Miles 1890 Home

2006-09-03T13:22:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile

We were chugging right along on the house until we got an unexpected surprise. We are expecting Jackson Lewis to join us in December! While we are absolutely thrilled about the edition to our family, we were not exactly planning for him. Our goal was to get all rooms of the house livable before we got pregnant. You would think that things would have started moving faster, but the news had the opposite effect. Working full time, I have little energy to do much when I get home. Mark has been working extra hours in anticipation for the little one. There has been some progress and I will update, but I just wanted to share our exciting news!

2006-04-05T21:28:00.000-04:00

Miles Garden Challenge Round One

Brianna (12 year old step daughter) joined my team and helped me plant the seeds to kick off the challenge on Sunday. We planted tomatoes, basil, cilantro, and a hot pepper mix. Mark says it’s not fair I have an extra team member, but he’s now spent $42 to my $9 and still hasn’t planted anything yet. She chose to work with me, saying daddy’s way is interesting, but too complicated to be fun. For those of you that haven’t read the previous challenge… Mark is trying to do a hydroponics set up, while I’m doing a tradition soil method of growing.

Traditional team (girls)

Hydroponics (note all they seeds are still in the packages, he says we needed a headstart to have a chance)

2006-04-01T19:57:00.000-05:00

Old wood floor.

Original? I'm not sure, though it does look like it's been around for 116 years. I'm trying to figure out what kind of wood it is and how we can refinish it. We still have a ton of plastering, stripping and painting to do first. However, I would like to know what we are going to need to do, and what kind of results to expect. If someone can "name that wood" it would be greatly appreciated.

2006-04-01T11:16:00.000-05:00

Best home security system ever.

She loves long walks off the leash, swimming in the lake, tormenting her feline brother, having her belly rubbed, anything you are eating, and barking her head off at strangers. We adopted her a year and a half ago from Lollypop Farms and she has been the light of our lives ever since. She is absolutely spoiled rotten and knows it. I really just wanted to post this picture that I love of her. So our favorite home security system is…. Miss Bella Boo Miles!

2006-03-30T19:38:00.000-05:00

Bathroom decisions.

Well I finally made some. No tile board and no sconces. I just can’t fall in love with the tile board idea. We will put up drywall and be done with it. Maybe put in some nice molding and put a nice frame around the window. I’m sick of having to run up the stairs to pee. I want my downstairs toilet back! The sconce thing, well I thought I liked the way it looked until all the sconces I like are out of my price range. There are many other things I would rather spend the money on. The bottom line is that the overhead light and the window supply more than adequate light for the tiny room. I guess I could always hang candleholder sconces on either side of the mirror if I really want the look. Mark is happy because he can finish the room without rewiring it.
I guess that is our only big news in the past few days. I’m fighting with allergies and I’ve just been miserable. I have yet to even start my seeds for the garden challenge. Maybe I will work on that tonight. I did end up spending $9 on 3 trays with little greenhouse vented lids to start the seeds in. I figured if Mark spend $25 on hydroponics stuff, I could certainly spend $9 on mine.

2006-03-28T19:26:00.000-05:00

Pretty in Pink

For my garden challenge I’m going to have to figure out how to use a power drill and maybe a saw. Until this point, other than the sander, I’ve pretty much stayed away from all power tools. Don’t get me wrong; I think chicks with tools are hot. I’ve just been too scared to try it myself considering my graceful record of bumping into walls, falling down stairs, and burning myself. Maybe if I can channel Paige Hemmis I will be ok. Anyone looking to get me a gift, I could use a pink tool belt, preferably in canvas.

On a side note, the dryer is fixed! It was just a belt and I only got out of doing laundry for one day.

2006-03-27T21:18:00.000-05:00

It happens in threes.

I really hate that saying. I hope it doesn’t leave me with negative vibes causing something disastrous to happen. So far we have the fact that we won’t be getting our CO this week due to the fact that there is no way we can do the north gutters ourselves. Mark did finish the west side today, but there is just no way to get the north side up due to the slope of the front porch. We may even have to ~gasp~ hire someone to do it. Two, the clothes dryer broke. I’m hoping it’s just a belt, but since Mark was up on a ladder most of the day and many parts places are closed, we decided to hold off on finding out today. Of course, I usually do most of the laundry on Sunday, and dragged several washed loads to the Laundromat to dry. On the plus side, I did run into an old friend I had lost contact with and it turns out she just moved a few blocks from me. ~Deep breaths~ there won’t be a third because it is silly to think that bad things happen in threes. Right?

