Farmhouse makeover

crosscreekcooter

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Fascinating. I grew up in an old and historic area (the original part of our house was built in 1789) and thought I knew a bit about old masonry. I had no idea about the lime putty. Thanks for making me a little smarter!
Awesome.GBM, where was/is your old home located? I recently visited the Blaylock-Wright house, an historic home also located in Lincolnton where I am involved in this reconstruction effort. It was believed to be the oldest standing structure in town being built in 1792 but local scuttlebut has recently disproved this claim. Apparently the Beggs family (local funeral directors) have dated the timbers in a cabin on their land to precede this by several decades.
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The building to the left is the old unattached kitchen
What looks like part of the driveway is the old Petersburg Road. You can see the rocks on the lower right that was an old wall.

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The Blaylock-Wright house was a stagecoach stop between Petersburg and Augusta and is located on the William Bartram Trail. DSC04266.JPG
 

Gator By Marriage

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Awesome.GBM, where was/is your old home located? I recently visited the Blaylock-Wright house, an historic home also located in Lincolnton where I am involved in this reconstruction effort. It was believed to be the oldest standing structure in town being built in 1792 but local scuttlebut has recently disproved this claim. Apparently the Beggs family (local funeral directors) have dated the timbers in a cabin on their land to precede this by several decades.
14654

The building to the left is the old unattached kitchen
What looks like part of the driveway is the old Petersburg Road. You can see the rocks on the lower right that was an old wall.

14655

The Blaylock-Wright house was a stagecoach stop between Petersburg and Augusta and is located on the William Bartram Trail.
14653
Alexandria, Virginia. Lot of old houses there (across the river and north a bit in Georgetown as well), but this one was a little unusual in that the brick was done in Flemish bond; most of the brick houses were English bond and then later American. There was not a room in the original part of the house - house had two major additions, one in 1815 & one in 1865 - where if you put a marble on the floor in the middle of a room, that it wouldn't start to roll!
 

crosscreekcooter

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Since my last update, the home has been insulated with both open-cell foam and batt and the drywall installed and finished. Bo is a carpenter that has been helping me off and on during this project. He and I installed 8" x 16' shiplap on many of the 1st floor rooms and hung all the interior doors and trim.

The original stairs were framed with two stringers and rough sawn pine. I added 2 more stringers and removed the old treads and risers which changed the tread and riser ratio, making them all consistant. Here is a picture of the original stairs before I tore them apart.
Some of the old step treads will become seats for swings at his uncles cabin. Everything else went to the trash pile.
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Bo and I installed the treads, risers and built the newel posts last week.

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The owner asked for many of the finishes to either replicate the original parts and the spirit of the period, as he remembered it as a child.
This door was originally hung as his grandfathers bedroom door and he decided to reuse it on his pantry.
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I tiled the shower last week, have not yet set the seat.
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I built the balustrade yesterday and today before leaving for the weekend.
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Hoping to hire a painter soon. I have interviewed several.
 

crosscreekcooter

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Finally hired a painter who has painted the exterior of the farmhouse with exception of the decks and ceilings at the porches. Bo and I sprayed the ceilings and primed all the walls and the painter will complete the interior paint finishes thankfully.

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I will have the kitchen and bath cabinets completed next week. I got a pretty good deal on whats called RTA (ready to assemble) cabinets. They don't manufacture a sink base designed for a farmhouse apron sink so we have to modify a wall cabinet to accept the sink. Unfortunately they initially shipped the wrong cabinet and the replacement is in transit. Finish flooring will begin in about 2 weeks. Getting close now.
 
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crosscreekcooter

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All of the second floor walls and ceilings were finished with 3" pine v-joint beaded board which was cut and milled on the site. We removed this material and stored in the barn for some to-be decided future use. This door has a glass light in the upper panel and is now installed at the kitchen pantry.
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This is an example of the simple 1x3 doors we saved
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and is now installed at the master bath entry
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crosscreekcooter

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Kitchen and bath countertops were finally installed this past Tuesday. The owner opted for an italian marble. His daughter is inspecting her new bedroom.
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Thick&ThinG8r

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What company did you order the rta's from and are they all wood. I'm looking for a company to order some shaker style the same as these from.
Everything looks awesome coot. Curious to know who gave the sliding door a dislike.
 
