Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

[BB767]

i know you are going to powdercoat the lift. after the fact here. but what about the eye bolt and its mounting frame work? why not powder coat it before the install? or did you and i overlooked it?

Trust me bryceaugustine, you're not the only one asking that question. No, the mounting frame wasn't overlooked. I couldn't see a real good reason to coat it or even paint it for that matter. It's inside in a humidity controlled environment where it will never rust or deteriorate and it probably will never be seen until the house is torn down.

More to the point, at the time it was fabricated and installed, I was so covered up with more important building tasks I just didn't have the time for such niceties. I was literally working 12-14 or more hours a day, 7 days a week at that point. I did give it some thought but practicality won out. I couldn't do it all and that was one I didn't do.

The eye-bolt is a forged piece and as such it has a nice finish on it already. I also wasn't sure if the relative high heat of the powder coating process might some how weaken it so I left it alone.

On the other hand, I have always intended to powder coat the lift platform once I get all the modifications done to it. It's a highly visible piece and I think it will look pretty cool after Rick and his crew get done with it. Stand by for that.

Tomorrow we start construction on the permanent, finished great room stairway. I am really looking forward to getting started on it. With luck it should take us about a week to complete. That and the basement stairs and railings are the last big construction projects left on the upper floors.



A minor construction project just completed (seen here as still a work in progress) was the kitchen back-splash.



The kitchen...



...is now...



...officially...





...done!


There's a flicker of light at the end of the construction tunnel.

Thomas

 

[1/2 Cup]

Thomas, and well done to..

 

[ajohno]

Looks great.

 

[Boosted1]

The backsplash and under cabinet lights look good.

 

[MacTexas]

I didn't build a new house but I did extensive remodeling to a 1923 house. I placed a "time capsule" in one of the walls. In fact one of the items was a cassette tape. The house would have to be torn down to find it and I am sure whoever finds it will be scratching their head wondering what it is.

Did you put a time capsule anywhere in your new house?

 

[Hugo L.]

I didn't build a new house but I did extensive remodeling to a 1923 house. I placed a "time capsule" in one of the walls. In fact one of the items was a cassette tape. The house would have to be torn down to find it and I am sure whoever finds it will be scratching their head wondering what it is.

Did you put a time capsule anywhere in your new house?

Yeah, a powder-coating receipt.

 

[C_F]

Yeah, a powder-coating receipt.

Hahaha!!

 

[BB767]

Yeah, a powder-coating receipt.

Somehow I get the feeling I have a reputation of some sort!

I got a good laugh out of that Hugo L., thanks

Here's something I haven't discussed yet...



...and that's this hole in the wall...



...under the main stairs.



That's where I'm placing my powered sub-woofer. Note the outlet behind and to the left of it.



To improve its performance somewhat I installed fiberglass insulation in the wall cavities to fill those voids...



...and force the sound out. Eventually I'll place this vent grill...



... over the opening. The grill won't affect its sound or performance. A powered sub-woofer is a big, clunky component that's hard to find a place to put it where it's not in the way. This pretty well solves that dilemma.


Not to worry, more coming.

Thomas

 

[MG30]

Very nice solution.

 

[Jazzman442]

Nice Idea. You are going to have a ton of bass..

 

[red]

Betcha you can't wait to get a movie where a jet is taking off.
With that sub-woofer, ya feel like you're back in the cockpit.

 

[BlueBomber]

And, in true Thomas fore-planning fashion, you did all that work before the steps were done. Me, I'd have been wadded up in that space putting the insulation in after the fact.

 

[MisteR Tee]

I go away for a couple of weeks & BANG, 5 pages to catch up on!!! Seriously great work going on here Tom & like the others have said, thanks for the ride!!! I'm sure there's lots of ideas here for others to copy &/or modify for their own use in the future, I know I will.

For now, keep living the dream that we can all aspire to.

Regards, Jealous of Beddington!!!

 

[dpljmurphy]

That's where I'm placing my powered sub-woofer.