2006-03-26T18:40:00.000-05:00

Shades of Green

Well folks, I think we have finally decided on a color for the living room. We bought a silvery-blue color for the dining room a few months ago; sadly it still sits on the floor. A final decision on the color for the living room gets us one step closer to refinishing the floors and maybe actually moving into the lower half of the house. The living room is rather long and narrow, with not much natural light. There is one large window at the front end, then two regular windows and a high windows at the other. I’m scared to go too dark with a color, due to the lighting factor, but I’m sick of white and beige. I want something to compliment the fireplace, and any wood that I get around to refinishing. I think green is the way to go. Now I just need to narrow down a shade and figure out what to do with the trim. I thinking some sort of sage with a hint of army green and a twist of olive maybe? I keep playing with the colors online, but they turn up show much lighter and brighter when I plug them into a room. I do not want pastel, grass, apple, teal or forest green. I think before the final decision I may have to try a few samples on the wall. Does anyone one have any shade suggestions?

Living Room

Miles Garden Challenge 2006

2006-03-25T22:39:00.000-05:00

Tomatoes with clay pot
Originally uploaded by Spamily.

I found this photo browsing flickr and it inspired me to post this.

It all started as we were once again spending our Friday night in Home Depot. We were walking buy the seed display and I was looking at the basil seeds. During our last grocery trip, I didn’t buy basil, though I wanted it because it was so sickly and gross looking. I asked Mark if we should try to grow some, and he got the garden “bug”. We haven’t had the greatest luck with growing vegetables in the past. Between the dog, stray cats, and squirrels, plants just don’t last too long out there. We both starting up a few things we thought we each wanted to try. Before you know it, the Miles Garden Challenge had begun. We figured if we made it a little competitive, it would keep us on our toes. In my corner, I have basil, cilantro, hot pepper mix, and tomatoes. My approach is going to be starting the seeds inside, since there is still snow on the ground. I may even use a power tool or two to construct a sort of greenhouse. I plan on doing this next to the window in the old upstairs kitchen. The pets don’t go in there much, we don’t use the room for much of anything else, and it is relatively warm. Mark has chosen bell peppers, carrots, oregano, and eggplant. He was most likely take a much more complicated, possibly hydroponics, he is sketching as I type route. So far there are only two rules, you can’t sabotage the other person’s plants, and you can’t spend a bunch of money. We haven’t defined how much money can be spent, but we are both pretty good at recycling and reusing things. Now all we need to decide is what the winner gets, and start planting.

2006-03-23T09:18:00.000-05:00

Certificate of Occupancy

We had another inspection today and I am happy to say the inside is now habitable according to the city of Rochester! We still need to finish the gutter work, but the inspector said just to give her a call and she would come out and look. The inside is done! She was concerned about the front porch needing paint, but that she was not going to violate us for it. Now I have a whole day off work and need to find something productive to do with myself. Mark says I should paint the porch...haha.

2006-03-21T22:02:00.000-05:00

The 'Hood in 1935

It may be hard to see without enlarging this photo first. Our house is just north of The Christian & Missionary Alliance church. (It is still a church, but the name of it is escaping me right now.) My backyard is the lot numbered 193 and the house numbered 26. I'm wondering what the building numbered 25 would have been. For carriage or an outhouse? It is now the location of the carport. This is Bri helping Mark fix the roof before we bought the house 2 years ago. The house behind her would be 24 on the map.

This view seems so old that it is hard to imagine that our house was built 45 years prior. I would love to find a plat dated earlier, but this is the only one I have found for my neighborhood. Can anyone recommend plat reading tips? Interesting things to look for? As always, I look forward to comments and any information to help me make sense of this old house.

2006-03-20T18:36:00.000-05:00

And The City Says...

