above it.  The counter eventually warped and cracked.  Something had to be done.  However, with all of the stuff that needs to be done with the house a full second kitchen remodel didn't seem to make sense.  We figured the best plan would be to at least return the room to a "clean slate' sort of state.  Since the house is for sale, the new owners might have their own ideas.  I think it would make a wonderful laundry room.  Someone might even want or need to use it as a bedroom.  For that reason, we aren't even sure we want to mount a new sink just yet.  Rather than install cabinets, we have a large, well-made free standing unit which is old and unique.  It needs a backing piece and we'll put on on that matches the newer style bead-board.  With out it affixed to the wall, the next owners can move or use it however they want.

Restoration is a lofty goal, but this section of the house was a late addition. In fact, from the construction we've seen, it looks like it might even have been a porch that was eventually enclosed.  What we do know is that there were four layers of floor tiles with various areas exposed.  This made for a very uneven floor. We opted to put down a sub floor and will put new tile over that.  Also, the wall board had been added on to enough that it was time to take it off and start again.  When we pulled away the hutch against the back wall, we found the floor board were mismatched and hacked together, so they couldn't be saved. We put up a neutral board in its place that won't need to be painted. We will put a small quarter molding over it at the base once the tiles are down.  If the next owner wants a color, they can choose it.

The rest of the room is being painted and non-working lights have been replaced.  The original tile appeals to us so we are keeping the back splash.  We also put a sub-floor layer down in the hallway that leads to the kitchen and will put down the same tile.

Our main goal is to create a clean base layer.  What was there before had gotten into pretty sad shape. It will be very nice once it's done and everything is cleaned up.  Stay tuned!

Next Up (and Down!)

The dining room needs to be finished with moulding.

The carpet has to come up.  There is a sub-floor under it and we can't restore it to the original surface.  This room will be getting a Pergo laminate in a light finish.  When this is done, we will probably put a cover back over the fireplace.  We have too much to do right now to even think about installing a gas insert.  That might still come later on.

Right now the room needs to be finished.  A few years back, we pulled down acoustic tile and put up a real ceiling.  We painted the room the yellow that it is now.  Then the guy who was helping us out just disappeared.  After that the roof required a full tear-off and replacement.  Then the sump pump had to be installed.  Other more important mechanical issues put the finishing of this room on the back burner.  Hopefully be the end of next week, it will truly be "done."  Stay tuned!

Preservation Conference Activities in Black Rock

Buffalo Religious Arts Center

Thursday, October 20, 2011, 1 pm

Buffalo Religious Arts Center

Tour Time:  1:00 p.m. 
Admission: $10.00
Located in the former St Francis Xavier Church (157 East Street) was established in response to over 70 churches closing inWestern New York.  It is our intention to collect and display art objects from these closed places of worship and at the same time maintain and protect this architecturally significant building.
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This gorgeous building provides a beautiful back-drop to the Dayton House.  When you sit in the back yard, you see the clock tower.  A climb up the tower is excellent exercise -- and the trip back down is a doozy!  There is a crack in the north facing clock and if you look through it, you can see over Grand Island.  Here's a shot taken from the sky lift we rented to paint the eaves and brackets for the front portion of the house.

If you have a chance to visit the museum, stop by to see the house...maybe we'll see you on Friday!