Sorry Thomas, We're (I'm) going to need some more info on the sub: Brand Model etc, if it's capable of 20 hz or below you may need to build a slatted wood cover to cure the harmonic "buzz" from the metal cover as it tries to escape the room (then again, you may listen at a lower volume than I do when the wife is on a business trip). Let us know, David

 

[oberst]

Sorry Thomas, We're (I'm) going to need some more info on the sub: Brand Model etc, if it's capable of 20 hz or below you may need to build a slatted wood cover to cure the harmonic "buzz" from the metal cover as it tries to escape the room (then again, you may listen at a lower volume than I do when the wife is on a business trip). Let us know, David

I was kind of thinking the same thing. You don't want a nasty buzz in the background when Goose is chasing Mav through the skies. How about a coat of white bedliner? Or a spray on coat of speaker enclosure flocking? Anything to damp the buzz. (Mellow the harsh?)

Love that detail, though! Sub under the stairs! Great use of waste space!

 

[BB767]

Power Subwoofer

I'm very confident I'm not going to have any issues with the sub buzzing. There is nothing loose under the stairs to vibrate and the outer grill will be secured in such a fashion that it can't possibly vibrate either. That would be pretty annoying in the opening cat shot sequences of Top Gun to have it buzzing in the background as Mav flies off into the danger zone now wouldn't it?

The sub is a Definitive Technology Powerfield Subwoofer. It has an active crossover and a power amp. For my home theater it works quite well. I'm not doing any window rattling with it but you know it's there.

Thanks guys for the heads up.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

It's been extremely busy here the last few days so sorry for no updates. Biggest deal...



... has been starting the decommissioning of the old Johnson family home seen here in the mid 1950's...



...and here it is buried in the undergrowth when I purchased the property 11 years ago.



We lived here for the last 1 1/2 years and it served us well.



Earlier in the week...



...the propane tank...



... was removed.



It left the property after several decades while the old family mailbox still remains out front.



Already the new house looks different with the tank gone.



The phone, water and power lines to the old home have been removed. A salvage crew from PACA (Preservation and Conservation Association) http://pacacc.org/ went through the home last weekend removing items...










...that will be re-purposed in other structures. Thankfully quite a bit of material was removed and saved, even the prime windows and hardwood floors, old plumbing fixtures along with interior wood trim. It is very gratifying to know that parts of Mr Johnson's home will live on. It's all part of my conservation ethic that went back to saving the old shop.

Later tomorrow afternoon or Thursday morning the remaining structure itself will be removed. Metal items well be separated out and we'll try to put as little material in the landfill as possible.



So here we have 2 homes separated by about a century. What might become of our new home over the next century? I wonder.

Thomas

 

[donnie]

Not a beautiful house but it was someones home for a long time. Kinda a sad day. And happy day.

 

[tkbowman]

After traveling much of the world and seeing homes that are 4-500 plus years old, I find it hard to imagine many of our stick built homes lasting that long. Yours certainly has the best chance for preservation!! Great job on the construction and outfitting.

 

[Lyndon]

Thomas

Excellent update, as usual. And I'm glad to see as much as possible of the old place is being recycled.

On another note, and just to keep you updated . . . Here is an update on what was the final reading list of the BS 1.0 Down Under Tour :

- Lyndon - Sydney, NSW Read
- VMX42 - Sydney, NSW Read
- 1/2 Cup - Shepparton, Victoria Read
- Nursepeter1973 - Western Australia Read
- BBChevro - Brisbane, Qld Read
- Panthersteve - Brisbane, Qld Mark (BBChevro) will hand over personally to him on Friday this week
- Gatsby - Canberra, ACT Next
- Terrickdownunder - near Canberra ACT After Gatsby
- Grumblebum - Wollongong, NSW Last!

So while it's taking a while, it is getting around, and being enjoyed by all!!!!

Thought I'd keep you in the loop. Will post this to my thread too so the others all see it.

Lyndon
Suns over the yard arm here now - so we all know what time that means.

 

[Grizz1963]

Lovely update.

Really pleased that you follow the conservation and remade ethic.

Even I have benefitted

 

[stillp]

Thanks for the update. I think that's the first time we've seen the old Johnson house?
Nice to see that much of it will be reused, too many such houses are just demolished and moved to landfill.

Pete

 

[C_F]

Thanks for the update. I think that's the first time we've seen the old Johnson house?

That's the first time we've seen that much of the old house. I recall seeing the first two photos in this thread before.

I think that once the old house is gone, that tree next to the front door is going to be saying "hey, I have elbow room!"

 

[MG30]

Nice...very nice. After more than five years following your thread, i still love it.