Paint your secret staircase! Alright, it's not really a secret. There are no fun hidden doors, but it does sound cooler that way. I'm not really sure what it is there for. Anyone with knowledge of old houses, please enlighten me. The bottom door is in the kitchen, it leads up to the upstairs bathroom and a bedroom (closed up and formerly my kitchen when it was an apartment.) Then at last it leads up to the attic. The only use I get out of it is spending a day in bed after I fall down the stairs.(Those of you who know me well, know I'm not kidding.) Seriously this has to be at about the bottom of the top 100 things we need to do around here. When we bought the house, the walls in here were peeling and cracked. A year ago, for another inspection, we scraped them down, filled the cracks, and gave it a quick coat of paint (most of it anyway). It was a quick, cheap way to "fix" it to pass inspection. Well during the previous inspection, the inspector wasn't satisfied so we have another chance to mark it off our list at our next inspection this Thursday. Mark is working (as usual) as I sit here typing.

Attic Door

I thought it was interest how they used "blank" corner trim throughout this staircase around all the doors and both windows. The rest of the trim in the house is the type with concentric circles.

Door to Nowhere (once a bedroom, then a kitchen, next a nursery)

Stairs I love to fall down

2006-03-19T17:02:00.000-05:00

Small Bathroom Tiles Finished

Finally! We ended up renting a wet saw for the day to do the cutting of tiles, it cost $40. After trying the cheapie manual cutter we bought for $12.99, Mark decided it was fully worth it. I am missing pictures from the cutting and laying phase of the project. The expletives coming from that floor of the house kept both my camera and I at a safe distance. After they were laid, the grout went pretty smoothly and we are both pleased by the results. We still have yet to decide what we are going to do with the walls, the funds won’t accommodate the next step until next week so the grout should be nice and set by then. Mark finished this project today and is now working on the gutters again. (Too cold for me to go outside and take pictures.)

Before Grout

Mark hard at Work

Just needs a final cleaning now, I will save the final pictures for another day when we get them fully clean. I'm having a hard time getting the lighting right to show the true color of the tile.

Gas Coal Fireplace?

2006-03-19T09:43:00.000-05:00

To be honest, we didn't know this existed until we had bought the house. We knew there must be some kind of fireplace, thanks to the chimney, but we had know clue what it looked like. As mentioned in past posts, we lived in the upstairs apartment of this house for a few years. When we decided to buy, we only did a few walk throughs of the downstairs and had know idea this was what was hidden behind a huge bureau. It is very shallow, and very tiny. The only thing I can figure out that it resembles is a gas coal burner apparently popular during the time the house was built. Does anyone have any clues? Suggestions on restoring it to be used now?

Here are a few links on what I think it could be and possible replacement parts:

Grand Fireplace
Fireplace Renovators

2006-03-12T17:30:00.000-05:00

City Inspection- Gutters Act 1

Well, it wasn’t on the top of my list seeing that the exterior of the house is not in the best shape. We need new trim, siding, the porch needs to be jacked, and the chimney is apparently leaning…but the city says we need new gutters. We were rejected a Certificate of Occupancy from the city of Rochester for several violations. I think besides painting the back staircase, the gutters are the last big things on the list. Chase-Pitkin’s going out of business sale afforded us new gutters at 60% off and a day of nice weather let us get started. The bright shiny new gutters look rather silly to me on the terribly dented, dirty siding and the rotted trim. The front and right side of the house have been gutter less for 2 years now due to an ice storm. Mark completed the right side with not too much trouble after he got the hang of pitching issues. He was hoping to finish up today, but due to the rain the steep roof he was going to have to stand on was too slippery to do the front. The good news is that the side he puts up works! Thanks to our wonderful friend Aric who lent us his skill saw and 20 foot ladder. Here is the proof….

