Study built in bookcases and main bath vanity

Even though I havent posted any updates in a few weeks I've been pretty busy on the house. We also had to get the house ready for the big cookout on the 4th. It's hard to entertain guests in a construction zone. It turned out great though.

After finishing the deck last week I turned my attention to building the bookshelves in the Study. In this post I mentioned how I was going to use some of the front porch columns from the old Anderson house in the design. Unfortunately I didn't have enough salvaged 1x12 stock for the rest of the bookcase so I've had to use some new wood, worse yet it's not even Southern yellow pine, it's white pine. Lowes and Home Depot dont carry 1x12's in Southern yellow pine except for a few special pieces. I hate white pine but in the end I really dont think it will matter all that much. The bookcase is going to be stained dark walnut and very little of the white pine boards will be exposed once the books are in. The two main columns in the center are what will show the most and they are the old columns from the Anderson house, the two outside columns are a mix of older and new white pine but only 2" of their face shows, I'll probably do a faux grain on the face of them. Most of the shelves are white pine with the exception of the shelves that are directly above where the doors will be, those are Southern yellow pine.




I still need to build the top portion that will connect the two bookcases.

The other main project I worked on was the main bathroom vanity. We found this vanity totally by accident. We found some free old doors on Craigslist over a year ago. When we went and picked them from the couple that was giving them away their neighbor just happened to stop by. We got into a conversation about how we loved antique furniture and how we were in the process of searching for an old house that we could restore. He mentioned that he had some old furniture in his shop that he had intended to restore but had never gotten around to it and offered to give the pieces to us. He ended up giving us the vanity (an oak dresser), an old gas stove from the early 20's, and a very old, ornate victorian love seat (just the frame actually). He found the dresser on the curb years back about to be picked up by the trash truck.


Not much to look at but I knew that it could be fixed up very nicely. Once we got this house I knew it would be perfect for a bathroom vanity.

I stripped all the ugly brown paint off of it and stained it with a combination of mostly english chestnut and a little red mahogany and then polyed it.





We found the mirror frame in an antique store in Alabama, I have an old mirror that I need to get cut down to fit it. The sink is hand painted in Mexico and the faucet is brushed copper from Nottingham brass. I've already rebuilt the two top drawers to fit around the sink. The brace between the second and third drawers go will be removed. Then I'll biscuit join the drawer fronts together and cut them in half vertically to make two swing open doors. I still have to find some nice brass hardware for them.

Deck update #2

I got the deck boards down the day after my last post but because it rained almost the entire time I dont have any shots of the progress. Here is the deck after the boards were laid:




After trimming the edges of the deck I started on the stairs. I wanted to do something to the deck to separate it from other plain decks, so I decided to make the stairs L shaped. This ended up being a lot more complex than I had first imagined but the end result was well worth it.

First I had to calculate the run and the rise of the stringers. the run is the depth of each step and the rise is the height between steps. Once I had that I had to recalculate for the corner stringer, because this one is at a 45 degree angle the runs are longer.




With the stringers in place I began installing the treads. Because the run is 10" the boards would hang over the edge too much so I had to rip the back board on each step. Here are the stairs completed.

I'm not sure if I want to install riser boards or not. I think it looks pretty cool with the stringers exposed.

The next step was to install the posts, handrails and baulisters. This job went so quick that I didnt get any progress pictures. The reason it went so quick was that to install the baulisters I built a tool to speed the process. The tool basically looks like a capitol "I" and is made from the baulisters. I cut the cross pieces to the length of the gap between the baulisters. In this case 4 3/4". All I had to do was measure and level the first board then set the tool between it and the next baulister. It gives you a perfect measurement and level every time. I installed all the baulisters in less than 1/2 an hour.


Now that the deck was done it looked very empty so we had to go get a patio set for it. The one we chose is from the Better Homes and Gardens collection. We got it for about 1/2 it's original price. It's constructed of all wrought and cast aluminum.



At the last minute I decided to change the design a little and add tall posts with lanterns at the top of the stairs. The lanterns are the french wrought iron style.



Installing these was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I had to remove the base from them as it was too wide. I then had to modify the hollow threaded nipple that the base used to attach to by threading the inside of it with a 3/8's tap. I was then able to attach it to the post with a 3/8's lag bolt. I routed a groove on the backside of the post for the wiring and had the intention of covering the back of the post with 1x4 stock to cover the wiring but I've come up with a different idea. It will require that I buy 2 more posts to replace these. I'll rip the posts lengthwise about 3/4" in, route a groove on the inside for the wiring then nail the post back together. this should look much nicer when it's done.

Here's one last shot of the deck taken last evening. I'm hoping to stain and seal it before the 4th.

Deck update

Work on the deck has progressed steadily. I was hoping to be further along by now but I should have it done in the next day or two. I don't think I realized exactly how hard it is to build a large deck by yourself in 95 degree weather.

After getting the ledger boards up I dug the holes for the concrete foundations that will support the post and beam for the laundry room side of the deck.

these were filled with concrete and the post blocks set on top. I made sure to wet the top of the concrete as well as the bottom of the post block to promote adhesion.