 

[BB767]

After traveling much of the world and seeing homes that are 4-500 plus years old, I find it hard to imagine many of our stick built homes lasting that long. Yours certainly has the best chance for preservation!! Great job on the construction and outfitting.

Thanks for the vote of confidence tkbowman. I tried to build it for the ages. I'm not quite done with the construction though, check back for more.

Thomas

Excellent update, as usual. And I'm glad to see as much as possible of the old place is being recycled.

On another note, and just to keep you updated . . . Here is an update on what was the final reading list of the BS 1.0 Down Under Tour :

- Lyndon - Sydney, NSW Read
- VMX42 - Sydney, NSW Read
- 1/2 Cup - Shepparton, Victoria Read
- Nursepeter1973 - Western Australia Read
- BBChevro - Brisbane, Qld Read
- Panthersteve - Brisbane, Qld Mark (BBChevro) will hand over personally to him on Friday this week
- Gatsby - Canberra, ACT Next
- Terrickdownunder - near Canberra ACT After Gatsby
- Grumblebum - Wollongong, NSW Last!

So while it's taking a while, it is getting around, and being enjoyed by all!!!!

Thought I'd keep you in the loop. Will post this to my thread too so the others all see it.

Lyndon
Suns over the yard arm here now - so we all know what time that means.

Hey there Lyndon, nice to get the BS 1.0 update. I think it's hoot that it's traveling throughout Australia and soon New Zealand. The story is universal I think. Any auto enthusiast would enjoy it and the miles that book has traveled is proof positive. Keep up the good work and updates. The line is forming here in the States for it's return.

Lovely update.

Really pleased that you follow the conservation and remade ethic.

Even I have benefited

Ryan, since you have visited here I'm sure it has much more meaning to you. I've got some pictures of the 2 car garage being reconstructed in it's new life that you'll like to see. Stand by for those.

Thanks for the update. I think that's the first time we've seen the old Johnson house?
Nice to see that much of it will be reused, too many such houses are just demolished and moved to landfill.

Pete

Pete, I did a somewhat extensive post(s) on the old family home earlier in the thread.



Here it is in the 1930's along with the old shop on the left...



...and the 1960's...



...the 1970's...

You might want to check previous posts for more information and study up before the test.

That's the first time we've seen that much of the old house. I recall seeing the first two photos in this thread before.

I think that once the old house is gone, that tree next to the front door is going to be saying "hey, I have elbow room!"

Unfortunately C_F that cedar tree was removed with the house this afternoon. I'm lowering the grade by a few feet in that area and the tree had to go.

Nice...very nice. After more than five years following your thread, i still love it.

Well thanks MG30 for following along all this time. It's been something different hasn't it? Here come some more, enjoy.

Thomas

 

[BB767]

It Didn't Take Long........

From start to finish.



This is the back of the old Johnson family home this morning. Here's how the rest of the day went...

















In about 4 hours...



... it was all down. Tomorrow is clean up day. Note the aluminum siding pile in the foreground. Almost all of it was saved for recycling as well as most other metal.

A day of mixed feelings for me but in the end I knew it was necessary to remove the house and move on. Soon, one of the last phases of the property renewal, landscaping, will begin and I can't wait.

Thanks everyone for following along all these years.

Thomas

 

[MG David]

Thomas, are you lowering the grade to reduce the tendency to drain towards the house?

 

[stillp]

Pete, I did a somewhat extensive post(s) on the old family home earlier in the thread.



Here it is in the 1930's along with the old shop on the left...



...and the 1960's...



...the 1970's...

You might want to check previous posts for more information and study up before the test.




Thomas

There are two signs of old age; loss of memory and umm... umm... I've forgotten the other one.

 

[Hemihead2]

Thomas -
I seem to remember back when you started the construction of this amazing home, you set up a camera to eventually have a time lapse video of the process. Am I remembering correctly?

 

[bluestripe67]

That's an honest life cycle of a home. I see that every once in awhile where I live.

 

[Bib Overalls]

We took down an old house on a lot we purchased a couple of years ago. We started with good recycling intentions but after a day of harvesting the only things we had to show for our efforts were some PVC replacement windows of recent vintage and a mess of copper wire and water pipe. We did a little talking on the way home we called a gent with a track hoe. We were able to save about 200 CBUs (concrete building units or just blocks) during the demo but only because the mortar was inferior and the operator pushed them our way. The house was built with locally grown and milled cypress. There were a lot of good pieces in the mix but we could not find anyone who wanted it for free so it went to the landfill as well.