2006-03-11T19:55:00.000-05:00

Nine Inch Nails

There's nothing like a rock concert to make you feel alive. It's been too long since we have been to one, and NIN was a blast! The opening act was refreshing artist-writer Saul Williams who intrigued me with his politically infused brand of industrial hip-hop. I first fell in love with NIN in high school, "Downward Spiral" spent a great deal of time in my cassette player. Before that, I remember staying up late to see "Head Like a Hole" on Headbangers Ball. Now, more than ten years later, "With Teeth" is now out with a decidedly more mainstream sound. I guess Trent Reznor's sound has grown up with me, and it seems like many others as the ages at the show ranged from 15 to 50. We will definitely make it a point to go to more shows. This one was a birthday present to Mark from me. I had intended to buy tickets, but won them through a radio station instead. Luckily, I had the foresight to take off work the next day. I didn't drink, but it's been years since I've done any headbanging.

2006-03-04T11:05:00.000-05:00

Bathroom on hold, Security takes precedence

Just for a little bit, actually probably until this afternoon. Mark discovered that the tile cutter (cheapie one) is not going to cut it. We are going to have to rent a real one, so we want to have a day where we can knock the cutting out in a short amount of time.
We had a plastic security light on the back of the house that needed to be upgraded. Mark installed a new metal version with diffused lighting from dusk to dawn and bright lights when triggered by movement. (Note: It is so cold I wouldn’t even go out to take pictures.)

Old Security light in new box

2006-03-01T18:49:00.000-05:00

Pipe that makes you go hmmm

While taking down the tile we found this pipe, Mark thinks it could have been a showerhead. The space is really narrow and the hole was cut in the wall to accommodate it. I would think a shower would have another lower cut for a faucet...anyone care to guess?

There was a nice big gap in the wall where the plumbing used to come up hid by the monstrous cabinet. We decided to go ahead and insulate it before we closed it up.

We are all set to tile now. Of course the room isn’t square and we have to cut around the plumbing, so that should all be fun. I will update on that soon.

Disclaimer: When I say "we" it almost always means, "Mark". I just take pictures and write about it.

2006-02-27T18:32:00.000-05:00

houseblogs.net = inspiration

I wanted to say a special thank you to all the bloggers featured at houseblogs. You are all the source of our daily inspiration to start and (one day) finish new projects. I only recently found this site after searching through many DIY sites and perfect “show” homes almost never resembling real life. I was so inspired by the site to start our own blog, and I’ve been thrilled by the response of friends and family. It’s funny how reading about Teague and Mindy of Fixer- Upper's two hour drive to find the perfect doors for their kitchen reminded me of the great resources we have here in Rochester. We still haven’t visited Historic Houseparts but we plan to in the near future. We also have another salvage store called Rehouse if anyone is in the area. To anyone not familiar with houseblogs.net but loves reading about old houses and working on them, it is a great place to grow, learn, and be inspired. There is a link at the top of my blog, be sure to check it out!

2006-02-26T14:17:00.000-05:00

Bathroom Decisions

A few decisions have been made. We found that this is at the top of the list of things that slow us down... not being able to decide on things. Both of our styles are different, and we keep second guessing ourselves on what is most time efficient, cost effective, and nice to look at. As I write, Mark is ripping out the white tile I hate. The decision for what will go in it's place has yet to be made, but we figured we should rip them out before we lay our new ceramic tile on the floor.

Old Wall Tile Coming Out

We finally decided on a ceramic tile for the floor. Everything I read says that we should go with a light color because the room is so small, but we really preferred the look of the dark tile. We just laid it out to get a feel for what it looked like.

New Ceramic Tile

I bought this shower curtain for $3 last year. I still like the color scheme and I think it's what I'm going to go with. The colors may not show up quite right from the picture, but it is blue, brown, grey, white, and black. On the flip side of things, I'm sure I could get away with something more bold....still deciding.

Shower Curtain- Possible Color Scheme

If we chose to do the tileboard on the wall, of the choices I find in the stores, I am leaning toward this one. It has a nice texture to it. More things to decide...Will we only put it up on the walls where the tile used to be? What will we do with the other walls? Paint? Will it look odd? Do we put moulding on the floor and the ceiling? Do I want sconce lights wire before we hang it? Will the grey dark with the dark floor? All these are still left to be answered.

Possible Wall Solution

2006-02-23T21:49:00.000-05:00

Concrete backerboard and a toilet in my future dining room....

