Chapter 28 - Doors (shhh..) by Pedro

The Original Doors

 The original doors in the house were solid wood with a unique 8-panel design. We really liked the doors and appreciated the quality of them but they were a very dark brown and needed a lot of repair from 30 years of neglect. From the very beginning we knew that we needed to lighten the dark, gloomy house so our thought was to take the dark doors and paint them white along with all the trim and base bards. As it turned out, we were not able to save the base board or trim so we threw them away. But with 28 doors in the house, replacing them would have been a lot of money. We also could not have replaced them with the same solid wood.


The Drippy, Running Doors



Our first attempt to upgrade them was to remove them all, scrub them down and have them primed and painted. We hired some "professional" painters to help do the huge job but they just made matters worse. The brown stain was too dark to be covered by a single coat of primer and paint. As the brown bled through, they thought to just keep adding paint until there was drips, globs and runs. That was a waste of money! This is where our friend Pedro steps in. If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself. Steve grabbed Pedro and one by one, the two of them stripped the new paint and sanded the doors down to bare wood. The cracks and dents were repaired with wood filler and the doors were prepared to be properly primed and painted.





Have you ever been to a modern art gallery where in the middle of the floor exhibits are just hanging in air,  common objects are displayed as works of art and the artist's name is just one word?  The garage looked like that art gallery. With the skill of an artist, Pedro sprayed painted each door with careful restraint...not one drip. run or error.  Steve and I kept laughing and then whispering "Doors by Pedro" as if we had some mysterious artist in our garage.

Doors ....by Pedro

We were able to save the doors of this old house. About the ONLY thing in this old house that didn't find it's way to the dumpster. It was a lot of work but heavy, solid doors are so much nicer than the hollow core doors that you can only buy today.

Chapter 27 - A New Floor for a New Year

Steve cleaning the floor

As you might guess, Home Depot is our favorite store. In fact, there is not a Saturday that goes by without one of us making a "Home Depot Run" and Steve is on a first name basis with most of the employees. It's fun to walk through the store with people
waving, "Hey Steve! What are you working on today?"


Starting the floor!

 During the summer while working on the house, we noticed a large stack of wood flooring that was on sale. It was very beautiful walnut planks. We asked about it a few times and found out that it had been a special order that had not been claimed. The months went by but not one plank was purchased. Finally, we decided to ask the manager about "taking this little problem off his hands." He gave us a fantastic discount, a penny above cost.

Steve and I wanted to install the flooring ourselves just a few days before New Years. So, we gathered our supplies - brooms, scrub brushes, wood glue, trowels, mallets and of course, the room heater.

The floor had to be cleaned first because of all the sawdust, drywall dust and plaster mudding that has built up. We scrubbed the floor with tons of soapy suds and water. Once the floor was clean and dry, we were ready to put the wood planking down. We opened the different packages of wood and stacked the many different lengths into piles. After snapping a straight chalk line, we started in the corner next to the theater room and moved our way down the family room toward the kitchen. Steve spread out the glue and scrapped it evenly on the floor and then we fit each plank into place with the use of the mallet and iron pry bar.

At first it didn't seem so hard, in fact, it was really fun but after the first day, our knees were sore and our backs ached. By the end of  the second day, working from 8:00 am to 8:00pm, our knees and backs were killing us and our fingers were raw from the glue. The third day, December 31st, we worked all day determined to finish even though every bone and muscle was exhausted. That was the real celebration for us on New Year's Eve - We finished the beautiful walnut floor!

Steve and I on New Year's Eve

The view from the Theatre Room

The View from the Kitchen

Chapter 26 - Fireplace Facelift

Winter finally arrived in Las Vegas just as we were completing the outside renovations so it was time to move inside to start the finishing work and improvements, starting with the living room. The stone fireplace that dominates the two-story room was originally wood-burning but with smog pollution issues, Las Vegas does not allow wood-burning anymore. We replumbed the fireplace for a gas heater. If you remember, Steven had removed the original orange rock on the outside early in May (Chapter 8 -Let the Demolition Begin). So now it is time for a Fireplace Facelift!

We wanted a more modern, sleek and elegant look to our new and improved interior while still maintaining a neutrality or blank slate for the home buyer. As you know, when people purchase a house, they bring their own design and personality. They want freedom to do whatever they would like to make the house their home. We had to try to add a great "flavor" to the house without pigeon-holing it into a specific look or design. The two story fireplace could really overwhelm the entrance, living room and whole house if we didn't choose wisely.

Steve and I went to the stone stores many, many times to test different stone samples. We also spent a lot of time in the bookstores with magazines and books of latest and timeless interior designs. We avoided any stone that hinted at a log-cabin feel or dark, heavy Tuscan look. We choose a gray-blue craftsmen stacked stone because it was definitely modern but really versitile. This stone looks great with classic furniture as well as the new "Pottery Barn" style. The gray-blue color is just bold enough to stand out but calm and neutral enough to be an excellent backdrop. 

Steve making the Floating Mantel



The stone is imported from China so it took six weeks to get to Las Vegas when we placed the order. Just enough time to get everything else ready. Steve had to built a mantel. He chose a beautiful mahogany wood in a "floating mantel" style. The mantel ledge corners around the two-sided fireplace without brackets or corbels - it just appears to float along the fireplace. It is absolutely beautiful!

Another task that we had to take care of before the stone could go up was the wood beams that cross the ceiling in the living room and entrance. These wood beams from the 70's were very, very rough - almost like they were hewn from the tree, coated with dull brown stain and put in the ceiling immediately. The cracks, splinters and hammer-marks took the distressed look TOO far. With the beautiful mahogany mantel in place, the beams just screamed "We are Ugly" so loud, we had to change them. 

The easiest way to deal with them was to cover them up with a sleeve of mahogany. Basically, Steve made u-shaped beams that slid over the old beam. The beams were made of MDF (medium density fireboard) with a mahogany veneer over them, which helped with the cost. If we had used 100% mahogany boards, we almost would have had to take a loan out!
 

Steve convinced me that just the two of us could put this beam up. So we got on the scaffolding and also a tall ladder to hoist the long fake beam up. Just in case you don't know about MDF -it is unbelievably heavy!Well, my side was so massive I could barely lift it! Standing on the very shaky scaffolding, I hoisted my half of the beam up and over my head while Steve stood on the ladder farther away and hoisted his side of the beam up and over his head. We had to get it around the old beam and that was a chore! But then, Steve instructed me to inch from my side (the right side by the window) to the middle of the beam and hold the entire beam in place with my head while he nail-gunned the new beam to the old one. I am pretty sure I am a good inch shorter with all that weight on my head! It was worth it because it looks really fabulous. What do you think?



The New Fireplace!

 In the following photos, you can see the second sleeve going up to cover the second beam. Jim and Stacey were on hand to help Steve with this one. I kind of boycotted the scary scaffolding and risk of further shortening of my height.