 

[Sweet Old Bill]

Thomas,

Any idea as to when the old homestead was first erected? Just curious, please do NOT tell Miss Chris that I asked (no need for another test question!)

 

[BB767]

Thomas, are you lowering the grade to reduce the tendency to drain towards the house?

David it's not so much for the house, but more to reduce the tendency to drain towards the old shop to the west.



Here you can see the house, to the right of the power pole and behind the bushes. Notice how much higher it is than than shop on the left.
Mr Johnson raised the house in the early 1950'd and dug out the basement deeper than it had been. The result was the house turned out about 2-3' higher grade than the surrounding area. When we lower the grade, much of the excess dirt will be used to fill in the basement hole.

There are two signs of old age; loss of memory and umm... umm... I've forgotten the other one.

Truth is I personally have a great memory...........it's just short!

Thomas -
I seem to remember back when you started the construction of this amazing home, you set up a camera to eventually have a time lapse video of the process. Am I remembering correctly?

You are indeed remembering correctly.



I've got several hundred time lapse pictures that will be edited down to create the time lapse video of the house being built.



I'll get to that once I'm relatively caught up with everything. If you keep following the thread, you'll see a link to it one of these days. Patience is a virtue!

.............

There were a lot of good pieces in the mix but we could not find anyone who wanted it for free so it went to the landfill as well.

Isn't that the truth. It's hard to give good "stuff" away. It can be very discouraging can't it?

Thomas,

Any idea as to when the old homestead was first erected? Just curious, please do NOT tell Miss Chris that I asked (no need for another test question!)

Bill, I've got the original abstract for the property and it was built just before the turn of the century.



It started out as a small 4 room house with no indoor plumbing. Mr Johnson put in the bathroom and indoor plumbing.

BTW, I promise to keep this just between the two of us. She has more than enough test material already don't you think?

Thomas

 

[BlueBomber]

Has this thread ever gone dormant for five days? (Oops, did I just suggest a new test question for Chris?!?)

 

[Homebody]

Isn't that the truth. It's hard to give good "stuff" away. It can be very discouraging can't it?
Thomas

Agreed.
Luckily here I can take stuff to a couple places in Rockford that resell virtually anything building related. There's an old factory that has 3 floors of stuff from every era it seems. Invaluable to those restoring an old house or for rental properties. Took them about a dozen doors just last week.

Best part is the proceeds are used to support other programs like Youthbuild, etc
http://comprehensivecommunitysolutions.org/programs/salvage-too-reuse-center/

 

[BB767]

Main Stairs: Part I

Has this thread ever gone dormant for five days? (Oops, did I just suggest a new test question for Chris?!?)

That's a good question that I doubt even Chris knows the answer to. I sure don't.

Anyway, I'm still working away here on big and small projects getting much closer to finishing the punch list. Here's a photo update on the latest big project, the main stairs.



The main stairs will be all hickory except for the black walnut newel posts and black walnut hand rails which will match the fireplace mantel. These are the stair risers being installed.



This shows the side skirts in place.



Some treads are done (yes that's where the sub woofer will live)...



...here's a close up of the tread detail...



... on the end of the tread.



This is one of the upstairs walnut newel posts installed. One corner was extended as seen, to give more leverage to screwing it in place and provide stability to the post. It worked, that post is rock solid.



That's the same newel post seen from another angle.



That's the post on the landing...



...and here are all the upper newel posts in place.



This is a close up of the detail on the raised panel.



Everything is solid walnut or hickory, there are no veneers used anywhere.



The upper part of the posts are finished at a true 3/4" (1.9 cm) thickness and the base of the posts...



...(this is part of a base that was cut off a newel post. It shows you the construction detail and thickness which is )...



... a true 1 1/2" (3.8 cm) thick.



That size gives the post a pleasing look of substance and heft which inspires confidence that the post and accompanying hand rail will bare up under a good, strong tug.

That's it for Part I. Part II is up next shortly.

Thomas

 

[Vernmotor]

That is going to look nice

 

[oldironfarmer]

Fantastic stairs. I especially like the stair tread detail, no face cap to come loose.

 

[shedfullatools]

Absolutely beautiful

 

[SiGmA_X]

Wow Thomas, that is really beautiful, and overly well built. Love it.