mummy dearest

Yesterday my father and I met yet another contractor at the house. We had a pretty good visit and were over there for a few hours. He couldn't really give me an estimate yet but will be able to once I get a floor plan to him. I was impressed that he'd done work on the historical theatre here in town that was completely restored a few years ago by the city for millions of dollars. I actually worked in that theatre for a year, so I know first hand the kind of restoration work that went into it.

Some things I really like about this guy were that he immediately expressed interest in keeping the windows, restoring them, and adding storm windows as opposed to buying new windows. I have been struggling with this for a while because the architecture of the house is fairly minimal and the only real character is in the windows. Previous contractors I had spoken with were quick to say I needed to replace the windows AND ORIGINAL WOODEN DOORS because of the labor and time involved. Now I know nothing of restoring a window, but I think I can handle fixing the doors, given instructions. Here's some window eye candy:

My favorites, the double windows. There are three sets of double windows in the house now. There were four, but at some point with a kitchen renovation, one set was removed and replaced with a shorter single window.

Single window. I think there are only two of these in the house.

And this smaller window in a back room, which I'm planning on turning into a master bath. A little privacy film (or frosted glass) and it will be perfect.

So while I was hesitant about this guy at first, the more time I spent with him, the better I liked him. Not only did he thoroughly check the windows to insure that they were worth saving, but he knows how to do it and has done it before. And the door issue... I was beginning to think I was crazy for wanting to save the original solid wooden doors, since contractors met me with skepticism about it. And in just walking through the house, we managed to talk through some floor plan ideas and solve some problems.

Remember the picture rail and original crown remnants I found? Contractor was totally on board with replacing this molding throughout the house, where I want it. And he knew where to get the stuff. But since the baseboard mouldings are nondescript, he said it would be best and cheaper to simply take that out and replace it.

WARNING: IF YOU'RE EASILY GROSSED OUT STOP HERE!

Contractor was looking at the floor in a closet and leaned in to look down a wall... and found something. He pulled out this... lump that looked like a brick or wadded up insulation... I didn't know what it was...

A strange shape. It is about a foot and a half long. The more I looked at it, the more creeped out I got. Because it resembled something... organic. Is that... fur?

He turned it on its side. and... I clearly made out a head. And ears. A snout. A mouth?

oh. Oh. OH! Teeth! WHISKERS! A... claw?

Completely disgusting. And yet morbid curiosity takes over. This, my friends, is what happens when a opossum crawls into a house... can't get out... and settles down for death in an interior wall. This guy is completely mummified. Dry. There is absolutely no telling how long he's been there. Keep in mind the house is 98 years old.

TO CLEANSE YOUR VISUAL PALATE:

This is just a brief look at how the house is wired. I find this particular bit to be endlessly fascinating, since it is exposed for everyone to see. It's truly a mix of the antique and modern.

Don't worry it's not live. The power's not turned on to this side of the house.

These are the two electrical boxes in the house. Anybody have a guess about how old this is? Contractor said it's definitely not up to code. I'm replacing the wiring and EVERYTHING anyway, but was just curious for guesses.

Here's the box for one apartment.

And here's the panel box for the other apartment. So I know it was done after the house was split into the apartments. But how long has it been apartments?

That's all I have for now. I'm going to try to update more often, but only when I have something to share or say. Hopefully soon I'll actually have a contractor and some real work going on at the house.