Woodwork

One important aspect of the Dayton House is the amount of intact woodwork.  Over the years, the original integrity of the configuration of the house and the craftsmanship of its components remained surprisingly untouched and largely unaltered.  Perhaps one reason for the near pristine and authentic quality of the work was that it was done so well to begin with and because the house was never vacant.  And although it is a zoned multi-dwelling residence, it has always been owner occupied.

The early owners of the Dayton House were affluent citizens.  A house of this style and construction would not have been built by a laborer, but more likely a mill or factory owner.  First of all, solid brick/masonry construction was the most costly form of building.  It would be today as well – if that form of construction was still employed.  It’s not, mostly because it is so costly.  The house was built in three stages and each stage was the same method of construction.

Baseboard moulding in c.1840 (original) section of the house

Woodwork and moulding in c.1870 addition of house



Another hallmark of affluent construction and design is the use of quality wood and decorative moldings.  While the Dayton House may seem inferior to more showy styles (such as Victorian), it is no less impressive with its simple style door and window frames and baseboards.  The ogee style of the woodwork is historically significant for the time in which it was produced.  Even more significant is that the style and quality was carried on throughout the entire house.  In many homes, only the public rooms received this decorative treatment.  The builders of the Dayton House, at each stage, had ample funds to employ this decorative detail to both public and private rooms.

Window sill moulding in Dining Room

Baseboard in Office/Small room off Dining Room

Upstairs Bathroom - with authentic/period tub, baseboards and Windows, original

Upstairs Bedroom, showing imrpessive molding for a non-public room

That this house was well built to start and has been dutifully maintained is obvious in the fact that most of the original components remain.  That there is so much original intact detailing is a blessing.  It is far easier to move into a historic house that is intact, than it is to take on one that needs to be restored.  The Dayton House is fortunate that it has always been occupied by owners who care about it and who want to see it survive into the future.  The original builder and subsequent builders did their part by constructing a home of quality.  Everyone who has lived here since has benefited from their work and obviously felt committed to maintaining it.   There are many aspects of the house that speak to this sense of importance.  But perhaps one of the most obvious example is found in the woodwork itself.

Furniture

Furnishing and old house can be a challenge.  Modern furniture often looks incongruous, while antiques can be cost prohibitive.  While modern over-stuffed sofas are easy to come by and certainly very comfortable, massive furniture and well stocked rooms are not the friend of old homes with wood joists.  These homes were built at a time when furniture was smaller and houses more sparsely furnished.  You do not do an old home any favors by furnishing it with large reclining sofas, waterbeds and pool tables.

Most of the Dayton House is currently furnished with older solid wood pieces.  Concessions were made for the sofa – a historically correct sofa is not going to be comfortable enough to watch a Sabres game on!  But a small scale sectional sofa fit well into the living room without over-taking it – and a diminutive couch was not an easy thing to find.

One good example of period-appropriate furniture is the dining room set.  This is a Duncan Phyfe reproduction set manufactured by Berhnardt, most likely in the mid 1900’s.   This set was purchased second hand and is not in pristine condition, but it fits well with the style of the house.  We intend to leave this set when we move on and hope it is kept in the house for future owners as it is perhaps the most aesthetically appropriate dining suite for the space.  TLC would do it justice.

Here’s a bit of info about Duncan Phyfe

Duncan Phyfe (1768-1854) was one of nineteenth-century America’s leading furniture makers.  He was born in Scotland and immigrated to Albany, NY. 

Phyfe started out as a cabinetmaker’s apprentice, eventually moving to NY City to open his own shop. He became known as one of America's leading cabinetmakers by selling affordable quality furniture.  Stylistically, his pieces encompassed a broad range of the classical styles popular in the late 1700’s (Empire, Sheraton, Regency, Classical French and Federal).  His most enduring work is a simple style which was in opposition to the imported French designs popular at the time. It’s this simplicity that makes the style of his furniture so well suited to the high quality but simple design of the Dayton House.

Duncan Phyfe's furniture is highly collectible but not easy to find.  If one were to purchase a new reproduction of his classic style drop leaf table today, it would run about $2500.00.  Here’s an example:

The set currently occupying the dining room at the Dayton House could use some refinishing.  The brass knobs on the hutch have been cleaned, but the same still remains to be done on the buffet.  The table itself has a shaky leg that has been shored up.  There is some discoloration on the table and buffet top – but in spite of this all, the set still looks right in the room:

A heavy and ornate modern dining set just isn’t a good fit for this space.

Not quite right for the room:

Old and simple is a better fit for the house than new and ornate!