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crosscreekcooter

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What company did you order the rta's from and are they all wood. I'm looking for a company to order some shaker style the same as these from.
Everything looks awesome coot. Curious to know who gave the sliding door a dislike.

I'll give you the high points. The cabinets are pretty high quality considering they are manufactured in Chi-na. It is an all wood cabinet, the doors and face frames are hardwood and the endpanels and floors are 3/4" plywood. The cabinet backs are 1/4" plywood with attached mounting reinforcements. The door and drawer fronts are mortise and tenon joinery rather than doweled or pinned. The drawer boxes are also hardwood with dovetail joints. The white shaker cabinet exterior has a nice painted finish and the interior has a clear natural wood finish. They do not come with door or drawer pulls however all door hinges are soft close 3 point adjustable euro design and the drawer slides are also soft close. Packing is excellent and product is shipped from Miami common carrier. Because they require payment upfront, I asked them to send me a full sample so I could get a closer look but they don't operate that way so I bought one unit that I would need in order to examine the product. One handy person working alone should be able to assemble a wall cabinet in about 25 minutes and maybe 35 minutes to assemble a base unit due to the drawers. I saved about 50% when compared to 2 local cabinet shops and HD during a 30% off sale. If you have a list or layout message me.
 

Okeechobee Joe

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Just a great piece of work Cooter. Great craftsmanship and artistry. My wife loves that look you've done with the kitchen.
 

crosscreekcooter

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Just a great piece of work Cooter. Great craftsmanship and artistry. My wife loves that look you've done with the kitchen.
Thanks Joe, I appreciate your interest. It's been an enjoyable experience and the owner and his family as well as the local people I met along the way certainly made it that much better.
 

cover2

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@crosscreekcooter With some time on my hands I've gone through this thread and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing and hearing about your work on the rebuild! Before I went into education, I was in the electrical business with my granddad and we were involved in a couple of similar rebuilds. Luckily we followed some amazing carpenters and contractors. They made our job so much easier. The creativity to go along with your know how is beautiful to see! Older houses make you really understand what "plumb" and "square" actually mean and why they are so important. Bravo! Keep up the good work and the anecdotal/photographic records.
 

crosscreekcooter

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@cover2 -Thanks for your kind comments. This really has been quite rewarding for me personally. I would have liked for the renovation to have been completed much earlier but the labor pool there is limited. The owner called me tonight to tell me he was ready for me to come back but that may have to be put on hold owing to the current health crisis.
 

BMF

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I opened this forum for the first time yesterday. Great thread! Great work here coot! Impressive!!
 

BMF

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Thanks man, it was a lot of fun.

My cousin is a builder (mostly large metal buildings, roofs, etc, not really a residential builder). We built a cabin in the Virginia mountains (about 2 hours from DC) from 2012-2014. I paid cash as we went along. It was a fun (sometimes frustrating) project. We use it 10-15 times a year, and rent it on airbnb regularly.
 

crosscreekcooter

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My cousin is a builder (mostly large metal buildings, roofs, etc, not really a residential builder). We built a cabin in the Virginia mountains (about 2 hours from DC) from 2012-2014. I paid cash as we went along. It was a fun (sometimes frustrating) project. We use it 10-15 times a year, and rent it on airbnb regularly.

Awesome, Virginia is a beautiful state. Post some pictures of it, I'd like to see it and I'm sure many others in here would as well. For me the frustrations are generally the failings of others and is just part of it all and finding a solution or working around those problems can be a puzzle sometimes. Through the years I have gone from being temperate and trusting to one that does not lay out a lot of line until I get to know a sub or vendor.
 

BMF

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Awesome, Virginia is a beautiful state. Post some pictures of it, I'd like to see it and I'm sure many others in here would as well. For me the frustrations are generally the failings of others and is just part of it all and finding a solution or working around those problems can be a puzzle sometimes. Through the years I have gone from being temperate and trusting to one that does not lay out a lot of line until I get to know a sub or vendor.

I was about ready to kick the inspectors ass over the last inspection - he passed us on the electrical, like a year before, when he did that inspection....then he comes back on the final inspection and tells us we have to replace all of the outlets w/ TR plugs. Very time consuming - time I had over the previous year, but now I wanted this thing passed and ready to use! Took a few hours and another inspection.
 

BMF

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Here's a recent picture (end of last summer, maybe August 2019). I had just re-stained the side and put down new gravel:

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