Its almost done!!

[russellellis]

Inspired by another kitchen remodel thread i thought id post up some pics finally of the work im doing to my house. Its a circa 1912 brick victorian. The kitchen is very large for this era home...15x16 with only a 3x4 stair landing coming into from the split staircase.
Today im working on adding the new full bath upstairs in an unused room, but since im taking a lunch break now, figured i could get around to posting some pics afterall.

<br>

<br>

<br>

 

[russellellis]

Theres still some work to do. but its 99.999999% done. just some touchups here and there. The chimney hood is installed these pics are about 3 weeks old.

 

[sapwood]

:gar-Smile Now, that looks great!!!!
Clearly all that experience has paid off :thumbsup:

Roger

 

[GregSmith]

That looks great! Did you get rid of the dropped ceiling? - Can't tell for sure from the new pictures.
Must feel good to be almost done.:icon_thum

 

[FredP]

great work! bet ur glad to git that monkey off ur back!:eusa_clap

 

[russellellis]

:gar-Smile Now, that looks great!!!!
Clearly all that experience has paid off :thumbsup:

Roger

define "paid" cause im pretty sure im still broke. :rotflm:

and oooooh yeah i got rid of the drop ceiling and the fluorescent lights. we now have 8 recessed lights and i was able to get about 6 inches of height back.

 

[Shamrock]

Wow!! Awesome work-love the color-great choice of tile-now if only I can keep the wife from seeing this post-mabye she won't get any ideas :wsmile:

:BangHead::BangHead::BangHead:clamps-clamps-why do I never have enough clamps

 

[Glennbear]

Thanks pal!!!:wmad: I had erased the horrible memories of working with plaster/lath walls in my last house. Seriously, you do fine work :wsmile:

 

[JimmyC]

Thanks pal!!!:wmad: I had erased the horrible memories of working with plaster/lath walls in my last house. Seriously, you do fine work :wsmile:

Re- Doing old houses is great, pull down the plaster and lathe and put up rock.....well maybe not, add nailers because all of the 16" studs are approximate, now you can rock all of the walls after they're shored up as close to square and plumb as possible. I sure do miss those good ole days...Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha.......:rotflm:

Nice job Russell, but man I don't envy you.

Godspeed,
Jimmy

 

[russellellis]

, add nailers because all of the 16" studs are approximate,
Jimmy

well you got that right. but for the most part, this house was built pretty solid (obviously...its still standing) and everything was pretty darn close to center.
just having to work around what has been closed off in the walls was harder. you can see in the 2nd pic that there used to be an old window in the back wall. that room directly behind that used to be the old porch but someone tore it down and built in a room which i then made divided into a bath/laundry/hall. so that was an original brick wall there and in this pic you can see that we opened up the doorways going to the butlers pantry and the old enclosed porch/room. which was also another exterior brick wall. so thats 2 - 12" thick walls that had to be rocked in.
sorry for bringing back old memories guys. yes plaster and lathe is a deal to work with. so i left as much lathe up as possible. it also helped with the correct thickness to meet back with old trim.
some of the lathe is pine, but some of it is old hard red oak. THOSE splinters hurt.

 

[ACobra289]

Beautiful job! I thought I had a lot of cabinet space. It looks like you have way more. I love the color combinations. Is the backsplash slate?

Great job! :icon_thum

Bill M.

 

[Bas]

Very nice work, you certainly brought that kitchen into the 21st century! I think you did an excellent job matching the various materials, they really work well together.

It doesn't hurt that you actually put stuff in straight, square and neat!

 

[russellellis]

Beautiful job! I thought I had a lot of cabinet space. It looks like you have way more. I love the color combinations. Is the backsplash slate?

Great job! :icon_thum

Bill M.

yeah its 6x6 slate. because of the work ive done, my agent wants to put it on the market now. guess its to the streets for me. lol

 

[Steve W]

Looks good, Russ.

Yep - I've done two kitchens over that had horsehair plaster and lath. The last one, I kept as much of the plaster as I could because I've learned that the "look" as well as the acoustics of the old plaster is very different from sheetrock. So while I did have to redo some walls with sheetrock on the last house, I was able to save enough of the plaster so that the feel of the old room didn't change drastically.

Removal of drop ceilings is ALWAYS a good thing -- both for aesthetics and for fire safety. Ask any firefighter what he thinks about drop ceilings and you'll get an earful. They're usually put up to mask a failing plaster ceiling or to hide beadboard -- which was considered "dated" back in the 60s/70s. I had to just go over my plaster/lath ceiling at my last old house because it was all cracked and loose. 3/8" rock and 2" screws did the trick. Hated to lose the old plaster there, but ceilings fail sooner due to gravity.

That kitchen is certainly a huge improvement. I'm sure you still have some 50s / 60s stuff to change out there so you'll be busy for some time, I'm sure. Have fun with it!

:kermit: Steve

 

[russellellis]

Thanks guys. actually though, now that its done, there is no more 50s/60s stuff left in the house. projects to come or are wip now are new full bath upstairs in what was servants quarters, restoring the coffered ceiling that was hidden in the dining room, outside painting and restoration of enclosed gutters/moulding, and front porch beadboard. and by fall i hope to have the back porch built. not a deck but a period style porch. just have to do some research on whats best for the flooring since its going to be exposed and painted to blend in with the victorian style. i dont want a pressure treated deck. i want a porch.
and then in the fall, im stripping the drywall/plaster from where they hid the fireplaces and building some new mantels/aprons for two of them. unfortunately a house just sustained a bad fire from attic apt to the second floor. its going to be torn down im sure because the roof is almost completely gone. so im going to see if i can salvage some wood and especially the fireplace mantels. maybe make this restoration a little easier.
maybe.