The floor in the small bathroom was replaced today. Good thing, because it's supposed to really cold this weekend and it was completely exposed to the still poorly insulated basement. Brackets were added to the floor joists, and one was repaired with a new 2 x 4. 1/2 inch plywood was put down first, then 1/2 inch concrete backerboard. We used "Hardibacker" with mold block technology. (http://www.hardibacker.com) It was about $11 for a 3 x 5 foot piece, but the bathroom is small and considering the past water damage we figured it was a good investment.

Now we have to drill out spots for the plumbing to go back in and decide what we want to cover the floor with. To do this, I want to figure out want to do with the walls so we can coordinate. Mark is ready to tile, but I'm still undecided about the walls. Two of them were tiled, but when we took the cabinets out it left half wall in rough shape. I don't want to just put white tile to fill in the space. What is still in place, looks dingy and unappealing. We could do all new tiles on both walls, but with the cost and the time to do this, I'm not sure it's the route we want to go. Another option is bath paneling, not my ideal solution, but less expensive and much easier to put up. Mark is eager to get the floor finished, so we will go shopping tomorrow and figure out how we want to do it.

floor being put in

dining room?

2006-02-22T20:05:00.000-05:00

Where are our ghosts? I've been in many old houses and felt the history that they hold. Never once have I felt that in our house. Perhaps it's because I've never slowed down to learn the history of our house and it's owners. I started my quest tonight and found a website of Early news (1818-1947) in Monroe County NY.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~nymonnws/

It is a little primitive, and you have to sort through a lot of information to find what you are looking for. I found it so interesting to read the stories published in this era. After poking around for awhile, I typed in our address to see what I would come up with. Here is the story:

Rochester, Monroe, NYDemocrat & ChronicleMay 4, 1921

FIREMAN COMMITS SUICIDE IN FIT OF DESPONDENCY Frank Schwab of Engine 5 Stabs Himself With Butcher Knife at Home on Lawton Street - Failed To Return Home After Leaving Firehouse Last Evening and Was Found Early This Morning in Lake AvenueIn a fit of despondency, due to ill health, Frank SCHWAB, city fireman, committed suicide by stabbing himself in the heart this morning about 7 o'clock. The ambulance from Hahnemann Hospital was summoned but SCHWAB died before it arrived. Coroner KILLIP investigated and issued a certificate of death due to suicide while insane.SCHWAB left the fire house of Engine 5 on Lyell avenue, where he was assigned, last night about 6 o'clock. He failed to return to his home and this morning about 2:15 o'clock his wife reported to the police that he was missing. Shortly after as Patrolman SULLIVAN of the Lyell avenue station was covering his beat he found SCHWAB walking in Lake avenue. He took him to the Lyell avenue station and from there he was taken home. His whereabouts from the time he left the fire house last night until found this morning are unknown.SCHWAB was appointed to the fire department August 1, 1919, and was assigned to Engine 5 as hoseman where he has since served. He was well liked by his associates and was known as a conscientious worker. He leaves his wife, Elizabeth SCHWAB, and one daughter, Dorothy WINIFRED SCHWAB.****
FRANK A. SCHWAB died suddenly Wednesday morning at his home, 15 Lawton street, aged 25 years. He leaves his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth SCHWAB, and one brother; William SCHWAB. The remains were removed to the home of his parents at 632 Jay street.

2006-02-21T22:49:00.000-05:00

Who needs a expensive MP3 docking station when you have a clever husband? Mark got an MP3 player for Christmas and had the bright idea of using computer speakers to play music in the kitchen. We put the speakers on top of the cabinet, and ran the input down the side and underneath. Anytime we want to have music, we just plug in. It worked so well with his, I had to get my own player for my birthday. It sounds great, and we always have spare computer parts laying around here so it was free!

2006-02-20T19:52:00.000-05:00

More kitchen pictures...

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

2006-02-20T18:08:00.000-05:00

The kitchen got a facelift! Thanks to Mom Miles for the Christmas money to buy our new appliances. We are still saving up for a new dishwasher, hence the open space in our cabinets that is now used for storage. We figured that if we just left it open, it would inspire us to put one in sooner. It' not quite finished yet, we still have paint and stain where it shouldnt be. The windows need treatments and a good cleaning. We would like to seal the slate floor (if we can get it clean enough.) Someday, we would like new countertops and hood over the stove. Some artwork would be nice on the walls. We are moved in now though, and have moved on to other projects. We have been very pleased with the way it all turned out.