The Dayton House Recycles

The Dayton House recycles.  Here is one example.  We line our kitchen drawers with brown paper bags from the supermarket.  When they get grungy, they are used in the fire pit.  We like reusable bags but when the only option is plastic, we save that for poop patrol.  The dog eats a raw carb-free diet, so there isn't much to pick up.  We feel a dog is a great rodent deterrent -- unless you fail to pick up the yard.  Rats can eat feces and many city dwellers don't realize that.  It's why we have gravel in the back section of the yard which can easily be kept poop-free.  Every few months we spray Round-up to kill weeds, which is not dangerous once it hits the ground.  But we do that on a weekend we are sending the dog somewhere else.  Keeping the yard weed and vine free is one of the best ways to keep away pests -- crawling and flying kinds alike!

Here's the drawer with more stuff in it.  When we got the historic designation, it was noted that the cabinets were modernized.  There was really not much choice as what was built in had to come out in order to put in new wiring and enclose plumbing that used to run through the shelving. That caused mold and wasn't an idea worth replicating!

The house now has the large recycling tote from the city.  Trash pick up is in the Norther District schedule.  For trash rules, click here.  In the process of cleaning up the house, we've already gotten one ticket for putting out too much trash.  So it's worth it to be aware of the rules.

We do not use an in-sink garbage disposal.  While it would have been cheap and easy to put one in, we didn't want one in an older house and don't suggest any others who live here get one.  The run from the kitchen out to the sewer is a long one and there is no reason to chance plugging anything up along the way.  Old houses just weren't designed for those types of gadgets.   Besides, we feed all of our vegetable scraps which most people shove down the disposer to the dog.  Yet another reason to get one!

Old houses are more "green" than most people think.  However, there are still many ways to recycle and cut down on waste.

And one other old house green tip... old style claw foot tubs require a shower curtain.  Keep them clean by stocking the tub with a plastic spray bottle that is half water and half vinegar.  Spritz the shower curtain after each use.  Once a month, dump a half a cup of baking soda down each drain and follow with half cup of vinegar.  Let it  bubble, then run warm water through.  Your drains will stay clear and you won't hurt your old pipes at all.

Radiators

This house runs two boilers.  One for each floor, each on separate meters.  This is because the house is zoned as a double.  This also serves the purpose of letting us sort of "zone" our heating.  We can keep the upstairs at a lower temperature because of the heat rising from the first floor. 

The heat in the house is also rather steady because it is provided via radiators.  These are hot water, not steam.  This makes them a little easier to deal with.  While we have not had to have any service calls for the radiators, we have had to deal with a few furnace issues over the year.  In fact both boilers (Dunkirks) have been replaced in the past ten years.  It costs less to buy and have hot water boilers installed than it does with steam.  There are many more technicians who know how to work with water boilers than there are those compent with steam.

This is the detail of one radiator.  We have about six or seven like this.  The one in the formal dining room downstairs is twice as long as the others like it in the house.  There are also smaller radiators in less prominent rooms.  We try to keep them painted with a metallic finish because that is supposed to increase their effectiveness.  A periodic coat of rustoleum and regular bleeding is about all it takes to keep these in good shape.

They're functional and also beautiful. 

More on the Floor

We have more flooring to tackle.  Tomorrow an installer will be here to put new wall to wall down in the upstairs hallways and the third bedroom.  This is the front hallway as it looks today.  The walls, trim and ceiling have been painted and the old carpet ripped up.  We've put in a new light fixture but it isn't visible here.  The color is admittedly not "real estate agent beige" designed to appeal the masses, but we found this blue very striking and have used it in other areas in the house to great advantage.

We are not exposing the original pine flooring.  Gary had put a sub-flooring down over it because he did not think it was salvageable.  The layer is nailed and glued and I don't think we could have feasibly pulled it up.  This shot of the two stairs that connect the c. 1840 original section of the house to the c. 1875 addition show vestiges of the old pine plank. I figured I'd document the image in case future owners are curious.  This is what is under the rug!

This is what we consider the third bedroom and it's getting the same carpet as the hallways.  The carpet that was put down by Gary was glued so soundly that we could not get it up, so it's going to stay as a base layer.  For anyone who is curious, this layer was covered when we first bought the house 15 years ago.  One of the first things we did, was paint that room and put in new carpet.  The room itself and the carpet were in fine condition -- we just wanted a different color scheme.  If the carpet seems marked up or dirty in this picture, it's because it's been through a few painting projects.

The carpet tomorrow has been purchased through G&L Flooring, which is on Grant St.  We have purchased all carpeting in the house through them as we really like dealing with Paul Murphy.  I'll put up pictures once the carpeting is done and expect it to look great.

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! 

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!