Old House Renovations

When you renovate an old home, you can end up dealing with some pretty scary situations. Remember that no matter how great the home is or how costly it is to get professionals to do a job, your health is more valuable than anything else! Before you take on some home renovation projects, take the time to make sure you are being safe.

• Never use a heat gun to remove layers of old paint. If you’re in a closed room, this is doubly important. Unless you’ve had the layers of paint tested and can guarantee that they are all non-toxic, lead free paints, you’re going to be breathing in a nasty chemical mess. Also avoid scraping or sanding paint that hasn’t been tested for lead. If you do decide to scrape your paint, please wear protective gear and do not let children or pregnant women come into the area until the room has been thoroughly cleaned.
• Think twice before grabbing old wiring. Many old homes were wired with asbestos covered electrical wires.
• Use caution when crawling around in dark areas. We had a black widow spider nest in our garage when we moved in because the previous owners were storing a stack of half rotten wood in the building. Thankfully, the person who made the discovery was wearing long sleeves and gloves.
• Always follow safety instructions when operating any tools or climbing ladders. A few seconds of prevention can mean years of renovating fun.

I have yet to move into a house that didn’t have a broken toilet. I guess it is just what happens with an old home, huh? Unfortunately, I never thought to make a video of myself removing and replacing a broken toilet. I talked a few weeks ago about how to fix a wobbly toilet, but I’m revisiting the issue today because I found someone who did make a video of toilet flange repairs and a video of how to install a replacement toilet.

I think those of you who have been trying to figure out what on earth I was describing will find this short video on fixing a wobbly toilet to be incredibly helpful:

Once your flange is repaired, it is time to put in a new toilet or re-install the old one:

I am not a caulk gun champ. My caulk lines are wobbly, child-like lines and even doing the essential smoothing afterward doesn’t make them look professional. However, I can still show you a beautifully caulked tub, vanity, or shower through the magic of bathtub sealer trim. Oh, how I love this stuff.

To caulk your vanity or tub, you can get a tube of caulk and a caulk gun or you can shop for the bathtub sealer like I do.  Remove all the old caulk and wipe down the surfaces. I usually let it all sit for a day or two in case someone splashed water into a crack in the caulk so it has time to dry out. (Put an out of order sign on it to remind people not to use it if you do this!)

Next, apply the sealer tape, being extremely careful with the way you line up the starting edge. Press it down firmly as you go. I wait another day after applying the tape to actually use the tub or vanity and check to be sure none of the tape has lifted up before I decide we’re good to go.

If you want to apply caulk from the tube instead, just try to apply it with a really steady hand and consistent pressure. After you put down the bead of caulk, carefully wipe the excess away. Allow it to cure for 48 hours (and then sadly shake your head and wish you used tape instead.) Seriously, though, if you have steady hands, you should be fine. Mine just get shaky and the line ends up crooked.

Plaster or drywall water damage can be a disaster. Ceilings can fall in, walls can crack and mold and mildew can go wild, both inside and outside the walls. Sometimes, we’re lucky enough to have a wall with an ugly water stain that doesn’t have mold problems. Once the leak that caused the problem is repaired and there is no more damage being caused, it is time to cover up that unsightly stain.

I always begin by spraying the wall with a bleach solution to keep mildew from growing and then wiping the solution back off with a damp rag. (I’ve heard that leaving the bleach on the walls could lead to the walls eventually being eaten through by the bleach.) Then, I let it dry out thoroughly. This also works for mildew removal. (I’ve used Lysol wipes on a piece of furniture and left it in the sun for a few days. It hasn’t had any more mildew issues since. I still like bleach for the walls, though.)

Once I’m sure mildew won’t be growing wildly through the fresh paint, I apply a coat of Kilz primer. This stuff is a great stain blocker and keeps the stain from showing through your new coat of paint. Let the Kilz dry and then apply a coat of fresh paint. Your stain is gone, never to return. (Unless you didn’t fix the leak after all…)

By the way, this photo I took while I was house hunting shows how not to repair damage…Someone tried to tape a crack back together with masking tape.

Have you ever painted a whole wall of a new room, only to find that you hated the color when it dried? I have and it is not a fun feeling. To save yourself a lot of time and energy, paint a square of drywall and prop it up against the wall you will be painting. If you are debating between several colors, paint squares for each color. Let them dry and then see how they look. Since they are right against the wall you will be painting, the light will hit them just like it would the newly painted wall and you’ll get a true idea of how the colors will look.

No more days spent painting and repainting the same wall! After all, when you are renovating an old house, you have a list the size of an epic poem and you don’t have time to paint in the first place, let alone repaint.

Have you ever wondered how the pros get such a straight line by the ceiling when they paint? According to a professional home renovator who has an incredibly straight seam at the wall and ceiling, the answer isn’t painter’s tape. He says that tape tends to create a line that is too wavy for him, so he free hands it. (Obviously, he has steady hands. I draw wavy lines with a ruler.) He does have a few tips to help us normal mortals do a great paint job, though.

To be successful with your house painting project, follow these tips:

• The key to that professional looking paint job is a top quality brush. The standard brushes found in home improvement stores, even if they are top of the line brands, do not have as many bristles and apply paint less evenly. Go to your local paint store and ask for a professional grade brush.
• Use the right tool for the right job. An angled sash brush is not designed to paint big stretches of wall space and a standard six inch brush isn’t going to do a good job cutting around trim.
• Get up close to what you are painting. Stretching up to try to get that bit by the ceiling is a bad idea if you want anything resembling a straight paint line. When you are painting at head height, you will have a much steadier arm.

Photo by Sophie

My current home needed the standard bath remodels. No big deal, right? Well, since we’ve done quite a few, we knew there’d be some little quirk to deal with, but we never expected to uncover a massive iron waste pipe when we lifted off the old toilet, which had an annoying habit of imitating a wild bronc if you sat on it. As soon as we saw the pipe, we also saw the problem. The toilet was only bolted down on one side because one side of the flange (the part of the pipe where the toilet bolts get screwed down) was cracked off. It was securely welded to the pipe, so we couldn’t replace it without replacing the pipe.

Except for that one problem, the pipe was actually in great shape and who wants to mess with a pipe that big and heavy? So, we did the next best thing. We ran up to the hardware store and asked for a replacement toilet flange, took it back home and installed it. Our new, wobble free toilet was in place minutes later.

I love it when repairs are that easy, don’t you?