If you have an old house, you know this refers to the wiring that's probably coursing current to your lights and plugs. The knobs are ceramic clips (ceramic--imagine the expense installing those today!) that secure and protect the fabric-jacketed wire parallel to the joist and/or serve as a pivot point to change the wire's direction. The tubes are ceramic sleeves that protect the wire as they ...

(3) Comments »

We face difficult questions repairing our vintage homes. Should we repair what's there or replace with new materials and techniques? This question arises in various forms throughout any old house remodel (from molding to appliances to fenestration), I find it often first pops up when it comes to plaster. Generally, plaster performs better than drywall because it is more massive: Three coats of hand-applied material (brown ...

(1) Comment »

In Part One of this piece we discussed some very-important-not-to-be-overlooked-or-underdone structural elements of raising and/or moving a bathtub. Here in Part Two of our bathroom remodel, we talk about the bun that makes that beefy patty look and taste real yummy--trim details. For me, trimming a tub includes more than what my eight year old daughter refers to as "curly wood." It's about how a tub feels when you get ...

(7) Comments »