Next was figuring out the correct lengths of the posts. To do this I took a straight 2x4x16 and clamped my 4' level to it and put it in one of the joist holders on the ledger board. I put a 4x4 post into the post block, leveled both the post and the 2x4 and made a mark on the post where they intersected. Then I subtracted 9 3/8" from that mark to allow for the height of the beam. I repeated this for each post. I then attached the beam (two 2x10x12's) to the posts with post to beam brackets.


With that done I moved on to the Breakfast room side of the porch.


With both beams up I began installing the joists. Each joist is secured with the joist hangers on one end and to the beam with joist to beam hurricane straps.



Next I installed bracing between each joist to prevent flexing.


Then I began laying the decking. It got dark on me so I didn't get too far.


I'm hoping to finish the decking this afternoon and the railings and stairs tomorrow.

Oh by the way, this is what happens when you get careless around sharp metal joist hangers...

Rear porch demo and beginning on the rear deck

I've started building the deck in the back yard. I'm doing this project now because I want it done before the 4th of july. we're planning on having a big cookout with a lot of family and friends over.

Before I could start building the deck I had to demo the old, rotted back porch... of course. It seems like I cant start any project without a little demo work first. Here is the back porch from an old picture of the house:

First thing I did was rip the screen out, take out all the 2x4 posts and remove the gutter.

Then I got on the roof and removed the shingles.

I then removed about 2/3 of the boards. I'm leaving the rest for now until the deck is built. Then I'll take it down and build another small overhang in it's place.

then I cut the supports and removed them and the 4x4 corner posts. then I cut the stairs in half since I'll be using them temporarily until the deck's built. Then I removed the floor boards and the joists.



It's hard to see from the last picture but there is a very old brick walkway in front of the stairs. I'll leave it there for now, once I find a use for the bricks I'll remove them from under the deck.

Now it's on to building the deck. I made a quick sketch of my idea for the design of the deck then figured out the measurements.

With that done the first thing I needed to do was hang the ledger boards, these are the boards that attach to the house. First I measured and cut out the siding:


Then I began hanging the ledger boards, not a fun task to do by yourself with pressure treated 2x8x12's.


I'm bolting the ledger boards to the house with 4 1/2" lag screws. Left, right, and center are doubled then there will be a single between each joist.



This is a fairly large deck so I want it to be as sturdy and safe as possible. The joists will be 2x8's. The beams will be 2x10's and the posts will be 4x6's. Because the joists will be running from left to right on the left deck I'll be running the beam under 3 sides of the deck with 7 posts. The joists will be running out from the house on the right deck so I'll be using a single beam with 3 posts, and 3 other single posts between the beam and the house.

I finished all the ledgers yesterday evening.


Today I'll be working on the posts and beams. I have 4 days scheduled for the deck, let's see if I can stay on schedule.

Big changes

A lot has changed since the last post. I went back to the bank, got a 6 month extension and also got more money. This will allow me to get all the things I need done quickly as well as add a few other things. This extended my project time by over a month but I believe it's well worth it. A few of the things added to the list is a deck, rebuild of the front porch, painting the house, and plumbing upgrades.

The other day I finished painting the second guest bedroom. I used the same blue that we used in the dining room.




Sorry about all the spots, there was dust on the camera lens. The trim still needs to be painted and we still have to figure out what to do with the fireplace and doors, paint them or poly them.

I started hanging the pendant lights in the kitchen. Only one of them are up at this point, I should do the other one today or tomorrow.


Over the weekend we tackled the front porch. The wrought iron railings were ok but we really wanted wood baulisters and railings. In the shot below you can see the old iron railings, they appear to have been put in sometime in the 40's or 50's:


I removed the iron railings (we're going to use them in our garden) then built and installed the new railings in a day.



The baulisters are $2.29 from Lowes but they didn't have hand rails long enough so I had to make my own our of 2x4's. I put a bevel on either side of the top railing as you can see in the above picture.

The top rails are anchored into the wood portion of the column. The bottom rails had to be anchored into the brick.I used a Forstner bit on the bottom rail about 2" from the edge then used a 3/8's bit to create a channel to the edge of the board. Then I drilled a 3/8's hole in the brick and installed an anchor bolt. Then I brought the bottom rail up from underneath and thghtened the bolts. The hole will be covered with a small piece of board. I forgot to take a picture of this but you should be able to see it in the above picture. If anyone has any questions on it I can take a picture of it later and post it.

I will be rebuilding the second floor porch. We still haven't decided how we want it though. Once we do it will have balisters like the 1st floor just a bit thinner though.

The next project is the shutters. We decided on board & batten style since it's easy to build. I'm using 1" thick 1x4's and 1x6's to build them.


Once we paint the house the shutters will either be black or dark green. the house itself will be some type of pale green or olive and the trim will be an off white.

Next I'll be finishing off the shutter for the front of the house, painting the Foyer, installing the other pendant light then starting the demo for the old porch so I can begin the deck.