All the nails, hooks, ect got pulled out of the walls and everything was painted. The cabinets were sanded down and refinished. The sink, faucet, and plumbing were all replaced. We rented a floor maintainer and scrubbed the floor. New appliances were installed...including an icemaker yay! Those were the big things that went into the room look the way it does now.

Before

After

Before

After

2006-02-19T14:07:00.000-05:00

Upon demolition, we had some decisions to make. Our old cabinets, sink, and shelves took up alot of room in the tiny bathroom.

Old Sink Cabinets

Omitting the large cabinet, we decided to go with something smaller. Of course, the dream sink we fell in love with is $800, much more than we are willing to spend right now.

Dream Sink

We found a nice pedastal sink at Chase Pitkin (going out of business) and picked it up for $58...list price $120. Here is a picture of the model we got.

Our New Pedestal Sink

I'm not crazy about the hardware pictured, it was not included with the sink. We will go with something more like this.

Faucet I want for the Sink

2006-02-19T12:55:00.000-05:00

"It's easier coming out than it is going back in." ~Mark Miles 2/19/06

Demolition has taken place over the past few weeks. The toilet now lives in the uncompleted dining room, the sink in the uncompleted living room, and the cabinets for the most part by the side of the road. The plumbing is now capped off and after some of the floor supports are replaced, the new floor will go in.

Toilet removed...

Cabinets and sink come out...

There goes the floor! (yes, that's the basement)

2006-02-19T12:22:00.000-05:00

Demolition pays?!!

We decided to remove the enitre floor because of the rot. In order to do this properly, we had to remove the built in cabinets and sink. Underneath the countertop and sink, tucked away inside the cabinet we found this $20 bill. It is dated 1987, someone must have stashed it away for a rainy day. It will certainly come in handy during the remodel and we will gladly accept any more money that is tucked away in nooks and crannies of this old house.

2006-01-30T22:36:00.000-05:00

It was supposed to be a simple job. Haha!!! So we thought...famous last words right? We have been pondering floor options for the small bathroom downstairs for months now. The old black tile (top picture) was splattered with white paint, but they were still functional. We were at our local hardware store that is going out of business and found tiles we both like. They are Armstrong vinyl tiles from the Natural Collection (middle picture). They are nice sturdy tiles, without the cutting issues you have to deal with for real ones...especially in a tiny space. The best part...got a whole box of them closeout priced at $11.34. I was thrilled we waited! We got home excited to put down our new floor. After pulling up the old tiles, we quickly learned the wood under the tiles has rotted. (bottom picture) ~sigh~ I guess our next job in the small bathroom is to rip out the floorboards put something better down.

2006-01-29T21:49:00.000-05:00

Thank you Mom and Dad Holley! For a housewarming gift my parents wanted to buy us a piece of furniture for the house. We still need to refinish the floors, so we thought lighting fixtures would be a nice gift that wouldn't have to be pushed around to do the floors. This is the before and after of the dining room fixture. (I need to take more pics during the day when there is more light.) I wanted to show that it is out of the box and actually hanging up! The old light was scary hanging from it's last wire! They also let us pick out two ceiling fans for the long living room. I will post more about those later.

2006-01-29T17:10:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our blog! This is our 1890 home on the Southeast side of Rochester, NY. This photo was taken by the city in 1995 for assessment. We bought it in 2005, but I don't have any more current pictures of the outside of the house. If anyone knows what style this house would be considered, please let me know. I hear from family and friends all the time "Is it finished yet?" The answer is and probably will be "No" until the day we die or sell it. It's an old house, expensive to repair and big! No matter how many strides forward we take, we get knocked back. I work full time in a non profit clinic that includes a good deal of volunteer time. My husband works for a communication company and does contract computer work on the weekends. We have a beautiful 11 year old stepdaughter here every other weekend, a mouse catching cat, and the always muddy puppy. When do we work on the house? Whenever we can.