Ship-lap from Old Heart Pine Siding

Olymipa, WA

In an attempt to live our lives without letting our Freedman's interfere with what matters most, we vacationed over Thanksgiving in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA.  We met with new friends, reunited with old friends, and reconnected with our daughter and her husband.  We took advantage of the beautiful sights.  

Outside of Tacoma, WA

Recently, Greg heard the term from Norm of This Old House on PBS, "respectful restoration".  This describes our Freedmans renovation.  We want to honor the design of the original structure, the materials of the past especially if they are not replaceable, yet keeping in mind the need for low maintenance and conveniences that give a better quality of life.  Cement board siding is not the original board siding, but it does not need to be painted and scraped every 5 years in the Charleston heat.  Greg installed cement board siding on the back of the house. We have an extended platform off the attic space that will hold our central unit and hot water heater.  

Our deck will extend off this back half of the yard.  The stack of bricks above are saved from a kitchen chimney we demolished earlier in the renovation.  They will be used for a brick patio for the front of the yard, just inside our gate.  Our back area is 9' by 27'.  It was used as a drive in the past, but we would rather have the area private and for our personal use.  Carondolet Street just outside our gate is narrow and makes turning into our back area tedious.  Off street parking here is considered a luxury.  

Carondolet Street just outside our back gate

Greg finished mudding the hallway to the back door and did the prime paint.  The doors for the utility room and pantry were trimmed out.  We are continually plagued by all the finish trim and paint work needed throughout the house.  Little by little, we are tackling it.  The hall and bedrooms are finished with their initial paint.

Pantry door just off the kitchen

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We looked for a backsplash tile that would tie in the countertops and blend in with the maple cabinets.  We loved this stone tile look and felt it does the job. The kitchen has a finished look though everything around it is still so "unfinished".  He has sealed the tile and plans on re-sealing our concrete counter tops with an acrylic application sometime this Spring.  

We have been storing the original wood siding with the purpose of plaining the wood down to expose the grain and using the boards in a shiplap application to accent a wall in each bedroom.  We are contemplating whitewashing the feature depending on the color of the wood.  The color of the heart pine is even warmer than I even imagined and adds some fun to our Freeman's.  We don't feel it needs whitewashing.  Many of these artistic applications will add to the conversation and show the age of our original house. This is a labor of love because each board has to be custom fit so they butt together tightly.  Greg has done hand plaining throughout the process. 

Greg does amazing work and I am always surprised by the things we can highlight for others to enjoy. I will add a followup picture to this post when the shiplap is complete.  Our Christmas break will be dedicated to removing more of these boards from the East wall of the house, replacing them with plywood and Tyvek until more cement board is installed.  We have the front room to reframe and sheetrock, our last room of major work.  The 1929 fireplace is a project all its own and it sits between our living room and kitchen.  We have decisions about how the firebox will work, the mantel and other topics as we begin to think of respectully restoring it.  

Below, Greg worked on our wrought iron gate a few weeks back.  We pulled up to find a passerby lounging just inside our gate enjoying the cool of the day.  Greg thought it best to get our wrought iron gate working as the true boundary it should be.  He welded and bolted a piece of iron to the house itself.  

We are deciding on the type of closure for the gate.  Our three front doors off the piazza are on order.  Until the next time, Merry Christmas to you and yours.